ESk Hardr I 1^II

Ótryggum lét eggjar
eljunfrár und hôri
Hveðn á hǫlðum roðnar
hrafns munnlituðr þunnar,
áðr, þars ógnarprúðum
ulfnistanda, missti
hungr, á hǫnd at ganga,
hræskurðr, Danir urðu.

{Eljunfrár munnlituðr hrafns} lét þunnar eggjar roðnar á ótryggum hǫlðum und hôri Hveðn, áðr {hræskurðr} missti hungr, þars Danir urðu at ganga á hǫnd {ógnarprúðum ulfnistanda}.

{The courage-quick mouth-colourer of the raven} [WARRIOR] let thin blades be reddened on disloyal freeholders beneath lofty Ven, before {the carrion-cleaver} [RAVEN/EAGLE] lost its hunger, where the Danes were obliged to surrender {to the battle-proud wolf-feeder} [WARRIOR].

Mss: Mork(32r) (Mork); FskBˣ(94v), 51ˣ(82v), FskAˣ(372) (Fsk, ll. 1-4); Kˣ(639v), F(69va), E(50v), J2ˣ(343r), 42ˣ(37r) (Hkr, ll. 1-4); H(117r), Hr(77ra) (H-Hr, ll. 1-4)

Readings: [1] Ótryggum: Ótryggjum FskAˣ, F, 42ˣ, ‘Bryggum’ E;    lét: lézt FskBˣ, FskAˣ, Kˣ, E, J2ˣ, 42ˣ, H, lét ek Hr    [2] ‑frár: ‑þrár FskBˣ, FskAˣ, F, E, J2ˣ, 42ˣ, H, Hr;    hôri: ‘harre’ FskBˣ    [3] Hveðn á: ‘h[...]’ FskBˣ;    roðnar: roðna F, E, J2ˣ, 42ˣ    [4] hrafns: ‘rams’ FskBˣ, FskAˣ;    munn‑: munnr FskAˣ;    ‑lituðr: ‑brúðr FskBˣ, ‑litaðr FskAˣ, Kˣ;    þunnar: þunnan Hr    [6] missti: misstu Mork

Editions: Skj AI, 456, Skj BI, 424, Skald I, 210, NN §922; Mork 1867, 200, Mork 1928-32, 402-3, Andersson and Gade 2000, 365, 490 (MbHg); ÍF 29, 329 (ch. 96); ÍF 28, 296 (MbHg ch. 12), F 1871, 320, E 1916, 176; Fms 7, 196 (MbHg ch. 15).

Notes: [1] lét (3rd pers. sg. pret. indic.) ‘let’: Hkr, Fsk, and H-Hr all have lézt (2nd pers. sg. pret. indic. m. v.), which would mean that the st. was recited in the presence of Haraldr. If that reading is retained, eljunfrár munnlituðr hrafns ‘the courage-quick mouth-colourer of the raven’ (ll. 2, 4) must be taken as a form of address (so most earlier eds). — [2] eljunfrár ‘courage-quick’: So Mork, Kˣ. Eljunþrár ‘courage-tenacious’ (so all other mss) is a possible variant and has been adopted by most earlier eds. — [3] Hveðn ‘Ven’: Island in Øresund between Denmark and Sweden. — [5] áðr ‘before’: Skj B takes this adv. with the second cl. and construes the following reading: áðr Danir urðu at ganga á hǫnd ógnarprúðum ulfnistanda, þars hræskurðr missti hungr ‘before the Danes were obliged to surrender to the terror-proud wolf-feeder, where the corpse-cleaver lost its hunger’ (ll. 5-8). That reading creates an unprecedented tripartite l. (l. 5), and Kock (NN §922) takes ógnarprúðum ulfnistanda (m. dat. sg.) ‘the terror-proud wolf-feeder’ (ll. 5-6) as an absolute dat. of agency (þars hræskurðr missti hungr ógnarprúðum ulfnistanda ‘where the corpse-cleaver lost its hunger on account of the terror-proud wolf-feeder’). Such a construction is, however, unattested (see NS §100 anm. 2).

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
6. 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.
7. NS = Nygaard, Marius. 1906. Norrøn syntax. Kristiania (Oslo): Aschehoug. Rpt. 1966.
8. Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
9. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
10. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
11. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
12. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
13. Mork 1867 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1867. Morkinskinna: Pergamentsbog fra første halvdel af det trettende aarhundrede. Indeholdende en af de ældste optegnelser af norske kongesagaer. Oslo: Bentzen.
14. Internal references
15. (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 2 May 2024)
16. (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 2 May 2024)
17. (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 2 May 2024)
18. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Magnúss saga blinda ok Haralds gilla’ 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=145> (accessed 2 May 2024)