Gestumbl Heiðr 23VIII (Heiðr 70)
Hannah Burrows (ed.) 2017, ‘Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks 70 (Gestumblindi, Heiðreks gátur 23)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 436.
text and translation
Hverjar eru þær ekkjur, er ganga allar saman
at forvitni föður?
Sjaldan blíðar eru þær við seggja lið,
ok eigu í vindi vaka.
Heiðrekr konungr, hyggðu at gátu.
Hverjar eru þær ekkjur, er ganga allar saman at forvitni föður? Þær eru sjaldan blíðar við lið seggja, ok eigu vaka í vindi. Heiðrekr konungr, hyggðu at gátu.
‘Who are those women, who go all together to the curiosity of their father? They are seldom gentle with the host of men, and have to stay awake in the wind. King Heiðrekr, think about the riddle. ’
notes and context
Heiðrekr’s response reads (Heiðr 1960, 41): Þat eru Ægis ekkjur, svá heita ǫldur ‘They are Ægir’s women, as the waves are called’. The U redaction (Heiðr 1924, 132) has þad eru Ægis dætur; þær ganga iij saman, er vindur vekur þær ‘That is Ægir’s daughters; they go three together, when the wind wakes them’. Elsewhere Ægir is said to have had nine daughters (see Heiðr 68, Note to [All]), but three is also a significant number in Old Norse mythology and trios of supernatural women are found in e.g. Vafþr 48-9, Vsp 8, 20. The text might imply the women go in threes rather than that there are only three of them. Cf. Note to Heiðr 67/1-2. — Edd. Min. prints this as a separate stanza, but numbers it 22a, following the previous one, numbered 22. — [4-5]: Very similar in meaning to Heiðr 69/4-5. — [4]: Ms. 2845’s word order is preferable, but its ‘bliþir’ with the standard ‑ir abbreviation is not possible as a f. adj. — [6]: See Heiðr 68, Note to l. 6.
readings
- [2] allar: margar R715ˣ
- [3] föður: so R715ˣ, ‘f’ 2845
- [4] Sjaldan: ‘skialldann’ R715ˣ
- [4] blíðar eru þær: ‘bliþir eru þær’ 2845, eru þær blíðar R715ˣ
- [6] eigu: eigu þær 2845, skulu R715ˣ
- [6] í: við R715ˣ
- [6] vindi: vind R715ˣ
- [6] vaka: taka R715ˣ
- [7-8] abbrev. as ‘h k’ 2845
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.
-
GKS 2845 4° (2845) — 72r/4 - 72r/6
imagesHverjar eru þær ekkjur,
er ganga allar saman
at forvitni †f†?
Sjaldan †bliþir eru þær†
við seggja lið,
ok eigu þær í vindi vaka.
,
.hveríar eru þær | eckíor er ganga allar saman at forvítní fodur síalldaɴ bliþir eru þær vid seggía li | d ok eígu þær i uíndí uaka heidrekur kongur
(HB)
-
UppsUB R 715x (R715x) — 27r/20 - 27r/23 [1-6]
imagesHverjar eru þær ekkjur,
er ganga margar saman
at forvitni föður?
†skialldann† eru þær blíðar
við seggja lið,
ok skulu við vind taka.
Heiðrekr konungr,
hyggðu at gátu.huoriar ero | þær eckiur er ganga margar samann ad for | vitnj fodur skialldann eru þær blӳdar | vid seggia lid og skulu vid vind taka
(HB)
-
AM 203 folx (203x) — 105v/9 - 105v/14
images
editions and texts
Skj: Anonyme digte og vers [XIII], D. 5. Heiðreks gátur 21: AII, 225, BII, 244, Skald II, 126-7, NN §115; Heiðr 1672, 144-5, FSN 1, 479, Heiðr 1873, 252, 341, Heiðr 1924, 76, 132, FSGJ 2, 46, Heiðr 1960, 41; Edd. Min. 115.
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