Rloð Lv 5^VIII (Ragn 9)

Rory McTurk (ed.) 2017, ‘Ragnars saga loðbrókar 9 (Ragnarr loðbrók, Lausavísur 5)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 642.

text and translation

notes and context

After proffering to his infant son Sigurðr a gold ring on which the child appears to turn his back, Ragnarr recites this stanza, acknowledging that the child is the grandson of Brynhildr, daughter of Buðli.

[7-8]: The prose immediately preceding this stanza in 1824b, Ragn 1906-8, 136 (and apparently also in 147, Ragn 1906-8, 181), describes Ragnarr taking a gold finger-ring (gull) from his hand and giving it to his newborn son as a naming gift (ath nafnnfesti). When he proffers the ring, his hand comes into contact with the boy’s back (kemr vid bak sveininum), and Ragnarr interprets this as meaning that the child wishes to reject the ring (enn þat virdir Ragnar sva, sem han villde hata gullinu). This looks like a somewhat awkward attempt to explain the reference here to Sigurðr ‘hating’ a ring, which the X and Y redactors of the saga (as preserved respectively in 147 and 1824b) may not have understood. What seems to be implied is that Ragnarr’s son Sigurðr is in prospect a noble chieftain, who wins valuable rings in battle and ‘hates’ them in the sense of breaking them up in order to distribute them to his followers, in the manner of a hringbroti m. ‘ring-breaker’ (LP: hringbroti), i.e. a generous man. See LP: hata and hati ‘hater’ 1.

readings

• [1] Brynhildar: ‘[…]hilld[…]’ 147
• [1] líz (‘lizt’): so 147, leizt 1824b
• [1] brögnum: ‘bra(vg)num’(?) so 147, ‘baravgtunn’ 1824b
• [2] brúnstein hafa fránan: ‘(b)[…]st[…]fa (fr[…]an)’(?) 147
• [3] d*óttur: dróttar 1824b, ‘d[…]tt(ur)’(?) or ‘d[…]tt(ar)’(?) 147
• [3] mögr inn dýri: ‘maurgh enn dyre’ 1824b, ‘m[…]gur enn dy(r)i’(?) 147
• [4] dyggligast: ‘dyggl(í)g(as)t’(?) so 147, ‘dyggꜳst’ 1824b
• [4] hjarta: ‘hi(arta)’(?) so (?) 147, ‘hiatꜳ’ 1824b
• [5] Sjá berr alla ýta: ‘sa berr all[…]’ 147
• [6] undleygs: ‘yndleygs’ 1824b, ‘[…]dl[…]gs’ 147
• [6] boði magni: ‘(b[…]di […]g)[…]’(?) 147
• [7] Buðla niðr er baugi: ‘budla […]ur (er) b(a)ugí’(?) 147
• [8] hatar: ‘hat(ar)’(?) 147
• [8] rauðum (‘radum’): ‘(Rau)du(m)’(?) 147

sources

Text is based on reconstruction from the base text and variant apparatus and may contain alternative spellings and other normalisations not visible in the manuscript text. Transcriptions may not have been checked and should not be cited.

• NKS 1824 b 4° (1824b) — 62v/14 - 62v/17

  Brynhildar leizt †baravgtunn†
  brúnstein hafa fránan
  dróttar †maurgh enn dyre†
  ok †dyggꜳst hiatꜳ†.
  Sjá berr alla ýta
  †yndleygs† boði magni,
  Buðla niðr, er baugi
  bráðgörr, hatar rauðum.

  Brynhilldar leizt baravgtunn. brvn | steín hafa franan. drottar maurgh enn dyre. ok dyggꜳst hiartꜳ. | sea ber alla yta. yndleygs bodí magní. buþla nidr er | baughí brad giorr hatar radum.

  (RM)

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• AM 147 4° (147) — 99v/24 - 99v/27

  †[…]hilld[…]† líz brögnum
  †(b)[…]st[…]fa (fr[…]an)†
  †d[…]tt(ur) m[…]gur enn dy(r)i†
  ok dyggligast hjarta.
  †sa berr all[…]†
  †[…]dl[…]gs (b[…]di […]g)[…]† ,
  †budla […]ur (er) b(a)ugí† ,
  bráðgörr, †hat(ar) (Rau)du(m)†.

  [...]hilld[...] lizt bra | [ugnum br][...]st[...]fa [fr[...]an] d[...]tt[...] m[...]gur enn dy[r]i og dyggl[í]g[as]t hi[ar] | [ta] sa berr all[...]dl[...]gs [b[...]di m[...]g][...] budla [...]ur [er] b[a]ugí | bradgior [hat[ar] ʀau]du[m]

  (SGG)

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