ÓTr Lv 2^I

Gestr skal einu         í gǫgn taka,
meðan Hvítinga         hvílask lôtum.
... þenna         þegn Goðmundar
af samnafna         sínum drekki.

Gestr skal taka í gǫgn einu, meðan lôtum Hvítinga hvílask. ... þenna þegn Goðmundar drekki af samnafna sínum.

The guest shall take hold of one [horn], while we let the Hvítingar rest. ... this retainer of Guðmundr that he drink from his namesake.

Mss: 62(32r), 54(76va), Flat(47va) (ÓT)

Readings: [1] einu: nú 54    [3] meðan: ‘m(eð)’(?) 54;    Hvítinga: om. 54    [5] ... þenna: þenna 62, þennan 54

Editions: Skj AI, 152, Skj BI, 144-5, 682, Skald I, 79, NN §1954; ÓT 1958-2000, III, 41, Flat 1860-8, I, 361 (Helg).

Context: A three-man delegation arrives at the court of Óláfr Tryggvason from King Guðmundr of Glasisvellir; one is Helgi and the other two call themselves Grímr. They present Óláfr with two gold-chased drinking horns, which seem also to be called Grímr and are still finer than Óláfr’s horns Hvítingar (variant Hyrningar). He orders them to be filled, blessed by the bishop and handed to the guests.

Notes: [All]: The Flat text reads:

Gestir skulu hornum      í gǫgn taka,
meðan hvílask ltum þenna       þegn Goðmundar,
ok af samnafna      sínum drekki;
svá skal Grímum      gótt ǫl gefask.

Prose order: Gestir skulu taka í gǫgn hornum, ok drekki af samnafna sínum, meðan ltum þenna þegn Goðmundar hvílask; svá skal gótt ǫl gefask Grímum. Translation: The guests shall take hold of the horns, and let them drink from their namesake, while we let this retainer of Guðmundr rest; thus shall good ale be served to the Grímar. Notes to Flat version: In l. 3, Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) omits meðan ‘while’, presumably on metrical grounds, though it is present in the 62 text and possibly in 54, where a slight crease obscures the reading. If it is left out the clause ltum þenna þegn Goðmundar hvílask in ll. 3-4 lacks a conj. and is hence intercalated, ‘let’s allow this retainer of Guðmundr to rest’. For the name Grímr in l. 7, see Notes to l. 7 below, and to Anon (Vǫlsa) 9/8. In l. 8 Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) prints (borit?) ‘carried’, alongside gefask ‘be served’, presumably in order to avoid alliteration on the last stressed syllable of the couplet. The following Notes concern the main Text above. — [1] einu ‘one [horn]’: An implied horni ‘(drinking-)horn’ (cf. LP: horn 2) is indicated by the context, the n. gender of einu, and the reading hornum (n. dat. pl.) ‘horns’ in Flat, l. 1. — [5, 8] ... drekki ‘... that he drink’: Syntax and metre suggest that a word is missing here, though there is no indication of this in the mss. Finnur Jónsson (Skj BI, 682) suggested a repetition of ltum ‘let us allow / we allow’, while Ólafur Halldórsson (ÓT) suggests biðjum ‘let us ask / we ask’, although either of these would more naturally be followed by the inf. drekka than by the subj. drekki. — [6] þegn Goðmundar ‘retainer of Guðmundr’: From the prose Context, this must be Helgi. — [7] af samnafna ‘from his namesake’: The horn Grímr: see the Flat version of the stanza above, and the prose Context, where two of the strangers are also called Grímr.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
6. Flat 1860-8 = Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and C. R. Unger, eds. 1860-8. Flateyjarbók. En samling af norske konge-sagaer med indskudte mindre fortællinger om begivenheder i og udenfor Norge samt annaler. 3 vols. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
7. ÓT 1958-2000 = Ólafur Halldórsson, ed. 1958-2000. Saga Óláfs Tryggvasonar en mesta. 3 vols. EA A 1-3. Copenhagen: Munksgaard (Reitzel).
8. Internal references
9. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=60> (accessed 27 April 2024)
10. (forthcoming), ‘ Anonymous, Helga þáttr Þórissonar’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=86> (accessed 27 April 2024)
11. Diana Whaley 2012, ‘(Biography of) Óláfr Tryggvason’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 383.
12. Wilhelm Heizmann (ed.) 2012, ‘Anonymous Lausavísur, Lausavísur from Vǫlsa þáttr 9’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1100.