Gripla - 2020, Page 81

GRIPLA80
This passage is clearly related to the passage in Hb, since lack of blood and
hardness are mentioned together also here. It therefore seems likely that
the long digression about Þorgeirr’s heart has been reworked in Hb under
the influence of this passage. In this instance, we cannot compare the text
in Hb, since the quire which contained the end of Heiðreks saga and the
first part of Fóstbrœðra saga is missing.36 The passage as a whole, however,
is of precisely the type lacking in Hb: an anatomical digression with al-
literative pairs and devotional elements.37 Hb’s exemplar, then, must have
had characteristics that are found in the long version, but not in Hb.
Also in another instance, it is highly plausible that the long version is
primary. We are not here dealing with a digression, but with the general
difference of lofty versus down-to-earth style between the long version and
Haukr’s text. In a stanza by Þormóðr, both versions read: ‘frá ek Þorgeir
eiga hug þann er við mun brugðit’ (I have heard that Þorgeirr’s courage is
such that men will praise it). A few lines further down, the long version
reads:
Þorgeirr hjó hart ok tíðum, af miklu afli ok ǫruggum hug, ok var
hánum sjálfum hug sinn bæði fyrir skjǫld ok brynju […]38
Þorgeirr slashed hard and often, with great force and firm courage,
and his courage served as both shield and byrnie for him […]
Hb reads:
Hann hjó hart ok tíðum, ok váru hánum lengi sín hǫgg bæði fyrir
skjǫld ok brynju […]
He slashed hard and often, and for a long time his slashes served as
both shield and byrnie for him […]39
36 ‘Hauksbók’, ed. Finnur Jónsson, xi.
37 The passage reads in full: ‘Eigi roðnaði hann, því at eigi rann hánum reiði í hǫrund; eigi
bliknaði hann, því at hánum lagði eigi heipt í brjóst; eigi blánaði hann, því at hánum rann
eigi í bein reiði; heldr brá hann sér engan veg við tíðindasǫgnina, því at eigi var hjarta hans
sem fóarn í fugli. Eigi var þat blóðfullt svá at þat skylfi af hræðslu, heldr var þat hert af
inum hæsta hǫfuðsmið í ǫllum hvatleik (Fóstbrœðra saga, ed. Björn K. Þórólfsson, 10).
38 Fóstbrœðra saga, ed. Björn K. Þórólfsson, 121–22.
39 Fóstbrœðra saga, ed. Björn K. Þórólfsson, 121–22.