RvHbreiðm Hl 45^III

Hverr réð Hildi at næma?
Hverir daglengis berjask?
Hverir síðarla sættask?
Hver*r siklingum atti?
Heðinn réð Hildi at næma;
Hjaðningar æ berjask;
þeir síðarla sættask;
saman Hildr liði atti.

Hverr réð at næma Hildi? Hverir berjask daglengis? Hverir sættask síðarla? Hver*r atti siklingum? Heðinn réð at næma Hildi; Hjaðningar berjask æ; þeir sættask síðarla; Hildr atti liði saman.

Who decided to abduct Hildr? Who fight all day long? Who get reconciled late? Who incited the chieftains? Heðinn decided to abduct Hildr; the Hjaðningar fight forever; they get reconciled late; Hildr incited the troops against each other.

Mss: papp25ˣ(35r-v), R683ˣ(130r)

Readings: [2] Hverir: ‘Hveir’ papp25ˣ, ‘hueir’ R683ˣ    [4] Hver*r: hverir papp25ˣ, R683ˣ;    siklingum: ‘siolingum’ papp25ˣ, R683ˣ    [5] réð (‘ræd’): ræðr R683ˣ    [8] Hildr: hildi R683ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 521, Skj BI, 498, Skald I, 244; Hl 1941, 26, 72-3.

Context: The heading is greppaminni (‘Greppa minni’) ‘poets’ reminder’ and it corresponds to SnSt Ht 40, except that Snorri’s stanza has regularised internal rhymes as in dróttkvætt.

Notes: [All]: For a discussion of the metre, see Hl 1941, 125-6 and Note to SnSt Ht 40 [All]. — [All]: The stanza commemorates the Hjaðningavíg ‘battle of the Hjaðningar’ between the troops of Heðinn and Hǫgni, father of the abducted Hildr (see SnE 1998, I, 72-3, Saxo 2005, I, 5, 8, 3-5 and 9, 1, pp. 338-43 and Sörla þáttr in Flat 1860-8, I, 275-83). See also SnSt Ht 49, as well as the detailed discussion in the Notes to Bragi Rdr 8-11. — [2] hverir ‘who’: Holtsmark (Hl 1941, 105) suggests that the spelling of this word in the mss (‘Hveir’ papp25ˣ; ‘hueir’ R683ˣ) could reflect a possible Norwegian diphthongisation of [e]. — [4] hver*r (m. nom. sg.) ‘who’: This emendation is necessary because hverir ‘who’ (so both mss) is in the pl. and the verb atti ‘incited’ is in the sg. — [8] atti liði saman ‘incited the troops against each other’: See Note to Anon Mhkv 22/3.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. Flat 1860-8 = Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and C. R. Unger, eds. 1860-8. Flateyjarbók. En samling af norske konge-sagaer med indskudte mindre fortællinger om begivenheder i og udenfor Norge samt annaler. 3 vols. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
4. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
5. Saxo 2005 = Friis-Jensen, Karsten, ed. 2005. Saxo Grammaticus: Gesta Danorum / Danmarkshistorien. Trans. Peter Zeeberg. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Det danske sprog- og litteraturselskab & Gads forlag.
6. Hl 1941 = Jón Helgason and Anne Holtsmark, eds. 1941. Háttalykill enn forni. BA 1. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
7. Internal references
8. Roberta Frank (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Poems, Málsháttakvæði 22’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1236.
9. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Bragi inn gamli Boddason, Ragnarsdrápa 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. 39.
10. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 40’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1149.
11. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 49’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1158.