Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Haraldsdrápa II 2’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 545-6.
Luku vág viku,
vara kostr fara
brýns, Bjǫrgynjar,
braut háskrautum.
Luku vág Bjǫrgynjar viku; vara kostr brýns háskrautum fara braut.
‘They closed the bay of Bergen for a week; there was no possibility for the tall ships to speed away.’
The helmingr documents the siege of Bergen (1134-5), when Haraldr gilli and his men prevented Magnús inn blindi and his troops from leaving that city. Magnús had previously enclosed the bay of Bergen with iron chains so that Haraldr’s ships could not enter it. That strategy backfired, however, because Haraldr and his army circumvented the blockade and approached from land. When Magnús tried to escape on his ship, the chains prevented him from sailing away.
Text is based on reconstruction from the base text and variant apparatus and may contain alternative spellings and other normalisations not visible in the manuscript text. Transcriptions may not have been checked and should not be cited.
Luku vág viku,
vara kostr fara
brýns or brúns, Bjǫrgynjar,
braut háskrautum.
Luku vág viku,
varat kostr fara
brýns, Bjǫrgynjar,
braut háskrautum.
Luku vág viku,
varat kostir fara
brýns, Bjǫrgynjar,
braut háskautum.
Luku vág viku,
vara kostr fara
brýns, Bjǫrgynjar,
braut háskrautum.
Luku vág viku,
vara kostr fara
brýns, Bjǫrgynjar,
braut háskrautum.
Luku vág viku,
vara kostr fara
brýns, Bjǫrgynjar,
braut háskrautum.
Luku vág viku,
vara kostr fara
brýns, Bjǫrgynjar,
braut háskrautum.
Luku vág viku,
vara kostr fara
brýns, Bjǫrgynjar,
braut háskrautum.
Luku vág viku,
vara kostr fara
brúns, Bjǫrgynjar,
braut †harskrautum†.
Luku vág viku,
vara kostr fara
brýns, Bjǫrgynjar,
braut háskrautum.
Luku vág viku,
vara kostr fara
brýns, Bjǫrgynjar,
braut háskrautum.
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