ǪrvOdd Lv 12^VIII (Ǫrv 45)

Sjólfr, vartu eigi,         þar er sverð ruðum
hvöss á jarli         fyr Hléseyju,
en þú hallaðiz         heima á milli
kynmálasamr         kálfs ok þýjar.

Sjólfr, vartu eigi, þar er ruðum hvöss sverð á jarli fyr Hléseyju, en þú hallaðiz heima kynmálasamr á milli kálfs ok þýjar.

Sjólfr, you were not there where we reddened sharp swords on the jarl off Læsø, but you were lolling around at home, marvellously talkative, between the calf and the servant woman.

Mss: 7(54v), 344a(21v), 343a(77r), 471(88v-89r), 173ˣ(53r-v) (Ǫrv)

Readings: [1] eigi: so all others, ei 7    [2] ruðum: so all others, om. 7    [3] hvöss: höss 344a;    jarli: so 343a, 471, 173ˣ, hjarli 7, skeiðum 344a    [4] Hlés‑: ‘hleys’ 344a    [5] en þú: heldr 344a, þóttu 343a, 173ˣ;    hallaðiz: ‘hnalladir þu’ 344a, kallaðiz 343a, 173ˣ    [6] heima: heim 173ˣ;    milli: millum 344a    [7] kyn‑: kynn‑ 343a, 173ˣ    [8] þýjar: þýja 173ˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 299-300, Skj BII, 319, Skald II, 170, FF §37; Ǫrv 1888, 162, Ǫrv 1892, 81, FSGJ 2, 315; Edd. Min. 68.

Context: After reciting the previous stanza, Oddr sits down and Sjólfr and Sigurðr drain their horns. They refill horns for Oddr and bring them to him, but are unable to recite any poetry. They sit down again, Oddr drinks off the horns and fills another two for his rivals. Seeing that they are now very drunk, he recites the two following stanzas.

Notes: [All]: In this stanza Oddr is alluding to an encounter between himself and Hjálmarr and a viking jarl, Hergautr, who was lying with a fleet of ships off the Danish island of Hlésey (Læsø). They fought, and the jarl was killed together with many of his men (Ǫrv 1888, 77-9; Ǫrv 1892, 41). — [3] á jarli ‘on the jarl’: The reading of 7, á hjarli ‘on the earth’ makes poor sense and provides excess alliteration. Ms. 344a has á skeiðum ‘on the war-ships’. — [4] fyr Hléseyju ‘off Læsø’: Læsø (ON Hlésey) is an island in the Kattegat off the north-east coast of Jutland. — [7] kynmálasamr ‘marvellously talkative’: The cpd is a hap. leg. The first element kyn- as a simplex means ‘marvel, wonder’ and functions here as an intensifier.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
4. 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.
5. Ǫrv 1888 = Boer, R. C., ed. 1888. Ǫrvar-Odds saga. Leiden: Brill.
6. FF = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1922. Fornjermansk forskning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 18:1. Lund: Gleerup.
7. Ǫrv 1892 = Boer, R. C., ed. 1892a. Ǫrvar-Odds saga. Altnordische Saga-Bibliothek 2. Halle: Niemayer.