Hergunnr Lv 2^VIII (HjǪ 18)

Held ek upp hrömmum;         hér máttu, jöfurr, líta
hendr Hergunnar;         hefi ek negl óskorna.
Rifna mun þín ólpa,         ef vit, jöfurr, finnumz;
þér skal ei kyrt klappa,         konungr inn suðræni.

Ek held upp hrömmum; hér máttu líta, jöfurr, hendr Hergunnar; ek hefi óskorna negl. Ólpa þín mun rifna, ef vit finnumz, jöfurr; skal ei klappa þér kyrt, inn suðræni konungr.

I hold up my paws; here you can see, prince, Hergunnr’s hands; I have uncut nails. Your cloak will be ripped if we two meet, prince; you will not be stroked gently, southern king.

Mss: 109a IIIˣ(270v), papp6ˣ(51r), ÍBR5ˣ(91-92) (HjǪ)

Readings: [1] Held ek: so ÍBR5ˣ, Heldr 109a IIIˣ, papp6ˣ    [2] máttu: mátt ÍBR5ˣ;    jöfurr líta: so papp6ˣ, ÍBR5ˣ, jöfur líta corrected from líta jöfur líta in scribal hand 109a IIIˣ    [4] ek: so papp6ˣ, ÍBR5ˣ, ek ei 109a IIIˣ    [6] jöfurr: ‘jofr’ 109a IIIˣ;    finnumz: finnuz 109a IIIˣ, papp6ˣ, ‘finnunz’ ÍBR5ˣ    [8] inn: so papp6ˣ, ÍBR5ˣ, inn inn 109a IIIˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 336, Skj BII, 357, Skald II, 193; HjǪ 1720, 38-9, FSN 3, 484, FSGJ 4, 208-9, HjǪ 1970, 33, 89, 148.

Context: Hergunnr threatens Hjálmþér, showing him her hands with their sharp nails and promising to tear his clothes.

Notes: [All]: The threatening behaviour of troll-women towards the male heroes they encounter, particularly their desire to rip them apart with their claws is graphically expressed in GrL 5/8. — [1] hrömmum ‘my paws’: The animal imagery of the previous stanza continues; ON hrammr is used of an animal like a bear, that has sharp nails or claws that can extend and retract from its paws (cf. Fritzner: hrammr). — [7] ei ‘not’: All mss have this form of the adv.; most eds change to eigi with the same meaning. — [8] inn suðræni konungr ‘southern king’: The adj. suðrœnn ‘southern’ is used frequently in Old Norse eddic poetry to refer to characters from the legend of the Niflungar and to other heroic figures (cf. LP: suðrœnn) and those associations may be intended here. In the saga, the geographical location of Hjálmþér’s kingdom is only vaguely indicated. His father Ingi is said to be king of Man(n)heimar ‘Worlds of humans’, a name used elsewhere in Old Norse only in Yng (ÍF 26, 21-2) to refer to Sweden, where the Yngling dynasty established itself, in contrast to the earthly home of the euhemerised Norse gods. In support of this interpretation, Snorri quotes Eyv Hál 2^I, where in l. 6 the phrase í manheimum occurs, though its meaning has been debated, and may have nothing to do with humanity in general; see Note to this stanza in SkP I. The name Manheimar occurs in HjǪ 29/2. In his introduction to HjǪ 1720 and in the edition’s title, Johan Fredrich Peringskiöld equates Manheim (he spells it ‘Mannahem’) with Sweden, following Olaus Rudbeck’s equation (Rudbeck 1679-1702) of Manheim/Sweden, in his Atland eller Manheim, with the lost Atlantis of classical antiquity.

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. LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
5. Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
6. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
7. FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
8. SkP I = Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Ed. Diana Whaley. 2012.
9. HjǪ 1720 = Peringskiöld, Johann, ed. 1720. Hialmters och Olvers saga, Handlande om trenne Konungar i Manahem eller Sverige, Inge, Hialmter, och Inge, samt Olver Jarl och om theras uthresor til Grekeland och Arabien. Stockholm: Horn.
10. HjǪ 1970 = Harris, Richard L., ed. 1970. ‘Hjálmþérs saga: A Scientific Edition’. Ph.D. thesis. University of Iowa.
11. Rudbeck, Olof. 1679-1702. Atland eller Manheim. Atlantica sive Manheim. 4 vols. Uppsala: Curio.
12. Internal references
13. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Ynglinga saga’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=158> (accessed 3 May 2024)
14. Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson, Háleygjatal 2’ 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. 199.
15. Beatrice La Farge (ed.) 2017, ‘Gríms saga loðinkinna 5 (Grímr loðinkinni, Lausavísur 3)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 294.
16. Richard L. Harris (ed.) 2017, ‘Hjálmþés saga ok Ǫlvis 29 (Hundingi konungr, Lausavísur 1)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 521.