Gestumbl Heiðr 20VIII (Heiðr 67)
Hannah Burrows (ed.) 2017, ‘Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks 67 (Gestumblindi, Heiðreks gátur 20)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 432.
Hverjar ‘Who’
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2. hverr (pron.): who, whom, each, every
eru ‘are’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
leikur ‘playmates’
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1. leika (noun f.; °-u): playmate
notes
[1] leikur ‘playmates’: Leika f. can overlap in meaning with the n. form, usually ‘plaything’ (LP: 2. leika, Fritzner: leika n.; cf. leika ‘play’); for the f. form, which occurs here, Fritzner: leika, f. 1 suggests the additional meaning pige ‘girl’, which corresponds with other riddles with this opening formula.
er ‘who’
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2. er (conj.): who, which, when
lönd ‘lands’
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land (noun n.; °-s; *-): land
yfir ‘over’
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yfir (prep.): over
at ‘to’
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3. at (prep.): at, to
forvitni ‘the curiosity’
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1. forvitni (noun f.): [curiosity]
föður ‘father’
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faðir (noun m.): father
Hvítan ‘a white’
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hvítr (adj.; °-an; -ari, -astr): white
skjöld ‘shield’
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skjǫldr (noun m.; °skjaldar/skildar, dat. skildi; skildir, acc. skjǫldu): shield
þær ‘They’
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hann (pron.; °gen. hans, dat. honum; f. hon, gen. hennar, acc. hana): he, she, it, they, them...
vetr ‘winter’
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vetr (noun m.; °vetrar/vetrs(HómHauksb³ 173²³), dat. vetri; vetr): winter
[5] vetr: vetrum 281ˣ, 597bˣ, haust R715ˣ
bera ‘bear’
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3. bera (verb; °berr; bar, báru; borinn): bear, carry
[5] bera: við síðu bera 281ˣ
en ‘but’
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2. en (conj.): but, and
svartan ‘a black one’
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svartr (adj.): black
um ‘in’
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1. um (prep.): about, around
sumar ‘summer’
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sumar (noun n.; °-s; sumur/sumar): summer
Heiðrekr ‘Heiðrekr’
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Heiðrekr (noun m.): Heiðrekr
[7-8] abbrev. as ‘heidr: k·’ 281ˣ, abbrev. as ‘h. k:’ corrected from ‘h.’ in the margin in another hand 597bˣ, abbrev. as ‘H: k: h: at g:’ R715ˣ
konungr ‘King’
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konungr (noun m.; °dat. -i, -s; -ar): king
[7-8] abbrev. as ‘heidr: k·’ 281ˣ, abbrev. as ‘h. k:’ corrected from ‘h.’ in the margin in another hand 597bˣ, abbrev. as ‘H: k: h: at g:’ R715ˣ
hyggðu ‘think’
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2. hyggja (verb): think, consider
[7-8] abbrev. as ‘heidr: k·’ 281ˣ, abbrev. as ‘h. k:’ corrected from ‘h.’ in the margin in another hand 597bˣ, abbrev. as ‘H: k: h: at g:’ R715ˣ
at ‘about’
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3. at (prep.): at, to
[7-8] abbrev. as ‘heidr: k·’ 281ˣ, abbrev. as ‘h. k:’ corrected from ‘h.’ in the margin in another hand 597bˣ, abbrev. as ‘H: k: h: at g:’ R715ˣ
gátu ‘the riddle’
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gáta (noun f.)
[7-8] abbrev. as ‘heidr: k·’ 281ˣ, abbrev. as ‘h. k:’ corrected from ‘h.’ in the margin in another hand 597bˣ, abbrev. as ‘H: k: h: at g:’ R715ˣ
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Heiðrekr’s response is (Heiðr 1960, 40): Þat eru rjúpur; þær eru hvítar um vetr, en svartar um sumar ‘Those are ptarmigans; they are white during winter, but black during summer’. The ptarmigan (Lagopus mutus) is seasonally camouflaged, with white plumage (except for a black tail) in winter and brown in summer. — [1-3]: This question, with slight variation in each case, is asked in each of the next three riddles. — [1-2]: Cf. Vafþr 48/4-5 (NK 54) hveriar ro þær meyiar, | er líða mar yfir ‘who are those maids, who move over the sea’. The referent here is obscure, but apparently refers to benevolent spirits, three in number (Vafþr 49/4, 1), whom Boer (1922, II, 58) suggested as counterparts of the three malevolent þursa meyiar ‘giants’ girls’ of Vsp 8/6 (NK 2), who herald the onset of Ragnarǫk. See Heiðr 69, Note to l. 1 and Heiðr 70, Note to [All]. — [2]: Hyndl 42/3 (NK 295) states that at Ragnarǫk the ocean liðr lǫnd yfir ‘will pass over lands’. — [3]: See Note to Heiðr 68/3. Who the faðir ‘father’ is in the present context is unclear; the expression may be formulaic; for discussion see Burrows (2013, 206-8). — [4-5]: These lines lack alliteration. Ms. R715ˣ’s haust ‘autumn’ restores it, but makes a less good contrast with sumar ‘summer’ in line 6. Bugge (Heiðr 1873, 250 n. 5) notes that AM 738 fol, an R-redaction ms. with no independent value, reads hávetr ‘high winter’; this is adopted in Skj B and Skald.
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