ǪrvOdd Ævdr 60^VIII (Ǫrv 130)

Þýddumz ek hjá Hildi,         hoska ok stóra,
raunsjáliga         rísa dóttur,
ok við henni         heldr sterkligan
ítran son         eiga gerðak,
ok ólíkan         öðrum þegnum.

Ek þýddumz hjá Hildi, hoska ok stóra, raunsjáliga dóttur rísa, ok gerðak eiga við henni heldr sterkligan ítran son, ok ólíkan öðrum þegnum.

I had a relationship with Hildr, the wise and large one, the stately daughter of the giant, and I had with her a very strong, glorious son, who was [lit. and] unlike other men.

Mss: 343a(81r), 471(95v), 173ˣ(64va) (Ǫrv)

Readings: [1] Þýddumz ek hjá Hildi: þar var ek svá at þýddumz ek 471, þýddumz ek 173ˣ    [2] hoska ok stóra: om. 471, 173ˣ    [7] ítran son: om. 173ˣ    [8] gerðak: gerðum 471, gerði 173ˣ    [10] öðrum þegnum: ossum niðjum 471

Editions: Skj AII, 317, Skj BII, 336, Skald II, 180; Ǫrv 1888, 206, FSGJ 2, 358-9.

Notes: [All]: The mss of this stanza display considerable variation and uncertainty about both line length and line sequence. In both 343a and 471 the stanza has ten lines, though in both not all are metrically regular. Ms. 173ˣ has eight lines, but omits two that are in 343a. Line 2 of 343a is omitted by both the other mss. Most eds enclose ll. 9-10 in square brackets and treat them as later additions. — [All]: For the subject of this stanza, cf. Ǫrv 30. The theme of the hero who has a sexual relationship with a friendly giantess and produces an outstanding male child is common to other fornaldarsögur, especially those of the Hrafnistumenn, like Ket and GrL. On the significance of the hero-giantess relationship, see McKinnell (2009b).  — [1]: In 471 the line is prefaced by the words þar var ek svá at ‘I was there so that’; most eds omit ek ‘I’, and some (Skj B and Skald) also omit hjá ‘with, at the place of’. — [1] Hildi ‘Hildr’: In the prose texts, the giantess’s name is given as Hildigunnr (Ǫrv 1888, 121); only 343a actually gives her name in this stanza, perhaps suggesting that it was not originally present there. — [7] ítran son ‘a glorious son’: Oddr’s and Hildigunnr’s son Vignir is destined to fight with his father against Oddr’s most powerful opponent, Ǫgmundr Eyþjófsbani, and to be killed by him (Ǫrv 1888, 130-3). This episode is the subject of the following stanza, Ǫrv 131.

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. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
5. Ǫrv 1888 = Boer, R. C., ed. 1888. Ǫrvar-Odds saga. Leiden: Brill.
6. McKinnell, John. 2009b. ‘The Fantasy Giantess: Brana in Hálfdanar saga Brǫnufóstra’. In Ney et al. 2009, 201-22.
7. Internal references
8. 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Ketils saga hœngs’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 548. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=71> (accessed 25 April 2024)
9. 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Gríms saga loðinkinna’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 288. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=76> (accessed 25 April 2024)
10. Not published: do not cite (ǪgmEyb^VIII)
11. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Ǫrvar-Odds saga 131 (Ǫrvar-Oddr, Ævidrápa 61)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 937.
12. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Ǫrvar-Odds saga 30 (Hildigunnr, Lausavísa 1)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 843.