StarkSt Vík 28^VIII (Gautr 36)

Skylda ek Víkar         í viði hávum,
Geirþjófs bana,         goðum um signa.
Lagða ek geiri         gram til hjarta;
þat er mér hermast         handaverka.

Ek skylda um signa Víkar, bana Geirþjófs, goðum í hávum viði. Ek lagða geiri til hjarta gram; þat er mér hermast handaverka.

I was obliged to dedicate Víkarr, the slayer of Geirþjófr, to the gods on the high tree. I thrust with the spear to the ruler’s heart; that is for me the most regrettable of the deeds of my hands.

Mss: 590b-cˣ(6r), 152(199vb) (Gautr)

Readings: [2] í viði hávum: ná við hofum 152    [4] um: om. 152    [5] geiri: geir 152    [7] hermast: harmast 152

Editions: Skj AII, 327-8, Skj BII, 347, Skald II, 187; FSN 3, 35, Gautr 1900, 31-2, FSGJ 4, 32; Edd. Min. 42.

Context: As for Gautr 34.

Notes: [All]: Starkaðr again refers to external forces, though without specifying which they are, as the causes of his action in sacrificing Víkarr to the gods. The use of the verb signa ‘dedicate, consecrate’ (l. 4) indicates as much, as does the manner of the sacrifice, which follows the pattern that Óðinn is said to have established both for himself (cf. Hávm 138-41) and for those heroes that he took for himself; on this subject see Turville-Petre (1964, 43-8; ARG I, 409-12, II, 49-50; Simek 1993, 242, 249). Characteristic of Odinic sacrifices are the use of a spear to pierce the victim and the mode of sacrifice, hanging on a tree, which is attested both from medieval ethnographic literature, such as Adam of Bremen’s account of the sacrifices at the temple at Uppsala (Schmeidler 1917, 259-60), and from texts like Hávm. — [3] bana Geirþjófs ‘the slayer of Geirþjófr’: Geirþjófr was one of three brothers, mentioned earlier in Gautr, with whom Víkarr fought for dominance over disputed territory. Geirþjófr is said to have been king of Opplandene; cf. Gautr 25/5-8. — [4] signa ‘dedicate’: Although this verb (ultimately from Lat. signare ‘dedicate, consecrate’) appears more frequently in late Christian skaldic poetry, it also occurs in eddic poems (Sigrdr 8/1, Hyndl 28/10), as well as in Egill Lv 5/8^V (Eg 9), in contexts that are probably early and not obviously Christian. — [7] hermast ‘the most regrettable’: Some eds adopt the spelling of 152, harmast (so FSN; Gautr 1900; Edd. Min.; FSGJ).

References

1. Bibliography
2. FSN = Rafn, Carl Christian, ed. 1829-30. Fornaldar sögur nordrlanda. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. Schmeidler, Bernhard, ed. 1917. Magistri Adami Bremensis. Hamburgische Kirchengeschichte / Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum. Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores rerum Germanicarum 2. 3rd edn. Hannover and Leipzig: Hahn.
5. Turville-Petre, Gabriel. 1964. Myth and Religion of the North. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
6. FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
7. Edd. Min. = Heusler, Andreas and Wilhelm Ranisch, eds. 1903. Eddica Minora: Dichtungen eddischer Art aus den Fornaldarsögur und anderen Prosawerken. Dortmund: Ruhfus. Rpt. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
8. Simek, Rudolf. 1993. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. Trans. Angela Hall. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer.
9. ARG = Vries, Jan de. 1956-7. Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte. 2 vols. 2nd edn. Berlin: de Gruyter.
10. Gautr 1900 = Ranisch, Wilhelm, ed. 1900. Die Gautrekssaga in zwei Fassungen. Palaestra 11. Berlin: Mayer & Müller.
11. Internal references
12. 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Gautreks saga’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 241. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=9> (accessed 26 April 2024)
13. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2022, ‘Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar 9 (Egill Skallagrímsson, Lausavísur 5)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 179.
14. Not published: do not cite ()
15. Not published: do not cite ()
16. Not published: do not cite ()
17. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Gautreks saga 25 (Starkaðr gamli Stórvirksson, Víkarsbálkr 17)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 270.
18. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Gautreks saga 34 (Starkaðr gamli Stórvirksson, Víkarsbálkr 26)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 277.