Gestumbl Heiðr 13VIII (Heiðr 60)/4 — Ofarliga ‘high up’
Hvat er þat undra, er ek úti sá
fyrir Dellings durum?
Ofarliga flýgr, †armlod gellr,
harðar eru hillm†.
Heiðrekr konungr, hyggðu at gátu.
Hvat undra er þat, er ek sá úti fyrir durum Dellings? Flýgr ofarliga, †armlod gellr, harðar eru hillm†. Heiðrekr konungr, hyggðu at gátu.
What is the wonder that I saw outside before Dellingr’s doors? It flies high up … King Heiðrekr, think about the riddle.
readings
[4] Ofarliga: ‘ovarlega’ 281ˣ, 597bˣ
notes
[4] ofarliga ‘high up’: The mss have ‘ovarlega’, which could be read óvarliga ‘unwarily’, but this gives less good sense (though is preferred by Ettmüller 1861, 37, with the gloss unverhofft ‘unexpectedly’). Emendation of <v> to <f> is reasonable, since <f> would be pronounced [v] when intervocalic (see ANG §36, cf. §42), and is made by most other eds, following Bugge (Heiðr 1873; Bugge notes this was the suggestion of Svend Grundtvig). Kock (Skald) emends to ofárliga and in NN §2834 translates mycket tidigt (resp. snabbt) ‘very early (or swiftly)’, comparing árflognir (NN §3397C) ‘early flyer’, i.e. ‘raven’ (LP). Although the bird-of-prey imagery would fit well with what has been conjectured for the next line (see Note to l. 5), it is less clear why an arrow would be described as as early flier. The meaning ‘swiftly’ might make more sense in the present context, however, and is attested elsewhere in poetry, although the cpd (with the prefix of- ‘too, excessively’ (= ‘very’ in Kock’s interpretation)) would be a hap. leg.