Beatrice La Farge (ed.) 2017, ‘Ketils saga hœngs 41 (Framarr víkingakonungr, Lausavísur 4)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 595.
Hugr er í Hængi; hvass er Dragvendill;
beit hann orð Óðins, sem ekki væri.
Bráz nú Baldrs faðir; brigt er at trúa honum;
njóttu heill handa; hér munum skiljaz.
Hugr er í Hængi; Dragvendill er hvass; hann beit orð Óðins, sem ekki væri. Nú bráz {faðir Baldrs}; at trúa honum er brigt; njóttu heill handa; hér munum skiljaz.
There is courage in Hœngr (‘Salmon’); Dragvendill is sharp; he bit Óðinn’s word, as if it were nothing. Now {the father of Baldr <god>} [= Óðinn] has been deceptive; to put one’s trust in him is uncertain; enjoy safe and sound [the work of] your hands; here we will part.
Mss: 343a(57v), 471(56v) (Ket); also used selectively: 1006ˣ(621), 173ˣ(11v), 109a IIˣ(162r) (Ket)
Readings: [1] Hængi: Hangi 471 [5] Baldrs: so 1006ˣ, 173ˣ, 109a IIˣ, Baldr 343a, 471 [6] brigt: ‘beigdt’ possibly corrected to ‘brigdt’ 471 [8] munum: munu við 471
Editions: Skj AII, 287, Skj BII, 308, Skald II, 163; FSN 2, 139, FSGJ 2, 180-1, Anderson 1990, 58-9, 108, 443; Edd. Min. 85.
Context: Before Ketill strikes at Framarr for the third time he turns the sword so that the second cutting edge of the blade will strike. This time the sword slices Framarr through vertically from the shoulder down to the hip. Before he dies Framarr speaks a last stanza in which he acknowledges Ketill’s courage and Óðinn’s ineffectuality and treachery. In the saga this stanza is introduced by the words: Þá kvað Framarr vísu ‘Then Framarr spoke a stanza’.
Notes: [All]: This concluding stanza sums up the themes of the preceding ones and allows Framarr to die with gracious words on his lips: Ketill is courageous (cf. Ket 38, Ket 40); Óðinn’s spells cannot dull the blade of Ketill’s sword Dragvendill (cf. Ket 36); Óðinn is not to be trusted (cf. Ket 32, Ket 33). There are also echoes of the wording of Ket 38: hugr (38/8), hvass (38/3). — [3-4] hann beit Óðins orð, sem ekki væri ‘he bit Óðinn’s word, as if it were nothing’: This statement could be paraphrased as ‘he (the sword Dragvendill) is stronger than Óðinn’s spells to dull Dragvendill’ (cf. Ket 36). Óðins orð could also refer to the promise of victory that Óðinn gave Framarr in his youth (cf. Ket 32). Ket ch. 5 (FSGJ 2, 173) mentions that Óðinn had stipulated (skapat) that iron could not ‘bite’ (i.e. wound) Framarr. — [5-6]: This long-line contains a play on the etymologically related words bráz (= 3rd pers. sg. pret. of the m. v. bregðaz ‘change, deceive, fail’) and brigt (n. sg. nom. of the adj. brigðr ‘uncertain, fickle, treacherous’). Óðinn’s unreliability or treachery to his supposed ‘favourites’ is a theme in many Old Norse texts. In the Brávalla legend, there is treachery towards Haraldr hilditǫnn ‘War-tooth’ (Fornk ch. 8, ÍF 35, 62-3; Saxo 2015, I, vii. 10. 3, pp. 512-15, I, vii. 10. 6, pp. 516-19, I, vii. 12. 1, pp. 530-3, I, viii. 4. 9, pp. 548-9, and in Vǫls (chs 11-12, Vǫls 1906-8, 27-9), Óðinn causes his favourite, Sigmundr, to fall in battle against the sons of Hundingr. — [5] faðir Baldrs ‘the father of Baldr <god> [= Óðinn]’: The gen. Baldrs appears in all mss with the exception of 343a and 471 and accords with the syntax.
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