Hfr ErfÓl 22^I

Enn segir auðar kenni
austr ór malma gnaustan
seggr frá sôrum tyggja
sumr eða braut of kumnum.
Nús sannfregit sunnan
siklings ór styr miklum
(kannka mart við manna)
morð (veifanarorði).

Enn segir sumr seggr {kenni auðar} frá tyggja sôrum eða braut of kumnum austr ór {gnaustan malma}. Nús morð siklings sannfregit sunnan ór miklum styr; kannka mart við veifanarorði manna.

Still some warrior tells {the master of riches} [MAN] that the ruler was wounded or escaped eastwards from {the clashing of metal weapons} [BATTLE]. Now the slaying of the king is truly heard of out of the south from the great battle; I do not care much for vacillating words of men.

Mss: FskAˣ(145) (Fsk); Kˣ(217r), 22ˣ(102v marg), F(36vb), J1ˣ(134v-135r), J2ˣ(117v) (Hkr); 61(69vb), 53(66ra), 54(67va), 325VIII 2 g(1va), Bb(103ra), Flat(66ra) (ÓT)

Readings: [1] auðar: aldar 54, 325VIII 2 g, Bb, auðar auðar Flat;    kenni: so Kˣ, 22ˣmarg, F, J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 61, 53, 54, 325VIII 2 g, Bb, Flat, kennir FskAˣ    [2] ór: í Kˣ, 22ˣmarg, F, J1ˣ, J2ˣ    [4] eða braut of kumnum: at braut hafi komisk Flat;    of: ór 22ˣmarg;    kumnum: komin 22ˣmarg, komna 61    [5] Nús (‘nu er’): nú hefk 61, 53, 54, 325VIII 2 g, Bb;    sunnan: síðan Flat    [6] ór: í 22ˣmarg, J1ˣ, J2ˣ    [7] kannka (‘kann ec ei’): kann eigi J1ˣ, kann ek 61, kanna ek ei Flat;    við: so F, J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 61, 53, 54, 325VIII 2 g, Bb, Flat, at FskAˣ, Kˣ, 22ˣmarg    [8] veifanarorði: ‘uæipanar ordum’ Flat

Editions: Skj AI, 165, Skj BI, 155, Skald I, 84, NN §§2197, 2452; Fsk 1902-3, 133 (ch. 22), ÍF 29, 162 (ch. 24); Hkr 1893-1901, I, 456-7, IV, 103, ÍF 26, 369-70, Hkr 1991, I, 251 (ÓTHkr ch. 112), F 1871, 166; SHI 3, 9-10, ÓT 1958-2000, II, 293-4 (ch. 256), Flat 1860-8, I, 495.

Context: Follows st. 21 with minimal introduction in most prose texts; ÓT briefly paraphrases the stanza, highlighting the contradictory reports. 

Notes: [1-4]: The tradition seems to have been that Óláfr travelled east after escaping Svǫlðr, via Wendland to Russia, Greece, Syria and/or Jerusalem (ÓTOdd 1932, 241-3, 259-60; ÍF 25, 358, 373) or simply to the Holy Land (Ágr, ÍF 29, 24). Austr ‘eastwards’ (l. 2) is here taken with braut of kumnum ‘escaped, got away’, which supports the claims in the prose sources (or may be the origin of them). It could alternatively mean ‘in the east’ and combine with gnaustan malma ‘the clashing of metal weapons [BATTLE]’ in the same line.  — [1, 3, 4] segir ... frá tyggja sôrum eða braut of kumnum ‘tells ... that the ruler was wounded or escaped’: Lit. ‘tells about the ruler [having been] wounded or [having] got away’. — [1] kenni auðar ‘the master of riches [MAN]’: Probably the skald himself, cf. auðhnykkjanda ‘wealth-strewer’ Hfr Lv 18/6^V (Hallfr 21). The kenning could alternatively refer to Óláfr, but this entails a complex syntactic arrangement (suggested as an alternative in Hkr 1991). Fsk’s reading kennir (nom.) could be taken as an apostrophe to an unknown person, unusual in an encomium, or as an attempt to supply a subject immediately after the verb segir ‘tells’. — [7] við ‘for’: The main ms. reading at is difficult to incorporate into the syntax, whereas there is some support for kunna (við) + dat. ‘to care for’ (well attested in ModIcel.; see also Fritzner: kunna 7; CVC: kunna IV. 3); in LP: kunna 1, this phrase is explained differently. — [8] veifanarorði ‘vacillating words’: Veifan is a hap. leg. from verb veifa ‘to wave, vibrate’. Orði is grammatically dat. sg., ‘word’.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. 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.
5. CVC = Cleasby, Richard, Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and W. A. Craigie. 1957. An Icelandic-English Dictionary. 2nd edn. Oxford: Clarendon.
6. Ágr = [Anonymous] Ágrip af Nóregs konunga sögum.
7. 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.
8. Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
9. ÓTOdd 1932 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1932. Saga Óláfs Tryggvasonar af Oddr Snorrason munk. Copenhagen: Gad.
10. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
11. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
12. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
13. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
14. Fsk 1902-3 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1902-3. Fagrskinna: Nóregs kononga tal. SUGNL 30. Copenhagen: Møller.
15. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
16. ÓT 1958-2000 = Ólafur Halldórsson, ed. 1958-2000. Saga Óláfs Tryggvasonar en mesta. 3 vols. EA A 1-3. Copenhagen: Munksgaard (Reitzel).
17. SHI = Sveinbjörn Egilsson, ed. 1828-46. Scripta historica islandorum de rebus gestis veterum borealium, latine reddita et apparatu critico instructa, curante Societate regia antiquariorum septentrionalium. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp etc. and London: John & Arthur Arch.
18. ÍF 25 = Færeyinga saga; Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar eptir Odd munk Snorrason. Ed. Ólafur Halldórsson. 2006.
19. Internal references
20. (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 17 May 2024)
21. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta’ 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=60> (accessed 17 May 2024)
22. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2022, ‘Hallfreðar saga 21 (Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld Óttarsson, Lausavísur 18)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 899.