Cite as: Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 86’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1196.

Veitk hrings hraða í hǫll laða — gótts hús Hlaða — hirð ǫlsaða.

Drekkr gramr glaða, en at gjǫf vaða vitar valstaða, vandbaugskaða.

Veitk {hraða hrings} laða ǫlsaða hirð í hǫll; hús Hlaða [e]s gótt. Gramr drekkr {{vandbaug}skaða} glaða, en {vitar {valstaða}} vaða at gjǫf.

I know that {the hastener of the ring} [GENEROUS MAN] invites the ale-sated retinue into the hall; the house of Lade is good. The ruler makes {damagers {of the wand of the shield-boss}} [(lit. ‘wand-shield-boss-damagers’) SWORD > WARRIORS] merry with drink, and {beacons {of falcon-perches}} [ARMS > GOLD] advance as a gift.

Mss: R(52v), W(150) (ll. 1-5) (SnE)

Readings: [2] laða: hlaða W    [3] gótts (‘gott er’): so W, gótt R    [5] Drekkr: so W, dregr R    [8] vandbaug‑: vannbaug‑ R

Editions: Skj: Snorri Sturluson, 2. Háttatal 86: AII, 74, BII, 84, Skald II, 46; SnE 1848-87, I, 702-5, III, 132, SnE 1879-81, I, 14, 84, II, 31, SnE 1931, 249, SnE 2007, 35; Konráð Gíslason 1895-7, I, 56-7.

Context: According to the commentary, this variant is based on tøglag ‘journey-metre’ (see st. 68); here in reality regular fornyrðislag with end-rhyme. The lines are Types C3 (ll. 1-3, 5, 6) and D2 (ll. 4, 7, 8), and the identical end-rhymes extend throughout the stanza (in mesta runhenda ‘the greatest end-rhyme’).

Notes: [3] [e]s gótt ‘is good’: So W (‘gott er’). Originally omitted in R, the verb er ‘is’ was added later (R*). — [3] Hlaða ‘of Lade’: Lade is located in the city of Trondheim and was the ancient seat of the jarls of Lade. Trondheim was Skúli’s mainstay in Norway, and he would certainly have found it flattering to be connected with the dynasty of these famous jarls. — [4] ǫlsaða ‘ale-sated’: In R ‘avl saþa’ has been altered to ‘avls saþa’ (R*). — [5]: Ms. W ends with glaða ‘merry’, but enn at ‘and toward’, the first two words of l. 6, are written at the right-hand bottom of the fol. in a much later hand. — [5] drekkr ‘makes ... with drink’: Lit. ‘drinks’. So W. Dregr ‘drags’ in R has been altered to drekkr (R*). When used transitively, the object of this strong verb is normally a beverage that one drinks or, occasionally, a festival that the subject participates in (e.g. drekka jól ‘drink at a yule banquet’). — [6] at gjǫf ‘as a gift’: For this meaning of the prepositional phrase, see Note to st. 28/6. — [7] valstaða ‘of falcon-perches [ARMS]’: Altered in R to valskaða ‘of falcon-damagers’ or ‘of corpse-damagers’ (R*).