StarkSt Vík 8^VIII (Gautr 16)

Þá safnaði         Sørkvi ok Gretti,
Haralds arfþegi         Hildigrími,
Erp ok Úlfi,         Áni ok Skúmi,
Hróa ok Hrotta,         Herbrands syni,

{Arfþegi Haralds} safnaði þá Sørkvi ok Gretti, Hildigrími, Erp ok Úlfi, Áni ok Skúmi, Hróa ok Hrotta, syni Herbrands,

{Haraldr’s heir} [= Víkarr] then gathered Sørkvir and Grettir, Hildigrímr, Erpr and Úlfr, Án and Skúmr, Hrói and Hrotti, son of Herbrandr,

Mss: 590b-cˣ(4r), 152(198va), papp11ˣ(5v) (Gautr)

Readings: [3] Haralds: Harald 152, papp11ˣ;    arfþegi: ‘ok horfþegi’ 152, ok arfþegi papp11ˣ    [6] ok: om. 152;    Skúmi: so papp11ˣ, Skúmi with i corrected from u above the line 590b‑cˣ, Skútu 152    [7] Hróa ok: ok Hróa 152;    Hróa: Hrók ok papp11ˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 325, Skj BII, 345, Skald II, 185-6; FSN 3, 19-20, Gautr 1664, 23, Gautr 1900, 16-17, FSGJ 4, 16; Edd. Min. 39.

Context: After Víkarr has got Starkaðr off the floor at Askr, he equips him with clothes and weapons and gathers a troop of champions (kappar) and duellists (hólmgǫngumenn). Vík 8 and 9 (Gautr 16 and 17) are then introduced with the words Svá segir Starkaðr ‘So says Starkaðr’.

Notes: [6] Skúmi ‘Skúmr’: This pers. n. is assumed to be the dat. sg. of skúmr ‘brown gull, skua, chatterer, gossip’, but some eds (Gautr 1900; Edd. Min.; FSGJ) prefer the form Skúmu, from the nom. sg. Skúma ‘Dusky’ (?). There is certainly evidence for the existence of skúma as a nickname; cf. Biography of the poet Þorleifr skúma in SkP I, where various forms of skúma and skúmr and their likely meanings are discussed.

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. FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
5. SkP I = Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Ed. Diana Whaley. 2012.
6. 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.
7. Gautr 1900 = Ranisch, Wilhelm, ed. 1900. Die Gautrekssaga in zwei Fassungen. Palaestra 11. Berlin: Mayer & Müller.
8. Gautr 1664 = Verelius, Olaus, ed. 1664. Gothrici & Rolfi Westrogothiæ Regum Historia. Lingua antiqua Gothica conscripta. Uppsala: Curio.
9. Internal references
10. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Gautreks saga 16 (Starkaðr gamli Stórvirksson, Víkarsbálkr 8)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 262.