ǪrvOdd Ævdr 28VIII (Ǫrv 98)
Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Ǫrvar-Odds saga 98 (Ǫrvar-Oddr, Ævidrápa 28)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 909.
Heldum allir ór höfn skipum,
þegar fullhugar fengjar væntum.
Hræddumz ekki, meðan höfðingjar
heilir réðu fyr herskipum.
Allir heldum skipum ór höfn, þegar fullhugar væntum fengjar. Hræddumz ekki, meðan heilir höfðingjar réðu fyr herskipum.
We all steered the ships out of the harbour, as soon as we, courageous ones, expected booty. I was not afraid as long as upright chieftains controlled the warships.
Mss: 343a(80v), 471(94v), 173ˣ(62va) (Ǫrv)
Readings: [2] höfn: so 471, 173ˣ, hafi 343a; skipum: so 471, 173ˣ, útan 343a [5] ekki: eigi 173ˣ [7] heilir: so 471, 173ˣ, hollir 343a
Editions: Skj AII, 311, Skj BII, 330, Skald II, 176; Ǫrv 1888, 202, FSGJ 2, 348-9.
Notes: [All]: This stanza does not correspond to any specific passage in the prose saga. — [1] ór höfn ‘out of the harbour’: The reading of 471 and 173ˣ has been chosen over 343a’s ór hafi ‘out of the ocean’, because the latter makes poor sense in context. — [4] væntum ‘we expected’: This is the reading of all mss; both Skj B and Skald emend to væntu ‘[the courageous ones] expected’, presumably assuming that the reference is to Þórðr’s and Hjálmarr’s men and not to the men commanded by Oddr, in the light of the undoubted description of the latter’s new companions as heilir höfðingjar in ll. 6 and 7. — [6, 7] heilir höfðingjar ‘upright chieftains’: That is, Þórðr and Hjálmarr. Heill could also mean ‘unharmed, uninjured’. In the prose saga (Ǫrv 1888, 64-5) Hjálmarr is represented as an almost chivalrous figure, who does not take advantage of those who do not belong to his own warrior class and will not attack women. A little later in the saga it is revealed that Hjálmarr has landed estates in Sweden and is a suitor for the hand of the Swedish king’s daughter. The reading of 343a hollir ‘loyal, faithful’ is also acceptable.
References
- Bibliography
- Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
- Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
- FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
- Ǫrv 1888 = Boer, R. C., ed. 1888. Ǫrvar-Odds saga. Leiden: Brill.
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