Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1975, Page 354
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question occur together in one section of the longer version of Q-Os;
none of them is found in the shorter version3. One episode in Q-Os
is particularly striking in its resemblance to an incident in Blv.
The other two share features with Blv as well as with several other
sagas.
I. The »Finngålkn»
In Q-Os the narrator recounts how, after landing in England,
Oddr and his men decide to remain near the coast for a while:
Fat var einn vebrdag goban, at Jjeir Sirnir ok Garbarr foru å land
at skemta ser ok margir menn meb ])eim, en Oddr var vib skip nib-
ri. Raubgrani såz ekki. Vebr var furbu heitt, ok foru Jieir fost-
bræbr af klæbum ok å sund vib vatn eitt. Far var skogr nærri. Flest-
ir våru menn Jæira at npkkurri skemtan. En er å leib daginn, såu
Jieir, at dyr eitt furbu stort kom fram or skoginum; Jpat hafbi mannz-
h9fub ok geysistorar vigtenn, hali Jtess var bæbi langr ok digr, klær-
nar furbuliga storar, sitt sverb hafbi J)at i hvårri klo, J)au våru bæbi
bj9rt ok stor. (Boer, Q-Os, p. 128.)
This creature, a »finngålkn«, kills sixty men (with its swords,
teeth, and tail) before Garbarr and Sirnir can dress. It violently
knocks Garbarr to the ground and jumps on him. Sirnir attempts
to rescue his comrade, but the monster falis on him as well, »svå
at hann var Jaegar i uviti«. The remaining men flee to the ship
bringing the news to Oddr. He attacks the odious beast, shooting
it through the head with one of his magic arrows. Before he is able
to use his bow again, »færbi Jaat Jaå båbar klærnar i bringu honum
svå hart, at honum var buit vib at falla å bak aptr, ...«. Oddr fi-
nally cuts off its tail and kills the finngålkn with one of his magic
arrows as it flees into the woods.
In Blv it is told how Eddelon and his men are becalmed on a
practically uninhabited coast, where they remain for a month amus-
ing themselves at various games on shore:
einn goban vebrdag, er jpeir våru å leiki ok er å leib daginn, gékk
3 Passages cited from Qrvar-Odds saga are taken from R. C. Boer’s 1888 Leiden
edition.