ǪrvOdd Lv 3^VIII (Ǫrv 10)

Því munk orði         andsvör veita:
þeir munu í aptan         Óðin gista,
tólf berserkir,         en vit tveir lifa.

Munk veita andsvör því orði: þeir munu gista Óðin í aptan, tólf berserkir, en vit tveir lifa.

I will give answer to that speech: they will have lodging with Óðinn this evening, the twelve berserks, but we two will live.

Mss: 2845(63v), R715ˣ(9v) (Heiðr); 344a(16v) (Ǫrv)

Readings: [1] Því munk orði: so R715ˣ, því mun orði 2845, ‘Ansa mun eg’ corrected from ‘Ern suo en ek þiat einu’ in a later hand, with all but the last word crossed through 344a    [2] andsvör veita: ‘ordi hnekia’ or ‘hnekti’ 344a    [3] munu: skulu R715ˣ, 344a    [4] Óðin: ‘odin’ corrected from ‘odir’ R715ˣ;    gista: so R715ˣ, 344a, ‘gg’ 2845    [5] berserkir: so R715ˣ, 344a, added in left margin in scribal hand 2845    [6] vit: ‘vid’ or ‘vit’ 344a

Editions: Skj AII, 291, Skj BII, 312, Skald II, 166; Heiðr 1924, 10-11, 98, Heiðr 1960, 6; Ǫrv 1888, 99, Ǫrv 1892, 53-4, FSGJ 2, 254; Edd. Min. 63.

Context: In both Ǫrv and Heiðr this stanza is attributed to Oddr. It follows almost immediately from Ǫrv 9, and is introduced with the words Oddr segir ‘Oddr says’ (Heiðr) or Þá segir Oddr enn svá ‘Then Oddr speaks again thus’ (Ǫrv).

Notes: [All]: This stanza is a riposte or correction to Hjálmarr’s prediction in the previous stanza. Oddr asserts that the situation will be the opposite of what Hjálmarr imagines, viz. the berserks will be the ones to die (be Óðinn’s guests) and they two will survive. Hence, ll. 3-6 represent a variation on ll. 5-8 of Ǫrv 9 in both the Heiðr and Ǫrv mss. Lines 1-2 differ in the two traditions, and that of the sole Ǫrv ms. at this point, 344a, is obviously corrupt. A later hand has tried to correct it. Boer (Ǫrv 1888, 1892) read En ek þvíat einu | orþi hnekti (hnektak Ǫrv 1892), translating with a prose order En ek hnekta því eino orðe ‘Aber ich wies solches nur mit diesem anspruch zurück’ (Ǫrv 1892, 103), ‘But I dismissed this with a single claim’. See further, for this emended text, Boer’s discussion (1892b, 124 and n. 1). Edd. Min. has a similar text in square brackets based on 344a. Both Skj (A and B) and Skald follow the Heiðr text of this stanza, as does the present edn.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
4. 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.
5. Heiðr 1924 = Jón Helgason, ed. 1924. Heiðreks saga. Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks konungs. SUGNL 48. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
6. Ǫrv 1888 = Boer, R. C., ed. 1888. Ǫrvar-Odds saga. Leiden: Brill.
7. 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.
8. Ǫrv 1892 = Boer, R. C., ed. 1892a. Ǫrvar-Odds saga. Altnordische Saga-Bibliothek 2. Halle: Niemayer.
9. Internal references
10. 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 367. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=23> (accessed 25 April 2024)
11. 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Ǫrvar-Odds saga’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 804. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=35> (accessed 25 April 2024)
12. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Ǫrvar-Odds saga 9 (Hjálmarr inn hugumstóri, Lausavísur 3)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 821.