''Reginsmál'' (
Old Norse
Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...
: 'The Lay of
Reginn') is an
Eddic poem interspersed with prose found in the
Codex Regius
Codex Regius (, "Royal Book" or "King's Book"; ) or GKS 2365 4º is an Icelandic codex in which many Old Norse poems from the ''Poetic Edda'' are preserved. Thought to have been written during the 1270s, it is made up of 45 vellum
Vellum ...
manuscript. It is closely associated with ''
Fáfnismál
''Fáfnismál'' (''Fáfnir's sayings'') is an Eddic poem, found in the Codex Regius manuscript. The poem is unnamed in the manuscript, where it follows '' Reginsmál'' and precedes ''Sigrdrífumál'', but modern scholars regard it as a separate p ...
'', the poem that immediately follows it in the Codex, and it is likely that the two of them were intended to be read together.
The poem, if regarded as a single unit, is disjoint and fragmentary, consisting of stanzas both in ''
ljóðaháttr
Old Norse poetry encompasses a range of verse forms written in the Old Norse language, during the period from the 8th century to as late as the far end of the 13th century. Old Norse poetry is associated with the area now referred to as Scandinav ...
'' and ''
fornyrðislag
Old Norse poetry encompasses a range of verse forms written in the Old Norse language, during the period from the 8th century to as late as the far end of the 13th century. Old Norse poetry is associated with the area now referred to as Scandinav ...
''. The first part relates
Loki
Loki is a Æsir, god in Norse mythology. He is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mythology), Laufey (a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to the goddess Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi (son of Lo ...
's dealings with
Andvari
In Norse mythology, Andvari ( 12th c. Old Norse
Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate ...
. Interpolated with prose passages, the poem moves on to Sigurd's relationship with Reginn and the advice given to him by
Odin
Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Em ...
.
References
Bibliography
*
Further reading
ReginsmolTranslation and commentary by Henry A. Bellows
The Second Lay of Sigurd FafnicideTranslation by
Benjamin Thorpe
Benjamin Thorpe (1782 – 19 July 1870) was an English scholar of Old English language, Anglo-Saxon literature.
Biography
In the early 1820s he worked as a banker in the House of Rothschild, in Paris. There he met Thomas Hodgkin, who treated hi ...
*
ReginsmálSophus Bugge
Elseus Sophus Bugge (5 January 1833 – 8 July 1907) was a Norwegian philologist and linguist. His scholarly work was directed to the study of runic inscriptions and Norse philology. Bugge is best known for his theories and his work on the runi ...
's edition of the manuscript text
ReginsmálGuðni Jónsson's edition of the text with normalized spelling
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reginsmal
Völsung cycle
Eddic poetry
Nibelung tradition