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Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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FriðÞ Lv 13VIII (Frið 15)

Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Friðþjófs saga ins frœkna 15 (Friðþjófr Þorsteinsson, Lausavísur 13)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 212.

Friðþjófr ÞorsteinssonLausavísur
121314

Þann skal hring um höggva,
er Hálfdanar átti,
áðr oss tapi ægir,
auðigr faðir, rauðan.
Sjá skal gull á gestum,
ef vér gistingar þurfum
— þat dugir rausnarrekkum —
í Ránar sal miðjum.

Skal um höggva þann rauðan hring, er auðigr faðir Hálfdanar átti, áðr ægir tapi oss. Gull skal sjá á gestum, ef vér þurfum gistingar í miðjum sal Ránar; þat dugir rausnarrekkum.

That red-gold ring, which the wealthy father of Hálfdan owned, must be cut up, before the sea can destroy us. Gold must be visible on guests, if we need accommodation in the middle of Rán’s <sea-goddess’s> hall; that is fitting for men of splendour.

Mss: 510(93v), 27ˣ(135v), papp17ˣ(359r), 109a IIˣ(148r), 1006ˣ(585), 173ˣ(86r) (Frið)

Readings: [1] hring um: so papp17ˣ, 109a IIˣ, 1006ˣ, 173ˣ, hringum 510, 27ˣ    [2] Hálfdanar: so papp17ˣ, 109a IIˣ, 1006ˣ, 173ˣ, Hálfdan 510, 27ˣ;    átti: átti átti 27ˣ    [3] áðr: áðr enn papp17ˣ, 109a IIˣ, 1006ˣ, 173ˣ;    tapi: so 27ˣ, papp17ˣ, 109a IIˣ, ‘tapi[…]’ 510, tapir 1006ˣ, 173ˣ    [7] dugir: ‘daugher’ 27ˣ    [8] sal: ‘salnum’ papp17ˣ, 109a IIˣ, 1006ˣ, 173ˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 272-3, Skj BII, 295, Skald II, 155; Falk 1890, 76, Frið 1893, 16, 46, Frið 1901, 25, Frið 1914, 15.

Context: The prose text of both redactions introduces the idea, attributed to Friðþjófr, that those about to travel to Rán should be well dressed and carry something made of gold about their persons. To this end Friðþjófr decides to cut the ring Ingibjargarnaut ‘Ingibjǫrg’s gift’ into pieces so each man can have one. He then speaks Frið 15.

Notes: [All]: This stanza is an irregular dróttkvætt, rather than the málaháttr suggested by Wenz (Frið 1914, lxxii). Aðalhendingar are lacking in ll. 6 and 8, while l. 6 is hypermetrical when vér ‘we’, present in all mss, is included. Skj B and Skald regularise the metre here by deleting the pron. — [1, 4] skal um höggva þann rauðan hring ‘that red-gold ring must be cut up which’: Lit., ‘one must cut up that red ring’. — [3] tapi ‘can destroy’: The 3rd pers. sg. pres. subj. of tapa ‘destroy, kill’. The scribe of 510 has erased a letter after tapi- and it is not now possible to say what it was. Finnur Jónsson (Skj A n.) suggested it might be a <d>. — [3] ægir ‘the sea’: It is possible that the personified Ægir, male sea-deity, supposedly the husband of Rán (cf. SnE 1998, I, 36, 40-1, 92-5) is intended here rather than the common noun ægir ‘sea’. Frið 1901 and 1914 both treat the noun as a personification.

References

  1. Bibliography
  2. Skj A = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15a. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. A: Tekst efter håndskrifterne. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1967. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
  3. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
  4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
  5. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
  6. Frið 1893 = Larsson, Ludvig, ed. 1893b. Sagan ock rimorna om Friðþiófr hinn frækni. SUGNL 22. Copenhagen: Malmström.
  7. Frið 1901 = Larsson, Ludvig, ed. 1901. Friðþjófs saga ins frœkna. ASB 9. Halle: Niemeyer.
  8. Frið 1914 = Wenz, Gustaf, ed. 1914. Die Friðþjófssaga in ihrer Überlieferung untersucht und der ältesten Fassung kritisch herausgegeben. Halle: Niemeyer.
  9. Falk, Hjalmar. 1890. ‘Om Friðþjófs saga’. ANF 6, 60-102.
  10. Internal references
  11. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Friðþjófs saga ins frœkna 15 (Friðþjófr Þorsteinsson, Lausavísur 13)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 212.
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