Anon (Hsona) 2^II

This helmingr in fornyrðislag (Anon (Hsona) 2) is recorded in mss Kˣ, F, E, J2ˣ and 42ˣ of HsonaHkr, in H, Hr (H-Hr) and in Mork (SslembMork). It was also copied by Árni Magnússon in AM 761 b 4°ˣ (761bˣ), which has no independent value. The half-st. is anonymous in all mss. Skj hesitantly assigns it to Ív Sig as st. 26 presumably because of the metre, but there is nothing to support that attribution (see Fidjestøl 1982, 159, 174). Furthermore, the sts in Sig are all composed retrospectively and in the pret., whereas this st. is in the pres. tense. In 761bˣ (at 546r), Árni did not include it under the sts from Sig; rather, he introduced it with the caption ‘Anonymi’. In the present edn, Kˣ is the main ms.

Fátt eitt fylgir        furu háleyskri;
svipar und segli        sinbundit skip.

Fátt eitt fylgir háleyskri furu; sinbundit skip svipar und segli.

Only few can keep up with the ship from Hålogaland; the sinew-bound boat speeds beneath the sail.

Mss: Kˣ(649v), F(71vb), E(54r), J2ˣ(350r), 42ˣ(42r-v) (Hkr); H(120v), Hr(79ra) (H-Hr); Mork(34r) (Mork)

Readings: [1] fylgir: ‘flygur’ Hr    [3] svipar: ‘svifur’ Hr;    und: með Mork    [4] sin‑: ‘sím‑’ Hr

Editions: Skj AI, 499, Skj BI, 471, Skald I, 231, NN §3109 n. 1; ÍF 28, 312 (Hsona ch. 6), F 1871, 330-1, E 1916, 188; Fms 7, 216 (Hsona ch. 7); Mork 1867, 214, Mork 1928-32, 425, Andersson and Gade 2000, 379, 493 (Sslemb).

Context: Sigurðr slembidjákn spends the winter of 1138-9 in Finnmark among the Saami, and they provide him with a ship that is held together by sinews.

Notes: [All]: For Sigurðr’s dealings with the Saami, see also Slembir Lv and Context. He commissioned two ships from them because he had cut the stem and the stern off his own ship and sunk it in Øksfjorden (Ægisfjǫrðr), presumably to avoid detection while he and his men were in hiding (ÍF 28, 311; Mork 1928-32, 425). He could have saved the stem and the stern because of their value (they needed to buy provisions for the winter). — [2] furu ‘the ship’: Lit. ‘pine-tree’. Denoting a ship made out of pine; poetic word for ‘ship’ (see Falk 1912, 31, 87). — [2] háleyskri ‘from Hålogaland’: District in North Norway. — [4] sinbundit skip ‘the sinew-bound boat’: The planking of the ship was joined together by sinews rather than by nails. Hkr (ÍF 28, 311) gives the following account: Þann vetr, er sagt, at Sigurðr léti Finna gera sér skútur tvær inn í fjǫrðum ok váru sini bundnar ok engi saumr í, en viðjar fyrir kné, ok røru tólf menn á borð hvárri ‘That winter, it is told that Sigurðr had the Saami make two ships for him in the innermost reach of the fjord. They were held together by sinews, and there was no iron rivet in them, and withies were used for brackets. Twelve men rowed on each side’. See also Falk 1912, 50.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. 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.
6. Fidjestøl, Bjarne. 1982. Det norrøne fyrstediktet. Universitet i Bergen Nordisk institutts skriftserie 11. Øvre Ervik: Alvheim & Eide.
7. Falk, Hjalmar. 1912. Altnordisches Seewesen. Wörter und Sachen 4. Heidelberg: Winter.
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. 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.
13. Internal references
14. (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 29 May 2024)
15. (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 29 May 2024)
18. Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘ Ívarr Ingimundarson, Sigurðarbálkr’ 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. 501-27. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1282> (accessed 29 May 2024)
19. Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘ Sigurðr slembidjákn Magnússon, Lausavísa’ 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. 499-500. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1373> (accessed 29 May 2024)
20. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Anonymous Lausavísur, Lausavísur from Haraldssona saga 2’ 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. 836-7.