Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Gautreks saga 19 (Starkaðr gamli Stórvirksson, Víkarsbálkr 11)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 265.
Var Víkari vant at fylgja,
þvíat fremstr ok fyrstr í flokki stóð.
Hjuggum hjálma með höfuðgnípum,
brynjur sníddum ok brutum skjöldu.
Var vant at fylgja Víkari, þvíat stóð fremstr ok fyrstr í flokki. Hjuggum hjálma með höfuðgnípum, sníddum brynjur ok brutum skjöldu.
It was difficult to follow Víkarr, because he stood foremost and first in the troop. We hewed helmets with head-peaks, we cut mail-coats and broke shields.
Mss: 590b-cˣ(4r), 152(198vb) (Gautr)
Readings: [1] Var Víkari: Víkari er 152 [3] ok fyrstr: hann 152 [7] brynjur: brynjum 152; sníddum: sneiddu 152 [8] brutum: brutu 152; skjöldu: so 152, hjálma 590b‑cˣ
Editions: Skj AII, 326, Skj BII, 345-6, Skald II, 186; FSN 3, 21, Gautr 1900, 18, FSGJ 4, 18; Edd. Min. 40.
Context: A short prose paragraph summarises the outcome of the battle: Herþjófr’s men put up a good fight, but Víkarr’s select troop prevails in the end. The stanza is put into Starkaðr’s mouth, with the usual svá segir Starkaðr ‘so says Starkaðr’ formula.
Notes: [6] með höfuðgnípum ‘with head-peaks’: The cpd höfuðgnípa is a hap. leg. and its meaning is uncertain. Most interpretations have understood the phrase með höfuðgnípum to be a metaphorical way of referring to the tall heads of the warriors inside their helmets, as in Skj B’s proposed translation vi huggede hjælmene med (på) de höje hoveder ‘we hewed the helmets with (on) the high heads’. However, other senses are possible, including that með ‘with’ might have instrumental function, and refer to some kind of weapon, or that the ‘head-peaks’ were some kind of ornament or crest on top of the warriors’ helmets. The C10th helmet from a chieftain’s grave at Gjermundbu in Ringerike has a crest with a small spike on it (Graham-Campbell 1980, no. 271; Grieg 1947). Swedish helmets from the Vendel period also bore crests, often with protective images of boars surmounting them, as did several from Anglo-Saxon England dated from C7th-11th (Marzinzik 2007, 33-42; Beowulf ll. 303-6). In the Viking Age and later, the typical Scandinavian helmet is conical, as can be seen from the figures on the Bayeux Tapestry and other witnesses (cf. Steuer 1999, 337-8).
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