Heiðr Lv 3VIII (Ǫrv 3)
Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Ǫrvar-Odds saga 3 (Heiðr, Lausavísur 3)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 812.
Naðr ‘A snake’
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naðr (noun m.): snake
[1] Naðr mun þik höggva: naðra mun þik höggva 344a, skal þér ormr tapa 471, 173ˣ, skal þér ormr granda 343a
mun ‘will’
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munu (verb): will, must
[1] Naðr mun þik höggva: naðra mun þik höggva 344a, skal þér ormr tapa 471, 173ˣ, skal þér ormr granda 343a
þik ‘you’
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þú (pron.; °gen. þín, dat. þér, acc. þik): you
[1] Naðr mun þik höggva: naðra mun þik höggva 344a, skal þér ormr tapa 471, 173ˣ, skal þér ormr granda 343a
höggva ‘strike’
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hǫggva (verb): to strike, put to death, cut, hew
[1] Naðr mun þik höggva: naðra mun þik höggva 344a, skal þér ormr tapa 471, 173ˣ, skal þér ormr granda 343a
neðan ‘from below’
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neðan (adv.): (from) below, beneath
[2] neðan á fæti: eiturblandinn 471, 343a, með eitri blandinn 173ˣ
á ‘on’
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3. á (prep.): on, at
[2] neðan á fæti: eiturblandinn 471, 343a, með eitri blandinn 173ˣ
fæti ‘the leg’
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1. fótr (noun m.): foot, leg
[2] neðan á fæti: eiturblandinn 471, 343a, með eitri blandinn 173ˣ
notes
[3] fránn ‘gleaming’: An epithet frequently used of snakes in Old Norse poetry; for examples, cf. LP: 2. fránn adj.
ór ‘from’
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3. ór (prep.): out of
fornum ‘the ancient’
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forn (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): ancient, old
Faxa ‘of Faxi’
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Faxi (noun m.)
notes
[4] Faxa ‘of Faxi’: Lit. ‘the maned one’, name of the horse whose skull will cause Oddr’s death.
hausi ‘skull’
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hauss (noun m.; °hauss, dat. hausi/haus; hausar): skull
[4] hausi: ‘huasi’ 344a, hausa 173ˣ
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
See Introduction above.
The helmingr above is based on 7. Ms. 344a follows the same text for ll. 1-4 but adds two lines which correspond to ll. 7-8 of the version of the younger mss printed below. The three younger mss, 343a, 471 and 173ˣ, have an appreciably different, and longer, version of this stanza, labelled by Finnur Jónsson 3b. The text of this version based on 471 is edited below.
Skal þér ormr tapa eiturblandinn
fránn ór fornum Faxa hausi.
Naðr mun þik höggva neðan á fæti;
þá ertu fullgamall, fylkir, orðinn.
Eiturblandinn ormr skal tapa þér, fránn ór fornum hausi Faxa. Naðr mun höggva þik neðan á fæti; þá ertu, fylkir, fullgamall orðinn.
A serpent mixed with poison will destroy you, gleaming from the ancient skull of Faxi. A snake will strike you from below on the leg; then, you, leader, will have reached your full age.
Readings: [1] tapa: granda 343a [2] eitur-: með eitri 173ˣ [4] hausi: hausa 173ˣ [6] neðan: om. 173ˣ [7] ertu: þú ert 173ˣ
— A comparison of the shorter (7) and longer versions of this stanza shows that ll. 3-6 of the longer one simply rearrange the shorter and then expand to make a full stanza by adding ll. 1-2, which elaborate on the stanza’s essential information, and by adding ll. 7-8, which is also present in 344a. In l. 2, the cpd adj. eiturblandinn ‘mixed with poison’ requires the desyllabified form for metrical reasons, suggesting that this line at least is likely to be a composition of the C14th.
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