Gestumbl Heiðr 34VIII (Heiðr 81)
Hannah Burrows (ed.) 2017, ‘Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks 81 (Gestumblindi, Heiðreks gátur 34)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 448.
text and translation
Meyjar ek sá moldu líkar,
váru þeim at beðjum björg,
svartar ok sámar í sólviðri,
en þess at fegri, er færra um sér.
Heiðrekr konungr, hyggðu at gátu.
Ek sá meyjar líkar moldu, björg váru at þeim beðjum, svartar ok sámar í sólviðri, en þess at fegri, er færra um sér. Heiðrekr konungr, hyggðu at gátu.
‘I saw girls like dust, rocks were beds to them. [They are] black and swarthy in sunny weather, but the brighter, the less is seen of them. King Heiðrekr, think about the riddle. ’
notes and context
Heiðrekr’s response is (Heiðr 1960, 82): þat eru glœðr fǫlnaðar á arni ‘those are embers grown pale in the hearth’. — Cf. Heiðr 77, which is about fire waiting to be kindled from flint in the hearth.
readings
- [1] ek: eru 597bˣ
- [3] beðjum: so 597bˣ, beðinn 281ˣ
- [4] svartar: svartr 281ˣ, 597bˣ
- [4] sámar: samr 281ˣ, 597bˣ
- [7-8] abbrev. as ‘heidr: kr:’ 281ˣ, abbrev. as ‘hc K:’ 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.
-
AM 281 4°x (281x) — 100v/26 - 100v/27
imagesMeyjar ek sá
moldu líkar,
váru þeim at beðinn björg,
svartr ok samr
í sólviðri,
en þess at fegri, er færra um sér.
,
.Meӳar eg sa molldu lykar voru þeim ad bedinn biørg svartur og samur i sől | vidri enn þess ad fegri er færa of sier heidr: k:
(HB)
-
AM 597 b 4°x (597bx) — 51r/17 - 51r/19
imagesMeyjar eru sá
moldu líkar,
váru þeim at beðjum björg,
svartr ok samr
í sólviðri,
en þess at fegri, er færra um sér.
,
.Meyjar eru s⸝ molldu | lykar⸝ voru þeim ad bedjum biørg⸝ svartur og samur i sőlvidre⸝ en þeß ad | fegri er færra of sier heidreckur Kongur
(HB)
editions and texts
Skj: Anonyme digte og vers [XIII], D. 5. Heiðreks gátur 37: AII, 228, BII, 247, Skald II, 128; FSN 1, 483, Heiðr 1873, 260, Heiðr 1924, 81, Heiðr 1960, 82; Edd. Min. 119.
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