Sturl Hákfl 5II
Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Sturla Þórðarson, Hákonarflokkr 5’ 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. 749-50.
Ríkr ‘The powerful’
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ríkr (adj.): mighty, powerful, rich
kennings
Ríkr hneykir hlenna‘The powerful repressor of robbers ’
= JUST RULER = Hákon
The powerful repressor of robbers → JUST RULER = Hákon
gaf ‘gave’
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gefa (verb): give
hlenna ‘of robbers’
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hlenni (noun m.): robber, thief
kennings
Ríkr hneykir hlenna‘The powerful repressor of robbers ’
= JUST RULER = Hákon
The powerful repressor of robbers → JUST RULER = Hákon
kennings
Ríkr hneykir hlenna‘The powerful repressor of robbers ’
= JUST RULER = Hákon
The powerful repressor of robbers → JUST RULER = Hákon
herþrungit ‘very oppressive’
Ribbungum ‘the Ribbungar’
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ribbungr (noun m.; °; -ar): one of the Ribbungar
ógnar ‘of terror’
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ógn (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): terror, battle
[3] ógnar skýs: yss gerðiz Flat
kennings
skýs ógnar.‘of the cloud of terror. ’
= SHIELD
the cloud of terror. → SHIELD
kennings
skýs ógnar.‘of the cloud of terror. ’
= SHIELD
the cloud of terror. → SHIELD
í ‘in’
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í (prep.): in, into
Ósló ‘Oslo’
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Ósló (noun f.): [Oslo]
eitt ‘one’
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2. einn (pron.; °decl. cf. einn num.): one, alone
meginsveitum ‘with the main forces’
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meginsveit (noun f.): [with main forces]
Mildr ‘The one generous’
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mildr (adj.; °compar. -ri/-ari, superl. -astr): mild, gentle, gracious, generous
[5] Mildr kom heimskum hauldum: so Flat, mildum kom hauldu harða 81a
kom ‘forced’
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koma (verb; kem, kom/kvam, kominn): come
[5] Mildr kom heimskum hauldum: so Flat, mildum kom hauldu harða 81a
heimskum ‘the foolish’
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heimskr (adj.; °comp. -ari, superl. -astr): foolish
[5] Mildr kom heimskum hauldum: so Flat, mildum kom hauldu harða 81a
hauldum ‘men’
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hǫlðr (noun m.; °-s; -ar): man
[5] Mildr kom heimskum hauldum: so Flat, mildum kom hauldu harða 81a
her ‘with battle’
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herr (noun m.; °-s/-jar, dat. -; -jar, gen. -ja/herra): army, host < hervíg (noun n.): warfare
vígs ‘’
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víg (noun n.; °-s; -): battle < hervíg (noun n.): warfare
[6] ‑vígs: so Flat, vígt 81a
á ‘onto’
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3. á (prep.): on, at
glapstígu ‘pernicious paths’
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glapstígr (noun m.): pernicious path
langt ‘far’
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langr (adj.; °compar. lengri, superl. lengstr): long
[7] langt: langs Flat, ‘lans’ 42ˣ
notes
[7] langt ‘far’: An adv. denoting spatial extension. If the Flat variant, langs (m. or n. gen. sg.), is adopted (so Skj B), it is an adj. qualifying ríkis (langs ríkis ‘enduring power’).
í ‘into’
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í (prep.): in, into
landi ‘the land’
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land (noun n.; °-s; *-): land
Lauf ‘the Forest’
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lauf (noun n.; °-s; -): leaf < laufvíking (noun f.)
notes
[8] Laufvíkingar ‘the Forest-vikings [= the Ribbungar]’: Lit. ‘Leaf-vikings’. Taken (with Kock, Skald and NN §§1366, 1997) as a derogatory term for the Ribbungar; i.e. outlaws who live in the forest. This interpretation is strengthened by the fact that ll. 5-8 of the present st. bear strong resemblance to Sturl Hákkv 6/5-8: ok þar stökk lið Grýtlinga á glapstíg ‘and there the force of the Grýtlingar [= the Ribbungar] fled on a pernicious path’. That helmingr describes an earlier battle in Oslo (in 1221) against the Ribbungar, and it contains the phrase á glapstíg ‘on a pernicious path’ (l. 8; cf. á glapstígu ‘onto pernicious paths’ (l. 6 above)) as well as the derogatory label Grýtlingar lit. ‘Gravelings’ (i.e. outlaws who hide among cliffs or rocks or live in caves), which parallels Laufvíkingar ‘Forest-vikings’ in the present st. Skj B treats lauf ‘leaf’ as a separate word but marks it as untranslatable. In LP: lauf, lauf is taken with ríkis ‘power’: magtens løv (eller frugt) ‘the leaf (or fruit) of power’, which makes little sense.
víkingar ‘vikings [= the Ribbungar]’
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víking (noun f.; °dat./acc. -/-u): viking journey < laufvíking (noun f.)
[8] ‑víkingar: víkinga Flat
notes
[8] Laufvíkingar ‘the Forest-vikings [= the Ribbungar]’: Lit. ‘Leaf-vikings’. Taken (with Kock, Skald and NN §§1366, 1997) as a derogatory term for the Ribbungar; i.e. outlaws who live in the forest. This interpretation is strengthened by the fact that ll. 5-8 of the present st. bear strong resemblance to Sturl Hákkv 6/5-8: ok þar stökk lið Grýtlinga á glapstíg ‘and there the force of the Grýtlingar [= the Ribbungar] fled on a pernicious path’. That helmingr describes an earlier battle in Oslo (in 1221) against the Ribbungar, and it contains the phrase á glapstíg ‘on a pernicious path’ (l. 8; cf. á glapstígu ‘onto pernicious paths’ (l. 6 above)) as well as the derogatory label Grýtlingar lit. ‘Gravelings’ (i.e. outlaws who hide among cliffs or rocks or live in caves), which parallels Laufvíkingar ‘Forest-vikings’ in the present st. Skj B treats lauf ‘leaf’ as a separate word but marks it as untranslatable. In LP: lauf, lauf is taken with ríkis ‘power’: magtens løv (eller frugt) ‘the leaf (or fruit) of power’, which makes little sense.
ríkis ‘the power’
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ríki (noun n.; °-s; -): kingdom, power
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
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Ríkr gaf hlenna hneykir |
The powerful repressor of robbers [JUST RULER = Hákon] gave the Ribbungar one very oppressive evening in Oslo with the main forces of the cloud of terror [SHIELD]. The one generous with battle forced the foolish men onto pernicious paths; the Forest-vikings [= the Ribbungar] felt the power far into the land.
During the summer of 1225, Hákon sailed from Bergen to Oslo to attack the Ribbungar. On 13 September, he and his troops entered Oslo, and the Ribbungar attempted to escape but were forced back by a contingent of Hákon’s army. Battle ensued, and more than twenty Ribbungar fell. The rest sought shelter in the churches.
The second helmingr is transmitted in 81a and Flat only (and ll. 7-8 in 42ˣ), which accounts for the change in the order of mss in the critical apparatus. — [1-4]: (a) In the present edn skýs ógnar ‘of the cloud of terror’ (i.e. ‘of the shield’) (l. 3; so E, F, 42ˣ, 81a) is taken as a qualifier for meginsveitum ‘with the main forces’ (l. 4). For comparable constructions, see herdróttum svanteigar ‘war-bands of the swan-field’ (Sturl Hrafn 11/6, 8), herskatnar vegs ‘war-men of honour’ (Hrafn 13/7, 8), sveit sverða ‘company of swords’ (Hrafn 17/2, 3), virðar hrings ‘men of the sword’ (Hrafn 18/2, 4). The Flat variant, yss gerðiz ‘tumult erupted’, is unmetrical because position 4 in an E3 l. cannot be occupied by a prep. (here: í ‘in’; see Gade 1995a, 76, 82-5). Both Skj B and Skald adopt the Flat variants yss gerðiz ‘tumult erupted’ (l. 3) and slag ‘battle’ (l. 4). Both also silently emend Ribbungum (dat. pl.) (l. 2) to Ribbunga (gen. pl.) against all mss and construe it with meginsveitum ‘the main forces of the Ribbungar’. (b) Skj B gives the following reading: Ríkr hlenna hneykir gaf meginsveitum Ribbunga eitt slag þrungit í Óslu; yss gerðiz her translated as Den mægtige røverstraffer gav Ribbungernes hovedskarer et slemt nederlag i Oslo; der opstod tummel i hæren ‘The powerful punisher of robbers gave the main forces of the Ribbungar a serious defeat in Oslo; tumult erupted in the army’. (c) Kock (NN §1365) follows Skj B but objects correctly to Finnur’s separation of her lit.‘army’ and þrungit ‘oppressive’. Instead, he takes her- as an intensifier, an interpretation which has been adopted in the present edn.
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