R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Anonymous Poems, Eiríksmál 7’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1011.
‘Hví namt þú hann sigri þá, es þér þótti hann snjallr vesa?’
‘Því at óvíst es at vita *, nær ulfr inn hǫsvi
sœkir á sjǫt goða.’
‘Hví namt þú hann sigri þá, es hann þótti þér vesa snjallr?’ ‘Því at óvíst es at vita *, nær inn hǫsvi ulfr sœkir á sjǫt goða.’
‘‘Why did you deprive him of victory then, when he seemed to you to be valiant?’ ‘Because it cannot be known for certain when the grey wolf will attack the home of the gods.’’
As for st. 1 (Fsk).
The stanza comprises a málaháttr couplet and three lines of ljóðaháttr. — [1]: The speaker is presumably Sigmundr, though there is no overt indication of this in the mss. — [3]: Sahlgren (1927-8, I, 7, and similarly Skald and Lindquist 1929, 10) supplies after l. 2, Vas þó verðr gagns frá goðum ‘Yet he was worthy of victory from the gods’ (cf. Eyv Hák 12/3). This is unnecessary, however: see Note to st. 6/3. — [3] því es óvíst at vita * ‘because it cannot be known for certain’: Lit. ‘because it is uncertain to know’. Óðinn is identified as the speaker in the mss, though the identification, being extrametrical, is omitted here. See Introduction to the poem.
Text is based on reconstruction from the base text and variant apparatus and may contain alternative spellings and other normalisations not visible in the manuscript text. Transcriptions may not have been checked and should not be cited.
Hvi namt þu hann sigri | þa er þer þotti | hann sniallr vera . | þuiat ovist er at vita / sagðe oðenn / | ner Vlfr en hausve | a siot goða . |
(RDF)
‘Hví namt þú hann sigri þá,
es þér þótti hann snjallr vesa?’
‘Því at óvíst es vita sagði Óðinn ,
sér ulfr inn hǫsvi
á sjǫt goða.’
Hvi namt þu hann sigri þa | er þer þotti hann sniallr vera | þviat ovist er at vita | sagðe odenn | ser ulfr enn hausve | asiot goða |
(RDF)
‘Hví namt þú hann sigri þá,
es þér þótti hann snjallr vesa?’
‘Því at óvíst es vita sagði Óðinn ,
sér ulfr inn hǫsvi
á sjǫt goða.’
Hvi namt þu hann sigri þa | er þer þotti hann sniallr vera | þvi at ovist er at vita | sagðe oþinn | ser ulfr enn hausve | asiot goða |
(VEÞ)
‘Hví namt þú hann sigri þá,
es þér þótti hann snjallr vesa?’
‘Því at óvíst es vita sagði Óðinn ,
sér ulfr inn hǫsvi
á sjǫt goða.’
Hvi namt þu hann sigri þa er þer þotti han | sniallr vera , þviat ovist er at vita sagðe oðenn | ser ulfr enn hausve asiot goða .
(VEÞ)
Skj: Anonyme digte og vers [X], I. A. [1]. Eiríksmál 7: AI, 175, BI, 165, Skald I, 89; Fsk 1902-3, 29 (ch. 7), ÍF 29, 79 (ch. 8); Möbius 1860, 232, Gordon 1957, 149, Jón Helgason 1968, 23.
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