ǪrvOdd Ævdr 63VIII (Ǫrv 133)
Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Ǫrvar-Odds saga 133 (Ǫrvar-Oddr, Ævidrápa 63)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 939.
text and translation
Þótta ek hæfr at hjörregni,
þá er vér börðumz á Brávelli.
Bað Hringr þá hamalt fylkja
Odd inn víðförla at orrostu.
Ek þótta hæfr at {hjörregni}, þá er vér börðumz á Brávelli. Þá bað Hringr Odd inn víðförla fylkja hamalt at orrostu.
‘I was thought to be fit for sword-rain [BATTLE], when we fought at Brávǫllr. Then Hringr ordered Oddr inn víðförli (‘the Widely-travelled’) to draw up a wedge-shaped column at the battle. ’
notes and context
There is no support from any of the prose versions of Ǫrv for the claim of this stanza that Oddr participated in the legendary battle at Brávǫllr (pl. Brávellir), where King Haraldr hilditǫnn ‘War-tooth’ was killed and his nephew, Sigurðr hringr ‘Ring’, king of the Swedes, won the victory. The legendary warrior Starkaðr fought on the side of the Swedes and a great many other champions participated, as told in the Brávallaþula ‘List of [participants at] Brávellir’, known to both Saxo Grammaticus (Saxo 2015, I, viii. 1. 1-5. 1, pp. 532-51) and the author of the Icelandic Fornk (ÍF 35, 60-9), based on a version of the now-lost Skjǫldunga saga. In Fornk (ÍF 35, 64), Oddr víðfǫrli is indeed named as one of the participants at the battle, fighting among the Norwegians, so it would seem that whoever composed this stanza was aware of a tradition that put Oddr at the battle. — [5-8]: These lines depend on the composer’s knowledge of the Brávellir legend. According to it, the god Óðinn was the patron of Haraldr hilditǫnn and granted him victory in every battle, teaching him all kinds of warfare. When, at Brávellir, Haraldr saw that Sigurðr hringr had drawn up his army in wedge formation, he realised that Óðinn must have taught this ploy to Hringr, and that the god must have shifted his support from Haraldr to Sigurðr. In this stanza Oddr is said to have led the wedge formation.
readings
- [1] Þótta: Þótti 173ˣ
- [2] at hjörregni: á Brávelli 173ˣ
- [3] þá er vér börðumz: þá vér börðumz 343a, 471, þa ek barðiz 173ˣ
- [4] á Brávelli: ‘a bia velli’ 471, við buðlungs menn 173ˣ
- [6] fylkja: fylgja 173ˣ
- [7] Odd: Óðinn 173ˣ
sources
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.
-
AM 343 a 4° (343a) — 81v/1 - 81v/2
imagesÞótta ek hæfr
at hjörregni,
þá vér börðumz
á Brávelli.
Bað Hringr þá
hamalt fylkja
Odd inn víðförla
at orrostu.Þotta ec hæfr at hiorʀegne · þa vær baurdumzt ꜳ bra velle · bad | hringr þa hamallt fylkia · odd hinn vidfaurla at orrosto ·
(HA)
-
AM 471 4° (471) — 95v - 95v
Þótta ek hæfr
images
at hjörregni,
þá vér börðumz
†a bia velli† .
Bað Hringr þá
hamalt fylkja
Odd inn víðförla
at orrostu. -
AM 173 folx (173x) — 64va/28 - 64vb/4
Þótti ek hæfr
images
á Brávelli ,
þa ek barðiz
við buðlungs menn .
Bað Hringr þá
hamalt fylgja
Óðinn inn víðförla
at orrostu. -
AM 344 b 4°x (344bx) — 34v/10 - 34v/12
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