ǪrvOdd Ævdr 38VIII (Ǫrv 108)
Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Ǫrvar-Odds saga 108 (Ǫrvar-Oddr, Ævidrápa 38)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 917.
Rann ek at víðri vagns slóðgötu,
áðr ek strengvölum stríðum mættak.
Munda ek Ásmund auði mínum
aptr ódáinn öllum kaupa.
Ek rann at víðri slóðgötu vagns, áðr ek mættak {stríðum strengvölum}. Ek munda kaupa Ásmund aptr ódáinn öllum auði mínum.
I ran along a wide waggon trackway, before I met with {fierce bow-string sticks} [ARROWS]. I would [rather] buy Ásmundr back to life with all my riches.
Mss: 7(50r), 344a(13v), 567IV(2va), 343a(65v), 343a(81r), 471(71r), 471(95r), 173ˣ(30r), 173ˣ(63ra) (Ǫrv)
Readings: [1] Rann: so 344a, 567IV, 343a(65v), 343a(81r), 471(71r), 471(95r), 173ˣ(63ra), fann 7, 173ˣ(30r); at: á 173ˣ(30r), om. 173ˣ(63ra) [2] vagns: vegn 344a, vagn 567IV, 343a(65v), 343a(81r), 471(71r), 471(95r), 173ˣ(30r), 173ˣ(63ra); slóð‑: slóðs 344a, 173ˣ(63ra) [3] áðr: unz 344a, 343a(81r), 471(95r), undrum 173ˣ(63ra); ek: enn 343a(65v), 173ˣ(30r), om. 471(95r); strengvölum: ‘stronghuelum’ 344a [4] stríðum: so all others, stríðum corrected from stórum 7; mættak: mættik 567IV, mætti 343a(81r), mætta 173ˣ(30r), 173ˣ(63ra) [5] Munda ek: mundig 567IV; Ásmund: ‘As’ 471(71r)
Editions: Skj AII, 312-13, Skj BII, 332, Skald II, 178; Ǫrv 1888, 77, 203, Ǫrv 1892, 40, 98, FSGJ 2, 240, 351-2; Edd. Min. 55.
Notes: [All]: This stanza is found in all mss, and twice in 343a, 471 and 173ˣ. It relates to an episode that takes place in Ireland, according to the saga (Ǫrv 1888, 70-1), during which Oddr and Ásmundr are alone together in a wood, when suddenly an unseen assailant sends an arrow flying out of the trees. It scores a direct hit on Ásmundr, who falls down dead. Oddr flies into a rage, and rampages about the countryside killing people with his own magic arrows. He encounters an Irish woman, whose kin he had killed, and who strikes a bargain with him, that she will make him a magic protective shirt if he refrains from taking vengeance on her family for the killing of Ásmundr. In the saga prose, Oddr recites st. 108 to Hjálmarr who has asked if Oddr has avenged Ásmundr’s killing. — [1-2] at víðri slóðgötu vagns ‘along a wide waggon trackway’: Lit. ‘along a wide trackway of the waggon’. — [3] áðr ‘before’: Some mss have unz ‘until’, a reading preferred by both Skj B and Skald, and possibly providing better sense. — [7] ódáinn ‘back to life’: Lit. ‘undead’.
References
- Bibliography
- Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
- Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
- FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
- 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.
- Ǫrv 1888 = Boer, R. C., ed. 1888. Ǫrvar-Odds saga. Leiden: Brill.
- Ǫrv 1892 = Boer, R. C., ed. 1892a. Ǫrvar-Odds saga. Altnordische Saga-Bibliothek 2. Halle: Niemayer.
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