Gestumbl Heiðr 18VIII (Heiðr 65)
Hannah Burrows (ed.) 2017, ‘Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks 65 (Gestumblindi, Heiðreks gátur 18)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 429.
Hverjar ‘Who’
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2. hverr (pron.): who, whom, each, every
notes
[1] hverjar eru þær … ‘who are those …’: This opening formula, followed by a word meaning ‘women’ or similar, appears in the following six riddles, Gestumbl Heiðr 19-24 (Heiðr 66-71).
eru ‘are’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
notes
[1] hverjar eru þær … ‘who are those …’: This opening formula, followed by a word meaning ‘women’ or similar, appears in the following six riddles, Gestumbl Heiðr 19-24 (Heiðr 66-71).
þær ‘those’
notes
[1] hverjar eru þær … ‘who are those …’: This opening formula, followed by a word meaning ‘women’ or similar, appears in the following six riddles, Gestumbl Heiðr 19-24 (Heiðr 66-71).
rýgjar ‘women’
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rýgr (noun f.): housewife
[1] rýgjar: ‘Ryger’ 281ˣ, ‘Rygier’ 597bˣ, ‘eygar’ corrected from ‘ey(?)i[…]’ in the hand of JR R715ˣ
notes
[1] rýgjar ‘women’: Plays with alternate meanings of the word: ‘women’ and ‘giantesses’ (LP: rýgr). Together with the reginfjalli ‘mighty mountain’ of l. 2, this creates two layers of imagery: both of angelica growing wild and of giantesses in their traditional dwelling-place.
á ‘on’
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3. á (prep.): on, at
regin ‘the mighty’
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regin (noun n.): divine power < reginfjall (noun n.)
notes
[2] reginfjalli ‘mighty mountain’: A hap. leg. as a cpd.
fjalli ‘mountain’
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1. fjall (noun n.): mountain < reginfjall (noun n.)
notes
[2] reginfjalli ‘mighty mountain’: A hap. leg. as a cpd.
elr ‘begets’
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ala (verb; °elr; ól, ólu; alinn): to beget, produce, procreate
við ‘with’
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2. við (prep.): with, against
kván ‘woman’
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kván (noun f.; °-ar): wife
kona ‘woman’
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kona (noun f.; °-u; -ur/-r(KlmA1980 116¹¹), gen. pl. kvenna/kvinna): woman
[3] kona: ‘kvona’ 597bˣ
Mær ‘A girl’
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mær (noun f.; °meyjar, dat. meyju; meyjar): maiden
[4] Mær: so 281ˣ, 597bˣ, þar 2845
meyju ‘a girl’
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mær (noun f.; °meyjar, dat. meyju; meyjar): maiden
[4] meyju: so 281ˣ, 597bˣ, er 2845
mög ‘a son’
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mǫgr (noun m.; °; megir, acc. mǫgu): son, boy
getr ‘begets’
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2. geta (verb): to beget, give birth to, mention, speak of; to think well of, like, love
[5] getr: ‘gietur of gonn’ corrected from ‘gietur yfir garn’ in the hand of JR R715ˣ
eigut ‘do not have’
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2. eiga (verb; °á/eigr (præs. pl. 3. pers. eigu/eiga); átti, áttu; átt): own, have
[6] eigut: eigi 281ˣ, 597bˣ, eigur R715ˣ
þær ‘those’
[6] þær: þær þess 281ˣ, 597bˣ, þat R715ˣ
varðir ‘women’
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vǫrð (noun f.): woman
notes
[6] varðir (nom. sg. vǫrð) ‘women’: Poetic word (ONP: vǫrð).
Heiðrekr ‘Heiðrekr’
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Heiðrekr (noun m.): Heiðrekr
[7-8] abbrev. as ‘h kr h’ 2845, abbrev. as ‘heidr: kr:’ 281ˣ, abbrev. as ‘h: K:’ 597bˣ
konungr ‘King’
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konungr (noun m.; °dat. -i, -s; -ar): king
[7-8] abbrev. as ‘h kr h’ 2845, abbrev. as ‘heidr: kr:’ 281ˣ, abbrev. as ‘h: K:’ 597bˣ
hyggðu ‘think’
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2. hyggja (verb): think, consider
[7-8] abbrev. as ‘h kr h’ 2845, abbrev. as ‘heidr: kr:’ 281ˣ, abbrev. as ‘h: K:’ 597bˣ
at ‘about’
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3. at (prep.): at, to
[7-8] abbrev. as ‘h kr h’ 2845, abbrev. as ‘heidr: kr:’ 281ˣ, abbrev. as ‘h: K:’ 597bˣ
gátu ‘the riddle’
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gáta (noun f.)
[7-8] abbrev. as ‘h kr h’ 2845, abbrev. as ‘heidr: kr:’ 281ˣ, abbrev. as ‘h: K:’ 597bˣ
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
In the H redaction, before propounding the riddle Gestumblindi says (Heiðr 1924, 70): liðar verðr sá at leita, er lítit sax hefir ok mjǫk er fáfróðr, ok vilda ek enn tala fleira, eða … ‘He who has a small short-sword and is very short of knowledge must seek the joint, but I would like to speak yet more, so …’. (A similar proverb occurs in Saxo 2015, I, v. 3. 12, pp. 284-5). The implication is that Gestumblindi/Óðinn could seek the easiest way out, i.e. by propounding his unanswerable question (Heiðr 84), but that he is enjoying the contest and intends to prolong it.
Heiðrekr’s response is (Heiðr 1960, 36): þat eru hvannir tvær ok hvannarkálfr á milli þeira ‘That is two angelicas and a young angelica [lit. angelica-calf] between them’. Two species of angelica are native to Iceland: garden angelica (angelica archangelica) and wild angelica (angelica sylvestris/sylvatica). It was traditionally an important food and medicinal plant in Iceland and elsewhere in Scandinavia: on historical uses and for other references in Old Norse texts see Fosså (2006) and Guðrún P. Helgadóttir (1981). — [4-5]: Angelica’s main method of reproduction is seeding; plants can self-seed (Garland 2004, 31). Vegetative reproduction of the various sub-species of angelica is not well-documented in modern sources, but there is substantial evidence that the plant will produce off-shoots in or after its second year, especially if it is cut back (e.g. Ojala 1985, 193; Grieve 1931; Garland 2004, 31-2; Small 2006, 164-5), perhaps particularly in cooler climates (Vashistha et al. 2009, 76; Billings 1974, 434). This latter habit seems to be what is meant by the imagery of the riddle and the solution. — [5]: The H-redaction reading is clearly superior here, metrically as well as in terms of effect, to 2845’s þar til er ‘until’. — [6]: The same line is found in Heiðr 68/6, where the solution is ‘waves’.
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