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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Hróksv Hrkv 2VIII (Hálf 52)

Hubert Seelow (ed.) 2017, ‘Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka 52 (Hrókr inn svarti, Hrókskviða 2)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 346.

Hrókr inn svartiHrókskviða
123

Vildi engi         við Vifil jafnaz,
þó at Hámundar         hjarðar gætti.
Sá ek öngan þar         svínahirði
huglausara         en Heðins arfa.

Engi vildi jafnaz við Vifil, þó at gætti hjarðar Hámundar. Þar sá ek öngan svínahirði huglausara en {arfa Heðins}.

No one would want to compare himself with Vifill, even though he tended Hámundr’s livestock. There I did not see any swineherd more faint-hearted than {the heir of Heðinn} [= Vifill].

Mss: 2845(38r) (Hálf)

Readings: [7] huglausara: huglausari 2845

Editions: Skj AII, 265, Skj BII, 286-7, Skald II, 150; Hálf 1864, 31, Hálf 1909, 120, FSGJ 2, 124, Hálf 1981, 133, 190-1; Edd. Min. 44.

Notes: [All]: The clear implication of this refusal to compare man with man is that Vifill is so far beneath the normal standards that warriors must measure up to that even swineherds would show greater courage. Implicit here also is the notion that people not of the warrior class in early Scandinavia could not possess noble qualities. — [2] Vifil ‘Vifill’: According to the prose text (Hálf 1981, 190), Vifill was the son of Heðinn, a jarl of King Haki, and is referred to by his patronymic in l. 8. The name Vifill, etymologically ‘Beetle’ (AEW: Vifill) appears in other Old Norse texts (see Hrólf 3/1) while Heðinn is elsewhere the name of a legendary hero (see Bragi Rdr 10/6III and Note 1). The prose text indicates that Vifill had sought the hand of Brynhildr and that she had been promised to him before Hrókr’s identity and superior claim had been established. — [7] huglausara ‘more faint-hearted’: Most earlier eds, with the exception of Skj B and Hálf 1981, have normalised the ms. reading to the earlier form of the comp. m. adj. ending in -a. Forms of the comp. m. adj. ending in -i are generally found in texts later than 1250-1300 (cf. ANG §435 Anm. 1).

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. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
  4. AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
  5. ANG = Noreen, Adolf. 1923. Altnordische Grammatik I: Altisländische und altnorwegische Grammatik (Laut- und Flexionslehre) unter Berücksichtigung des Urnordischen. 4th edn. Halle: Niemeyer. 1st edn. 1884. 5th unrev. edn. 1970. Tübingen: Niemeyer.
  6. FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
  7. 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.
  8. Hálf 1981 = Seelow, Hubert, ed. 1981. Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka. RSÁM 20. Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar.
  9. Hálf 1864 = Bugge, Sophus, ed. 1864. Saga af Hálfi ok Hálfsrekkum. Norrøne Skrifter af sagnhistorisk Indhold 1. Christiania (Oslo): Det Nordiske Oldskriftselskab.
  10. Hálf 1909 = Andrews, A. Le Roy, ed. 1909. Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka. ASB 14. Halle: Niemeyer.
  11. Internal references
  12. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Bragi inn gamli Boddason, Ragnarsdrápa 10’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 42.
  13. †Desmond Slay (ed.) 2017, ‘Hrólfs saga kraka 3 (Heiðr vǫlva, Lausavísur 2)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 543.
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