Ormarr Lv 2^VIII (Heiðr 103)

Sunnan em ek kominn         at segja spjöll þessi:
sviðin er öll         Myrkviðar heiðr,
drifin öll Gotþjóð         gumna blóði.

Ek em kominn sunnan at segja þessi spjöll: öll heiðr Myrkviðar er sviðin, öll Gotþjóð drifin blóði gumna.

I have come from the south to relate these words: all Myrkviðr’s heath is scorched, all the land of the Goths sprayed with the blood of men.

Mss: 203ˣ(111r-v), R715ˣ(34r) (Heiðr)

Readings: [2] segja: segir R715ˣ    [4] ‑viðar: viðar corrected from ‑heiðar above the line in another hand 203ˣ, om. R715ˣ;    heiðr: so R715ˣ, heiði 203ˣ    [5] drifin: drjúgum er R715ˣ    [6] gumna: gunna 203ˣ, R715ˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 254, Skj BII, 273-4, Skald II, 143; Heiðr 1672, 172, FSN 1, 499, Heiðr 1873, 279, Heiðr 1924, 149, Heiðr 1960, 53 (Heiðr); Edd. Min. 7, NK 307, ÍF Edd. II, 425.

Context: The Goths and Huns meet in battle. Eventually Hervǫr, the leader of the Goths, is killed, whereupon Ormarr and the rest of the troop flee. The Huns harry widely in the land of the Goths. Ormarr rides to Angantýr and speaks this stanza.

Notes: [3-4]: To restore alliteration Skj B, Skald, Heiðr 1960 and Edd. Min. all add in mæra ‘the renowned’ after öll, Edd. Min. placing öll in square brackets. There is no ms. support for this emendation here, but cf. Heiðr 94/1-2 hrís þat it mæra, | er Myrkviðr heitir ‘that renowned forest, which is called Myrkviðr’ (and see Note there). ÍF Edd. takes Sviðin er ǫll Myrkheiðr (see following Note) to be l. 3, assuming another l. 4 to be lost. — [4] heiðr Myrkviðar ‘Myrkviðr’s heath’: Ms. 203ˣ’s original reading was Myrkheiðar heiðr ‘Myrkheiðr’s heath’; the correction is in another hand. R715ˣ reads just ‘Mirk heiðr’, which NK follows, but if it is a p. n. it is not otherwise known or mentioned elsewhere (cf. Jón Helgason 1967, 234). Heiðr 1672 emends to Mork oc heidar ‘borderland and heath’. — [5] Gotþjóð ‘the land of the Goths’: See Note to Heiðr 94/16.

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. NK = Neckel, Gustav and Hans Kuhn (1899), eds. 1983. Edda: Die Lieder des Codex Regius nebst verwandten Denkmälern. 2 vols. I: Text. 5th edn. Heidelberg: Winter.
6. Heiðr 1672 = Verelius, Olaus, ed. 1672. Hervarar Saga på Gammel Gotska. Uppsala: Curio.
7. Heiðr 1924 = Jón Helgason, ed. 1924. Heiðreks saga. Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks konungs. SUGNL 48. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
8. Heiðr 1960 = Tolkien, Christopher, ed. and trans. 1960. Saga Heiðreks konungs ins vitra / The Saga of King Heidrek the Wise. Nelson Icelandic Texts. London etc.: Nelson.
9. Heiðr 1873 = Bugge, Sophus, ed. 1873. Hervarar saga ok Heidreks. Det Norske oldskriftselskabs samlinger 17. Christiania (Oslo): Brøgger.
10. Jón Helgason, ed. 1967. Kviður af Gotum og Hunum: Hamðismál, Guðrúnarhvöt, Hlöðskviða. Reykjavík: Heimskringla.
11. Internal references
12. 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 367. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=23> (accessed 4 May 2024)
13. Hannah Burrows (ed.) 2017, ‘Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks 94 (Hlǫðr Heiðreksson, Lausavísur 2)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 463.