Hjþ Lv 14VIII (HjǪ 41)
Richard L. Harris (ed.) 2017, ‘Hjálmþés saga ok Ǫlvis 41 (Hjálmþér Ingason, Lausavísur 14)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 532.
In the autumn, following a sea battle in which King Hundingi and his forces are defeated, Hjálmþér, Ǫlvir and Hǫrðr venture to a marvellous land where Hǫrðr seems to die in his sleep. Hjálmþér becomes enraged with Ǫlvir momentarily. He then voices his determination to carry their faithful companion home for burial.
Berum á baki okru brodda framkeyri,
launum svá líf honum, látum hann eigi eptir.
Heygjum Hörð hvergi, fyrr en heim komum,
gröfum hann heima hallar vegg undir.
Berum á baki okru {framkeyri brodda}, launum honum svá líf, látum hann eigi eptir. Heygjum Hörð hvergi, fyrr en komum heim, gröfum hann heima undir vegg hallar.
Let us [me] carry {the forward-driver of spear-points} [WARRIOR = Hǫrðr] on our [my] back, repay him thus for life; let us [me] not leave him behind. Let us [me] bury Hǫrðr nowhere, before we [I] come home, let us [me] bury him at home beneath the wall of the hall.
Mss: 109a IIIˣ(280r), papp6ˣ(58v), ÍBR5ˣ(103) (HjǪ)
Readings: [1] Berum: so ÍBR5ˣ, Berum vit 109a IIIˣ, papp6ˣ; okru: so ÍBR5ˣ, okkar 109a IIIˣ, om. papp6ˣ [5] Heygjum: so ÍBR5ˣ, ‘heyum’ 109a IIIˣ, ‘heijum’ papp6ˣ [6] heim: om. but added above the line in another hand papp6ˣ [7] hann: so papp6ˣ, ‘hann ytar’ 109a IIIˣ, ‘hann ytran’ ÍBR5ˣ; heima: so papp6ˣ, ÍBR5ˣ, heims 109a IIIˣ [8] hallar: hallar with und written above in another hand papp6ˣ; vegg: veggum papp6ˣ; undir: undir crossed out papp6ˣ
Editions: Skj AII, 340, Skj BII, 362, Skald II, 196, NN §183; HjǪ 1720, 70, FSN 3, 510, FSGJ 4, 235, HjǪ 1970, 57, 107-8, 174-5.
Context: Hjálmþér speaks this stanza after his shock discovery that Hǫrðr is dead.
Notes: [All]: Hjálmþérsrímur express the substance of this stanza in three much more prolix stanzas (IX, 36-8, Finnur Jónsson 1905-22, II, 61). — [2] framkeyri brodda ‘the forward-driver of spear-points [WARRIOR = Hǫrðr]’: Cf. Meissner 297. — [3] launum honum svá líf ‘repay him thus for life’: Hjálmþér refers to Hǫrðr’s saving of his own life in several episodes of the saga. — [7] gröfum hann heima ‘let us [me] bury him at home’: Most eds prefer this, the original reading of papp6ˣ (so FSN; FSGJ; Skald), and leave out of account a word that appears in both 109a IIIˣ and ÍBR5ˣ (‘ytar’ or ‘ytran’). Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) interprets this word as ítran ‘remarkable’, construing ‘let us bury the remarkable man by the wall of the hall’. Alternatively, ms. ÍBR5ˣs form could be construed as ytran ‘outer’, agreeing with vegg ‘wall’ (l. 8), but, as Kock has observed (NN §183), a non-alliterating nomen is not usually found immediately before one that alliterates. He suggests that the mss’ ytar or ytran are remnants of an original word beginning with <h>.
References
- Bibliography
- Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
- FSN = Rafn, Carl Christian, ed. 1829-30. Fornaldar sögur nordrlanda. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
- Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
- NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
- Meissner = Meissner, Rudolf. 1921. Die Kenningar der Skalden: Ein Beitrag zur skaldischen Poetik. Rheinische Beiträge und Hülfsbücher zur germanischen Philologie und Volkskunde 1. Bonn and Leipzig: Schroeder. Rpt. 1984. Hildesheim etc.: Olms.
- FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
- Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1905-22. Rímnasafn: Samling af de ældste islandske rimer. 2 vols. SUGNL 35. Copenhagen: Møller.
- 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.
- HjǪ 1970 = Harris, Richard L., ed. 1970. ‘Hjálmþérs saga: A Scientific Edition’. Ph.D. thesis. University of Iowa.
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.