Skáldskaparmál - 01.01.1997, Blaðsíða 148

146
The Valkyries in the Heroic Literature
This is hardly orthodox mythology!
The original meaning of chelas is “lyre”, but it has generally been interpreted
as “the bowed arm”, hence Fisher’s translation “akimbo”. Olrik’s explanation is
that a clear-sighted person can extend his or her clear-sightedness to other persons
by letting them look through the rounding of the arm: thus they will be able to
see all manners of apparitions:55 Evidently he regards Ruta as nothing more than
an ordinary human being. However, someone who is able to let another person
have a vision of Óðinn, could also claim that she is one of his supernatural
followers. And Biarco is an Óðinn-hero, as can be concluded from the part
Bödvarr has to play in the Hrólfs saga kraka, during the journey to Uppsala.
Davidson agrees with Olrik, but thinks that here we are dealing with an isolated
reference to a valkyrie, as Rota is a valkyrie’s name.56 She complains about the
complexities of the text, because of the earlier reference to Ruta, Rolvo’s sister and
Biarco’s wife. The text, however, has Ruta, and if we assume that both references
are to the same person, the complexities are considerately reduced.
Von See thinks that the story is young and is an adaptation of a German
model.57 However, Ruta belongs to an old tradition. If we accept her as a
supernatural being, it will become clear that she belongs completely to the valkyrie
tradition.
7. Skuld(Saxo, pp. 51-52, 55; F/ED pp. 55-56, 58; Hrólfisaga kraka, FAN I, p.
29 (birth); pp. 93-105; Skjöldunga saga, Danakonungur sögur, If XXXV, p. 28,
34). Skuld is a valkyrie’s name (Vóluspá 30, p. 7) and also one of the Norns is
called Skuld (duty). In Saxo there is nothing supernatural about her, but in the
Hrófi saga (FAN I, p. 102) Böðvarr complains that the dead men in her army
arise again due to her sorcery: “ . . . ok mun þat verða torsótt at verja við
drauga . . .” She is called a witch here, but this could be a younger development.
Raising the dead is exactly what Hildr also did, and Saxo calls her a witch as a
result. She therefore has supernatural traits. She is also connected with battle and
the battlefield, and she belongs to a family of Óðinn adheres. She might therefore
be a valkyrie.
In the Hrólfs saga Skuld is a half-sister of the king, the daughter of his father
Helgi and an elf-woman. It looks as if this motif has its origin in folklore.58
Probably it did not belong to the original story and was only added to it in later
times, to explain the fact that she was a traitress and plotted against her own
brother. In the Skjöldunga saga and in the Bjarkarímur she is the daughter of
Hrólf’s mother Yrsa and her second husband Aðils, and therefore also the king’s
half-sister.
55 Olrik (1903), pp. 66—73.
56 Ellis Davidson (1980): Commentary on Saxo.
57 Von See 1959 and 1981.
58 The same birth origin is also given to the bastard Högni in the Þiðreks Saga afBem (1962), pp.
241-242.