Innsteinn Innkv 10^VIII (Hálf 30)

Hins fýsi ek nú,         at Hálfr vaki,
er ekki af eklu         eldar kynd*ir.
Áttu, menbrjótr,         mági þínum
grimmlunduðum         gjafir at launa.

Nú fýsi ek hins, at Hálfr vaki, eldar er ekki kynd*ir af eklu. Áttu, {menbrjótr}, at launa grimmlunduðum mági þínum gjafir.

Now I advise that Hálfr should wake up, the fires are not lit scantily. You, {necklace-breaker} [GENEROUS RULER], have to reward your cruel-minded kinsman for his gifts.

Mss: 2845(36v) (Hálf)

Readings: [4] kynd*ir: kyndnir 2845

Editions: Skj AII, 261, Skj BII, 282, Skald II, 148; Hálf 1864, 23, Hálf 1909, 107-8, FSGJ 2, 115, Hálf 1981, 183; Edd. Min. 36.

Notes: [All]: On the discrepancy between this stanza and the prose text, see Hálf 29, Note to [All]. — [2] vaki ‘should wake up’: Cf. Anon Bjark 1/5^III vaki æ ok vaki ‘wake now and wake’. This is one of the rare instances, where the verb vaka ‘be awake’ has the meaning of the inchoative verb vakna ‘awaken, wake up’. See Fritzner: vaka, vakna. — [3] er ‘are’: Lit. ‘is’. The subject of the verb (eldar ‘fires’) is pl., but the verb sg.  It is not uncommon for the sg. of the 3rd pers. to be used with a pl. subject if the subject follows the verb or is separated from it by several words, as here; cf. NS §66 Anm. 3. — [3] af eklu ‘scantily’: Lit. ‘from scarcity’. That is, there are a great many fires around. — [5-8]: This helmingr is bitterly ironic in view of Hálfr’s protestations in part 1 of Innkv that Ásmundr, his cruel-minded kinsman, was acting generously and peacefully in inviting him and the Hálfsrekkar to a feast.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. 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.
4. NS = Nygaard, Marius. 1906. Norrøn syntax. Kristiania (Oslo): Aschehoug. Rpt. 1966.
5. FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
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. Hálf 1981 = Seelow, Hubert, ed. 1981. Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka. RSÁM 20. Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar.
8. Hálf 1864 = Bugge, Sophus, ed. 1864. Saga af Hálfi ok Hálfsrekkum. Norrøne Skrifter af sagnhistorisk Indhold 1. Christiania (Oslo): Det Nordiske Oldskriftselskab.
9. Hálf 1909 = Andrews, A. Le Roy, ed. 1909. Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka. ASB 14. Halle: Niemeyer.
10. Internal references
11. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Poems, Bjarkamál in fornu 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. 497.
12. Hubert Seelow (ed.) 2017, ‘Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka 29 (Innsteinn Gunnlaðarson, Innsteinskviða 9)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 327.