Busla Busl 6^VIII (Bós 6)

Ef þú ríðr,         raskiz taumar,
heltiz hestar,         en hrumiz klárar,
en götur allar         ok gagnstígar
troðiz allar         í tröllhendr fyrir þér,
nema þú Bósa         bjargir veitir
ok Herrauð         heipt upp gefir.

Ef þú ríðr, raskiz taumar, hestar heltiz, en hrumiz klárar, en allar götur ok allar gagnstígar troðiz fyrir þér í tröllhendr, nema þú veitir Bósa bjargir ok gefir Herrauð upp heipt.

If you ride, may the reins become tangled, the horses limp, the nags become decrepit, and on all roads and through-routes may you be driven into the hands of trolls, unless you grant Bósi freedom and forego your hatred against Herrauðr.

Mss: 586(14v), 577(53v), 510(11r), 340ˣ(271), 361ˣ(11r) (Bós)

Readings: [3] hestar: hestr 510    [6] ok: so 510, ‘[…]’ 586, en 577, 340ˣ, 361ˣ    [7] allar: tvéfaldar 577, 361ˣ    [8] í tröllhendr: í trölla hendr 510, 340ˣ;    fyrir þér: om. 340ˣ    [9] Bósa: Bögubósa 577    [10] bjargir veitir: ‘bi vm w̄ vei.’ 577    [12] heipt: ‘hei’ 577, heyptir 340ˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 331, Skj BII, 352, Skald II, 190; Bós 1666, 19, FSN 3, 204-5, Bós 1893, 17, FSGJ 3, 293, Bós 1996, 14; Edd. Min. 124.

Notes: [All]: This stanza has a number of metrical irregularities. Lines 1 and 11 are hypometrical, while l. 8 in the form of the majority of mss is unmetrical, though the version of 510 and 340ˣ is metrical. — [All]: By means of this stanza, the king’s opportunities to travel throughout the land on horseback are intended to be diminished or rendered impossible. — [8] í tröllhendr ‘into the hands of trolls’: In saga literature the etymologically uncertain ON trǫll (AEW: troll/trǫll) often signifies cave-dwelling, anthropomorphic creatures of abnormal size and ugliness who are equipped with magical abilities (cf. Schulz 2004, 45-6; Arnold 2005).

References

1. Bibliography
2. FSN = Rafn, Carl Christian, ed. 1829-30. Fornaldar sögur nordrlanda. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
5. FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
6. Edd. Min. = Heusler, Andreas and Wilhelm Ranisch, eds. 1903. Eddica Minora: Dichtungen eddischer Art aus den Fornaldarsögur und anderen Prosawerken. Dortmund: Ruhfus. Rpt. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
7. Schulz, Katja. 2004. Riesen: Von Wissenshütern und Wildnisbewohnern in Edda und Saga. Skandinavistische Arbeiten 20. Heidelberg: Winter.
8. Bós 1996 = Sverrir Tómasson, ed. 1996. Bósa saga og Herrauðs. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
9. Bós 1666 = Verelius, Olaus, ed. 1666. Herrauds och Bosa saga Med en ny vttolkning iämpte Gambla Götskan. Uppsala: Henrich Curio.
10. Arnold, Martin. 2005. ‘Hvat er tröll nema þat?: The Cultural History of the Troll’. In Shippey 2005a, 111-55.
11. Bós 1893 = Jiriczek, Otto L., ed. 1893. Die Bósa-Saga in zwei Fassungen nebst Proben aus den Bósa-Rímur. Strassburg: Karl J. Trübner.