Herv Lv 16VIII (Heiðr 40)
Hannah Burrows (ed.) 2017, ‘Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks 40 (Hervǫr, Lausavísur 16)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 400.
text and translation
Ek mun hirða ok í hendr nema
hvassan mæki, ef ek hafa mættak.
Uggi ek eigi eld brennanda;
þegar loga lægir, er ek lít yfir.
Ek mun hirða hvassan mæki ok nema í hendr, ef ek mættak hafa. Ek uggi eigi brennanda eld; loga lægir þegar, er ek lít yfir.
‘I will guard the sharp sword and take it in my hands, if I might have it. I do not fear the burning fire; the flame will subside as soon as I look upon it. ’
notes and context
[1]: The stanza is interrupted at the end of this half-line in Hb with the attribution segir hon ‘she says’. This is clearly not part of the verse and is indicated as separate from it in the ms. by the placing of a vertical stroke on either side of the interjection. — [5-8]: In these lines Hervǫr responds to ll. 3-4 of the previous stanza: allr er hann útan | eldi sveipinn ‘on the outside it is all encircled by fire’. — [7-8]: Ms. R715ˣ offers er framliðnum fyrðum | leikr um sjónir ‘which plays around the eyes of the deceased warriors’, which is unmetrical. In the readings in Skj A Finnur Jónsson suggests that the reading may originally have been er framm-liðnum | leikr fyr sjónum ‘which plays around the deceased before [my] sight’, but this lacks alliteration. The variant is clearly secondary.
readings
- [1] mun: so 2845, R715ˣ, man Hb
- [1] hirða: so 2845, R715ˣ, hirða segir hon Hb
- [2] hendr: hönd 2845, R715ˣ
- [4] mættak: ‘gnædi’ R715ˣ
- [5] Uggi: ‘higg’ R715ˣ
- [7, 8] þegar loga lægir er ek lít yfir: þann er framliðnum fyrðum leikr um sjónir R715ˣ
sources
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.
-
AM 544 4° (Hb) — 74r/33 - 74r/34
imagesEk man hirða segir hon
ok í hendr nema
hvassan mæki,
ef ek hafa mættak.
Uggi ek eigi
eld brennanda;
þegar loga lægir,
er ek lít yfir.Ek man hirða |segir hon| ok i hendr nema hvarsan mæki ef ek | hafa mættag vɢi ek eigi elld brenanda þegar loga lægir er ek lit yfir
(HA)
-
GKS 2845 4° (2845) — 65v/14 - 65v/15
imagesEk mun hirða
ok í hönd nema
hvassan mæki,
ef ek hafa mættak.
Uggi ek eigi
eld brennanda;
þegar loga lægir,
er ek lít yfir.Ek mun hirda ok ⸜i⸝ hond nema huassan mækí ef | ek hafa mǽttag uggi ek eigi elld brenanda þegar loga lægir er ek lit yfir
(HA)
-
UppsUB R 715x (R715x) — 14r/13 - 14r/16
Ek mun hirða
images
ok í hönd nema
hvassan mæki,
ef ek hafa †gnædi†.
†higg† ek eigi
eld brennanda;
þann er framliðnum fyrðum leikr um sjónir ,
.
editions and texts
Skj: Anonyme digte og vers [XIII], E. 5. Vers af Fornaldarsagaer: Af Hervararsaga III 16: AII, 248, BII, 268, Skald II, 139; Heiðr 1672, 93-4, FSN 1, 440, 521, Heiðr 1873, 220, 320, Heiðr 1924, 29-30, 111, FSGJ 2, 20, Heiðr 1960, 17; Edd. Min. 18-19.
Stanza/chapter/text segment
Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.
Information tab
- text: if the stanza has been published, the edited text of the stanza and translation are here; if it hasn't been published an old edition (usually Skj) is given for reference
- sources: a list of the manuscripts or inscriptions containing this stanza, with page and line references and links (eye button) to images where available, and transcription where available
- readings: a list of variant manuscript readings of words in the main text
- editions and texts: a list of editions of the stanza with links to the bibliography; and a list of prose works in which the stanza occurs, allowing you to navigate within the prose context
- notes and context: notes not linked to individual words are given here, along with the account of the prose context for the stanza, where relevant
Interactive tab
The text and translation are given here, with buttons to toggle whether the text is shown in the verse order or prose word order. Clicking on indiviudal words gives dictionary links, variant readings, kennings and notes, where relevant.
Full text tab
This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.
Chapter/text segment
This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.