Gestumbl Heiðr 31VIII (Heiðr 78)
Hannah Burrows (ed.) 2017, ‘Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks 78 (Gestumblindi, Heiðreks gátur 31)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 445.
Hest ‘a stallion’
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hestr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): horse, stallion
sá ‘saw’
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2. sjá (verb): see
notes
[1] ek sá ‘I saw’: See Note to Heiðr 48/2 above.
ek ‘I’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
notes
[1] ek sá ‘I saw’: See Note to Heiðr 48/2 above.
standa ‘stand’
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standa (verb): stand
hýddi ‘it flogged’
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hýða (verb)
meri ‘a mare’
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merr (noun f.; °merar/marar(DN I (1356) 276¹); merar/marar(Gulᴵ 75²⁰)): mare
[2] meri: meri corrected from manni in the margin in another hand 597bˣ
dúði ‘shook’
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dýja (verb; °dúði): shake
[3] dúði: ‘daudt’ 281ˣ, dauðr corrected from dúði in the margin in another hand after correction from ‘dr[…]e’ in the scribal hand 597bˣ
notes
[3] dúði ‘shook’: This reading is in the scribal hand in 597bˣ, but is a correction to a now illegible original.
dyndil ‘the penis’
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dyndill (noun m.)
notes
[3] dyndil ‘penis’: Cf. Fritzner: dindill; LP: dyndill. A hap. leg. in poetry and found in prose only as a nickname in three instances in the Flat version of Hák (the form dyntill is found in the versions of F and 81a). Perhaps cf. ONP: dyrðill, dyðrill ‘short tail, stump of a tail’ and Anon Ól 6/6I and Note.
drap ‘beat’
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drepa (verb; °drepr; drap, drápu; drepinn): kill, strike
notes
[4] hlaun ‘buttock’: A hap. leg. in poetry. The emendation is made by all eds.
kvið ‘belly’
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1. kviðr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. -; -ir, acc. -u): womb
Ór ‘out’
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3. ór (prep.): out of
skal ‘shall’
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skulu (verb): shall, should, must
draga ‘draw’
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2. draga (verb; °dregr; dró, drógu; dreginn/droget(Hirð NKS 1642 4° 146v²⁹; cf. [$962$])): drag, pull, draw
[5] draga: ‘draga skal draga’ 597bˣ
ok ‘and’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
†gjöpta† ‘…’
at ‘a’
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3. at (prep.): at, to
góða ‘good’
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góðr (adj.): good
stund ‘while’
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stund (noun f.; °-ar, dat. -u/-; -ir): time, hour
Heiðrekr ‘Heiðrekr’
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Heiðrekr (noun m.): Heiðrekr
[7-8] 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 ‘heidr: kr’ 281ˣ, abbrev. as ‘h K:’ 597bˣ
hyggðu ‘think’
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2. hyggja (verb): think, consider
[7-8] 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 ‘heidr: kr’ 281ˣ, abbrev. as ‘h K:’ 597bˣ
gátu ‘the riddle’
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gáta (noun f.)
[7-8] abbrev. as ‘heidr: kr’ 281ˣ, abbrev. as ‘h K:’ 597bˣ
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Heiðrekr’s response is (Heiðr 1960, 82): Hest þann kallar þú línvef, en skeið meri hans, en upp ok ofan skal hrista vefinn ‘You call that stallion linen cloth, and the weaver’s rod his mare, and up and down the web shall be shaken’. Tolkien (Heiðr 1960, 82 n.) points out that the solution ‘is obviously wrong: the “mare” is the web on the loom, which is alternately raised up and pressed down by the rod or slay’. In the prose following the riddle, before giving the solution Heiðrekr invites his courtiers to solve it, but they are unable to. The riddle’s obvious sexual overtones perhaps explain its omission in the R and U redactions and its textual problems in the H-redaction mss. — [5-6]: ‘Gjöpta’ l. 6 is not a known Old Norse word. Neither Skj B nor Heiðr 1960 attempt reconstruction, and the suggestions of Kock (Skald; NN §3284), Bugge (Heiðr 1873) and Edd. Min. are conjectural and not particularly satisfactory.
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