Gripla - 2022, Blaðsíða 101

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still ascribing his abandonment of the marriage to external forces: “Meir
olli því vándra vætta atkvæði en mín mislyndi.”60 McTurk translates
“That had more to do with the spell-casting of evil spirits than with my
fickleness,”61 but “fickleness” seems a bit frivolous and suggests a preferred
alternate course of action; “moodiness” may better capture the state of
mind. The poet’s characterization of Þórveig’s malevolent words, atkvæði,
is of interest as drawn from the word cluster of mál ‘speech’. Its principal
use was to designate a term of in the vocabulary of law but it was also used
of a ‘syllable’, ‘sentence’, or ‘decision’ and, figuratively, as a ‘decree of fate’,
‘spell’, or ‘charm’. Speaking to something, it is then a performative utter-
ance, speech with intended consequences. Kormákr is eager to return to
Iceland, but Þorgils is unsure of how they will be received. The crossing
is a difficult one and the ship’s yard breaks, an echo of the motif of linear
deficiency. A chance meeting with Steingerðr once ashore leads to their
spending five nights at a small farm, chastely sharing a bed.
The inconsequential interlude at the farmhouse is typically followed by
a stanza by Kormákr, which is as follows:
Hvílum, handar bála
Hlín, valda skǫp sínu,
þat séum reið at ráði,
rík, tveim megin bríkar,
nærgi’s oss í eina
angrlaust sæing gǫngum,
dýr skǫfnunga drafnar
dyneyjar við Freyja.62
The first helming is relatively straightforward:
Goddess of arm’s fire, we repose [arm’s fires: their
on either side of a screen goddess; (Hlin): woman]
the mighty fates have their way,
and are hostile; I see it clearly.63
60 Kormáks saga, ch.18, 267.
61 Kormak’s saga, ch. 18, 209.
62 Kormáks saga, ch. 19, 272, st 59.
63 Kormak’s saga, trans. McTurk, ch. 19, 211, st. 59.
RINGING CHANGES