StarkSt Vík 2^VIII (Gautr 10)

Herr tapaðiz         Haralds ins egðska
ok menbrota         mágar véltu,
Fjöri ok Fýri,         Freka arfþegar,
Unnar bræðr         eiðu minnar.

Herr Haralds ins egðska tapaðiz ok mágar, Fjöri ok Fýri, arfþegar Freka, bræðr Unnar eiðu minnar, véltu {menbrota}.

The army of Haraldr inn egðski (‘from Agder’) perished and the kinsmen, Fjǫri and Fýri, heirs of Freki, brothers of my mother Unnr, betrayed {the necklace-breaker} [GENEROUS MAN = Stórvirkr].

Mss: 590b-cˣ(3v), 152(198rb), papp11ˣ(5r) (Gautr)

Readings: [1] Herr: hers papp11ˣ;    tapaðiz: so 152, ‘hraudtudr’ 590b‑cˣ, ‘hrvdur’ papp11ˣ    [3] menbrota: ‘menn breta’ 590b‑cˣ, meinbrota papp11ˣ    [5] Fjöri: Fjörvi papp11ˣ    [6] arfþegar: so 152, arfþegar with ‘arfa’ written in left margin and final a crossed through 590b‑cˣ, arfþegar preceded by ‘arfa’ crossed through papp11ˣ    [7] Unnar: ‘unar’ 152

Editions: Skj AII, 324, Skj BII, 344, Skald II, 185; FSN 3, 16-17, Gautr 1664, 20 (ll. 1-4), Gautr 1900, 13-14, FSGJ 4, 13; Edd. Min. 38.

Context: As for Vík 1 (Gautr 9). This stanza follows it without a break.

Notes: [1] tapaðiz ‘perished’: The readings of 590b-cˣ and papp11ˣ do not offer a satisfactory alternative here, either metrically or in terms of sense, even though Gautr 1900 and Edd. Min. offer the cpd herhrǫðuðr or the emended ok herhrǫðuðr, which are construed with the last two lines of Vík 1 (Gautr 9), though no interpretation is offered. The cpd hrǫtuðr occurs as a fire-heiti in Þul Elds 1/7^III in the sense ‘stumbling’, possibly related to hrata ‘stagger, tumble’, but this does not seem either syntactically or lexically appropriate here. — [2] Haralds ins egðska ‘of Haraldr inn egðski (“from Agder”)’: A Haraldr, king of Agder, termed Haraldr inn granrauði ‘Haraldr Red-whiskers’, is mentioned in Yng ch. 48 (ÍF 26, 79-80) as being killed by the Ynglingr ruler Guðrøðr, the subject of Þjóð Yt 25^I. Guðrøðr asked for Haraldr’s daughter Ása in marriage but was refused. However, this man must be different from the Haraldr, father of Víkarr, in Gautr; see Context to Vík 3 (Gautr 11) below. — [3] menbrota ‘the necklace-breaker [GENEROUS MAN = Stórvirkr]’: A common kenning-type, whose referent is presumably Starkaðr’s father, Stórvirkr. The cpd menbroti occurs also in two poems probably of the early C13th, Bjbp Jóms 42/3^I and GSvert1/2^IV. — [5] Fjöri ‘Fjǫri’: In some mss, here represented by papp11ˣ, this character’s name is given as Fjörvi, a form adopted by Skj B and Skald. — [6] arfþegar Freka ‘heirs of Freki’: Freki, the father of Starkaðr’s mother Unnr, is said in the prose text to be from Hålogaland in the north of Norway. The noun Freki, related to the adj. frekr ‘ravenous’, can be applied to a wolf (cf. Vsp 51/6), as well as to fire and warriors (cf. LT: freki). The cpd arfþegi ‘heir’, lit. ‘inheritance receiver’, also occurs in Gautr 16/3 and Ív Sig 30/7^II, a poem that Ranisch considered (Gautr 1900, cviii) may have been influenced by Vík, though the influence may well have gone the other way. — [7]: This line is in kviðuháttr. — [8] eiðu ‘mother’: An uncommon noun, largely poetic; Skm (SnE 1998, I, 108) explains Eiða heitir móðir ‘Eiða is a name for mother’. Eiða is cognate with Goth. aiþei and MHG eide, both meaning ‘mother’, OIr. aite ‘father’ (AEW: eiða).

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. AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
6. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
7. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
8. FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
9. 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.
10. Gautr 1900 = Ranisch, Wilhelm, ed. 1900. Die Gautrekssaga in zwei Fassungen. Palaestra 11. Berlin: Mayer & Müller.
11. Gautr 1664 = Verelius, Olaus, ed. 1664. Gothrici & Rolfi Westrogothiæ Regum Historia. Lingua antiqua Gothica conscripta. Uppsala: Curio.
12. Internal references
13. 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 18 April 2024)
14. (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Skáldskaparmál’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=112> (accessed 18 April 2024)
15. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Ynglinga saga’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=158> (accessed 18 April 2024)
16. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Elds heiti 1’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 921.
17. Emily Lethbridge (ed.) 2012, ‘Bjarni byskup Kolbeinsson, Jómsvíkingadrápa 42’ 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. 995.
18. Not published: do not cite ()
19. Margaret Clunies Ross (forthcoming), ‘ Starkaðr gamli Stórvirksson, Víkarsbálkr’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=3118> (accessed 18 April 2024)
20. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Ívarr Ingimundarson, Sigurðarbálkr 30’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 519.
21. Edith Marold (ed.) 2012, ‘Þjóðólfr ór Hvini, Ynglingatal 25’ 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. 53.
22. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Gautreks saga 11 (Starkaðr gamli Stórvirksson, Víkarsbálkr 3)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 257.
23. 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.
24. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Gautreks saga 9 (Starkaðr gamli Stórvirksson, Víkarsbálkr 1)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 255.