Þjóð Yt 25I/4 — lǫngu ‘long’
Varð Goðrøðr
inn gǫfugláti
lómi beittr,
sás fyr lǫngu vas.
Ok umráð
at ǫlum stilli
hǫfuð heiptrœkt
at hilmi dró.
Ok launsigr
inn lómgeði
Ôsu ôrr
af jǫfri bar.
Ok buðlungr
á beði fornum
Stíflusunds
of stunginn vas.
Goðrøðr inn gǫfugláti, sás vas fyr lǫngu, varð beittr lómi. Ok heiptrœkt hǫfuð dró umráð at ǫlum stilli, at hilmi. Ok inn lómgeði ôrr Ôsu bar launsigr af jǫfri. Ok buðlungr vas of stunginn á fornum beði Stíflusunds.
Guðrøðr inn gǫfugláti (‘the Splendid’), who lived long ago, was dealt with using treachery. And a hate-filled head brought a plot against the drunk ruler, against the leader. And the treacherous-minded servant of Ása won a hidden victory against the prince. And the king was stabbed on the ancient shore of Stíflusund.
readings
notes
[4] sás vas fyr lǫngu ‘who lived long ago’: The line is hypermetrical, for which reason Skj B, Skald and Åkerlund (1939, 115) suppress fyr despite its presence in all mss. Yt 1925, ÍF 26 and Hkr 1991 retain it. The line also figures in the discussion of the dating of Yt. One assumption has been that such a phrase could not have been used in reference to anyone appearing so late in the enumerated line of kings, i.e. almost as a contemporary of the skald (Bugge 1894, 168; Wadstein 1895a, 83; Krag 1991, 139). The adv. forðum ‘once’ (st. 26/6) is assessed similarly. Åkerlund (1939, 15-17), however, demonstrates from parallels that the expression could refer to a more recent past, even within the skald’s lifetime.