FriðÞ Lv 27^VIII (Frið 33)

The following three stanzas concern Friðþjófr’s exile from Norway as an outlaw and his desire to return to Norway and visit King Hringr’s court, where he can be near Ingibjǫrg.

Sigldum vér ór Sogni;
svá fórum vér næstum;
þá lék eldr it efra
í óðali váru.
En nú tekr bál at brenna
í Baldrshaga miðjan;
því mun ek vargr at vísu;
veit ek, því mun heitit.

Vér sigldum ór Sogni; svá fórum vér næstum; þá lék eldr it efra í óðali váru. En nú tekr bál at brenna í miðjan Baldrshaga; því mun ek vargr at vísu; ek veit, mun heitit því.

We sailed out of Sogn; we travelled that way last time; then fire played high above our family homestead. But now the conflagration begins to burn in the middle of Baldrshagi; for that reason I will certainly [be] an outlaw; I know it will be promised.

Mss: papp17ˣ(361r), 109a IIˣ(151r), 1006ˣ(591), 173ˣ(90v) (Frið)

Readings: [6] í Baldrshaga: Baldrshaga all    [7] því: þat 1006ˣ, 173ˣ;    at vísu: so all others, í véum corrected from at vísu in a later hand papp17ˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 277, Skj BII, 298-9, Skald II, 157, NN §§1477, 2831; Falk 1890, 83, Frið 1893, 26, Frið 1901, 39.

Context: Friðþjófr recites this stanza as he and his companions sail out of Sognefjorden.

Notes: [All]: This stanza is only in the B redaction mss, and is in an irregular variant of dróttkvætt. — [3] þá lék eldr it efra ‘then fire played high above’: Lit. ‘then fire played higher up’. It efra is adverbial here, ‘in the upper part, high above’. — [4] óðali ‘family homestead’: In early Norway, óðal ‘allodial lands, patrimony, homestead’ was the inalienable property of a family, inherited in the patriline (cf. Foote and Wilson 1980, 81-2). Here Friðþjófr, who should have enjoyed his father Þorsteinn’s óðal, was forced to watch it burn. — [7] vargr ‘an outlaw’: Lit. ‘a wolf’. The noun has a dual semantic significance, like the OE wearg ‘wolf, accursed one, outlaw’. The phrase vargr í véum ‘outcast in the sanctuaries’ applies particularly to those who have broken the tabu of sanctuary, as is the case here, although the more usual crime so designated was that of killing at an assembly (Foote and Wilson 1980, 402). — [8] mun heitit því ‘it will be promised’: That is, the brothers Helgi and Hálfdan will bring Friðþjófr to court and declare him an outlaw.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. Foote, Peter G. and D. M. Wilson. 1980. The Viking Achievement. 2nd edn. Great Civilizations Series. London: Sidgwick & Jackson.
5. Frið 1893 = Larsson, Ludvig, ed. 1893b. Sagan ock rimorna om Friðþiófr hinn frækni. SUGNL 22. Copenhagen: Malmström.
6. Frið 1901 = Larsson, Ludvig, ed. 1901. Friðþjófs saga ins frœkna. ASB 9. Halle: Niemeyer.
7. Falk, Hjalmar. 1890. ‘Om Friðþjófs saga’. ANF 6, 60-102.