Neri Frag 1^VIII (Gautr 7)

Gautr 7 and 8 are found in the so-called Gjafa-Refs þáttr which follows Víkars þáttr in the longer version of Gautr and the Dalafífla þáttr in the shorter version, except in 164hˣ, where it precedes it. Gautr 7 is found in the mss of the longer version of Gautr and also in 164hˣ, which is a conflation of both versions. Gautr 8 occurs in both longer (except for papp11ˣ) and shorter versions of the saga. Thus these two stanzas come towards the end of the saga in most mss. The tale of Gjafa-Refr, like that of Auðunn in Auð, is a story of a poor young man who wins powerful friends and great rewards by presenting high-ranking men with a sequence of judiciously selected gifts. In this case, Refr’s major patron is a certain Neri jarl, who is said in Gautr to be the son of King Víkarr, hence the tenuous link between Víkars þáttr and the narrative of Gjafa-Refr.

Skein inn skrautligi raunar;
skjöldr hekk áðr á tjöldum;
oss verðr opt af þessu
angr mest, er ek lít þangat.
Skarð erat skapligt orðit;
skjótt mun ek snauðr af auði,
ef braut með gjöf gautar
grandlaust bera randir.

Inn skrautligi skein raunar; skjöldr hekk áðr á tjöldum; angr verðr oss opt mest af þessu, er ek lít þangat. Skarð erat orðit skapligt; ek mun skjótt snauðr af auði, ef gautar með gjöf bera randir braut grandlaust.

The splendid one really shone; the shield previously hung on the wall-hangings; sorrow often strikes us [me] most because of this, when I look over there. The gap has not happened suitably, I will quickly [be] stripped of wealth, if men with a gift carry away shields scot-free.

Mss: 590b-cˣ(7v), 152(200va), papp11ˣ(10v), 164hˣ(1v) (Gautr)

Readings: [3] af: at papp11ˣ, 164hˣ    [4] mest er ek lít: er horfum 164hˣ    [5] orðit: yrði 152, virði 164hˣ    [6] skjótt mun: þó skjótt yrði 164hˣ;    af: at 164hˣ    [7] með: mik 152, 164hˣ    [8] grandlaust: gnauðlaust 164hˣ;    randir: dauðr 164hˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 323, Skj BII, 343, Skald II, 184, NN §§1485, 1486, 3294; Gautr 1664, 47, FSN 3, 42, Gautr 1900, 38, FSGJ 4, 38-9.

Context: According to the saga prose, Refr, an unpromising young man, is thrown out of his father’s farm. In revenge he takes with him a fine ox and presents it to Neri jarl, who has a reputation for being so mean that he never receives a gift because he cannot bear to requite the giver. In spite of his reputation, Neri gives Refr hospitality overnight and is moved to present him with a shield, inlaid with gold, that hangs among numerous others that overlap along the walls of Neri’s hall. When he returns to the hall the next day, Neri regrets this generous gesture. Looking up at the gap where the shield had been, he speaks this stanza.

Notes: [All]: This stanza is in dróttkvætt, regular except for l. 1. — [1-2]: In this edn and also in Skj B, Gautr 1900 and FSGJ, l. 2 has been treated as an independent clause; however, it is possible (so Skald; NN §3294) to construe skjöldr ‘shield’ (l. 2) with inn skrautligi ‘the splendid’ (l.1) in the first clause, and take hekk áðr á tjöldum ‘it hung previously on the wall-hangings’ as a separate co-ordinate clause with the implied subject skjöldr ‘shield’. — [2] á tjöldum ‘on the wall-hangings’: The noun tjald usually refers to an awning on a ship or a wall-hanging or tapestry in a hall. The prose text of Gautr states (Gautr 1900, 38): Ǫll hǫll jarls var búin með skjǫlldum, svó at hverr tók annan, þar sem þeir vóru uppfestir ‘The whole of the jarl’s hall was decorated with shields, so that each overlapped another where they were suspended’. — [5] skarð ‘the gap’: That is, the empty place where the shield Neri gave to Refr was formerly hanging. — [7] gautar ‘men’: Here understood as a poetic word for men; Skj B understands Gautar ‘men from Götaland (ON Gautland)’ in Sweden. Finnur Jónsson combines this interpretation with the emendation of bera ‘carry’ (l. 8) to fara ‘go’ and randir ‘shields’ (l. 8, acc. pl.) to randa ‘of shields’ (gen. pl.) to give the following sense: ef Gautar randa fara braut grandlaust með gjöf ‘if the Gautar of shields [WARRIORS] depart safely with the gift’. Neither emendation has support in the ms. readings. — [8] grandlaust ‘scot-free’: A more common meaning for grandlauss is ‘guileless, sinless’, but here the sense seems to be that people can get away with all sorts of things just because they offer a [small] gift.

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. 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. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
6. FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
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. 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 23 April 2024)
11. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Gautreks saga 7 (Neri, verses 1)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 251.
12. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Gautreks saga 8 (Anonymous Lausavísur, Lausavísa from Gautreks saga 1)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 252.