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Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Gestumbl Heiðr 30VIII (Heiðr 77)

Hannah Burrows (ed.) 2017, ‘Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks 77 (Gestumblindi, Heiðreks gátur 30)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 444.

GestumblindiHeiðreks gátur
293031

Hverr er sá inn eini,         er sefr í ösgrúa,
        ok af grjóti einu görr?
Föður né móður         áat sá inn fagrgjarni;
        þar mun hann sinn aldr ala.
Heiðrekr konungr,         hyggðu at gátu.

Hverr er sá inn eini, er sefr í ösgrúa, ok görr af grjóti einu? Sá inn fagrgjarni áat föður né móður; þar mun hann ala aldr sinn. Heiðrekr konungr, hyggðu at gátu.

Who is that, the lone one, who sleeps in the ash-grate, and is struck from stone alone? That bright-eager one has neither father nor mother; there he must spend his life. King Heiðrekr, think about the riddle.

Mss: 2845(71v), 281ˣ(100v), 597bˣ(51r), R715ˣ(28r-v) (ll. 1-6) (Heiðr)

Readings: [2] ösgrúa: ösku grúa 281ˣ, 597bˣ    [3] ok: ok er 281ˣ, 597bˣ, R715ˣ;    einu: eru 281ˣ, einu er corrected from einu in the margin in another hand 597bˣ, ok jarni R715ˣ;    görr: görðr R715ˣ    [4] né: ok 281ˣ, 597bˣ, R715ˣ    [5] áat: á 2845, R715ˣ, ‘ugad’ 281ˣ, eigat 597bˣ;    fagr‑: fjár‑ 281ˣ, 597bˣ, fár‑ R715ˣ    [6] þar: ‘so’ R715ˣ    [7-8] abbrev. as ‘h k̄ h’ 2845, abbrev. as ‘heid: k.’ 281ˣ, abbrev. as ‘h: K.’ 597bˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 224, Skj BII, 242-3, Skald II, 126, NN §3176; Heiðr 1672, 147, FSN 1, 474, Heiðr 1873, 257-8, 338, Heiðr 1924, 69, 77, 135, FSGJ 2, 43, Heiðr 1960, 38; Edd. Min. 117-18.

Notes: [All]: Heiðrekr’s response is (Heiðr 1960, 38): Þat er eldr fólginn á arni, ok tekr ór tinnu ‘That is fire hidden in the hearth, and it starts from flint’. — [All]: Cf. Heiðr 81, about embers in the hearth. — [1]: See Note to Heiðr 51/1. — [2] ösgrúa ‘the ash-grate’: A hap. leg. The H-redaction reading ösku grúa ‘ash grate’ probably represents a later attempt to make sense of an unfamiliar word, but is unmetrical. The other mss are in agreement on the reading chosen here. — [3] af grjóti einu ‘from stone alone’: The U redaction appears to be unhappy with the accuracy of this claim, reading af grjóti ok jarni ‘of stone and iron’. Flint needs to be struck with iron or steel to produce sparks to kindle fire, though there is no reason why the riddle should necessarily refer to both; cf. Heiðr 63, Note to [All], about obsidian, a flint-stone. — [5] áat ‘has not’: Mss 2845 and R715ˣ have the positive á ‘has’, but the poetic negative suffix is needed for sense and to complement the negating conjunction ‘nor’ in l. 4 (cf. Heiðr 1873, 258; Edd. Min.; Skj B). Mss 281ˣ and 597bˣ have the 3rd pers. pl. with negative suffix eigat, though the subject is sg. — [5] fagrgjarni ‘bright-eager one’: Unrecorded as an Old Norse word, but appropriate to fire waiting to be kindled. Ms. R715ˣ’s variant, fárgjarni ‘damage-eager’, is also an acceptable reading and is adopted by several eds. The H-redaction mss have fjárgjarni ‘money-eager’, which gives poor sense in the context. — [6]: An almost identical line is found in Heiðr 69/6, where it describes waves.

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. Heiðr 1672 = Verelius, Olaus, ed. 1672. Hervarar Saga på Gammel Gotska. Uppsala: Curio.
  7. FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
  8. 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.
  9. Heiðr 1924 = Jón Helgason, ed. 1924. Heiðreks saga. Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks konungs. SUGNL 48. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
  10. Heiðr 1960 = Tolkien, Christopher, ed. and trans. 1960. Saga Heiðreks konungs ins vitra / The Saga of King Heidrek the Wise. Nelson Icelandic Texts. London etc.: Nelson.
  11. Heiðr 1873 = Bugge, Sophus, ed. 1873. Hervarar saga ok Heidreks. Det Norske oldskriftselskabs samlinger 17. Christiania (Oslo): Brøgger.
  12. Internal references
  13. Hannah Burrows (ed.) 2017, ‘Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks 69 (Gestumblindi, Heiðreks gátur 22)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 435.
  14. Hannah Burrows (ed.) 2017, ‘Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks 81 (Gestumblindi, Heiðreks gátur 34)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 448.
  15. Hannah Burrows (ed.) 2017, ‘Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks 51 (Gestumblindi, Heiðreks gátur 4)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 413.
  16. Hannah Burrows (ed.) 2017, ‘Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks 63 (Gestumblindi, Heiðreks gátur 16)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 426.
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