Fjǫl Lv 2^VIII (Gautr 4)

Stuttir sniglar         átu steina fyr mér;
        nú vill oss hvetvetna há.
Snauðr mun ek snópa,         þvíat sniglar hafa
        gull mitt allt grafit.

Stuttir sniglar átu steina fyr mér; nú vill hvetvetna há oss. Ek mun snópa snauðr, þvíat sniglar hafa grafit allt gull mitt.

Puny snails have eaten the stones off me; now everything possible will go wrong for us [me]. I will mooch about penniless, because the snails have dug into all my gold.

Mss: 152(197vb), 590b-cˣ(3r), papp11ˣ(3v), 567XIV γ(1v) (ll. 1-3), 164hˣ(3v) (ll. 1-3) (Gautr)

Readings: [1] Stuttir sniglar: slíkir fuglar 567XIV γ, ‘stor‑sniglar’ 164hˣ    [3] nú: om. 164hˣ;    hvet‑: hver‑ 590b‑cˣ, hvor‑ 164hˣ;    ‑vetna: ‑vitna papp11ˣ;    há (‘háá’): so 590b‑cˣ, papp11ˣ, hata all others

Editions: Skj AII, 322-3, Skj BII, 342, Skald II, 184; Gautr 1664, 14-15, FSN 3, 12, Gautr 1900, 9-10, 59, FSGJ 4, 9; Edd. Min. 121-2.

Context: As for Gautr 3.

Notes: [All]: The full stanza is in mss of the longer Gautr, while 567XIV γ and 164hˣ have only the first three lines, which, in 164hˣ, follow immediately from Gautr 3. — [1] stuttir sniglar ‘puny snails’: The first word of 567XIV γ is hard to read, but may be (so Gautr 1900, 8 n. to l. 19; Edd. Min.) slíkir ‘sleek’ rather than Skj A’s svartir ‘black’. The existence of slíkr adj. ‘sleek, smooth’ beside the noun slíkr ‘slime’ (attested only in Bjhít Grám 1/4^V (BjH 26)) is debatable. This ms.’s fuglar ‘birds’, instead of sniglar ‘snails’ does not fit with the prose text, nor does it alliterate. It is possible that this variant was influenced by the subject-matter of Gautr 5. — [2] átu steina fyr mér ‘have eaten the stones off me’: Fyr mér here, as in Gautr 6/2 drap uxa fyrir mér ‘has killed the ox I own’, expresses the concept ‘to the disadvantage or disfavour of’ (+ dat.) (LP: fyr, fyrir B4). — [2] steina ‘stones’: Precious stones, jewels. — [3] há ‘go wrong’: Based on the difficilior lectio of 590b-cˣ, this is the impersonal verb with dat. object oss (so LP: háa) rather than the other mss’ hata, in the sense ‘harm, destroy, spoil’ (cf. Fritzner: hata v. 2).

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj A = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15a. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. A: Tekst efter håndskrifterne. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1967. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. FSN = Rafn, Carl Christian, ed. 1829-30. Fornaldar sögur nordrlanda. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 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. Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
7. FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
8. 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.
9. Gautr 1900 = Ranisch, Wilhelm, ed. 1900. Die Gautrekssaga in zwei Fassungen. Palaestra 11. Berlin: Mayer & Müller.
10. Gautr 1664 = Verelius, Olaus, ed. 1664. Gothrici & Rolfi Westrogothiæ Regum Historia. Lingua antiqua Gothica conscripta. Uppsala: Curio.
11. Internal references
12. 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Gautreks saga’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 241. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=9> (accessed 3 May 2024)
13. Alison Finlay (ed.) 2022, ‘Bjarnar saga Hítdœlakappa 26 (Bjǫrn Hítdœlakappi Arngeirsson, Grámagaflím 1)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 98.
14. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Gautreks saga 3 (Fjǫlmóðr Skafnǫrtungsson, Lausavísur 1)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 247.
15. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Gautreks saga 5 (Ímsigull Skafnǫrtungsson, Lausavísa 1)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 249.
16. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Gautreks saga 6 (Gillingr Skafnǫrtungsson, Lausavísur 2)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 250.