Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Gautreks saga 28 (Starkaðr gamli Stórvirksson, Víkarsbálkr 20)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 273.
Réð Friðþjófr fyrst at senda
heiptarboð horskum jöfri,
hvárt Víkarr vildi gjalda
hilmi skatt eða her þola.
Friðþjófr réð fyrst at senda horskum jöfri heiptarboð, hvárt Víkarr vildi gjalda hilmi skatt eða þola her.
Friðþjófr first sent a message of hostility to the wise prince, [enquiring] whether Víkarr wanted to pay tribute to the ruler or suffer his army.
Mss: 590b-cˣ(4v) (Gautr)
Readings: [1] Friðþjófr: ‘Fridþ.̂’ 590b‑cˣ
Editions: Skj AII, 329, Skj BII, 349, Skald II, 188; FSN 3, 27, Gautr 1900, 23-4, FSGJ 4, 23-4; Edd. Min. 41.
Context: This stanza is said to be Starkaðr’s poetic summary of the situation described in a few lines of saga prose. Friðþjófr, having heard that his two brothers had been killed, returns to Opplandene and regains his kingdom from Víkarr. He then sends a message to Víkarr offering him the choice of paying tribute or facing an enemy attack.
Notes: [1, 2] réð … at senda ‘sent’: Here réð functions as an auxiliary with senda ‘send’. For réð formulas in the sense ‘rule’, which characteristically begin a stanza or a helmingr see, e.g., st. 30/1 below, as well as Anon Nkt 8/1, 12/1, 16/5, 23/1, 28/5II, etc. Cf. also Þjóð Yt 26/5I as well as the kviðuháttr stanza on the Rök stone (Run Ög136VI Ræð Þiðrikr). These formulas must have been a staple of the genealogical kviðuháttr tradition.
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