Steinn Nizv 1^II

Sagði hitt, es hugði,
hauklyndr, vesa myndu;
þar kvað þengill eirar
þrotna vôn frá hônum.
Heldr kvað hvern várn skyldu
hilmir frægr an vægja
(menn brutu upp) of annan
(ǫll vôpn) þveran falla.

Hauklyndr sagði hitt, es hugði vesa myndu; þengill kvað þrotna vôn eirar frá hônum þar. Frægr hilmir kvað hvern várn skyldu falla þveran of annan heldr an vægja; menn brutu upp ǫll vôpn.

The hawk-minded one said what he thought might happen; the lord declared there was scant hope of mercy from him there. The famous ruler said each of us must fall crosswise on top of one another rather than yield; men readied all weapons.

Mss: Kˣ(559v), F(48va-b), E(21r), J2ˣ(282r) (Hkr); FskBˣ(74v), FskAˣ(277) (Fsk); Mork(12v) (Mork); Flat(200rb) (Flat); H(55v), Hr(40vb) (H-Hr); 570a(24v)

Readings: [1] hitt: hinn 570a    [2] ‑lyndr: ‑lundr Flat;    myndu: so F, E, FskBˣ, FskAˣ, Mork, H, mundu Kˣ, J2ˣ, Flat, Hr, 570a    [3] þar: so F, J2ˣ, FskBˣ, Flat, H, Hr, 570a, þess Kˣ, þat E, þá FskAˣ, þér Mork;    kvað: kvað at FskAˣ;    þengill: þengils FskBˣ;    eirar: so F, E, J2ˣ, FskBˣ, Mork, Flat, H, Hr, 570a, ‘errar’ Kˣ, herjar FskAˣ    [4] þrotna: þraut Hr;    vôn: vann Flat, 570a;    frá: so F, E, J2ˣ, FskBˣ, FskAˣ, Mork, H, Hr, fyr Kˣ, 570a, af Flat    [5] skyldu: skuldu FskAˣ    [7] menn brutu: brutu menn Hr;    of: om. E;    annan: anna Hr    [8] vôpn: vn H

Editions: Skj AI, 407, Skj BI, 376, Skald I, 187, NN §§886, 2247D, 3262A; ÍF 28, 145-6 (HSig ch. 61), F 1871, 227, E 1916, 73; ÍF 29, 264-5 (ch. 57); Mork 1867, 77, Mork 1928-32, 208, Andersson and Gade 2000, 228, 477 (MH); Flat 1860-8, III, 361 (MH); Fms 6, 313 (HSig ch. 77); HÍ 1873, 254, HÍ 1952, 26-7 (HÍ).

Context: Before the battle, Haraldr incited his troops saying that, even though the Danes had twice as many men, the Norwegians must fall crosswise on top of one another rather than flee.

Notes: [2] hauklyndr; myndu (past inf.) ‘hawk-minded; might’: For the past inf. myndu, see ANG §529. Skj B and Skald adopt the Flat variant hauklundr ‘hawk-minded’ to form aðalhending with mundu (past inf.) ‘might’, while ÍF 28 and ÍF 29 give hauklyndr and mundu. Skj B connects hauklyndr with þengill ‘lord’ (l. 3) as the subject of the first cl., which results in an awkward tripartite l. and leaves the following cl. without a subject (see NN §§886, 2247D). — [4] þrotna vôn (f. acc. sg.) ‘scant hope’: Lit. ‘ended, diminished hope’. Taken as the p. p. (f. acc. sg.) of þrjóta ‘end, lack, diminish’. It could also be the inf. of the weak verb þrotna ‘come to an end’ (see NN §3262A): kvað vn eirar frá hnum þrotna ‘said that the expectation of mercy from him was coming to an end’ (ll. 3, 4), but the p. p. is attested with ván ‘hope’ in other contexts (see the examples given in Fritzner: þrjóta 1). — [7, 8] falla þveran of annan ‘fall crosswise on top of one another’: This phrase became (or was) a commonplace, and it is also found in Sverris saga (Sv) and used by King Sverrir Sigurðarson: hverr fell um þveran annan ‘each fell crosswise on top of the other’ (ÍF 30, 252-3); Liggr hverr yðvar um þveran annan ‘Each of you lie crosswise on top of one another’ (ÍF 30, 253).

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. ANG = Noreen, Adolf. 1923. Altnordische Grammatik I: Altisländische und altnorwegische Grammatik (Laut- und Flexionslehre) unter Berücksichtigung des Urnordischen. 4th edn. Halle: Niemeyer. 1st edn. 1884. 5th unrev. edn. 1970. Tübingen: Niemeyer.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
11. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
12. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
13. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
14. HÍ 1873 = Gustav Storm, ed. 1873. Snorre Sturlassöns historieskrivning, en kritisk undersögelse, 236-60. Copenhagen: Luno.
15. HÍ 1952 = Jón Helgason and Jakob Benediktsson, eds. 1952. Hákonar saga Ívarssonar. SUGNL 62. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
16. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
17. ÍF 30 = Sverris saga. Ed. Þorleifur Hauksson. 2007.
18. 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.
19. Internal references
20. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Sverris saga’ 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=2> (accessed 23 April 2024)
21. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Hákonar saga Ívarssonar’ 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=141> (accessed 23 April 2024)
22. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Haralds saga Sigurðssonar’ 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=142> (accessed 23 April 2024)
23. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Magnúss saga góða ok Haralds harðráða’ 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=147> (accessed 23 April 2024)