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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Gestumbl Heiðr 18VIII (Heiðr 65)/1 — rýgjar ‘women’

Hverjar eru þær rýgjar         á reginfjalli,
        elr við kván kona?
Mær við meyju         mög um getr,
        ok eigut þær varðir vera.
Heiðrekr konungr,         hyggðu at gátu.

Hverjar eru þær rýgjar á reginfjalli, kona elr við kván? Mær um getr mög við meyju, ok þær varðir eigut vera. Heiðrekr konungr, hyggðu at gátu.

Who are those women on the mighty mountain, woman begets with woman? A girl begets a son with a girl, and those women do not have husbands. King Heiðrekr, think about the riddle.

readings

[1] rýgjar: ‘Ryger’ 281ˣ, ‘Rygier’ 597bˣ, ‘eygar’ corrected from ‘ey(?)i[…]’ in the hand of JR R715ˣ

notes

[1] rýgjar ‘women’: Plays with alternate meanings of the word: ‘women’ and ‘giantesses’ (LP: rýgr). Together with the reginfjalli ‘mighty mountain’ of l. 2, this creates two layers of imagery: both of angelica growing wild and of giantesses in their traditional dwelling-place.

grammar

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