Gestumbl Heiðr 37VIII (Heiðr 84)
Hannah Burrows (ed.) 2017, ‘Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks 84 (Gestumblindi, Heiðreks gátur 37)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 451.
text and translation
Hvat mælti Óðinn í eyra Baldri,
áðr hann væri á bál hafðr?
Hvat mælti Óðinn í eyra Baldri, áðr hann væri á bál hafðr?
‘What did Óðinn say into the ear of Baldr, before he was brought to the pyre? ’
notes and context
Before reciting the riddle, Gestumblindi says: segðu þat þá fyrst, ef þú ert hverjum konungi vitrari ‘say first then, if you are wiser than every king’.
Cf. Vafþr 54/4-6, in which Óðinn asks the same question (differently worded, though the present l. 3 and Vafþr 54/4 are identical) to win a wisdom contest with the giant Vafþrúðnir (NK 55): hvat mælti Óðinn | áðr á bál stigi | siálfr í eyra syni? ‘what did Óðinn himself say into the ear of his son before he ascended the pyre?’. — This question bears all the hallmarks of a ‘neck riddle’, according to Taylor’s definition (1951, 1): an ‘insoluble puzzle’ whose answer is known only to the questioner and with which the protagonist hopes to ‘save his neck’. — Skj, Skald and FSGJ, with varying levels of emendation (and conjecture, on Kock’s part), attempt to make Gestumblindi’s words of introduction to this stanza (see Context above) part of the verse, but they are not metrical. Skj B places the whole stanza in square brackets.
readings
- [1] Óðinn: Óðinn corrected from Óðinn í R715ˣ
- [2] Baldri: Baldrs 281ˣ, 597bˣ
- [3] væri: var 281ˣ, 597bˣ, ‘veri’ R715ˣ
- [3] bál: báli 597bˣ
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) — 72v/5 - 72v/6
imagesSegþu þat þa fyrst ef þu ert | huerium konungí uítrari huat mælti oþinn i eyra balldri adr hann væri a bal hafdr
(HB)
-
AM 281 4°x (281x) — 101r/1 - 101r/2
imagesHvat mælti Óðinn
í eyra Baldrs,
áðr hann var á bál hafðr?hvad mællte odinn i eyra Balldurz adur hann var ba̋l | hafdur
(HB)
-
AM 597 b 4°x (597bx) — 51r/27 - 51r/28
imagesHvat mælti Óðinn
í eyra Baldrs,
áðr hann var á báli hafðr?hvad mælte | Odenn í eyra Balldurs adur hann var a Ble hafdur
(HB)
-
UppsUB R 715x (R715x) — 30r/2 - 30r/4
imagesHvat mælti Óðinn
í eyra Baldri,
áðr hann †veri† á bál hafðr?Seig þu þat þa Heidreckur kongr ef | huorium ert vsari huad mællti odinn | j era balldri adur hann veri a bal ha | fdur
(HB)
-
AM 203 folx (203x) — 108r/20 - 108r/25
images
editions and texts
Skj: Anonyme digte og vers [XIII], D. 5. Heiðreks gátur 30: AII, 227, BII, 246, Skald II, 128, NN §3177; Heiðr 1672, 152, FSN 1, 487, Heiðr 1873, 262-3, 344, Heiðr 1924, 81, 140, FSGJ 2, 50, Heiðr 1960, 44; Edd. Min. 120.
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