Hjþ Lv 10^VIII (HjǪ 30)

Hjálmþér ek heiti,         hirði ek fátt segja
fylki framvísum         á fyrsta kveldi.
Vil ek eigi hvarfla hér         á hallar gólfi;
seg mér til sætis,         sonr em ek grams Inga.

Ek heiti Hjálmþér, ek hirði segja framvísum fylki fátt á fyrsta kveldi. Ek vil eigi hvarfla hér á gólfi hallar; seg mér til sætis, ek em sonr Inga grams.

I am called Hjálmþér, I care to say little to the prophetic king on the first evening. I do not want to wander about here on the floor of the hall; direct me to a seat, I am the son of King Ingi.

Mss: 109a IIIˣ(273v), papp6ˣ(53v), ÍBR5ˣ(95) (HjǪ)

Readings: [2] hirði: hirð papp6ˣ, ÍBR5ˣ    [3] fylki: so ÍBR5ˣ, fylkir 109a IIIˣ, papp6ˣ;    ‑vísum: so papp6ˣ, ÍBR5ˣ, vísi 109a IIIˣ    [5] Vil: hirði papp6ˣ;    hvarfla: hvarla papp6ˣ    [8] sonr: son ÍBR5ˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 338, Skj BII, 359-60, Skald II, 194, NN §126; HjǪ 1720, 49, FSN 3, 492-3, FSGJ 4, 218, HjǪ 1970, 40, 95, 156.

Context: Hjálmþér speaks this stanza in answer to Hundingi’s request for him to identify himself.

Notes: [All]: Hjálmþér’s response to Hundingi is a rather circumspect and guarded one, unlike the traditional proclamation of a hero’s identity; cf. Fáfn 1-2. — [3] framvísum fylki ‘to the prophetic king’: Hervǫr has forewarned Hjálmþér that her father knows everything in advance af fítónsanda innblæstri ‘with inspiration of magic’ (FSGJ 4, 216). — [5] hér ‘here’: Kock (NN §126) objects to Skj B’s omission of this adv. because of the line’s double alliteration. — [8] em ‘am’: On the mss’ variant form er beside em ‘am’, see Note to HjǪ 7/7. — [8] Inga ‘Ingi’: In HjǪ the name of Hjálmþér’s father; elsewhere the name of a dwarf (SnE 2005, 17) and of a historical Norwegian king, Ingi Haraldsson (d. 1161), often written as an alternative form to Yngvi, a name of the Norse god Freyr; see LP: ingi.

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. LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
7. FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
8. SnE 2005 = Snorri Sturluson. 2005. Edda: Prologue and Gylfaginning. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
9. HjǪ 1720 = Peringskiöld, Johann, ed. 1720. Hialmters och Olvers saga, Handlande om trenne Konungar i Manahem eller Sverige, Inge, Hialmter, och Inge, samt Olver Jarl och om theras uthresor til Grekeland och Arabien. Stockholm: Horn.
10. HjǪ 1970 = Harris, Richard L., ed. 1970. ‘Hjálmþérs saga: A Scientific Edition’. Ph.D. thesis. University of Iowa.
11. Internal references
12. 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Hjálmþés saga ok Ǫlvis’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 488. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=49> (accessed 16 April 2024)
13. Not published: do not cite ()
14. Richard L. Harris (ed.) 2017, ‘Hjálmþés saga ok Ǫlvis 7 (Hjálmþér Ingason, Lausavísur 4)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 499.