ǪrvOdd Lv 30^VIII (Ǫrv 67)

Efldu mik örvar         ok Jólfs smíði,
stórgör skeyti         ok stinnr bogi,
ok þat it fimta,         er þú fregna skalt,
at ek við ásu         aldri þýddumk.

Örvar ok smíði Jólfs efldu mik, stórgör skeyti ok stinnr bogi, ok þat it fimta, er þú skalt fregna, at ek þýddumk aldri við ásu.

The arrows and Jólfr’s handiwork aided me, the huge shafts and the strong bow, and the fifth thing which you must hear of, that I never submitted to the gods.

Mss: 344a(23v), 343a(79r), 471(91v), 173ˣ(57v) (Ǫrv)

Readings: [1] Efldu: ‘Elfdu’ 343a, ‘[…]’ 471    [2] Jólfs: ‘jo[…]’ 471, ‘Jols’ 173ˣ    [4] ok: enn 343a, 471, 173ˣ    [6] þú: om. 471    [7] ásu: ása all    [8] þýddumk: blíðkumk 343a, líkiumk 471, 173ˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 305, Skj BII, 323-4, Skald II, 173; Ǫrv 1888, 182, FSGJ 2, 330-1; Edd. Min. 75.

Context: Oddr replies to Gyðja’s questions in the previous stanza.

Notes: [All]: Ms. 471 is almost illegible in several places for this stanza and the next two (Ǫrv 68 and 69) and some of its readings are uncertain. — [1-2] örvar ok smíði Jólfs ‘the arrows and Jólfr’s handiwork’: Presumably Oddr refers here both to the Gusisnautar, the three magical arrows which his ancestor Ketill hœngr obtained from the Saami king Gusir and which, according to Ǫrv, Oddr’s father Grímr gave to him (Ǫrv 1888, 24-5), and to the three stone arrows that he received from the old man Jólfr not long before the Bjálkaland expedition and used to lay Álfr low (or to kill Gyða, according to the version of 7). — [5-8]: As with many of the other stanzas in this dialogue, and the Bjálkaland episode as a whole, especially in the versions younger than 7, Oddr is made out to be strongly opposed to Old Norse paganism. Earlier in the saga (Ǫrv 1888, 9), Oddr has professed himself opposed to pagan sacrifice (blót), preferring to rely on his own powers. — [7] við ásu ‘to the gods’: The collective name (æsir) of the pre-Christian Norse gods. All mss read ása, but the acc. pl. is needed after við. — [8] þýddumk aldri ‘I never submitted’: The other mss have different verbs; 343a has blíðkumk ‘I softened’, while 471 and 173ˣ have líkjumk ‘I resembled, was like’, the latter not providing a good fit as far as sense is concerned.

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. 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 2 May 2024)
8. Not published: do not cite (Keth^VIII)
9. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Ǫrvar-Odds saga 68 (Ǫrvar-Oddr, Lausavísur 31)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 883.