Gyðja Lv 4VIII (Ǫrv 64)
Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Ǫrvar-Odds saga 64 (Gyðja, Lausavísur 4)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 879.
Auð ‘wealth’
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1. auðr (noun m.; °-s/-ar, dat. -i/-): wealth
þættumk ‘would consider myself’
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2. þykkja (verb): seem, think
ek ‘I’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
eiga ‘to have’
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2. eiga (verb; °á/eigr (præs. pl. 3. pers. eigu/eiga); átti, áttu; átt): own, have
nógan ‘enough’
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gnógr (adj.; °compar. gnógari/gnǿgri, superl. gnógastr/gnǿgstr): abundant
ef ‘if’
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3. ef (conj.): if
ek ‘I’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
inn ‘the’
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2. inn (art.): the
ágæta ‘excellent’
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ágætr (adj.; °compar. ágǽtari/ágǽtri, superl. ágǽtastr/ágǽztr): excellent
[3] ágæta: ítra 343a, 471, 173ˣ
Álf ‘Álfr’
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alfr (noun m.; °; -ar): elf
Blót ‘for him’
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blót (noun n.; °-s; -): sacrifice
notes
[5] ek gaf ‘I gave’: Ms. 344a’s ek gaf ‘I gave’ reflects its version of the following stanza, whereas the other mss’ use of the pres. tense ek gef ‘I [will] give’ is consistent with their version of Ǫrv 65.
ek ‘I’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
notes
[5] ek gaf ‘I gave’: Ms. 344a’s ek gaf ‘I gave’ reflects its version of the following stanza, whereas the other mss’ use of the pres. tense ek gef ‘I [will] give’ is consistent with their version of Ǫrv 65.
honum ‘sacrifices’
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hann (pron.; °gen. hans, dat. honum; f. hon, gen. hennar, acc. hana): he, she, it, they, them...
ok ‘and’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
fjogur ‘four’
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fjórir (num. cardinal): four
hann ‘he’
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hann (pron.; °gen. hans, dat. honum; f. hon, gen. hennar, acc. hana): he, she, it, they, them...
mun ‘will’
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munu (verb): will, must
alla ‘all’
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allr (adj.): all
í ‘into’
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í (prep.): in, into
eld ‘the fire’
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eldr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i/-(HómÍsl¹(1993) 24v²⁴); -ar): fire
[8] eld: elli 343a
draga ‘fling’
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2. draga (verb; °dregr; dró, drógu; dreginn/droget(Hirð NKS 1642 4° 146v²⁹; cf. [$962$])): drag, pull, draw
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Gyðja continues her speech, and the stanza is introduced with þá kvað hon ‘then she said’.
There is an inconsistency between this stanza and the following one, both of which assume that Álfr bjálki is already dead, and the prose texts, which tell that, after Oddr has killed Gyðja, he finds Álfr still alive and finishes him off with his club (cf. Ǫrv 1888, 184-5). In the present stanza Gyðja, evidently assuming her husband is dead, indicates that she has conducted sacrifices and given four farms to the gods in order to try to bring Álfr back to life. Belief in reincarnation is one of the ideas ascribed to Nordic pagans by medieval Christian writers (cf. the prose comment at the end of HHund II (NK 161) that Þat var trúa í fornescio, at menn væri endrbornir ‘it was a belief in olden times that people were reborn’). Gyðja’s final claim that Álfr will fling their enemies into the fire may suggest that she imagines him as a revenant, capable of doing harm to the living.
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