Gyðja Lv 5^VIII (Ǫrv 66)

Hvat efldi þik         austan hingat
feiknafullan         ok fláráðan?
Muntu hvarvetna         herja vilja,
er þú Álfi máttir         aldrspell gera.

Hvat efldi þik austan hingat, feiknafullan ok fláráðan? Muntu vilja herja hvarvetna, er þú máttir gera Álfi aldrspell.

What aided you [coming] here from the east, one full of portents and deceits? You must want to harry everywhere, since you were able to cause life-damage to Álfr.

Mss: 344a(23v), 7(56r) (ll. 1-4), 343a(79r), 471(91v), 173ˣ(57v) (Ǫrv)

Readings: [1] Hvat: eða hverr 7, hverir 343a, 471, hverr 173ˣ;    efldi: eggiaði 7, ‘elfdu’ 343a    [2] hingat: so all others, þaðan 344a    [3, 4] feiknafullan ok fláráðan: ‘fręknan fella flaraðan’ 7, fullan ok fláráðan ok frækinn harðla 343a, ‘fullan illsku frænda […]’ 471, fúlan ok fláráðan af flestu illu 173ˣ    [5] Muntu: so all others, muntu nú 344a    [7] þú: þér 343a, om. 471;    Álfi máttir: máttir Álfi 344a, Álfi máttuð 343a, 173ˣ, Álfi mátti 471    [8] aldr‑: aldrs 343a

Editions: Skj AII, 305, Skj BII, 323, Skald II, 173; Ǫrv 1888, 182, FSGJ 2, 330; Edd. Min. 74.

Context: Gyðja continues her questioning of Oddr.

Notes: [All]: Lines 1-4 of this stanza are also in ms. 7 as the final part (ll. 9-12) of Gyðja Lv 2 (Ǫrv 61). See Note to [All] to that stanza. — [1] hvat ‘what’: Ms. 344a’s reading makes better sense in the light of Oddr’s reply to this question, though the variant hverr ‘who’ (sg.) is also possible and was preferred by Edd. Min. Hverir ‘who’ (pl.) is not possible because the verb efldi ‘aided’ is sg. Ms. 7’s [eða] hverr eggjaði þik ‘who urged you on’ makes good sense but is unmetrical. — [3-4] feiknafullan ok fláráðan ‘one full of portents and deceits’: Ms. 344a’s reading is the only one that makes sense and is metrical. The readings of all the other mss are corrupt. Both feiknafullr ‘full of portents’ and fláráðr ‘deceitful’ are adjectives, qualifying an unstated noun referent, viz. Oddr. — [7]: The two words in 344a’s reading máttir Álfi have been reversed to provide a metrically regular line though it is málaháttr rather than fornyrðislag; the latter would require further emendation from Álfi ‘to Álfr’ to Álfs ‘of Álfr’. — [8] aldrspell ‘life-damage’: I.e. ‘death’. This cpd is not treated as a kenning here. It occurs elsewhere in Þorm Þorgdr 2/1^V (Fbr 3), HSt Rst 5/8^I and GunnLeif Merl I 69/4.

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. Ǫrv 1888 = Boer, R. C., ed. 1888. Ǫrvar-Odds saga. Leiden: Brill.
6. Internal references
7. Rolf Stavnem (ed.) 2012, ‘Hallar-Steinn, Rekstefja 5’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 902.
8. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2022, ‘Fóstbrœðra saga 3 (Þormóðr Kolbrúnarskáld, Þorgeirsdrápa 2)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 485.
9. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Ǫrvar-Odds saga 61 (Gyðja, Lausavísur 2)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 876.