| |
Click
above For Contents
Utgard
Online Magazine of the Northern Tradition is ©1998-2009 Skergard
|
|
Issue #3 September 1998-5101
THE
LAY OF RÍG
RÍGSŢULA
trans. Lee M. Hollander
"The
Lay of Ríg" as preserved fills exactly the last
sheet of the Codex Wormianus of Snorri's Edda. The
lost conclusion evidently stood on a following one.
However, notwithstanding this fragmentary condition, it
is clear that they lay was intended as a glorification of
the existing aristocratic order in the Scandinavian
homeland---not in the republican Iceland---whether in
Denmark or Norway, and more specially as a vindication of
the divine origin of kingship. But this is as far
as agreement among scholars goes: about few Eddic
poems has there been such a diversity of opinion in
almost every other respect. Thus, one famous
scholar is convinced that the author had Norwegian
condition in mind, that the lay is therefore Norwegian,
that it dates from the tenth century, that the young Kon
may represent Harald Fairhair himself. Another
scholar agrees that it was composed early in the
tenth century, since the poem seems to presuppose
heathendom undisturbed, but holds that it is by some
Icelandic skald celebrating the Danish royal house,
perhaps King Gorm the Old or Harald Bluetooth (1).
Still another holds the view that the lay had its origin
on one of the Scottish islands and it has also been urged
that it mirrors Old Irish conditions. However that
may be, God as the progenitor of all three estates
definitely is a medieval Christian conception.
Again, until recently the lay had been universally
regarded as a valuable source of information on social
conditions in the earliest times; but this now
seems open to doubt with the growing feeling that it may
be the didactic, antiquarian effort of a learned
skald. At any rate, in its lists of names (like the
whole lay, in free fornyrđislag) there is a suspicious
similarity to the nafnaţulur (rigmaroles) and the
heitatol of the thirteenth century, and to such a poem as
the "Alíssmál,"; so that we may not be
far wrong in assigning the lay to the eleventh or twelfth
century. However, it could hardly belater, because
serfdom was abolished in Norway at the end of the twelfth
century.
But whatever its authenticity, the lay does stand out as
unique among Eddic poems, and will always be read with
interest for its vivid and colorful, though brief,
contrasted descriptions of the life of the thrall, the
freeman, and the noble in ancient Scandinavia.
It is told by men in olden tales that one of the gods
whose name was Heimdall, fared forth along the seashore
until he came to a farm. There he called himself
Ríg. The following poem treats of the this tale.
1. In olden times, say they,
on earth-paths green
there wended his way a
wise god ancient,
rugged and mighty---- Ríg
(2) was he hight.
2. Walked unwearied (in middle ways); (3)
to a dwelling he came, was the door
bolted.
In gan he go, on the ground was
a fire, (4)
at the hearth, hoary, sate husband and
wife---
Ái and Edda, (5)
in
old headgear.
3. Well knew Ríg
wisely to
counsel;
on middle seat he sate him
down,
betwixt the twain
of the toft benched him.
4. Then took Edda
a thick loaf heavy
of bread hard-baked and full of bran;
a bowl then bore
on the board Edda,
filled with the broth of boiled
calf-meat.
5. Well knew Ríg
wisely to
counsel;
he rose up thence, ready for sleep;
on middle bedstead his berth he made,
betwixt the twain
of the toft laid him. (6)
6. And there stayed he three days together; (7)
then walked unwearied
in middle
ways.
Moons full nine
went meanwhile by.
7. Gave Edda birth
to
a boy child then,
(in clouts she swathed) (8)
the swarthy-skinned one.
Thrall they called him,
and cast on him
water (9)
(dark was his hair
and dull his eyes.) (10)
8. On his hand the skin was scraggy
and wrinkled,
(nasty his nails), (11) his knuckles gnarled,
his fingers thick,
his face ugly,
his back hulky,
his heels were long.
9. He gan to grow
and gain in strength, (12)
betimes took him
to try his might:
to bind bast ropes, burdens to pack,
to bear faggots home the whole
day long.
10. Came to his cot
a crook-legged wench----
were her soles dirty, and sunburnt her arms,
her nose bent downward;
her name was Thír. (13)
11. On middle seat
she sate her
down,
by her side did sit the son of the house;
whispered and laughed
and lay together
Thrall and Thír
whole days through.
12. In their hut, happy, they had a brood:
I ween they were hight (14) Hay-Giver, Howler
Bastard, Sluggard, Bent-Back and Paunch,
Stumpy, Stinker
Stableboy, Swarthy,
Longshanks and Lout:
they laid
fences,
put dung on fields, fattened the swine,
herded the goats,
and grubbed up peat. (15)
13. Their daughters were Drudge and Daggle-Tail,
Slattern, Serving-Maid,
and
Cinder-Wench,
Stout-Leg, Shorty, Stumpy and Dumpy,
Spinkleshanks eke, and Sputterer:
thence are sprung the breed of thralls.
14. At his staff Ríg strode,
and straight forth
fared;
to a dwelling he came,
was the door ajar.
In gan he go, on the ground was a
fire,
sate husband and wife there with their work busy.
15. A weaver's beam
out of wood he shaped----
his beard was brushed,
and
banged, his hair----
in kirtle tight-fitting; were planks on the
floor.
16. The good wife sate and swayed her distaff,
braided the yarn
to use for weaving,
with a snood (16) on her head and a
smock on her breast,
on her neck, a kerchief,
and clasps
(17) on her shoulders.
Afi and Amma owned
that house.
17. Well knew Ríg
wisely to counsel,
(18) (on middle seat he sate him down,
betwixt the twain
of the toft benched him).
18. (Then took Amma ........... ............
.............
............ .......... ........ ........... ..........
.......
( a full trencher
on
the table she put
with boiled calf-meat, the best she
had.)
19. (Well knew Ríg
wisely to counsel),
he rose up thence, ready for sleep;
on middle bedstead his berth he made,
betwixt the twain
of
the toft laid him.
20. And there stayed he three days together
(then walked unwearied
in the middle ways).
Moons full nine
went meanwhile by.
21. Gave Amma birth
to a boy child then.
Karl (19) they called him,
clothed in linen;
ruddy his hue,
and rapid his eyes.
22. Then gan he grow and gain in strength,
tamed the oxen
and
tempered ploughshares,
timbered houses,
and barns for the hay,
fashioned carts,
and followed the plough.
23. A bride they brought him
with a bunch of keys dangling,
in goatskin kirtle,
gave her to Karl.
Snćr (20) was she hight
and sate under veil,
[a house they reared them
and rings bestowed,] (21)
their linen they spread,
and the larder
stocked.
24. In their homestead, happy,
they had a brood,
hight Man and Yeoman,
Master, Goodman,
Husbandman, Farmer,
Franklin, Crofter,
Bound-Beard, Steep-Beard, (22)
Broad, (23) Swain, and Smith.
25. By other names
were known their daughters:
Woman, Gentlewoman,
Wife,
Bride, Lady,
Haughty, Maiden, Hussif and Dame:
thence are come
the kin of carls.
26. At his staff Ríg strode
steadfastly
on;
a hall he saw then, was southward (24) the door,
raised on high,
with a ring in the doorpost.
27. He strode in straightway,
was straw on the floor.
Sate there the good folk,
gazed at each other,
Father and Motheer, with their fingers playing.
(25)
28. On the bench he sate, a bowstring
twining,
bent the elmwood, (26) and arrows shafted.
Sate the lady,
looked at her arms,
stroked the linen,
straightened her sleeves.
29. Was a brooch on her breast, and a bonnet on her head,
a long train of silk, (27) and sark
all blue.
Was her brow brighter,
her breast lighter,
her neck whiter, (28) than whitest snow.
30. Well knew Ríg
wisely to counsel,
on middle seat he sate him down,
betwixt the twain
of the toft he benched him.
31. Of bleached flax then a broidered cloth
did Mother take,
and the table covered;
a light-baked loaf
she laid
on the table,
of wheaten meal,
white and thin.
32. A full trencher
on the
table she put,
silver-plated, and set forth then
flitches of bacon
and steaked fowl also;
there was wine in a crock,
were the cups gold-plated;
they drank and chatted
till the day
was ended.
33. Well could Ríg
wisely counsel;
he rose up thence, ready for sleep;
(29) (on middle bedstead
his berth he made,
betwixt the twain
of the toft he laid him.)
34. And there stayed he three days together;
then walked unwearied
in middle ways.
Full nine months
went meanwhile by.
35. A son bore Mother, in silk they swathed him,
sprinkled water on him
and
called him Earl.
Was his hair flaxen, and fair-hued his cheek,
his eyes awfully
like an adder's, blazed. (30)
36. Up grew Earl within
the hall,
gan bucklers wield and the bowstring fasten,
gan the elmwood bend
and arrows
shaft;
gan hurl the spear and speed the lance,
gan hunt with hounds,
and horses
ride,
gan brandish swords and swim in the sea.
37. Out of woodlands came Ríg walking,
came Ríg walking,
and taught him runes;
his own name gave him
as
heir and son,
bade him make his own
the udal
lands, (31)
the udal lands
and olden manors.
38. He dauntless rode through darkling woods,
over frosty fells,
to a faraway hall.
Shields he shattered and
shafts he hurled,
brandished his sword and
swiftly rode;
he wakened war
and
warriors slew,
with wound-red weapons
he won him land.
39. He made himself master
of manors eighteen,
gan share his wealth and shower it on all:
silver and gold and
slender steeds;
squandered arm rings
and scattered gold. (32)
40. His heralds drove on dew-wet paths,
and came to the hall where Hersir (33)
dwelled;
a daughter had he, dainty-fingered,
fair-haired and wise, was she
hight Erna. (34)
41. For her hand they asked,
and home drove her,
gave her to Earl,
gowned
in linen;
they lived together and loved each other,
had many children, and lived cheerfully.
42. Boy was the oldest, Bairn the second,
then Issue and Child, Heir,
Youth, and Squire,
Offspring and Lad---- they sports did
learn---
Son and Scion----- swimming and "tables";
(35)
43. Up within hall grew
Earl's children;
spearshafts they shook,
with shields they fended,
swift steeds bestrode, and
straightened arrows.
44. But Kon only
could carve runes, (37)
runes lasting ay,
life-keeping runes:
to bring forth babes birth runes he knew,
to dull sword edges and to calm the sea.
45. Fowls' speech he knew,
and
quenched fires,
could soothe (sorrows) (38) and the sick mind heal;
in his arms the strength
of eight men had.
46. In runes he rivaled Ríg the Earl; (39)
with wiles he warred, outwitting
him;
thus got for himself, and gained to have,
the name of Ríg
and
runic lore.
47. Rode Kon the young through
copse and woods,
birds he snared,
used bow
and arrow.
48. Then quoth a crow, croaking on branch:
"Why snarest thou birds,
scion of kings?
Rather should'st thou ride swift
horse,
(brandish swords) (40)
and slay foemen.
49. "Have Dan and Danp (41)
a dwelling
richer,
and lands larger,
than are left to thee;
are they skilled in steering
on stormy seas,
in trying swords
and slaying heroes." (42)
_______________
1. See St. 49 and Notes.
2. In no other source does Heimdall bear this name, which
is probably from the Celtic ri(g), "king," or
else Grćco-Latin rex. The fact that in
"Voluspá," St. 1, "all hallowed
beings" (men?) are mentioned as his children,
"high and low," has led to the conjecture that
the author took these lines as his "text".
3. That is, of Mithgarth. The line is supplied from
Sts. 6 and 34. It may mean, here, "on
earth."
4. In Old Germanic times the hearth fire was built on the
ground, the smoke escaping through the louver.
5. Words still used in Modern Icelandic for
"grandfather" and "grandmother."
6. In the oldest times it was not uncommon in the North,
as is still the case among primitive peoples, for the
host to offer his wife or daughter to the honored guest.
7. Guests generally remained three days.
8. Following Gering's suggestion. (note from RG
Lars: I seldom subscribe to Gering's emundations).
9. This is the old Germanic baptismal ceremony of
"name-fastening" which had grown up, probably,
independently of the Christian rite. See "Hávamál," St. 158.
10. Supplied after Sijmon's suggestion, to correspond
with the description in Sts. 21 and 35.
11. Supplied after Grundtvig's suggestion. Sallow
complexion, dull eyes, and an unlovely appearance in
general, are the standard characteristics of the slave in
Old Norse tradition.
12. The line transposed here from Stanza 8 of the
original to conform to Stanza 22.
13. "Drudge."
14. Some of the names in this list, as well as in those
following, are doubtful. The Translator has not
followed the order of the original in this, or in the
following, list of names.
15. In the Orkneyinga saga, Chap. 7, we are told
that it was Earl Einar, the Norwegian ruler of the
Orkneys in the ninth century, who first taught the
islanders how to use peat. But the digging of peat
was probably very old in the treeless portions of the
North. Already Pliny (Hist. nat. XVI, 1) describes
the method of curing it as practiced on the shores of the
North Sea.
16. In the original, rather "hood."
17. The word dvergar of the original means "flat
plate ornaments."
18. The portions of Sts. 17-20 within parantheses are
supplied after Bugge's very plausible suggestion, from
the corresponding passages.
19. "Carl," (free) man of the common people.
20. "Daughter-in-Law." See the
description of Thór as a bride in Ţrymskviđa," St. 19.
21. Probably interpolated: the dealing out of rings
is typical of the nobility, not the common people (see
"Helgakviđa Hundingsbana" I, Note 24). The exchange
of rings as in the Christian marriage ceremony (which has
been suggested) seems utterly foreign to the passage.
22. Possibly referring to unknown fashions of wearing the
beard.
23. Nicknamee of the burly, proud farmer.
24. South is the direction of good omen. The Old
Icelandic door raised up-and-down, on hinges. It is
raised, in the house of the noble, to indicate his
hospitality. The ring served as knocker.
25. Probably as an outward sign of leisure.
26. The bow made of elmwood.
27. The material is not indicated in the original.
28. The rime is not in the original.
29. Supplied from the corresponding passages.
30. Flashing eyes were regarded as a sure token of noble
birth. See Tacitus' acies oculorum of the Teutons.
31. That is, the lands entailed by primogeniture.
32. Lavish generosity was one of the princely virtues.
33. "Lord," chieftain of a district.
34. "The Efficient" (?).
35. This was a board game, a kind of chess. Compare
the German (Schach-) zabeln. It was a royal
accomplishment, like those mentioned in St. 38.
36. The last two names are etymologically akin and
signify "noble descendant." In the original ,
kon ( r ) ungr (Kon the Young) yeilds Old Norse konungr,
"king," by juxtaposition (and popular
etymology).
37. For this and the following rune magic see "Hávamál," St. 146 ff., and "Sigrdrífumál," St. 6 ff.
38. Following Sijmon's emendation.
39. That is, his father, the son of Ríg
(Heimdall). He now bestows the title of Ríg,
"king," on Kon as his true heir.
40. Supplied from St. 36.
41. In all probability these are eponymous kings of
Denmark. See "Atlakviđa," St. 5.
42. The poem ends here abruptly. From the whole
tenor of the poem we cannot doubt that Kon follows the
advice of the bird (as does Sigurth in "Fáfnismál,") and wins the lands of Dan
and Danp. According to the synoptic account o the
lost Skjoldungasaga given by the learned Icelander,
Arngrím Jónsson (1597), King Ríg married Dana, the
daughter of Danpr of Danpstead, and their son Dan was the
mythical king who united Denmark under one rule.
Skergard Home
| Utgard Home
| Current Issue Contents
|