StarkSt Vík 27VIII (Gautr 35)
Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Gautreks saga 35 (Starkaðr gamli Stórvirksson, Víkarsbálkr 27)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 278.
Þess ‘With this’
notes
[All]: This stanza has only six lines in both mss but no gaps to indicate lacunae, and has other irregularities as well. Both syntax and sense suggest that the first line might originally have been part of a main clause, the rest of which is missing, while l. 3 changes to kviðuháttr, leading Gautr 1900 and FSGJ to adjust ll. 2-3 to at Þórr um skóp | mér níðings nafn. — [1] þess eyrendis ‘with this result’: One has to assume that this line is part of an otherwise unpreserved clause, which presumably related to the struggle between Óðinn and Þórr to govern Starkaðr’s fate, as reported in the prose text and also in Saxo. In particular when Óðinn granted him to live for three human lifespans, Þórr countered that hann skal vinna níðingsverk á hverjum mannzalldri ‘he will perform a níðingr’s deed in each human lifespan’ (cf. Gautr 1900, 29). The particular níðingsverk in this case is Starkaðr’s killing of Víkarr. The word eyrendi here means ‘result, consequence’ (of a particular message or action), as it does in some eddic poetry (cf. LP: ørendi), including Þry 10/1 (NK 112), Hefir þú erindi sem erfiði? ‘Have you got a result for your trouble?’
Þess ‘With this’
notes
[All]: This stanza has only six lines in both mss but no gaps to indicate lacunae, and has other irregularities as well. Both syntax and sense suggest that the first line might originally have been part of a main clause, the rest of which is missing, while l. 3 changes to kviðuháttr, leading Gautr 1900 and FSGJ to adjust ll. 2-3 to at Þórr um skóp | mér níðings nafn. — [1] þess eyrendis ‘with this result’: One has to assume that this line is part of an otherwise unpreserved clause, which presumably related to the struggle between Óðinn and Þórr to govern Starkaðr’s fate, as reported in the prose text and also in Saxo. In particular when Óðinn granted him to live for three human lifespans, Þórr countered that hann skal vinna níðingsverk á hverjum mannzalldri ‘he will perform a níðingr’s deed in each human lifespan’ (cf. Gautr 1900, 29). The particular níðingsverk in this case is Starkaðr’s killing of Víkarr. The word eyrendi here means ‘result, consequence’ (of a particular message or action), as it does in some eddic poetry (cf. LP: ørendi), including Þry 10/1 (NK 112), Hefir þú erindi sem erfiði? ‘Have you got a result for your trouble?’
eyrendis ‘result’
(not checked:)
1. ørendi (noun n.; °-s; -): errand, news
notes
[1] þess eyrendis ‘with this result’: One has to assume that this line is part of an otherwise unpreserved clause, which presumably related to the struggle between Óðinn and Þórr to govern Starkaðr’s fate, as reported in the prose text and also in Saxo. In particular when Óðinn granted him to live for three human lifespans, Þórr countered that hann skal vinna níðingsverk á hverjum mannzalldri ‘he will perform a níðingr’s deed in each human lifespan’ (cf. Gautr 1900, 29). The particular níðingsverk in this case is Starkaðr’s killing of Víkarr. The word eyrendi here means ‘result, consequence’ (of a particular message or action), as it does in some eddic poetry (cf. LP: ørendi), including Þry 10/1 (NK 112), Hefir þú erindi sem erfiði? ‘Have you got a result for your trouble?’
at ‘that’
(not checked:)
4. at (conj.): that
[2] at mér Þórr: so but with repetition of the whole phrase 152, at mér þar 590b‑cˣ
mér ‘for me’
(not checked:)
ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
[2] at mér Þórr: so but with repetition of the whole phrase 152, at mér þar 590b‑cˣ
Þórr ‘Þórr’
(not checked:)
Þórr (noun m.): Thor; giant, ogre, monster
[2] at mér Þórr: so but with repetition of the whole phrase 152, at mér þar 590b‑cˣ
um ‘shaped’
(not checked:)
2. um (particle): (particle)
skóp ‘’
(not checked:)
2. skapa (verb): form
notes
[All]: Again, as in the previous stanza, Starkaðr attributes the cause of his apparently inexplicable behaviour, changing from loyal champion to treacherous king-killer, to supernatural powers, in this case the god Þórr.
níðings ‘of traitor’
(not checked:)
níðingr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i/-; -ar): villian, scoundrel
notes
[3] nafn níðings ‘the name of traitor’: The Old Norse noun níðingr has a semi-legal sense and encompasses the semantic range ‘wretch, worthless man, traitor, apostate’, terms that indicate that the person in question was both socially and morally undesirable (cf. Meulengracht Sørensen 1983, 31-2). The noun is strongly condemnatory, and derives from the noun níð ‘insult, shaming slander’, itself a term defined in both early Norwegian and Icelandic law codes (NGL I, 70; Grg II, 392). In Starkaðr’s case, his crime is that of treachery towards his lord, King Víkarr, whom he killed unintentionally in what he was led by Óðinn to believe was a mock sacrifice.
nafn ‘the name’
(not checked:)
nafn (noun n.; °-s; *-): name
notes
[3] nafn níðings ‘the name of traitor’: The Old Norse noun níðingr has a semi-legal sense and encompasses the semantic range ‘wretch, worthless man, traitor, apostate’, terms that indicate that the person in question was both socially and morally undesirable (cf. Meulengracht Sørensen 1983, 31-2). The noun is strongly condemnatory, and derives from the noun níð ‘insult, shaming slander’, itself a term defined in both early Norwegian and Icelandic law codes (NGL I, 70; Grg II, 392). In Starkaðr’s case, his crime is that of treachery towards his lord, King Víkarr, whom he killed unintentionally in what he was led by Óðinn to believe was a mock sacrifice.
nauð ‘distress’
(not checked:)
neyð (noun f.; °dat. -): need, distress
margskonar ‘of many kinds’
(not checked:)
margskonr (noun m.)
hlaut ‘was fated’
(not checked:)
hljóta (verb): alot, gain
ek ‘I’
(not checked:)
ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
óhróðingr ‘inglorious’
(not checked:)
óhróðingr (adj.)
ilt ‘evil deeds’
(not checked:)
illr (adj.): bad, evil, unwell
at ‘to’
(not checked:)
5. at (nota): to (with infinitive)
vinna ‘perform’
(not checked:)
2. vinna (verb): perform, work
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
As for Vík 26.
[3]: The metre of this line is kviðuháttr.
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