Anon (Heiðr) 2^VIII (Heiðr 20)

Spyrjattu at því;         spakr ert eigi,
vinr víkinga;         ertu vanfarinn.
Förum fráliga,         sem fætr toga;
allt er úti         ámátt firum.

Spyrjattu at því; ert eigi spakr, vinr víkinga; ertu vanfarinn. Förum fráliga, sem fætr toga; allt er ámátt firum úti.

Do not ask about that; you are not wise, friend of vikings; you are in great difficulties. Let’s go quickly, [as fast] as our feet can take us; all is terrible for men outside.

Mss: Hb(73v-74r), 2845(65r), R715ˣ(12v) (Heiðr)

Readings: [1] Spyrjattu: ‘Spiriat þu’ R715ˣ    [2] ert: so R715ˣ, ertu Hb, 2845    [4] ertu: so 2845, þú ert Hb, R715ˣ    [5] fráliga: fljótliga R715ˣ    [6] fætr: so R715ˣ, ‘okkr fo[…]’ Hb, 2845    [7] allt: hallt corrected from allt in the hand of JR R715ˣ    [8] ámátt firum: hurfum heim báðir R715ˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 244, Skj BII, 264, Skald II, 137; Heiðr 1672, 89, FSN 1, 433, 518, Heiðr 1873, 211-12, 314, Heiðr 1924, 19, 105-6, FSGJ 2, 14, Heiðr 1960, 13; Edd. Min. 13.

Context: The speaker is the shepherd, indicated by Hann kvað ‘He said’ in 2845 and Fjárhirðir kvað ‘The shepherd said’ in R715ˣ.

Notes: [6] fætr ‘feet’: Hb is damaged here and the letters difficult to make out with certainty. Hb 1892-6, 354 prints ‘fꝍtr’. — [7] allt ‘all’: In R715ˣ a later hand corrects to ‘hallt’ for the sake of alliteration with its l. 8; see following Note. — [8] ámátt ‘terrible’: Hap. leg., formed from máttr ‘might’ and the intensifying prefix á- (on which see Falk 1928b, 345-50). Cf. ámátligstar ‘the most overwhelming’ GrL 1/7, and see Note there. The reading of R715ˣ, hurfum heim báðir ‘let us both turn home’, is unmetrical.

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. Heiðr 1672 = Verelius, Olaus, ed. 1672. Hervarar Saga på Gammel Gotska. Uppsala: Curio.
5. FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
6. Hb 1892-6 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1892-6. Hauksbók udgiven efter de Arnamagnæanske håndskrifter no. 371, 544 og 675, 4° samt forskellige papirshåndskrifter. Copenhagen: Det kongelige nordiske oldskrift-selskab.
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. Falk, Hjalmar. 1928b. ‘Prefiks-studier’. In Brøndum-Nielsen et al. 1928, 339-50.
10. Heiðr 1873 = Bugge, Sophus, ed. 1873. Hervarar saga ok Heidreks. Det Norske oldskriftselskabs samlinger 17. Christiania (Oslo): Brøgger.
11. Internal references
12. Beatrice La Farge (ed.) 2017, ‘Gríms saga loðinkinna 1 (Grímr loðinkinni, Lausavísur 1)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 289.