Gestumbl Heiðr 4^VIII (Heiðr 51)

Hverr er sá inn hvelli,         er gengr harðar götur,
        ok hefir hann þær fyrr um farit?
Mjök fast kyssir,         sá er hefr munna tvá
        ok á gulli einu gengr.
Heiðrekr konungr,         hyggðu at gátu.

Hverr er sá inn hvelli, er gengr harðar götur ok hefir hann þær fyrr um farit? Mjök fast kyssir, sá er hefr tvá munna ok gengr á gulli einu. Heiðrekr konungr, hyggðu at gátu.

Who is that shrill one who walks on hard paths and he has travelled on them before? Very firmly [he] kisses, the one who has two mouths, and walks on gold alone. King Heiðrekr, think about the riddle.

Mss: 2845(71r), R715ˣ(27r), 281ˣ(99r) (ll. 1-6), 597bˣ(49r) (ll. 1-6), 203ˣ(102ra) (Heiðr)

Readings: [2] gengr: gengr um R715ˣ    [3] þær fyrr: so 281ˣ, 597bˣ, 203ˣ, fyrrum 2845, R715ˣ    [5] sá er: sá R715ˣ, ok 281ˣ, 597bˣ, 203ˣ    [6] ok: sá er 281ˣ, 597bˣ, 203ˣ;    gulli einu: ‘gullheine’ 281ˣ, ‘gullheine’ corrected from ‘gullheinu’ in another hand 597bˣ    [7-8] so 203ˣ, abbrev. as ‘h k̄r. h·’ 2845, abbrev. as ‘H k h: at g:’ R715ˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 222, Skj BII, 240-1, Skald II, 125; Heiðr 1672, 144, FSN 1, 467, Heiðr 1873, 238, 334, Heiðr 1924, 59-60, 131, FSGJ 2, 39, Heiðr 1960, 34; Edd. Min. 107.

Context: In the H redaction (including 203ˣ), before propounding the riddle Gestumblindi says, in response to Heiðrekr’s comment after the previous riddle (see Gestumbl Heiðr 3 (Heiðr 50) Note to [All]) (Heiðr 1924, 59): þat er ván at mik þrjóti brátt, en þó vilda ek enn, at þér hlýðið ‘The expectation is that they [i.e. words] will fail me soon, but yet I still wish that you would listen’.

Notes: [All]: Heiðrekr’s response reads (Heiðr 1960, 34): þat er hamarr sá, er hafðr er at gullsmið; hann kveðr hátt við, er hann kømr á harðan steðja, ok þat er hans gata ‘that is that hammer, which is used in goldsmithing; he shrieks loudly when he comes down onto the hard anvil, and that is his path’. — [1] hverr er sá inn … ‘who is that …’: Lit. ‘Who is that, the …’. This formula also begins the following two riddles, as well as Gestumbl Heiðr 30 (Heiðr 77). A similar formula occurs in Lok 44/1 (NK 105) Hvat er þat iþ litla ‘What is that, the little one’. The stanza, which is riddling in form, describes Freyr’s servant Byggvir, who replies, identifying himself, in the following stanza. — [3] þær fyrr ‘on them before’: The reading of 281ˣ and 597bˣ is preferred in accordance with most other eds. — [5] tvá munna ‘two mouths’: Archaeological finds and pictorial depictions across Scandinavia and the North from the C9th to C12th are consistent in revealing that hammers, both practical smiths’ tools and ceremonial instruments, such as the so-called Thor’s hammers, were symmetrical in the shape of a T or (particularly in symbolic depictions) an elongated cross. Each side of its double-head is described as a ‘mouth’ in the present riddle. See, for example, the depiction of Weland (ON Vǫlundr) on the front panel of the Franks Casket (Anglo-Saxon, C8th Northumbrian); that of Reginn the smith, foster-father of Sigurðr, on the church at Hylestad, Norway (c. 1200); the Viking Age tool-chest found at Mästermyr, Gotland, Sweden (e.g. Arwidsson and Berg 1983); for Thor’s hammers see e.g. Staecker (1999), Perkins (2001); on finds of possible smiths’ graves see e.g. Wallander (1989).

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. NK = Neckel, Gustav and Hans Kuhn (1899), eds. 1983. Edda: Die Lieder des Codex Regius nebst verwandten Denkmälern. 2 vols. I: Text. 5th edn. Heidelberg: Winter.
5. Heiðr 1672 = Verelius, Olaus, ed. 1672. Hervarar Saga på Gammel Gotska. Uppsala: Curio.
6. FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
7. 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.
8. Heiðr 1924 = Jón Helgason, ed. 1924. Heiðreks saga. Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks konungs. SUGNL 48. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
9. 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.
10. Perkins, Richard. 2001. Thor the Wind-Raiser and the Eyrarland Image. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
11. Heiðr 1873 = Bugge, Sophus, ed. 1873. Hervarar saga ok Heidreks. Det Norske oldskriftselskabs samlinger 17. Christiania (Oslo): Brøgger.
12. Staecker, J. 1999. Rex regum et dominus dominorum. Die wikingerzeitlichen Kreuz- und Kruzifixanhänger als Ausdruck der Mission in Altdänemark und Schweden. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell.
13. Wallander, T. 1989. ‘Smedgrave eller gravar med smidesverktyg?’. Tor. Journal of Archaeology 22, 105-59.
14. Internal references
15. Hannah Burrows (ed.) 2017, ‘Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks 77 (Gestumblindi, Heiðreks gátur 30)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 444.
16. Hannah Burrows (ed.) 2017, ‘Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks 50 (Gestumblindi, Heiðreks gátur 3)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 412.
17. Not published: do not cite (Run^VI)
18. Not published: do not cite ()