Forað Lv 3^VIII (Ket 21)

‘Eigi synja ek þess,’         segir in víðförla,
‘at þú líf hafir         langt um aðra,
ef þú fund okkarn         fyrðum segir;
sveinn alllítill,         sé ek þinn hug skjálfa.’

‘Ek synja eigi þess,’ segir in víðförla, ‘at þú hafir líf langt um aðra, ef þú segir fyrðum fund okkarn; alllítill sveinn, ek sé hug þinn skjálfa.’

‘I will not refuse this,’ says the far-travelled one, ‘that you retain your life long beyond others, if you tell men about our meeting; puny youth, I see your courage waver.’

Mss: 343a(56v), 471(53v-54r) (Ket)

Readings: [1] Eigi synja ek þess: Synja ek þess eigi 471    [4] um aðra: um menn aðra 471    [6] fyrðum: fyrðum óblauðum 471    [7] alllítill: lítill 471

Editions: Skj AII, 283, Skj BII, 304, Skald II, 161, NN §2393; FSN 2, 129, FSGJ 2, 170, Anderson 1990, 53, 98-9, 439; Edd. Min. 81.

Context: Forað’s answer is introduced by the words: Hún svarar ‘She answers’.

Notes: [2] segir in víðförla ‘says the far-travelled one’: In all mss this line consists of the verb form segir ‘he/she says’ and the f. nom. sg. in víðförla ‘the far-travelled one’ which can only refer to the giantess Forað. The line can be regarded either as an inquit indicating the speaker (the position adopted in this edn) or as part of Forað’s reply in direct address. In the latter case Forað would be referring to herself in the 3rd pers. The (self-) description of Forað as ‘the far-travelled one’ is appropriate in the light of the itinerary she details in her Lv 4 (Ket 24). Despite the unanimity of the ms. tradition previous eds (after Edd. Min.) with the exception of Anderson (1990, 439) emend the line with Heusler and Ranisch to a phrase designating Ketill: seggr inn víðförli ‘far-travelled man’. — [5-6]: In 471 and several other mss the latter part of this long-line reads fyrðum óblauðum ‘uncowardly men’, and the following l. 7 becomes segir, sveinn lítill. This wording is metrically and alliteratively regular and heightens the contrast between Ketill, whom Forað accuses of cowardice (ll. 7-8), and the dauntless men to whom he is to relate the tale of his inglorious encounter with her. The version of 471 has been preferred over that of 343a by Edd. Min. and Skj B, while Skald adopts a mixed text, blending 471 and 343a.

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. 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. Anderson, Sarah M. 1990. ‘The Textual Transmission of Two Fornaldarsögur: Ketils saga høings and Gríms saga loðinkinna’. Ph.D. thesis. Cornell University…
9. Internal references
10. Beatrice La Farge (ed.) 2017, ‘Ketils saga hœngs 24 (Forað, Lausavísur 4)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 574.