Hjálm Lv 12^VIII (Ǫrv 22)

Hvarf ek frá ungri         Ingibjörgu
— skjótt réð um þat — á skapadægri.
Sá mun fljóði         fastnæmr tregi,
er vit síðan         sjámz aldrigi.

Ek hvarf frá ungri Ingibjörgu á skapadægri; skjótt réð um þat. Sá tregi mun fastnæmr fljóði, er vit síðan sjámz aldrigi.

I parted from young Ingibjǫrg on the fated day; that was quickly decided. That grief will [be] firm-grasping for the woman, since we two shall never see each other again.

Mss: 344a(17v), 343a(68v), 471(75r), 173ˣ(37r) (Ǫrv)

Readings: [3] réð: ‘redk’ or ‘redh’ 343a, réð ek 471, 173ˣ;    skapa‑: ‘skara’ 173ˣ    [6] vit: ‘mit’ 344a, hon 343a, 471, 173ˣ    [7] sjámz aldrigi: mik sér aldrigi 343a, 471, sér mik aldrigi 173ˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 295, Skj BII, 315, Skald II, 167, NN §2600; Ǫrv 1888, 103, Ǫrv 1892, 58, FSGJ 2, 259; Edd. Min. 50.

Context: This stanza is the fourth in the sequence beginning with Ǫrv 21, followed by Ǫrv 9 and 7. There is no intervening prose.

Notes: [All]: In the Ǫrv mss, the sequence of stanzas Ǫrv 11, 9, 7, 12 and 13 share common themes: Hjálmarr’s concern with the women of the Swedish court, his reluctant parting from them and, in particular, his parting with Ingibjörg. — [All]: As pointed out in the Note to Ǫrv 18/7-8, there is a considerable similarity between that stanza, especially in the Ǫrv versions, and the present one. The name Ingibjörg also occurs in both. — [3] skjótt réð um þat ‘that was quickly decided’: Treated here as an impersonal intercalary clause. Both Skj and Skald have rézk, based on the readings of the younger mss, and construe skjótt rézk of þat á skapadægri ‘I decided swiftly about that on the fated day’. — [5-8]: In this edn the clause er vit síðan sjámz aldrigi ‘since we two shall never see each other again’ (ll. 7-8) has been treated as generally explanatory, but it is also possible to understand the er-clause, as Skj B does, as referring narrowly to sá tregi ‘that grief’ (ll. 5, 6), explaining what the grief consists in. — [5-6] sá tregi mun fastnæmr fljóði ‘that grief will [be] firm-grasping for the woman’: According to Heiðr, Ingibjörg committed suicide when she heard the news of Hjálmarr’s death, while in Ǫrv she died of grief and shock when she saw Hjálmarr’s ring that Oddr brought back from Samsø.

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. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
6. 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.
7. Ǫrv 1888 = Boer, R. C., ed. 1888. Ǫrvar-Odds saga. Leiden: Brill.
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 11 (Angantýr Arngrímsson, Lausavísur 12)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 823.
13. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Ǫrvar-Odds saga 18 (Hjálmarr inn hugumstóri, Lausavísur 8)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 832.
14. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Ǫrvar-Odds saga 21 (Hjálmarr inn hugumstóri, Lausavísur 11)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 836.
15. 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.