HSt Rst 8^I

Haukjóðs harða víða
(hôtt) norrœnar dróttir*
(Þundregns þeim of vandak)
þengils á bý gengu.
Óráð illri þjóðu
Óláfr of galt dála;
vígrunnr velja kunni
víkingum hlut slíkan.

Norrœnar dróttir* gengu harða víða á {bý {haukjóðs}} þengils; of vandak þeim hôtt {Þundregns}. Óláfr of galt dála illri þjóðu óráð; {vígrunnr} kunni velja víkingum slíkan hlut.

Norwegian troops placed themselves very widely in {the homestead {of the hawk-offspring}} [HAWK > HAND] of the ruler; I fashion for him the metre {of Þundr’s <= Óðinn’s> rain} [POETRY]. Óláfr thoroughly paid evil people for their misdeeds; {the battle-tree} [WARRIOR] was able to deal vikings such a fate.

Mss: Bb(111vb) (ÓT)

Readings: [2] dróttir*: ‘drottirir’ Bb    [6] of galt: ‘ok gatt’ Bb

Editions: Skj AI, 545, Skj BI, 527, Skald I, 256, NN §1174; SHI 3, 248-9, CPB II, 296, Wisén 1886-9, I, 47, Finnur Jónsson 1893b, 164, Konráð Gíslason 1895-7, I, 207-12.

Notes: [1, 4] gengu … á bý haukjóðs þengils ‘placed themselves ... in the homestead of the hawk-offspring [HAWK > HAND] of the ruler’: The expression plays on the phrase ganga á hǫnd e-s/e-m ‘to submit to sby’. Hǫnd ‘hand’ is here expressed by a kenning; cf. a similar device in Anon Óldr 10/1-4, also referring to submission to Óláfr Tryggvason. — [2] hôtt ‘the metre’: The inexact rhyme on dróttir is acceptable in view of the apparent inconsistencies of assonance in Rst; see Introduction and Note to st. 3/8 above. Konráð Gíslason (1895-7) argued for hótt-, and this is adopted in Skj B, but not in Skald. — [2] dróttir* ‘troops’: The ms. has a trivial error here: the scribe wrote <ir> both in full and as a superscript abbreviation. The exact implication of dróttir is uncertain here, since it was the people of Norway rather than Hákon’s army who submitted to Óláfr. — [3] Þundregns ‘of Þundr’s <= Óðinn’s> rain [POETRY]’: (a) The context suggests a kenning alluding to the myth of the mead of poetry (so, seemingly, Skj B, and see Meissner 429), and although drink or waves are the most common form of liquid to be so designated, this conforms to the basic pattern. (On the myth see SnE 1998, I, 3-4; Note to Eskál Vell 1 [All]; Introduction to SkP III; Frank 1981; Davidson 1983, 418-47). (b) LP: Þundregn takes this as a battle-kenning, which would perhaps join with hôtt(r) ‘metre’ to mean battle poetry. — [5] illri þjóðu ‘evil people’: Konráð Gíslason (1895-7) suggests that ‘evil people’ is a reference to pagans and their faith (cf. st. 9). However, it is more likely that it refers to the (unidentified) vikings mentioned in l. 8. — [6] Óláfr: On the form of the king’s name, see Note to st. 3/8. — [7] velja ‘deal’: The primary sense of the verb is ‘choose’, but the context indicates ‘deal, provide’, which is supported by st. 13/5 (cf. Konráð Gíslason 1895-7).

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. 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. Meissner = Meissner, Rudolf. 1921. Die Kenningar der Skalden: Ein Beitrag zur skaldischen Poetik. Rheinische Beiträge und Hülfsbücher zur germanischen Philologie und Volkskunde 1. Bonn and Leipzig: Schroeder. Rpt. 1984. Hildesheim etc.: Olms.
6. 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.
7. Frank, Roberta. 1981. ‘Snorri and the Mead of Poetry’. In Dronke et al. 1981, 155-70.
8. CPB = Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and F. York Powell, eds. 1883. Corpus poeticum boreale: The Poetry of the Old Northern Tongue from the Earliest Times to the Thirteenth Century. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon. Rpt. 1965, New York: Russell & Russell.
9. Wisén, Theodor, ed. 1886-9. Carmina Norrœnæ: Ex reliquiis vetustioris norrœnæ poësis selecta, recognita, commentariis et glossario instructa. 2 vols. Lund: Ohlsson.
10. Finnur Jónsson. 1893b. Carmina Norrœna: Rettet Tekst. Copenhagen: Nielsen & Lydiche.
11. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
12. Davidson, Daphne L. 1983. ‘Earl Hákon and his Poets’. D. Phil. thesis. Oxford.
13. Konráð Gíslason. 1895-7. Efterladte skrifter. 2 vols. I: Forelæsninger over oldnordiske skjaldekvad. II: Forelæsninger og videnskablige afhandlinger. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
14. SHI = Sveinbjörn Egilsson, ed. 1828-46. Scripta historica islandorum de rebus gestis veterum borealium, latine reddita et apparatu critico instructa, curante Societate regia antiquariorum septentrionalium. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp etc. and London: John & Arthur Arch.
15. SkP III = Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Ed. Kari Ellen Gade in collaboration with Edith Marold. 2017.
16. Internal references
17. Diana Whaley 2012, ‘(Biography of) Óláfr Tryggvason’ 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. 383.
18. Kate Heslop (ed.) 2012, ‘Anonymous Poems, Óláfs drápa Tryggvasonar 10’ 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. 1042.
19. Rolf Stavnem 2012, ‘ Hallar-Steinn, Rekstefja’ 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. 893. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1237> (accessed 1 May 2024)
20. Edith Marold (ed.) 2012, ‘Einarr skálaglamm Helgason, Vellekla 1’ 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. 283.