Cite as: Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 38’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1147.
Farar snarar fylkir byrjar;
freka breka lemr á snekkjum;
vaka taka vísa rekkar;
viðar skriðar at þat biðja. |
Svipa skipa sýjur hepnar
sǫmum þrǫmum í byr rǫmmum;
Haka skaka hrannir blǫkkum
hliðar; miðar und kjǫl niðri. |
Fylkir byrjar snarar farar; lemr freka breka á snekkjum; rekkar vísa taka vaka; biðja skriðar viðar at þat. Hepnar sýjur skipa, sǫmum þrǫmum, svipa í rǫmmum byr; hrannir skaka hliðar {blǫkkum Haka}; miðar niðri und kjǫl.
The leader embarks on swift journeys; greedy breakers are knocked against the warships; the ruler’s warriors begin to keep watch; they ask for speed for the ship after that. The lucky rivetings of the ships, with suitable edges, speed on in the strong wind; waves shake the sides {of Haki’s <sea-king’s> horses} [SHIPS]; there is motion down below the keel.
Mss: R(53r), W(146-147), U(53r) (SnE)
Readings: [1] Farar snarar: so W, U, snarar farar arar snarar R [3] rekkar: so W, U, added at the end of the stanza R [4] viðar: so W, U, added at the end of the stanza R [5] sýjur: so W, U, ‘sygior’ R [6] þrǫmum: frǫmum U [7] Haka: so W, U, ‘hvaka’ R
Editions: Skj: Snorri Sturluson, 2. Háttatal 38: AII, 62-3, BII, 71, Skald II, 40, NN §§1312, 1313, 2992B; SnE 1848-87, I, 650-1, II, 389, III, 120, SnE 1879-81, I, 6, 78, II, 17, SnE 1931, 232, SnE 2007, 19; Konráð Gíslason 1895-7, I, 24.
Context: The dróttkvætt variant is characterised by the same features as st. 37 above, except that
the first two hendingar in each line
fall on two short resolved syllables (metrical positions 1 and 2). The
resolution on the second of these syllables is illicit in regular dróttkvætt metre.
Notes: [All]: This variant is attested only here. — [All]: In R, the stanza is recorded at the end of Ht, before Jómsvíkingadrápa (Bjbp JómsI), and it is written in the same hand as Ht. In W it is given after st. 54 below, and it is said to be in a metre invented by Veili (for Veili, see Note to st. 35 [All]). In U it is recorded after st. 37 as here (it is omitted in Tˣ). — [1] farar snarar ‘swift journeys’: So W, U. Ms. R reads snarar
farar arar snarar ‘swift journeys swift eagles’ and arar snarar has been crossed through (R*). An inversion sign has been added by R* to indicate that the order of the
first two words should be reversed. — [2] lemr ‘are knocked’: Lit. ‘knocks’. The verb is used impersonally with freka breka ‘greedy breakers’ as the
object (acc.). — [3, 4] rekkar; viðar ‘warriors; for the ship’: The
words were originally omitted in R, but a cross has been added after vísa ‘the ruler’s’ (l. 3). At the end of
the stanza ‘reckar’ and ‘viþar’ was added following a similar cross (in the
same hand as R?). — [4] viðar (m. gen. sg.) ‘for the ship’: Lit. ‘for
the timber’. Taken here as pars pro toto for ‘ship’. — [5] svipa ‘speed on’: For this verb, see Anon (Hsona) 2/3II. — [5] sýjur ‘rivetings’: So W, U. Written as ‘sygior’ in R, but <g> has been erased
(R*); however, part of the letter form is still visible. — [6] sǫmum þrǫmum (m. dat. pl.) ‘with suitable edges’: The noun phrase can either be instr. (so NN §1312 and the present edn), in which case svipar ‘speeds on’ is intransitive (as in Anon (Hsona) 2/3II), or it could be construed as the object (dat.) of svipar ‘speeds, swings, flexes’ (so Konráð Gíslason 1895-7 and Skj B; SnE 2007, 154: svipa gives both options). — [6] rǫmmum ‘the strong’: This adj. has two variant forms, with or without a geminate (ramr and rammr, see ANG §318.10 and Note to Ív Sig 17/4II), and the long form of the word is required by the metre. — [7] Haka ‘of Haki’s <sea-king’s>’: So W, U. In R ‘hvaka’ has been altered to ‘haka’ (R*).
