Þhorn Harkv 14^I

‘Hafnaði Holmrygjum         ok Hǫrða meyjum,
hverri inni heinversku         ok Hǫlga ættar
konungr inn kynstóri,         es tók konu ina dǫnsku.’

‘Inn kynstóri konungr, es tók ina dǫnsku konu, hafnaði Holmrygjum ok meyjum Hǫrða, hverri inni heinversku ok ættar Hǫlga.’

‘The high-born king [Haraldr] who took the Danish wife rejected the Hólmrygir and the maidens of the Hǫrðar, every single one from Hedmark and of the family of Hǫlgi.’

Mss: Kˣ(63v-64r), F(11ra), J1ˣ(35v), J2ˣ(36v) (Hkr); 61(2ra), 53(1vb), Bb(2rb), 325IX 1 bˣ(2va-b), Flat(6ra) (ÓT); Flat(77ra) (Flat)

Readings: [1] Hafnaði Holmrygjum: ‘Hafnadí hilmir ruium’ Bb, ‘Hafnnade hunnmo᷎rgum’ Flat(6ra), hafnaði hann Holmrygjum Flat(77ra)    [2] ok Hǫrða: Haraldr Flat(6ra)    [3] hverri: herran Bb;    inni: inum Bb, inn Flat(6ra);    heinversku: heinverskum Bb, hœversku 325IX 1 bˣ, Flat(6ra), hvinversku Flat(77ra)    [4] ok Hǫlga ættar: ok hǫlða ættar J1ˣ, J2ˣ, Flat(77ra), hilmir norrœni Flat(6ra)    [6] es: om. Bb, 325IX 1 bˣ, Flat(6ra);    konu ina: ‘[...]na’ J2ˣ;    ina: om. Flat(6ra);    dǫnsku: danska Flat(6ra)

Editions: Skj AI, 27, Skj BI, 24, Skald I, 15; Hkr 1777-1826, I, 97, VI, 18, Hkr 1868, 63, Hkr 1893-1901, I, 127, IV, 37, ÍF 26, 119-20, Hkr 1991, I, 74 (HHárf ch. 21/22), F 1871, 49; Fms 1, 7, Fms 12, 25, ÓT 1958-2000, I, 7 (ch. 2), Flat 1860-8, I, 42; Fms 10, 195, Flat 1860-8, I, 576 (HarHárf); Möbius 1860, 229, Jón Helgason 1946, 145-6, Jón Helgason 1968, 19.

Context:

In both Hkr and ÓT, the stanza is cited in evidence of the report that Haraldr gave up all his nine or ten wives in order to win the hand of Ragnhildr (see the preceding stanza); the context in HarHárf (Flat(77ra)) is similar.

Notes: [All]: The stanza is attributed to Þjóðólfr (ór Hvini) in HarHárf (Flat(77ra)), though the different version cited in Flat(6ra) is called Þorbjǫrn’s. — [1] hafnaði ‘rejected’: Snorri’s interpretation of the context in Hkr reveals that he understood the verb to mean ‘parted with’ (so also Magerøy 1963, 84; Jochens 1995, 31), but the meaning of the stanza may well be not that Haraldr parted with so many wives or concubines but that although he could have married a woman from any part of Norway, he chose a Dane instead. See Koht (1927-9, 430-1), in response to Schreiner (1927-9b, 172-3). Following Snorri’s interpretation, to explain the connection between this stanza and st. 13, Lindquist (1929, 7) supposes some lines to have been lost from the beginning of this stanza, to the effect that the women speak ill of Haraldr because of an old grudge. Harris (1985, 97) perceives the tone of this stanza as mocking. For a listing of the numerous women with whom Haraldr is said to have fathered children, see Hkr 1991, III, 135. — [1] Holmrygjum ‘the Hólmrygir’: Residents of the islands (hólmr m. ‘island’) of Rogaland, in this context clearly the female residents. Finnur Jónsson (Hkr 1893-1901, IV, 37; LP: Holmrygir), perhaps expecting instead a gen. pl. parallel with Hǫrða ‘of the Hǫrðar’ (actually supplied in Möbius 1860 and in Sueti 1884, 26), and noting that this refers to women only, suggests that the second constituent of the cpd could be a form of rýgr ‘lady’, with a pun on -rygjum (so also ÍF 26, 119-20; Olsen 1942b, 28-30). — [4] Hǫlga ‘of Hǫlgi’: The eponymous ruler of Hálogaland (Hålogaland). — [5]: The line repeats st. 7/3, and thus Sueti (1884, 16) cites this as evidence that the sts about Haraldr’s court and those about the battle were composed by the same poet. It does not occur elsewhere in the skaldic corpus. — [6] es ‘who’: This word may instead be temporal ‘when’ (so Sueti 1884, 27; Kershaw 1922, 79).

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. 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. 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.
6. Jochens, Jenny. 1995. Women in Old Norse Society. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.
7. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
8. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
9. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
10. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
11. ÓT 1958-2000 = Ólafur Halldórsson, ed. 1958-2000. Saga Óláfs Tryggvasonar en mesta. 3 vols. EA A 1-3. Copenhagen: Munksgaard (Reitzel).
12. Möbius, Theodor. 1860. Edda Sæmundar hins fróða. Mit einem Anhang bisher ungedruckter Gedichte. Leipzig: Hinrichs.
13. Kershaw, Nora, ed. and trans. 1922. Anglo-Saxon and Norse Poems. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
14. Lindquist, Ivar. 1929. Norröna lovkväden från 800 och 900 talen. I: Förslag till restituerad täxt jämte översättning. Lund: Gleerup.
15. Jón Helgason, ed. 1968. Skjaldevers. 3rd edn. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
16. Harris, Joseph. 1985. ‘Haraldskvæði’. In Strayer 1982-9, VI, 97-8.
17. Jón Helgason. 1946. ‘Haraldskvæði’. Tímarit Máls og menningar, 131-46.
18. Koht, Halvdan. 1927-9. ‘Innlegg i stridsspursmål’. HT(N) 28 (5 ser. 7), 425-47.
19. Magerøy, Hallvard, trans. 1963. ‘Haraldskvedet’. In Haugen 1994, 82-6.
20. Olsen, Magnus. 1942b. ‘Hild Rolvsdatters vise om Gange-Rolv og Harald Hårfagre’. MM, 1-70.
21. Schreiner, Johan. 1927-9b. ‘Harald Hårfagre og hans efterfølgere’. HT(N) 28 (5 ser. 7), 161-224.
22. Sueti, Friedrich. 1884. Ueber die auf den König Haraldr Hárfagri bezüglichen Gedichtfragmente in der norwegischen Königschronik Fagrskinna. Leipzig: August Press.
23. Hkr 1777-1826 = Schöning, Gerhard et al., eds. 1777-1826. Heimskringla edr Noregs konunga-sögor. 6 vols. Copenhagen: Stein.
24. Hkr 1868 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1868. Heimskringla eller Norges kongesagaer af Snorre Sturlassøn. Christiania (Oslo): Brøgger & Christie.
25. Internal references
26. (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 17 May 2024)
27. (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)
28. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Haralds þáttr hárfagra’ 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=137> (accessed 17 May 2024)
29. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Haralds saga hárfagra’ 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=140> (accessed 17 May 2024)