Drápa about Haraldr harðráði — Bǫlv HardrII
Bǫlverkr ArnórssonKari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘ Bǫlverkr Arnórsson, Drápa about Haraldr harðráði’ 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. 286-93. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1128> (accessed 19 April 2024)
The eight sts of Bǫlverkr’s drápa about Haraldr harðráði (Bǫlv Hardr) are all preserved in H-Hr (H, Hr). Stanzas 1-2 and 7-8 are recorded in Hkr (Kˣ, 39, F, E, J2ˣ), sts 1-3, 7-8 in Flat (Flat), sts 1, 7-8 in Fsk (FskBˣ (sts 1, 7 only), FskAˣ), sts 7-8 in Mork (Mork) and st. 1 in ÓH (Holm2, 972ˣ, 321ˣ, 73aˣ, Holm4, 325VII (l. 1), 325V, 61, Tóm, Bb). Stanza 8/1-4 is also found in mss R, Tˣ, A and C of SnE (Skm). Stanzas 1-3 must have been part of Mork, which has a lacuna here. In Mork 1928-32 and Andersson and Gade 2000, the missing text has been supplied from Flat. According to the prose texts, the sts belong to a drápa about Haraldr harðráði: svꜽ segir Bölverkr skáld í drápu þeirri, er hann orti um Harald konúng ‘Bǫlverkr skáld says this in the drápa that he composed about King Haraldr’ (Fms 6, 131; so also ÓH 1941, I, 581). Bǫlverkr is named as the poet of all sts in all versions (except that Fsk attributes st. 1 to ‘Valgarðr af Velli’ (Valg); ÍF 29, 227). The order of the sts is chronological and follows the sequence of events described in the prose texts. Hardr commemorates events that occurred between 1030 (the battle of Stiklestad; st. 1) and 1048 (Haraldr’s campaign to Denmark after the death of Magnús inn góði; st. 8). Throughout the poem, Bǫlverkr addresses Haraldr directly, so this is clearly not a memorial poem but composed during Haraldr’s life-time.
References
- Bibliography
- Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
- Andersson, Theodore M. and Kari Ellen Gade, trans. 2000. Morkinskinna: The Earliest Icelandic Chronicle of the Norwegian Kings (1030-1157). Islandica 51. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.
- ÓH 1941 = Johnsen, Oscar Albert and Jón Helgason, eds. 1941. Saga Óláfs konungs hins helga: Den store saga om Olav den hellige efter pergamenthåndskrift i Kungliga biblioteket i Stockholm nr. 2 4to med varianter fra andre håndskrifter. 2 vols. Det norske historiske kildeskriftfond skrifter 53. Oslo: Dybwad.
- Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
- ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
- Internal references
- Edith Marold 2017, ‘Snorra Edda (Prologue, Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál)’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols [check printed volume for citation].
- (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 19 April 2024)
- (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 19 April 2024)
- (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 19 April 2024)
- (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Fagrskinna’ 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=56> (accessed 19 April 2024)
- (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Hulda-Hrokkinskinna’ 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=84> (accessed 19 April 2024)
- (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Morkinskinna’ 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=87> (accessed 19 April 2024)
- (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Skáldskaparmál’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=112> (accessed 19 April 2024)
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