Hákonarkviða — Sturl Hákkv^II

Sturla Þórðarson must have composed Hákonarkviða ‘Kviða about Hákon’ (Sturl Hákkv) after the news of Hákon’s death (on 16 December 1263) had reached Norway, because the poem contains no apostrophes to Hákon. Such forms of address abound in Sturl Hryn, the only poem that Sturla composed about Hákon prior to hearing about his demise (see Introduction to Sturl Hryn). The entire extant poem is preserved in Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar (Hák) and the name is transmitted in Flat (Flat 1860-8, III, 6, 22), F (F 1871, 390) and 304ˣ (Hák 1977-82, 21). The metre is kviðuháttr, and, as is always the case with poems composed in this metre, the syntax often obscures helmingr and stanzaic boundaries (see Introduction, Anon Nkt). In the present edn, Hákkv consists of thirty-eight sts as opposed to the forty-two sts given in Skj and Skald (st. 4 = Skj sts 4-5; st. 9 = Skj sts 10-11; st. 10 = Skj sts 12-13; st. 25 = Skj sts 28-9). Jón Sigurðsson (SnE 1848-87, III, 391) suggested that the poem originally contained sixty sts, but that cannot be ascertained. Hákkv chronicles events from Hákon’s youth (sts 1-3), his ascension to the Norw. throne in 1217 (sts 4-5), the battle against the Ribbungar in Oslo in 1221 (st. 6), the campaign in Värmland in 1225 (sts 7-8), Skúli’s usurpation of the royal title (1239), the battles of Låke and Oslo and Skúli’s death in 1240 (sts 9-24), Hákon’s coronation in 1247 (sts 25-33) and his dealings with the Swed. jarl Birgir Magnússon in 1249 (sts 34-8). All sts are transmitted in F and Flat (Hák). AM 81a has all sts (except ll. 2-4 of st. 10) and E, which has been chosen as the main ms., contains all sts except sts 12/7-8 and 26-7. Stanzas 1-8, 9/1-8, 10, 13-18, 22-3, 25, 26/1-2, 26/7-8, 27-8, 30-1 and 34-8 are preserved in 42ˣ, sts 1-3, 6, 9-15, 17-19, 22-6, 28, 30-8 are found in 8, st. 5 is recorded in 304ˣ and st. 4 in 325VIII 5 a.

References

1. Bibliography
2. SnE 1848-87 = Snorri Sturluson. 1848-87. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar: Edda Snorronis Sturlaei. Ed. Jón Sigurðsson et al. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Legatum Arnamagnaeanum. Rpt. Osnabrück: Zeller, 1966.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. Flat 1860-8 = Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and C. R. Unger, eds. 1860-8. Flateyjarbók. En samling af norske konge-sagaer med indskudte mindre fortællinger om begivenheder i og udenfor Norge samt annaler. 3 vols. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
5. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
6. Hák 1977-82 = Mundt, Marina, ed. 1977. Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar etter Sth. 8 fol., AM 325VIII, 4° og AM 304, 4°. Oslo: Forlagsentralen. Suppl. by James E. Knirk, Rettelser til Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar etter Sth. 8 fol., AM 325VIII, 4° og AM 304, 4°. Norrøne tekster 2. Oslo: Norsk historisk kjeldeskrift-institutt, 1982.
7. Internal references
8. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar’ 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=33> (accessed 2 May 2024)
9. Kari Ellen Gade 2017, ‘(Biography of) Sturla Þórðarson’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 392.
10. Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘ Anonymous, Nóregs konungatal’ 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. 761-806. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1035> (accessed 2 May 2024)
11. Valgerður Erna Þorvaldsdóttir 2009, ‘ Sturla Þórðarson, Hrynhenda’ 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. 676-98. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1398> (accessed 2 May 2024)