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.
Þat var spell, er spörr um vann
á akri Ímsiguls.
Axi var skatt, ór var korn numit;
þat mun æ Tötru ætt um trega.
Þat var spell, er spörr um vann á akri Ímsiguls. Axi var skatt, korn var ór numit; þat mun ætt Tötru æ um trega.
It was devastation that a sparrow caused on Ímsigull’s field. An ear of corn was destroyed, the grain was taken from it; that will grieve Tǫtra’s family for ever.
Mss: 567XIV γ(1v), 152(198ra), 590b-cˣ(3r), papp11ˣ(4r), 164hˣ(3v), 194cˣ(2r) (ll. 1-2) (Gautr)
Readings: [1] spell: spells 152, spjöll papp11ˣ, 194cˣ, sjell 164hˣ [2] er: om. 152, ok 590b‑cˣ, papp11ˣ, 164hˣ; spörr: spörn papp11ˣ; um: so 152, 590b‑cˣ, papp11ˣ, 164hˣ, of 567XIV γ, om. 194cˣ; vann: gerði 194cˣ [3] á: om. 164hˣ; Ímsiguls: heimsyguls 164hˣ [5] ór: ok 152; numit: ‘nuid’ 164hˣ [6] þat: því slíkt papp11ˣ; mun: so all others, man 567XIV γ; æ: ‘ꜳ’ 152, om. papp11ˣ, 164hˣ, ‘ockr faa’ 194cˣ; Tötru ætt: so 152, 590b‑cˣ, Tötru 567XIV γ, ætt vór papp11ˣ, Tötru mög 164hˣ, trega Hjötru 194cˣ; um trega: so 152, 590b‑cˣ, of trega 567XIV γ, trega papp11ˣ, tregaz 164hˣ, vinkonu 194cˣ
Editions: Skj AII, 323, Skj BII, 343, Skald II, 184; Gautr 1664, 15, FSN 3, 13, Gautr 1900, 10, 59-61, FSGJ 4, 10; Edd. Min. 122.
Context: Another brother, Ímsigull, was inspecting his cornfields when he noticed that a sparrow had plucked a single grain from one of the ears of corn. He thought this such serious damage that he decided to plunge over the family cliff, taking his wife with him. Before he did so he spoke this stanza.
Notes: [All]: The stanza is a rather amusing example of hyperbole, pointing up the ridiculous lack of proportion in the Skafnǫrtungr family’s view of their trivial losses. Ms. 567XIV γ has been used as base ms. here, as it offers the most conservative text. — [2, 6] um vann; um trega ‘caused; grieve’: The later form (um) of the pleonastic particle of has been preferred in both these cases. On the normalisation of of to um in post-1250 texts, see Ásm 1/3, 5 and Note there. — [6] ætt Tötru ‘Tǫtra’s family’: In Gautr Tǫtra ‘Tatters, Rags’ is the name of Skafnǫrtungr’s wife. The Hjǫtra mentioned by 194cˣ is the name of one of Snotra’s sisters.
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