Ótt Óldr 5^III

Vísi tekr víg-Freys
víst austr munlaust
(aldar hefr allvaldr)
óskvíf (gótt líf).

Vísi tekr víst {munlaust óskvíf {víg-Freys}} austr; allvaldr aldar hefr gótt líf.

The ruler takes for certain {the loveless chosen wife {of the battle-Freyr <god>}} [= Óðinn > = Jǫrð (jǫrð ‘earth’)] in the east; the mighty ruler of men leads a good life.

Mss: R(39r), Tˣ(40v), 744ˣ(46r), C(8v) (SnE)

Readings: [1] Freys: ‘‑freyrs’ C    [2] mun‑: so 744ˣ, C, munn‑ R, Tˣ    [3] allvaldr: allvald Tˣ    [4] óskvíf: ‘ósvifr’ 744ˣ;    líf: ‘líf’ 744ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 289, Skj BI, 267, Skald I, 137, NN §§717, 3396N; SnE 1848-87, I, 512-15, II, 545, 604, III, 107, SnE 1931, 180, SnE 1998, I, 100.

Context: This stanza is quoted in Skm to illustrate the use of vísi ‘ruler’ as a ókent nafn ‘non-periphrastic term’ for ‘man’.

Notes: [All]: The wording and imagery of the stanza participate in the well-established tradition of describing a ruler’s conquest or subjugation of the land (jǫrð) in terms of marriage or sex, as most famously found in Hfr Hákdr (see Note to Anon Nkt 8/1, 2^II, and see also Frank 2007). There are two options for construing the stanza: (a) The interpretation adopted here (and in Frank 2007, 182) follows that of Skald and does not require emendation. (b) Skj B emends in l. 4 and reads Vísi tekr víst munlaust víf Óska austr; allvaldr aldar hefr gótt líf víg-Freys which can be translated as ‘The ruler takes for certain the loveless wife of Óski <= Óðinn> [= Jǫrð (jǫrð ‘earth’)] in the east; the mighty ruler of men leads the good life of a battle-Freyr <god> [WARRIOR]’. — [1] víg-Freys ‘of the battle-Freyr <god> [= Óðinn]’: This may be construed as either a kenning for Óðinn (as in interpretation (a) above; see NN §717) or ‘warrior’ (as in interpretation (b)). The latter is more easily paralleled (see Meissner 260-1), but necessitates emendation elsewhere in the stanza (see Note to [All] above). — [2] austr ‘in the east’: Although austr can also refer to the Baltic, Russia, or even Byzantium, in skaldic verse Sweden remains the most common meaning (see e.g. Sigv Austv^I, and see further Jesch 2001a, 89-90). The use of austr must cast doubt on Faulkes’s suggestion (SnE 1998, I, 219) that the stanza represents an incitement to invade Norway. — [2] munlaust ‘loveless’: So mss 744ˣ and C; mss R and T^x read munnlaust ‘mouthless’. The land might be munlaust for two reasons:  (a) It might be bereaved, and lacking a strong ruler (cf. munar lausasta ‘most bereaved of love’, Guðr I 4/4, NK 202). The adv. víst ‘for certain, certainly’ in the same line strongly suggests that the land’s loveless condition will be remedied by Óláfr’s military might. (b) The adj. qualifies a kenning for ‘Jǫrð’ (lit. ‘Earth’, Óðinn’s consort and mother of his son Þórr), who may have been abandoned when Óðinn left her for Frigg (see McKinnell 2005, 152-6, and see also Faulkes, SnE 1998, II, 358, who compares Hfr Hákdr 3/4 biðkván Þriðja ‘waiting wife of Þriði <= Óðinn> [= Jǫrð (jǫrð (‘earth’)]’). Kock (NN §3396N; Skald) emends instead to mundlaust ‘without a bride-price’ and compares ómyndr ‘lacking bride-payment’ in a similar ofljóst play on Jǫrð (jǫrð ‘earth’) in ÞjóðA Sex 3/4^II. McKinnell (2005, 155) suggests that munlaust has the colourless meaning ‘without doubt’, but this would seem pleonastic following víst ‘for certain’. — [4] óskvíf ‘chosen wife’: So mss R, Tˣ, C (the 744ˣ (B) variant ósvífr ‘bold, reckless’ must be a lectio facilior). Skj B emends to Óska víf (followed by Faulkes, SnE 1998 in his main text, but not in his notes or glossary: cf. SnE 1998, I, 100, 219, II, 370) to produce an ofljóst kenning for ‘land’. Óski is a name for Óðinn (see Þul Óðins 8/3 and Note there), and the wife of Óðinn is Jǫrð. Kock (Skald) retains the ms. reading óskvíf (see Kock, Metr. §27); the word is not discussed in NN). Óskvíf appears to mean ‘chosen, desired, beloved wife’, and is paralleled in skaldic verse by similar compounds such as óskamey ‘chosen girl’, óskkván ‘chosen wife’, óskmǫgr ‘chosen son’ (see LP; Fritzner additionally records óskbarn ‘chosen child’ and óskmær ‘chosen girl’ in prose; see also McKinnell 2005, 150-1). Óláfr’s óskvíf is Sweden.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. SnE 1848-87 = Snorri Sturluson. 1848-87. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar: Edda Snorronis Sturlaei. Ed. Jón Sigurðsson et al. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Legatum Arnamagnaeanum. Rpt. Osnabrück: Zeller, 1966.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
6. Meissner = Meissner, Rudolf. 1921. Die Kenningar der Skalden: Ein Beitrag zur skaldischen Poetik. Rheinische Beiträge und Hülfsbücher zur germanischen Philologie und Volkskunde 1. Bonn and Leipzig: Schroeder. Rpt. 1984. Hildesheim etc.: Olms.
7. LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
8. Jesch, Judith. 2001a. Ships and Men in the Late Viking Age: The Vocabulary of Runic Inscriptions and Skaldic Verse. Woodbridge: Boydell.
9. Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
10. NK = Neckel, Gustav and Hans Kuhn (1899), eds. 1983. Edda: Die Lieder des Codex Regius nebst verwandten Denkmälern. 2 vols. I: Text. 5th edn. Heidelberg: Winter.
11. Metr. = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1933. ‘Ett kapitel nordisk metrik och textkritik’. ANF 49, 279-94.
12. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
13. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
14. Frank, Roberta. 2007. ‘The Lay of the Land in Skaldic Praise Poetry’. In Glosecki 2007, 175-96.
15. McKinnell, John. 2005. Meeting the Other in Norse Myth and Legend. Cambridge: Brewer.
16. Internal references
17. (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Skáldskaparmál’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=112> (accessed 21 May 2024)
18. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Anonymous Poems, Nóregs konungatal 8’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 767.
19. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Óðins nǫfn 8’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 751.
20. Kate Heslop 2017, ‘ Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld Óttarsson, Hákonardrápa’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 212. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1257> (accessed 21 May 2024)
21. R. D. Fulk 2012, ‘ Sigvatr Þórðarson, Austrfararvísur’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 578. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1351> (accessed 21 May 2024)
22. Not published: do not cite ()
23. Kate Heslop (ed.) 2017, ‘Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld Óttarsson, Hákonardrápa 3’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 218.
24. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Þjóðólfr Arnórsson, Sexstefja 3’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 114-16.