Gestumbl Heiðr 2^VIII (Heiðr 49)

Heiman ek fór,         heiman ek för gerðak,
        sá ek á veg vega;
vegr var undir         ok vegr yfir,
        ok vegr á alla vega.
Heiðrekr konungr,         hyggðu at gátu.

Ek fór heiman, ek gerðak för heiman, ek sá vega á veg; vegr var undir ok vegr yfir, ok vegr á alla vega. Heiðrekr konungr, hyggðu at gátu.

I went from home, I made a journey from home, I saw ways on the way; a way was under and a way over, and a way on all ways. King Heiðrekr, think about the riddle.

Mss: Hb(76v), 2845(70v), 281ˣ(99r) (ll. 2-8), 597bˣ(49r) (ll. 2-8), 203ˣ(101r), R715ˣ(26v) (Heiðr)

Readings: [1] fór: om. 2845, heiman fór 203ˣ    [2] heiman: so all others, ‘hemian’ Hb;    för: ferr 597bˣ, ferð 203ˣ;    gerðak: gerða 2845, í dag 281ˣ, 597bˣ, gærdag R715ˣ    [3] vega: so 2845, 281ˣ, 597bˣ, R715ˣ, ‘w[…]g[…]’ Hb, ‘vega war þenn’ 203ˣ    [4] undir: þeim vegr undir 2845, þar vegr undir R715ˣ    [5] ok: om. R715ˣ;    vegr: om. 281ˣ, yfir 597bˣ;    yfir: vegr í corrected from vegr in the margin in another hand 597bˣ    [6] ok: om. 281ˣ, R715ˣ;    á: var 281ˣ, um corrected from á in the margin in another hand 597bˣ;    alla: om. 597bˣ;    vega: vega corrected from vegr 2845, vegu 281ˣ, vegr 597bˣ    [8] hyggðu (‘hygg þú’): so 2845, 597bˣ, 203ˣ, ‘h·’ Hb, hygg 281ˣ, ‘h:’ R715ˣ;    gátu: gátum 2845, ‘g:’ R715ˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 221, Skj BII, 240, Skald II, 124; Heiðr 1672, 143, FSN 1, 465-6, 533, Heiðr 1873, 236, 333-4, Heiðr 1924, 57-8, 131, FSGJ 2, 38, Heiðr 1960, 33; Edd. Min. 106-7.

Notes: [All]: King Heiðrekr’s response reads (Heiðr 1960, 33): þar fórtu yfir árbrú, ok var árvegr undir þér, en fuglar flugu yfir hǫfði þér ok hjá þér tveim megin, ok var þat þeira vegr ‘There you went over a river-bridge, and the river-way was under you, and birds flew over your head and next to you on both sides, and that was their way’. Hb adds (Heiðr 1924, 58): þú sátt lax í ánni, ok var þat hans vegr ‘you saw a salmon in the river, and that was his way’, but this is superfluous since the árvegr ‘river-way’ has already been mentioned. Tolkien (Heiðr 1960, 33 n. 3) suggests that l. 6 may refer to the ‘Earth-way’, so that each riddling-line refers to one of river, sky, earth. But as he also notes, there is no extant textual evidence for this possibility. — [1-2]: As Tolkien (Heiðr 1960, 33 n. 2) notes, these lines are paralleled in Fj 46/1-2 (Guðni Jónsson 1949-54, II, 533): Hvaðan þú fórt, | hvaðan þú för gerðir ‘From where have you come, | from where have you made your journey’?

References

1. Bibliography
2. FSN = Rafn, Carl Christian, ed. 1829-30. Fornaldar sögur nordrlanda. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. Heiðr 1672 = Verelius, Olaus, ed. 1672. Hervarar Saga på Gammel Gotska. Uppsala: Curio.
5. FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
6. Edd. Min. = Heusler, Andreas and Wilhelm Ranisch, eds. 1903. Eddica Minora: Dichtungen eddischer Art aus den Fornaldarsögur und anderen Prosawerken. Dortmund: Ruhfus. Rpt. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
7. Heiðr 1924 = Jón Helgason, ed. 1924. Heiðreks saga. Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks konungs. SUGNL 48. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
8. Heiðr 1960 = Tolkien, Christopher, ed. and trans. 1960. Saga Heiðreks konungs ins vitra / The Saga of King Heidrek the Wise. Nelson Icelandic Texts. London etc.: Nelson.
9. Heiðr 1873 = Bugge, Sophus, ed. 1873. Hervarar saga ok Heidreks. Det Norske oldskriftselskabs samlinger 17. Christiania (Oslo): Brøgger.
10. Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1949-54. Eddukvæði (Sæmundar-Edda). 2 vols. Reykjavík: Íslendingasagnaútgafan.
11. Internal references
12. Not published: do not cite ()