Hallar-Steinn (HSt)
12th century; volume 1; ed. Rolf Stavnem;
from a poem about Skáldhelgi (?) (Sk) - 0
1. Rekstefja (Rst) - 35
2. Fragment (Frag) - 1
III. Fragments (Frag) - 6
Nothing is known about this skald (HSt) except what can be deduced from his nickname, which has been identified with the farm-name Höll, in Þverárhlíð, Mýrasýsla, western Iceland (Finnur Jónsson 1907, 185), and from the poetry attributed to him. His main extant work is the drápa Rekstefja (HSt Rst), whose ambitious praise of Óláfr Tryggvason might well point to Iceland at the end of the twelfth century or somewhat later (see Skj, and Introduction to the poem below). Hallar-Steinn has been identified (e.g. by Wisén 1886-9, I, 143) with the eleventh-century poet Steinn Herdísarson (SteinnII), but this is implausible. HSt Frag 1, of uncertain origin but probably attributable to this poet, may also commemorate Óláfr Tryggvason, while HSt Frag 2-5III represent a love-lorn poet. These fragments are preserved only in treatises on poetics and grammar, and are therefore edited in SkP III, as are two further fragments, HSt Frag 6-7III.
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Rekstefja (‘Split-refrain’)
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HSt RstI
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 6 July 2022)
stanzas: 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
Skj: Hallar-Steinn: 1. Rekstefja (AI, 543-52, BI, 525-34); stanzas (if different): 3 |
4 |
5
SkP info: I, 910 | |
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| 12 — HSt Rst 12I
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Cite as: Rolf Stavnem (ed.) 2012, ‘Hallar-Steinn, Rekstefja 12’ 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. 910.
context: The stanza follows a passage in which the narrator
praises Óláfr’s strength, prowess and generosity.
notes: There are verbal echoes of the late C11th Steinn ÓldrII in this stanza and more widely in Rst. The phrase steinda knǫrru ‘painted merchant ships’ (l. 5) matches Óldr 13/2II, while the rhyme hilding- : mildi (l. 7) matches Steinn Óldr 16/4II and the stef line hann vas ríkstr konungmanna ‘he was the mightiest of royal men’ (l. 8) echoes Óldr 16/6II hanns fremstr konungmanna ‘he is the foremost of kings/royal men’; cf. also Note to st. 9/8 above. The use of a split refrain also recalls ÓldrII, as does the use of a rhetorical question to emphasise the hero’s unmatched generosity (Rst 32/1-4 cf. Óldr 13/6-7II). — [8]: For this line of the refrain, see Note to st. 9/8.
texts: ‹Flat 314›,
‹ÓT 140› editions: Skj Hallar-Steinn: 1. Rekstefja 12 (AI, 546; BI, 528); Skald I, 257, NN §§2095-6; ÓT 1958-2000, II, 213 (ch. 234), Flat 1860-8, I, 456; SHI 3, 252-3, CPB II, 297, Wisén 1886-9, I, 47, Finnur Jónsson 1893b, 164, Konráð Gíslason 1895-7, I, 225-30.
sources
| Holm perg 1 fol (Bb*) |
111vb, 28 - 111vb, 32 |
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| AM 61 fol (61) |
62rb, 1 - 62rb, 4 |
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| AM 53 fol (53) |
60ra, 34 - 60ra, 38 |
(ÓT) |
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| AM 54 fol (54) |
56ra, 39 - 56rb, 3 |
(ÓT) |
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| Holm perg 1 fol (Bb*) |
91vb, 22 - 91vb, 26 |
(ÓT) |
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| GKS 1005 fol (Flat) |
60vb, 19 - 60vb, 22 |
(ÓT) |
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