SAGA-BOOK - Viking Society Web Publications

12 Saga-Book of the Viking Society
lines. The sudden contraction of the metre to a foursyllabled
line is common enough in mdlahdtir stanzas as
a deliberate poetic variation - kalla6i pd Knefr[i6r
kaldri roddo, seggr inn su6rceni - might not the same be
true in the larger metrical patterns of stanza beside
stanza? The [ornyroislag metre gives speed, and this
speed may serve different purposes: after the full,
impassioned stanzas in which Guorun greets her brothers
and Gunnarr replies with languorous resignation, the
action of capturing Gunnarr is quickly, almost perfunctorily
over: it was inevitable, why dwell longer on it?
Fengo peir Gunnarr oc i fiotur setto,
yin Borgunda.t? oc bundo fastla.
The speed of the next stanza is that of Hogni's own sel£defence:
Siau hio Hogni
suspended with an anacrusis
strength:
sveroi hvosso,
for the final flourish of his
enn inom atta hratt hann I eld heitan.t"
There is a light courtesy, a distance of tone, in the
fornyroislag lines
Frago frocnan ef fior vildi
Gotna pi615ann gulli kaupa,
as if the Huns are gentlemen, politely suggesting that
Gunnarr may wish to ransom his life. The brutal request
for Hogni's heart comes in reply, with the contrast of
heavier lines: Hiarta seal mer Hegna
bl615ugt, or briosti
saxi sliorbeito -
i hendi liggia,
scorio baldrioa,
as if each word were spoken through gritted teeth.
When the hearts are brought to Gunnarr, the metre reverts
to fornyr6islag for the ballad-like repetition of his words­
"Here I have the heart of Hialli the coward, unlike the
heart of Hogni the brave .... Here I have the heart of
17 I have rejected the MS vinir, even though it could be read as an ironic
comment on the action of the Huns (d. sifiungr }eira 29/4).
18 I would regard hratt hann as an extrametric prelude to the following
C-type line; any other reading destroys the rhythm.