Gripla - 20.12.2015, Page 46

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Baldr when one night old. this brother of Baldr is not named in Völuspá
or in Baldrs draumar, although scholars frequently connect him to Váli on
the basis of Gylfaginning and, accordingly, emend Baldrs draumar 11 by
supplying his name in the first line – Rindr berr Vála / í vestrsǫlom [Rindr
bears Váli in the west hall].59 Vörðr Valhallar may also refer to the goddess
Frigg, and although neither Frigg nor Baldr’s avenger appear in the sources
as guardian of, or in connection with, Valhöll, that alone should not be a
reason to discard the readings.60
Vörðr Valhallar may also refer to Óðinn, to whom the refrain Vituð
ér enn eða hvat may be directed.61 valhöll [Hall of the slain] is the hall of
Óðinn, who is Valföðr [father of the Slain] in Völuspá. In this case, one
would need to read the last line of the stanza together with the refrain and
have the völva addressing Óðinn directly: ‘o guardian of Valhöll, do you
know yet or what?’. It must be noted, however, that in other instances
where this refrain appears, it is syntactically independent from the rest of
the stanza; other refrains of Völuspá are also syntactically separated.
It seems that the line vörðr Valhallar also perplexed the scribe who
revised the text in R and seemed to correct it to vá Valhallar [for valhöll’s
woe]. this correction seems to have been made by the original scribe,
but could also have been made by another contemporary reviser. I shall
consider it, at least for the time being, as the work of the original scribe in
deference to the analysis made by other scholars of the scribal practice in
the whole manuscript.62
59 Edda, ed. Neckel and kuhn, 275. For a discussion of the emendation, see klaus von
see et al., Kommentar zu den Liedern der Edda, 5 vols. (Heidelberg: Buchhandlung des
Waisenhauses, 1997–2010), 3:244–47. In all three medieval versions of Gylfaginning, there
appear two characters named Váli. one is the son of Óðinn and rindr; the other is the son
of Loki. Gylfaginning, ed. Lorenz, 383, 447, 581; Edda: Gylfaginning, ed. Faulkes, 26, 30,
49; Snorre Sturlassons Edda, ed. Grape et al., II, 15, 32, 34, 35; Edda Snorra Sturlusonar, ed.
Finnur jónsson et al., 24, 28, 46. váli is also named in Völuspá 30 in H and is connected to
the punishment of Loki.
60 the prose passage which precedes Grímnismál reads ‘Óðinn ok frigg sáto í Hliðskiálfo ok
sá um heima alla’ [Óðinn and frigg sat in Hliðskjálf and looked into all worlds]. Edda, eds.
Neckel and kuhn, 54. However, one would need to assume that Hliðskjálf is in Valhöll to
justify the connection between frigg and Valhöll on the basis of this prose passage.
61 the refrain, taken as second person plural, may be directed to the audience.
62 Several scholars have studied the scribal practices in r and my work is indebted to them,
particularly to the following works: Håndskriftet nr. 2365 4to, ed. jónsson and Wimmer;
Konungsbók Eddukvæða: ed. Guðvarður már Gunnlaugsson et al.; stefán karlsson,
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