Angantýr Lv 4^VIII (Heiðr 34)

Segi ek þér, Hervör,         — hlýttu til meðan,
vísa dóttir, —         þat er verða mun.
Sjá mun Tyrfingr,         ef þú trúa mættir,
ætt þinni, mær,         allri spilla.

Ek segi þér, Hervör, þat er mun verða; hlýttu til meðan, dóttir vísa. Sjá Tyrfingr mun spilla allri ætt þinni, mær, ef þú mættir trúa.

I tell you, Hervǫr, what will happen; listen a while, daughter of a prince. That Tyrfingr will destroy all your family, girl, if you are able to believe it.

Mss: Hb(74r), 2845(65v), R715ˣ(13v) (Heiðr)

Readings: [2] meðan: enn 2845    [4] er: om. R715ˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 247, Skj BII, 267, Skald II, 139; Heiðr 1672, 92, FSN 1, 438, 521, Heiðr 217-18, 318-19, Heiðr 1924, 26-7, 109, FSGJ 2, 18, Heiðr 1960, 16; Edd. Min. 17.

Notes: [All]: Tolkien (Heiðr 1960, 16 n. 3) is troubled that Angantýr, who ‘is not yet persuaded to yield up the sword’, should make this prophecy at this point in the poem, and suggests the stanza ‘must be displaced’ from a later point. However, since the stanza can be read as a warning and an explanation of his reluctance, there is no good reason to suppose rearrangement is necessary. — [All]: The eds of CPB (CPB I, 167) print this stanza only in the notes, calling it a ‘duplicate’ despite the fact that ll. 1-4 appear nowhere else in the dialogue and, though ll. 5-8 appear again in Angantýr Lv 9/5-8 (Heiðr 43), there is evidence to suggest that they were not originally part of that stanza (see Note there). — [5-8]: Cf. Harð ch. 15, in which Hǫrðr and his companions break into the mound of the viking Sóti in order to steal certain treasures buried with him. When they take a gold arm-ring, Sóti warns them in verse (Sóti Lv 2/7-10^V(Harð 10) that it will cause the death of all its (male) owners.

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. CPB = Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and F. York Powell, eds. 1883. Corpus poeticum boreale: The Poetry of the Old Northern Tongue from the Earliest Times to the Thirteenth Century. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon. Rpt. 1965, New York: Russell & Russell.
5. Heiðr 1672 = Verelius, Olaus, ed. 1672. Hervarar Saga på Gammel Gotska. Uppsala: Curio.
6. FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
7. Heiðr 1924 = Jón Helgason, ed. 1924. Heiðreks saga. Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks konungs. SUGNL 48. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
8. Heiðr 1960 = Tolkien, Christopher, ed. and trans. 1960. Saga Heiðreks konungs ins vitra / The Saga of King Heidrek the Wise. Nelson Icelandic Texts. London etc.: Nelson.
9. Internal references
10. 2022, ‘ Anonymous, Harðar saga’ 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, pp. 919-944. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=38> (accessed 2 May 2024)
11. Hannah Burrows (ed.) 2017, ‘Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks 68 (Gestumblindi, Heiðreks gátur 21)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 433.
12. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2022, ‘Harðar saga 10 (Sóti, Lausavísur 2)’ 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. 932.
13. Hannah Burrows (ed.) 2017, ‘Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks 43 (Angantýr Arngrímsson, Lausavísur 9)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 402.