Anon Gyð 9^VII

‘Seldu mier í veð valdan
veðrbjóðandi, og, góðan
… — þú gull of hreppir —
geira, einn eða fleiri’.

‘Seldu mier í veð einn valdan og góðan … eða fleiri, {{geira veðr}bjóðandi}; þú of hreppir gull’.

‘Give me as a pledge one select and good … or more, {offerer {of the storm of spears}} [BATTLE > MAN]; you will obtain gold’.

Mss: B(14v), 399a-bˣ

Readings: [1] veð valdan: so 399a‑bˣ, BRydberg, BFJ, ‘[...]ed [...]aldan’ B    [3] …: ‘[...]t’ B, ‘[...]’ 399a‑bˣ, ‘[...](æpp)’(?) BRydberg, ‘[...]t[...]at’ BFJ;    gull: ‘gu[...]’ B, 399a‑bˣ, BRydberg, ‘[...]’ BFJ;    of hreppir: ‘of hr(æ)pper’(?) 399a‑bˣ, BRydberg, þess er BFJ    [4] geira: so 399a‑bˣ, BRydberg, BFJ, ‘g[...]ra’ B

Editions: Skj AII, 540Skald II, 332; Rydberg 1907, 43, 59, Attwood 1996a, 348.

Notes: [All]: B is extremely dark and very badly worn, and it is not possible to reconstruct this st. in its entirety. After this point also the ms. disintegrates into tatters. Finnur Jónsson does not attempt to present any of st. 9 in Skj B, and Kock (relying on Skj A’s transcription) is certain only of the opening couplet. This edn reconstructs most of the first helmingr, relying on readings from 399a-bˣ and Rydberg. After fol. 14v, l. 31, although occasional words are legible, further attempts at reconstruction are fruitless. The legible words and letters may be found in the transcription of B in the electronic edn of Gyð. — [3] …: Traces of a <t> and a possible superscript abbreviation are visible. It is clear from the context that a m. noun (to agree with einn ‘one’, l. 4) indicating the nature of the required pledge should be supplied, and that it must have initial g (for alliteration) and skothending with hreppir. It appears likely from the forms of the adjectives valdan ‘select’ (l. 1) and góðan ‘good’ (l. 2) that the missing word should be acc. sg. Rydberg (1907, 60) suggests that the missing word is grepp, acc.sg. of m. greppr ‘poet, man’ (see LP: greppr). Grepp would provide aðalhending with hrepp-, where only skothending is required. Another possibility, suggested by Kari Ellen Gade, is grip ‘treasure’, although there remains the difficulty that the damaged word in B appears to have ended in <t> or <tr>. — [3] gull ‘gold’: Rydberg noted that, in personal correspondence with Finnur Jónsson, the latter indicated that he had once seen traces of ll above the hole in B.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj A = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15a. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. A: Tekst efter håndskrifterne. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1967. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
6. Attwood, Katrina. 1996a. ‘The Poems of MS AM 757a 4to: An Edition and Contextual Study’. Ph.D. thesis. University of Leeds.
7. Rydberg, Hugo, ed. 1907. ‘Die geistlichen Drápur und Dróttkvættfragmente des Cod. AM 757 4to.’. Ph.D. thesis. University of Lund. Copenhagen: Møller.
8. Internal references
9. Katrina Attwood 2007, ‘ Anonymous, Gyðingsvísur’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 515-26. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1012> (accessed 7 May 2024)