FriðÞ Lv 12^VIII (Frið 14)

Nú hefr fjórum         um farit várum
lögr lagsmönnum,         þeim er lifa skyldu.
En Rán gætir         röskum drengjum,
siðlaus kona,         sess ok rekkju.

Nú hefr lögr um farit fjórum lagsmönnum várum, þeim er skyldu lifa. En Rán, siðlaus kona, gætir sess ok rekkju röskum drengjum.

Now the sea has destroyed four of our comrades, who should have lived. But Rán <sea-goddess>, immoral woman, provides bench and bed for the brave fellows.

Mss: 510(93v), 27ˣ(135v) (Frið)

Readings: [5] gætir: býðr 27ˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 272, Skj BII, 294-5, Skald II, 155; Falk 1890, 75-6, Frið 1893, 46, Frið 1914, 15; Edd. Min. 99.

Context: As for Frið 13.

Notes: [All]: This stanza is only in 510 and later A redaction mss, though absent from 568ˣ, which gives a prose summary of the incident (see Frið 1914, 15). The first helmingr corresponds in subject matter to Frið 13, but the second helmingr reintroduces the notion of drowning seamen visiting the sea-deity Rán (see Frið 11/5-8 above), though here with a somewhat moralistic (and probably Christian) perspective. The stanza is regular fornyrðislag. — [2] um farit ‘destroyed’: The mss have here the more archaic of farit, with the same meaning. See Note to Ásm 1/3, 5. — [7] siðlaus kona ‘immoral woman’: This phrase may suggest Christian disapproval of pagan ideas, as well as a distasteful fascination with the idea of a necrophiliac Rán providing bed and board for dead sailors (cf. Frið 11/5-6 and Note).

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. Frið 1893 = Larsson, Ludvig, ed. 1893b. Sagan ock rimorna om Friðþiófr hinn frækni. SUGNL 22. Copenhagen: Malmström.
4. Frið 1914 = Wenz, Gustaf, ed. 1914. Die Friðþjófssaga in ihrer Überlieferung untersucht und der ältesten Fassung kritisch herausgegeben. Halle: Niemeyer.
5. Falk, Hjalmar. 1890. ‘Om Friðþjófs saga’. ANF 6, 60-102.
6. Internal references
7. Peter Jorgensen (ed.) 2017, ‘Ásmundar saga kappabana 1 (Hildibrandr, Lausavísur 1)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 16.
8. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Friðþjófs saga ins frœkna 11 (Friðþjófr Þorsteinsson, Lausavísur 9)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 208.
9. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Friðþjófs saga ins frœkna 13 (Friðþjófr Þorsteinsson, Lausavísur 11)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 211.