Vargeisa Lv 4^VIII (HjǪ 9)

Vertu ei svá ærr, maðr,         at þú Ölvi grandir;
vertu honum heill, hilmir;         hann er þér hollr, fylkir.
Láttu eigi illmæli         æða lund þína;
vel þér vini tryggva;         vertu þeim hollr, dróttinn.

Vertu ei svá ærr, maðr, at þú grandir Ölvi; vertu honum heill, hilmir; hann er þér hollr, fylkir. Láttu eigi illmæli æða lund þína; vel þér tryggva vini; vertu þeim hollr, dróttinn.

Do not be so furious, man, that you injure Ǫlvir; be true to him, ruler; he is loyal to you, king. Do not let slander enrage your temperament; choose for yourself trustworthy friends; be loyal to them, lord.

Mss: 109a IIIˣ(268r), papp6ˣ(49r), ÍBR5ˣ(88) (HjǪ)

Readings: [3] hilmir: ‘himler’ papp6ˣ    [5] illmæli: illmæla ÍBR5ˣ    [6] æða: so inserted above the line between illmæli and lund in another hand papp6ˣ, om. 109a IIIˣ, aldrí ÍBR5ˣ    [7] tryggva: so papp6ˣ, ÍBR5ˣ, ‘trygga’ 109a IIIˣ    [8] vertu: vert papp6ˣ, ok vert ÍBR5ˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 334-5, Skj BII, 355, Skald II, 192; HjǪ 1720, 30, FSN 3, 476, FSGJ 4, 201, HjǪ 1970, 26, 84, 140.

Context: Predictive of the next episode of the saga, in which Hjálmþér will display brief and inexplicable anger towards his comrade, even threatening his life, Vargeisa warns the hero not to harm Ǫlvir.

Notes: [All]: The stanza is full of gnomic wise advice that Vargeisa offers Hjálmþér in his role as a leader of men; cf. Hávm 44 and Anon Hsv 49, 50, 52, 60 and 74^VII. — [1-2]: Cf. HHund II 51/1-2 (NK 161), Verðu eigi svá œr, | at ein farir ‘Do not be so mad as to go alone’. — [6] æða ‘enrage’: This word is added to papp6ˣ in a hand other than the main scribe’s; nevertheless, as is also seen in ÍBR5ˣ’s aldri ‘never’, a word beginning with a vowel is required to correct the hypometrical line and to provide vowel alliteration. ÍBR5ˣ’s text could be understood as láttu aldri illmæla lund þína ‘never let [people] speak ill of your temperament’. — [8] vertu þeim hollr, dróttinn ‘be loyal to them, lord’: Alternatively, with Skj B, one could understand vertu þeim hollr dróttinn ‘be a loyal lord to them’.

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. FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
7. 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.
8. HjǪ 1970 = Harris, Richard L., ed. 1970. ‘Hjálmþérs saga: A Scientific Edition’. Ph.D. thesis. University of Iowa.
9. Internal references
10. Tarrin Wills and Stefanie Gropper (eds) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Hugsvinnsmál 49’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 390-1.
11. Not published: do not cite ()