Gripla - 20.12.2013, Blaðsíða 227

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the simplest explanation as to why no trace of Ásgrímur’s grýlukvæði
has ever been found is that poem and “Hér er komin Grýla” are one and
the same work. In AM 147 8vo and other manuscripts preserving the
poem, Grýlukvæði begins with an unidentified speaker at an unidentified
location. In all manuscripts surveyed, the sisters Valka and Herdís are
introduced prior to any mention of a minister or church, and the initial
speaker is also the father of Valka and Herdís in all but three manuscript
copies: AM 147 8vo, Add. 11.177, and js 289 8vo (5r–8v). In fact, Grýla
states outright that she is “here at Höfði” in six manuscripts of Grýlukvæði
when she threatens to listen for Valka and Herdís’s crying.40 If Ásgrímur
indeed composed Grýlukvæði, then Grýla quite logically begins her journey
with a stop at Höfði in Höfðaströnd, in which case he accurately directs
Grýla út to tjarnir, which is north of Höfði and farther out in the fjord.41
from tjarnir, Grýla continues in a more or less direct line to fell.
At the same time, Ásgrímur’s presence as the poem’s initial speaker
and father of Valka and Herdís would not preclude that Guðmundur
erlendsson (or a third local poet) “sent” Grýla to his neighbour in Höfði
in ca. 1638–1644. the case of Grýlukvæði is more complicated than that of
Leppalúðakvæði, where the poem was attributed to two poets of different
ages living in two different regions of the country: establishing its author
was a simple process of eliminating the poet who did not know three sib-
lings named eyjólfur, Guðmundur and steinunn. even though the version
of Grýlukvæði in AM 147 8vo does not mention Guðmundur erlendsson
by name, a grýlukvæði starring Ásgrímur Magnússon’s daughters would
be unlikely to feature a different parson: séra Gvöndur’s identity is large-
ly confirmed. If poets and brothers-in-law Ásgrímur Magnússon and
Guðmundur erlendsson both appear in Grýlukvæði, who is its author?
Arguably, Grýlukvæði is a case of a poem that belongs to no one single
40 stanza 14 of the main text of js 481 8vo begins with the line: Hér ætla’ eg á Höfða að hlusta
til þess. ólafur davíðsson’s edition uses the variant version instead (Hér ætla eg að hvíla að
hlusta til þess), but the critical apparatus does include three manuscript copies that name
Höfði in this stanza: AM 277 8vo, íB 109 8vo and one copy of Grýlukvæði in js 289 8vo
(15r–22r). Grýlukvæði in js 289 8vo is, in turn, a copy of AM 960 4to 6. A sixth manuscript
containing this variant, not included in ólafur davíðsson’s edition, is one of two copies of
the poem in js 389 a 4to.
41 Höfði is, incidentally, situated much closer to the Höfðahólar hills than fell. A malicious
creature who makes her home in Höfðahólar would also be well positioned to spy on the
cove of sandvík, where Grýla claims to have seen solveig.
GRýLA In sLÉttuHLíÐ