Cite as: Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Anonymous Poems, Nóregs konungatal 39’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 786-7.

Þá gat son Sigurðr ok Ásta, þanns Haralds heiti átti. Sá réð einn allvitr konungr víðri fold* vetr tuttugu,

áðr herfǫr hilmir gerði til Englands með ofstopa. Felldu vestr í vápnþrumu enskir menn Óláfs bróður.

Þá gat Sigurðr ok Ásta son, þanns átti heiti Haralds. Sá allvitr konungr réð einn víðri fold* tuttugu vetr, áðr hilmir gerði herfǫr til Englands með ofstopa. Enskir menn felldu {bróður Óláfs} vestr í {vápnþrumu}.

Then Sigurðr and Ásta begot a son who bore Haraldr’s name. That very wise king ruled the wide land alone for twenty years, before the lord made a war-expedition to England with insolence. English men killed {Óláfr’s brother} [= Haraldr] in the west in {weapon-thunder} [BATTLE].

Mss: Flat(144vb)

Readings: [5] réð: reið Flat    [7] fold*: foldu Flat

Editions: Skj: [Anonyme digte og vers XII], [2]. Nóregs konunga-tal 43-44: AI, 584-5, BI, 582-3, Skald I, 283; Flat 1860-8, II, 524.

Notes: [All]: Sigurðr sýrr married Ásta Guðbrandsdóttir, the widow of Haraldr grenski and the mother of Óláfr inn helgi Haraldsson (S. Óláfr). Haraldr Sigurðarson ruled jointly with his nephew Magnús Óláfsson (d. 1047) for one year, and thereafter he was sole ruler of Norway for nineteen years. He fell at the battle of Stamford Bridge against Harold Godwineson of England on 25 September 1066. His body was brought back to Norway and was buried in Mariekirken (Máríukirkja, the Church of S. Mary) in Trondheim, which Haraldr himself had built (see Theodoricus, MHN 58). When that church was demolished by Archbishop Eysteinn c. 1170, Haraldr’s body was relocated to the Augustinian foundation of Elgeseter (see McDougall and MacDougall 1998, 105 n. 281). See Ágr (ÍF 29, 39-40), Mork 1928-32, 270-8, 284, Fsk (ÍF 29, 280-9), HSigHkr (ÍF 28, 183-91, 198). See also Hharð Lv 13-14, ÞjóðA Lv 10-11, Arn Hardr 7-16, Stúfr Stúfdr 8, Steinn Óldr 1-3, Anon Harst. — [1] gat (3rd pers. sg. pret. indic.) ‘begot’: The verb is sg., but the subject is pl. (see Note to st. 25/1). Here the sg. form is necessary because the pl. (gtu) would produce an unmetrical l. — [7] fold* (f. dat. sg.) ‘land’: Foldu (f. dat. sg.) ‘land’ (so Flat) makes the l. one syllable too long. Fold is a f. i-stem (dat. sg. foldu) that could be inflected as an ō-stem in the sg. (fold). For an identical dat. form, see st. 58/5. — [12] með ofstopa ‘with insolence’: The view emerging from the praise poetry about Haraldr is that some of his campaigns, in particular his final expedition to England, were prompted by ‘an excess of heroism’. See Note to Arn Hardr 12/1, as well as ÞjóðA Lv 11 and Þfagr Sveinn 6/6. — [14] vápnþrumu ‘weapon-thunder’: Skj B and Skald emend to vápnþrimu ‘weapon-crash’, which is unnecessary since vápnþruma is a regular kenning for ‘battle’.