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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Gestumbl Heiðr 4VIII (Heiðr 51)/1 — Hverr ‘Who’

Hverr er sá inn hvelli,         er gengr harðar götur,
        ok hefir hann þær fyrr um farit?
Mjök fast kyssir,         sá er hefr munna tvá
        ok á gulli einu gengr.
Heiðrekr konungr,         hyggðu at gátu.

Hverr er sá inn hvelli, er gengr harðar götur ok hefir hann þær fyrr um farit? Mjök fast kyssir, sá er hefr tvá munna ok gengr á gulli einu. Heiðrekr konungr, hyggðu at gátu.

Who is that shrill one who walks on hard paths and he has travelled on them before? Very firmly [he] kisses, the one who has two mouths, and walks on gold alone. King Heiðrekr, think about the riddle.

notes

[1] hverr er sá inn … ‘who is that …’: Lit. ‘Who is that, the …’. This formula also begins the following two riddles, as well as Gestumbl Heiðr 30 (Heiðr 77). A similar formula occurs in Lok 44/1 (NK 105) Hvat er þat iþ litla ‘What is that, the little one’. The stanza, which is riddling in form, describes Freyr’s servant Byggvir, who replies, identifying himself, in the following stanza.

grammar

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