Hundk Lv 5^VIII (HjǪ 36)

Harðr muntu heima,         er þú hyggz öllu ráða
oss hjá í dýrum         höllum várum.
Hefir þú brand hvassan         brynju ok hjálm vænan
ok Sófnis bingi aðra,         en set þik aptr af því.

Muntu harðr heima, er þú hyggz ráða öllu hjá oss í dýrum höllum várum. Þú hefir hvassan brand, brynju ok vænan hjálm ok {aðra bingi Sófnis}, en set þik aptr af því.

You must be tough at home, since you think to decide everything among us in our excellent halls. You have a keen sword, a coat of mail and beautiful helmet and {other beds of Sófnir <snake>} [GOLD], but restrain yourself from that.

Mss: 109a IIIˣ(274r), papp6ˣ(54r), ÍBR5ˣ(96) (HjǪ)

Readings: [2] er: om. papp6ˣ    [3] hjá í: í hjá í papp6ˣ;    dýrum: dýrum crossed out papp6ˣ    [4] höllum várum: várum höllum 109a IIIˣ, ÍBR5ˣ, várum höllum papp6ˣ    [8] en: om. ÍBR5ˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 339, Skj BII, 361, Skald II, 195, NN §128; HjǪ 1720, 51, FSN 3, 495, FSGJ 4, 220, HjǪ 1970, 41-2, 96, 158.

Context: Hjálmþér indicates that he will not have Hǫrðr left out of the seating arrangements and asks Hundingi for winter quarters, as Hervǫr had advised him to do. Hundingi presents him with the difficult task of obtaining the two horns of his ‘calf’ (really a man-eating bull) or losing his life. Hjálmþér asks to be first directed to a seat and the king responds with this stanza.

Notes: [4]: All mss have várum höllum (papp6ˣ crosses out várum), but this word order has been inverted, as in Skj B, both to regularise the alliteration and for syntactical reasons. Kock (NN §128) objects to the inversion of word order, but supports Skj B’s change of várum to órum, which is, however, found largely in early poetry (cf. ANG §467.2) and is unlikely here. — [7] bingi Sófnis ‘beds of Sófnir <snake> [GOLD]’: Sófnir is likely to be a snake-heiti here. LP equates Sófnir with Sváfnir, the latter a name for Óðinn; cf. Þhorn Harkv 11/3^I and Note, Þul Óðins 4/3^III and Note. However, both Sváfnir and Sófnir are snake-heiti in later poetry and in rímur; cf. the kenning látr Sváfnis ‘lair of Sváfnir <snake> [GOLD]’ (Grett Lv 31/7^V (Gr 63)) and láð Sófnis ‘lands of Sófnir <snake> [GOLD]’(Grettisrímur III, 25, Finnur Jónsson 1905-22, I, 58); cf. also the kenning naðrbingr ‘adder-bed [GOLD]’ (Þjsk Jarl 1/4^I) and Meissner 237. The noun bingr ‘bed’ is uncommon in skaldic poetry and in Old Norse prose but is frequent in rímur (cf. Finnur Jónsson 1926-8, 25-6). — [8] en set þik aptr af því ‘but restrain yourself from that’: I.e. from deciding everything in Hundingi’s hall, doubtless intended ironically, since, at his host’s direction, Hjálmþér is about to undertake a difficult and dangerous task in return for winter quarters.

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. Meissner = Meissner, Rudolf. 1921. Die Kenningar der Skalden: Ein Beitrag zur skaldischen Poetik. Rheinische Beiträge und Hülfsbücher zur germanischen Philologie und Volkskunde 1. Bonn and Leipzig: Schroeder. Rpt. 1984. Hildesheim etc.: Olms.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. Finnur Jónsson. 1926-8. Ordbog til de af samfund til udg. af gml. nord. litteratur udgivne Rímur samt til de af Dr. O. Jiriczek udgivne Bósarímur. SUGNL 51. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
10. FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
11. Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1905-22. Rímnasafn: Samling af de ældste islandske rimer. 2 vols. SUGNL 35. Copenhagen: Møller.
12. 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.
13. HjǪ 1970 = Harris, Richard L., ed. 1970. ‘Hjálmþérs saga: A Scientific Edition’. Ph.D. thesis. University of Iowa.
14. Internal references
15. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Óðins nǫfn 4’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 741.
16. Jonathan Grove (ed.) 2022, ‘Grettis saga Ásmundarsonar 63 (Grettir Ásmundarson, Lausavísur 31)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 781.
17. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Þorbjǫrn hornklofi, Haraldskvæði (Hrafnsmál) 11’ 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. 106.
18. Kate Heslop (ed.) 2012, ‘Þorleifr jarlsskáld Rauðfeldarson, Jarlsníð 1’ 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. 372.
19. Jonathan Grove (ed.) 2022, ‘Grettis saga Ásmundarsonar 18 (Grettir Ásmundarson, Lausavísur 9)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 677.