Note to Þjóð Yt 26^I

[8] of Vestmari (acc. pl.) ‘across Vestmarir’: Vestmari could in itself be either dat. sg. (nom. sg. Vestmarr) or acc. pl. (nom. pl. Vestmarir). All Hkr mss except for F have of, while the later mss of Flat, ÓH and ÓGeir have ok linking Upsa and Vestmari as the dat. sg. objects of réð ‘ruled’, hence the places ruled by Óláfr (cf. Note to l. 6). But in light of the dat. pl. Vestmǫrum in the Yng prose (ÍF 26, 78) the p. n. appears to be a pl. form (Bugge 1894, 167; LP: Vestmarr differs). In that case Vestmari could only be the acc. pl. of an i-stem (nom. pl. ‑marir, see Åkerlund 1939, 119), and as such it cannot be an object of the verb form réð. Ráða of ‘rule over’ is not attested, for which reason Åkerlund (1939, 120), followed in this edn, suggests of must be interpreted here as ‘across’, hence víðri grund of Vestmari ‘a wide area (that stretches) across Vestmarir’. That the shift from of to ok is more easily imagined than the opposite change also supports this reading. Opinion varies on the location and size of Vestmarir (Hjärne 1947, 22-5), and did so even in the Middle Ages (Storm 1899, 118; Hjärne 1947, 41-8). Yng (ÍF 26, 82) relates that Óláfr possessed the western part of Vestfold, to which Vestmarir could be a reference. Storm (1899, 118) compares the name to Grenmarr (Langesundfjorden) and deduces that Vestmarir should be understood as ‘the western coastal lands’. Although the use of marr ‘sea’ as the base-word for a regional name may seem unusual, Bugge (1894, 168) refers to the Norwegian practice of using fjord names to designate regions (e.g. Firðir). Others have interpreted Vestmarr as the Atlantic Ocean (Wadstein 1895a, 80; Wadstein 1896, 34; Hjärne 1947, 48). Wadstein (1896) concludes from this that Óláfr was identical to the viking king Óláfr hvíti ‘the White’, the great viking king who also appears in Ari Þorgilsson’s Ættartala (Íslb, ÍF 1, 28). This thesis, previously rejected by Bugge (1894, 167), is taken up again by Jón Steffensen (1951, 42-50; 1970-3, 64).

References

1. Bibliography
2. LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
3. ÍF 1 (parts 1 and 2) = Íslendingabók; Landnámabók. Ed. Jakob Benediktsson. 1968. Rpt. as one volume 1986.
4. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
5. Wadstein, Elis. 1895a. ‘Bidrag till tolkning och belysning av skalde- ock Edda-dikter. I. Till tolkningen av Ynglingatal’. ANF 11, 64-92.
6. Bugge, Sophus. 1894. Bidrag til den ældste skaldedigtnings historie. Christiania (Oslo): Aschehoug.
7. Hjärne, Erland. 1947. ‘Vestmarr och Grenland: En tolkningsfråga i Ynglingatal och ett kapitel ur Norges historiska geografi’. Saga och sed, 19-68.
8. Storm, Gustav. 1899. ‘Ynglingatal, dets forfatter og forfattelsestid’. ANF 15, 107-41.
9. Wadstein, Elis. 1896. ‘Bidrag till tolkning och belysning av skalde- och edda-dikter III. En irländsk vikingakung i Ynglingatal’. ANF 12, 30-46.
10. Åkerlund, Walter. 1939. Studier över Ynglingatal. Skrifta utgivna av Vetenskaps-Societeten i Lund 23. Lund: Gleerup.
11. Jón Steffensen. 1951. ‘Víkingar’. Samtíð og saga 5, 28-50.
12. Internal references
13. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Heimskringla’ 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, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=4> (accessed 1 May 2024)
14. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Íslendingabók’ in Guðrún Nordal (ed.), Poetry on Icelandic History. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 4. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=26> (accessed 1 May 2024)
15. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Flateyjarbók’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=44> (accessed 1 May 2024)
16. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Óláfs saga helga’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=53> (accessed 1 May 2024)
17. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Óláfs þáttr Geirstaðaálfs’ 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, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=151> (accessed 1 May 2024)
18. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Ynglinga saga’ 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, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=158> (accessed 1 May 2024)
19. Not published: do not cite (Run^VI)