Bǫðmóðr Lv 2^VIII (Ket 30)

Upp skaltu rísa         ok ganga haugi af
        ok sækja mína sali.
Málsefnis         ann ek þér margan dag,
        ef þú vilt þiggja þar.

Skaltu rísa upp ok ganga af haugi ok sækja sali mína. Ek ann þér málsefnis margan dag, ef þú vilt þiggja þar.

You must rise up and leave the mound and visit my halls. I will grant you hospitality for many a day, if you will accept it there.

Mss: 343a(57v), 471(55r) (Ket)

Editions: Skj AII, 285, Skj BII, 306, Skald II, 162, FF §43; FSN 2, 134-5, FSGJ 2, 176, Anderson 1990, 57, 104, 441; Edd. Min. 83.

Context: The stanza follows straight on from the previous one and is introduced by the words: Böðmóðr kvað ‘Bǫðmóðr said’.

Notes: [All]: This stanza and the next resemble the first and second stanzas of the saga, in which Brúni invites Ketill into his home and Ketill accepts the invitation. In both cases Ketill repeats in his answer words or phrases used by his host. — [1-2]: In several mss Bǫðmóðr’s invitation consists only of a long-line comprising ll. 1-2. The only words which can alliterate are the adv. upp and the prep. af, which follows its object. Since the prep. af is the last syllable of the line but the main alliterating word (head-stave), some eds introduce or suggest emendation to ganga af Árhaugi (‘leave Árhaugr’, Edd. Min. 83 n.), eigra haugi af ‘saunter off the grave-mound’ (Skj B) or ok af ganga haugi ‘and leave the mound’ (Skald and FF §43). The same emendations are suggested or made by these eds for Ket 31/2. The only objection to the line as it appears in the mss is that the position of the head-stave does not accord with the rule that it should appear in the first stressed syllable in the second half-line (cf. von See 1967, 2; NN §2402). — [4] málsefnis ‘hospitality’: While in Skj B Finnur Jónsson interprets málsefni as a reference to food and drink (mál ‘meal’, efni ‘stuff’; see the translation måltid ‘meal’ in Skj B), the eds of Edd. Min. (Edd. Min. 144) and Finnur Jónsson elsewhere (LP: málsefni) translate the cpd as ‘opportunity for talk’ (mál = ‘speech’), apparently based on the sense the word has in Kolb Lv 10/6^IV. The offer of food for many a day (cf. Hávm 35, 37, 66-7) appears more plausible in this context than the offer of conversation.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. FSN = Rafn, Carl Christian, ed. 1829-30. Fornaldar sögur nordrlanda. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
6. 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.
7. FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
8. Edd. Min. = Heusler, Andreas and Wilhelm Ranisch, eds. 1903. Eddica Minora: Dichtungen eddischer Art aus den Fornaldarsögur und anderen Prosawerken. Dortmund: Ruhfus. Rpt. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
9. See, Klaus von. 1967. Germanische Verskunst. Sammlung Metzler 67. Stuttgart: Metzler.
10. Anderson, Sarah M. 1990. ‘The Textual Transmission of Two Fornaldarsögur: Ketils saga høings and Gríms saga loðinkinna’. Ph.D. thesis. Cornell University…
11. FF = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1922. Fornjermansk forskning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 18:1. Lund: Gleerup.
12. Internal references
13. Not published: do not cite ()
14. Not published: do not cite (Kolb Lv 10^IV)
15. Beatrice La Farge (ed.) 2017, ‘Ketils saga hœngs 31 (Ketill hœngr, Lausavísur 18)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 583.