Beatrice La Farge (ed.) 2017, ‘Ketils saga hœngs 17 (Forað, Lausavísur 1)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 567.
Forað ek heiti; fædd var ek norðarla,
hraust í Hrafnseyju, hvimleið búmönnum,
ör til áræðis, hvatki er illt skal vinna.
Ek heiti Forað; ek var fædd norðarla, hraust í Hrafnseyju, hvimleið búmönnum, ör til áræðis, hvatki er illt skal vinna.
‘I am named Forað; I was born in northern parts, valiant in Hrafnsey, loathsome to the farmers, swift to attack, whatsoever evil thing shall be done.’
This stanza is introduced by the words: Hún kvað ‘She said’.
[1-2]: With the exception of the name Forað ‘Danger’ these lines are identical in wording to the lines in Feima Lv 1/1-2 (GrL 2), where the giantess Feima identifies herself in answer to the question put to her by Ketill’s son Grímr in a similar episode. On the association of giants with the north see Note to GrL 2/2, 4. In the remaining lines of this and the following stanza, Forað describes how dangerous and abominable she is to human men. In comparable terms, the giantess Hrímgerðr in HHj 19, 22 and 26 names a particular attack she made or planned in the past and describes how dangerous a future encounter with her would be.
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.
Forað ek heiti;
fædd var ek norðarla,
hraust í Hrafnseyju,
hvimleið búmönnum,
órr til áræðis,
hvatki er illt skal vinna.
Forað ek heiti;
fædd var ek norðarla,
hraust í Hrafnseyju,
hvimleið búmönnum,
ör til áræðis,
hvat illt skal vinna.
forað ec heiti | fædd norðarliga | hrꜹst i Hrafneyiu | hvimleið bumonnum | ø̨r til aræðis | ef illt skal vinna |
(VEÞ)
Forrad eg heýte , fæ | dd var eg Nordarla , hraust J hraffnzeýu , huimm læ | yd bumonnum , aur til ärædiß , huattke er Jllt skal vinna. |
(VEÞ)
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