Herv Lv 14^VIII (Heiðr 36)

Ek vígi svá         virða dauða,
at þér skuluð         allir liggja
dauðir með draugum,         í dys fúnir.
Sel mér, Angantýr,         út ór haugi
hlífum hættan,         Hjálmars bana.

Ek vígi dauða virða svá, at þér skuluð allir liggja dauðir með draugum, fúnir í dys. Sel mér, Angantýr, út ór haugi, {bana Hjálmars}, hættan hlífum.

I curse dead noblemen, so that you will all lie dead with the revenants, rotten in the cairn. Give me, Angantýr, out from the mound, {the slayer of Hjálmarr} [= Tyrfingr], dangerous to shields.

Mss: Hb(74r), R715ˣ(13v-14r) (ll. 1-4, 7-10) (Heiðr)

Readings: [1] vígi: ‘ofkingi’ corrected from ‘of ingi’ or of vígi in the hand of JR R715ˣ    [3] skuluð: þolið R715ˣ    [4] allir: aldri R715ˣ;    liggja: kyrrir corrected from kyrrir liggja in the hand of JR R715ˣ    [6] fúnir: ‘fynir’ Hb    [7] Sel mér: nema þú R715ˣ    [8] út ór haugi: selir mér Tyrfing R715ˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 247, Skj BII, 267, Skald II, 139; Heiðr 1672, 92-3, FSN 1, 438, 521, Heiðr 1873, 218, Heiðr 1924, 28, 110, Heiðr 1960, 78; Edd. Min. 17-18.

Notes: [All]: R715ˣ presents an alternative version of this stanza, as follows:

Ek vígi svá        virða dauða,
at þér þolið        aldri kyrrir,
nema þú, Angantýr,        selir mér Tyrfing,
hlífum hættan,        Hjálmars bana.

Prose Order: Ek vígi svá dauða virða, at þér þolið aldri kyrrir, nema þú, Angantýr, selir mér Tyrfing, hættan hlífum, bana Hjálmars. Translation: I curse dead noblemen so that you will never rest quietly, unless you, Angantýr, give me Tyrfingr, dangerous to shields, slayer of Hjálmarr [= Tyrfingr]. This version lacks alliteration across ll. 3-6, making Hervǫr’s words more a threat than a general curse. As here, the eds of CPB (I, 166) choose Hb’s version (with the same emendation to fúnir ‘rotten’), while the eds of Edd. Min. print ll. 1-8 from Hb (also with emendation to fúnir and changing sel mér ‘give me’ to selðu ‘you give’), replacing ll. 9-10 with ll. 7-8 from what in the present edn is Herv Lv 15 (Heiðr 38). Skj B and Skald print ll. 1-4 from R715ˣ with ll. 7-10 from Hb. — [3-4]: These lines lack alliteration. — [10] bana Hjálmars ‘the slayer of Hjálmarr [= Tyrfingr]’: Hjálmarr inn hugumstóri ‘the Great-minded’ is Hjǫrvarðr’s rival for the hand of Ingibjǫrg, daughter of the king of Sweden. Hjǫrvarðr challenges Hjálmarr to the duel which results in both of their deaths, as well as those of the other sons of Arngrímr. Just before his death Hjálmarr recites his so-called ‘death-song’, Hjálm Lv 4-19 (Ǫrv 14-29). The first seven stanzas of this also appear in Heiðr (Heiðr 6-12), but in the present edition are edited with the poetry from Ǫrv. The kenning is also used in Heiðr 39/2 and 45/2.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. FSN = Rafn, Carl Christian, ed. 1829-30. Fornaldar sögur nordrlanda. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. 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.
6. Heiðr 1672 = Verelius, Olaus, ed. 1672. Hervarar Saga på Gammel Gotska. Uppsala: Curio.
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. Heiðr 1873 = Bugge, Sophus, ed. 1873. Hervarar saga ok Heidreks. Det Norske oldskriftselskabs samlinger 17. Christiania (Oslo): Brøgger.
10. Internal references
11. 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 367. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=23> (accessed 26 April 2024)
12. 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Ǫrvar-Odds saga’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 804. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=35> (accessed 26 April 2024)
13. Not published: do not cite (Hjálm^VIII)
14. Hannah Burrows (ed.) 2017, ‘Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks 38 (Hervǫr, Lausavísur 15)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 398.
15. Hannah Burrows (ed.) 2017, ‘Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks 39 (Angantýr Arngrímsson, Lausavísur 7)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 399.
16. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Ǫrvar-Odds saga 14 (Hjálmarr inn hugumstóri, Lausavísur 4)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 827.