RvHbreiðm Hl 61^III

Frétts, at Eirekr átti
eggmót, sás rauð spjót,
(frægr gerði val víga)
víðs mǫrg (konungr bjǫrg),
þvít blóðstari bæði
bens nýtti sér fen
— frægr þótti sá flotnum
foldar vǫrðr — ok hold.

Frétts, at Eirekr, sás rauð spjót, átti {mǫrg eggmót} víðs; frægr konungr gerði {val víga} bjǫrg, þvít {blóðstari} nýtti sér bæði {fen bens} ok hold; {sá vǫrðr foldar} þótti frægr flotnum.

It is heard that Eiríkr, who reddened spears, had {many edge-meetings} [BATTLES] far and wide; the famous king provided sustenance {for the falcon of battles} [RAVEN/EAGLE], because {the blood-starling} [RAVEN] availed itself of both {the fen of the wound} [BLOOD] and flesh; {that guardian of the earth} [RULER] seemed famous to his followers.

Mss: papp25ˣ(37v), R683ˣ(132r)

Readings: [4] konungr: konungs papp25ˣ, R683ˣ    [6] bens: ‘bæins’ papp25ˣ, R683ˣ;    nýtti: so R683ˣ, nýti papp25ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 524, Skj BI, 502, Skald I, 246, NN §3217; Hl 1941, 29, 83-4.

Context:

The heading is alstýft (‘Al styft’) ‘completely apocopated’ (cf. SnSt Ht 50, meiri stúfr ‘greater apocopated’). This metre is a variant of dróttkvætt with catalectic even lines. In Ht 51 (inn mesti stúfr ‘the greatest apocopated (metre)’) all lines are catalectic, and it is possible that the heading in Hl originally was hálfstýft ‘half-apocopated’ (see Nj 1875-8, II, 928 n. 1; Hl 1941).

Notes: [All]: Other than in Hl and Ht, this metre is attested in Old Norse poetry only in Þórsnep Lv^IV. — [All]: Eiríkr is Eiríkr blóðøx ‘Blood-axe’ Haraldsson, a son of Haraldr hárfagri (see sts 59-60 above) and king of Norway (r. 930-5) (see ÍF 26, 137-54; ÍF 29, 73-80; Anon Eirm^I; Anon Nkt 10-11^II). See his Biography in SkP I. — [4] víðs ‘far and wide’: For this adv., which is quite common in skaldic poetry, see NN §3217 and Note to Bkrepp Magndr 1/8^II. — [4] konungr (m. nom. sg.) ‘king’: The emendation (from konungs (m. gen. sg.) ‘of the king’) is necessary to provide the missing subject and in keeping with all earlier eds. — [6] bens ‘of the wound’: The mss read ‘bæins’, i.e. beins ‘of the bone’, which fails to provide the aðalhending (-en- : -en). For the spelling <æi> for [e], see Note to st. 49/5. — [6] nýtti sér ‘availed itself’: See sts 52/4 and 62/1.

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. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
5. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
6. Hl 1941 = Jón Helgason and Anne Holtsmark, eds. 1941. Háttalykill enn forni. BA 1. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
7. SkP I = Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Ed. Diana Whaley. 2012.
8. Internal references
9. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Háttatal’ 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=165> (accessed 2 May 2024)
10. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Anonymous Poems, Nóregs konungatal 10’ 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. 768-9.
11. R. D. Fulk 2012, ‘ Anonymous, Eiríksmál’ 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. 1003. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1009> (accessed 2 May 2024)
12. Kari Ellen Gade 2017, ‘ Rǫgnvaldr jarl and Hallr Þórarinsson, Háttalykill’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1001. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1347> (accessed 2 May 2024)
13. Not published: do not cite (Þórsnep Lv^IV)
14. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Bjǫrn krepphendi, Magnússdrápa 1’ 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. 396-7.
15. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 48’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1157.
16. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 50’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1159.
17. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2022, ‘Njáls saga 18 (Skarpheðinn Njálsson, Lausavísur 3)’ 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. 1243.