Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld Óttarsson (Hfr)
10th century; volume 1; ed. Diana Whaley;
1. Óláfsdrápa (Óldr) - 14
2. Erfidrápa Óláfs Tryggvasonar (ErfÓl) - 29
III. Hákonardrápa (Hákdr) - 9
V. Eiríksdrápa (Eirdr) - 1
V. Lausavísur (Lv) - 28
Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld ‘Troublesome-poet’ Óttarsson (Hfr) was brought up in Vatnsdalur, northern Iceland, probably in the 960s. He is the subject of Hallfreðar saga (Hallfr), which survives both as a continuous text (ÍF 8, 133-200) and interpolated into ÓT. The main strands of the saga are Hallfreðr’s unhappy relationship with Kolfinna Ávaldadóttir, his travels as trader, fighter and poet, his conversion to Christianity and his devotion to Óláfr Tryggvason, and all these aspects of his life occasioned poetry which partially survives.
Fragments of an early drápa for Hákon jarl Sigurðarson (r. c. 970-c. 995) are extant (Hfr HákdrIII; ÍF 8, 151), but the greater part of Hallfreðr’s court poetry, and the poetry edited in this volume, concerns King Óláfr Tryggvason (c. 995-c. 1000): Óláfsdrápa (Hfr Óldr) and Erfidrápa Óláfs Tryggvasonar (Hfr ErfÓl). Like other Icelanders, Hallfreðr accepted Christian baptism under the influence of Óláfr. The difficulty, for a poet and pagan, of this switch of religious allegiance is the theme of Hfr Lv 6-10V, and is, according to the sagas, alluded to in his nickname vandræðaskáld, lit. ‘Poet of difficulties’. The sagas agree that the name was bestowed by the king, though they differ about the precise reason (ÓTOdd 1932, 125-6; Hkr, ÍF 26, 331-2; Hallfr, ÍF 8, 155; ÓT 1958-2000, I, 387). Hallfreðr is attributed with a lost Uppreistardrápa ‘Restoration drápa’ (?), supposedly composed to atone for his journey into pagan Gautland (Västergötland, ÍF 8, 178). He is also credited in Hallfr (ÍF 8, 194-5) with an encounter with Eiríkr jarl Hákonarson (r. c. 1000-c. 1014) and in Skáldatal (SnE 1848-87, III, 257, 266, 280) with poetry for him; this is vestigially preserved in Eiríksdrápa (Hfr EirdrV). The saga also shows Hallfreðr presenting a flokkr to the Danish jarl Sigvaldi (ÍF 8, 168) and a poem to the Swedish king Óláfr Eiríksson (ÍF 8, 177-8), but no traces of these survive.
The marriage of Kolfinna, the love of Hallfreðr’s youth, to Gríss Sæmingsson provoked Hallfreðr both early and later in life to compose strikingly inventive stanzas which intertwine themes of yearning love and rivalry (Hfr Lv 1-3, 15-24V), and his níð against Gríss led to legal proceedings and indirectly to the killing of Hallfreðr’s brother Galti (Ldn, ÍF 1, 224; ÍF 8, 189-90). In the course of an adventure in Västergötland (Hfr Lv 12-14V), Hallfreðr met and married Ingibjǫrg Þórisdóttir, who died young, but not before bearing two sons, Auðgísl and Hallfreðr. According to Hallfr (ÍF 8, 196-9), Hallfreðr himself died at the age of nearly forty, from a combination of illness and injury as he sailed through the Hebrides; he was buried on Iona (cf. Hfr Lv 26-7V).
|
Erfidrápa Óláfs Tryggvasonar (‘Memorial drápa for Óláfr Tryggvason’)
—
Hfr ErfÓlI
Kate Heslop 2012, ‘ Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld Óttarsson, Erfidrápa Óláfs Tryggvasonar’ 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. 400. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1256> (accessed 30 June 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
26a
26b
27
28
Skj: Hallfrøðr Óttarsson vandræðaskáld: 3. Óláfsdrápa, erfidrápa, 1001 (AI, 159-66, BI, 150-7); stanzas (if different): 1 |
2 |
3 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
17 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
24 |
25 |
27 |
28 |
29
SkP info: I, 431 |
old edition
introduction
edition
manuscripts
transcriptions
concordance
search
files
| 21 — Hfr ErfÓl 21I
edition
interactive
full text
transcriptions
old edition
references concordance
Cite as: Kate Heslop (ed.) 2012, ‘Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld Óttarsson, Erfidrápa Óláfs Tryggvasonar 21’ 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. 431. Mundut þess, es þegnar
þróttharðan gram sóttu,
— ferk með lýða líði
landherðar — skǫp verða,
at mundjǫkuls myndi
margdýrr koma stýrir
— geta þykkjat mér gotnar
glíkligs — ór her slíkum. | Skǫp mundut verða þess, es þegnar sóttu þróttharðan gram — ferk með {líði {lýða {landherðar}}} —, at {margdýrr stýrir {mundjǫkuls}} myndi koma ór slíkum her; gotnar þykkjat mér geta glíkligs. Fate would not have come to this, when retainers attacked the mightily tough lord — I deal with {ale {of the folk {of the land-shoulder}}} [ROCK > GIANTS > POETRY] —, that {the magnificent controller {of hand-icicle}} [SILVER > MAN] would escape [lit. come out of] such a force; men do not seem to me to talk of a likely thing.
|
texts: ‹Fsk 124›,
‹ÓT 194›,
‹ÓTC 66 (I 168)›,
‹Hkr 197 (I 168)› editions: Skj Hallfrøðr Óttarsson vandræðaskáld: 3. Óláfsdrápa, erfidrápa 23 (AI, 164-5; BI, 155); Skald I, 84, NN §§1086, 2197, 2452; Fsk 1902-3, 133 (ch. 22), ÍF 29, 161-2 (ch. 24); Hkr 1893-1901, I, 456, IV, 102-3, ÍF 26, 369, Hkr 1991, I, 250-1 (ÓHkr ch. 112), F 1871, 166; SHI 3, 9, ÓT 1958-2000, II, 293 (ch. 256).
sources
AM 303 4°x (FskAx) |
145, 4 - 145, 11 |
(Fsk) |
 |
 |
| |
AM 301 4°x (301x) |
53r, 19 - 53r, 23 |
(Fsk) |
|
 |
| |
AM 52 folx (52x) |
55r, 8 - 55r, 15 |
(Fsk) |
|
 |
| |
AM 35 folx (Kx) |
216v, 23 - 217r, 3 |
(Hkr) |
|
 |
| |
OsloUB 521 folx (521x) |
166r, 17 - 166r, 24 |
(Hkr) |
|
|
| |
Holm papp 18 folx (papp18x) |
64r - 64r |
(Hkr) |
|
 |
| |
Holm papp 22 folx (22x) |
102v - 102v |
(Hkr) |
|
 |
| |
AM 45 fol (F) |
36vb, 23 - 36vb, 26 |
(Hkr) |
|
 |
| |
AM 37 folx (J1x) |
134v, 17 - 134v, 21 |
(Hkr) |
|
 |
| |
AM 38 folx (J2x) |
117r, 28 - 117v, 3 |
(Hkr) |
|
 |
| |
AM 61 fol (61) |
69va, 34 - 69va, 36 |
(ÓT) |
|
 |
| |
AM 53 fol (53) |
66ra, 28 - 66ra, 31 |
(ÓT) |
|
 |
| |
AM 54 fol (54) |
67va, 1 - 67va, 5 |
(ÓT) |
|
 |
| |
AM 325 VIII 2 g 4° (325VIII 2 g) |
1va, 1 - 1va, 5 |
(ÓT) |
|
 |
| |
Holm perg 1 fol (Bb) |
103ra, 16 - 103ra, 19 |
(ÓT) |
|
 |
| |
|
|