Note to Eyv Hál 3I
[2-3]: As noted above, it is unknown who the bági ‘adversary’ is, and two possible syntactic construals are possible. (a) The interpretation adopted in this edn is that útrǫst Belja dolgs ‘the outlying tract of the enemy of Beli [= Freyr]’ belongs together, as the object of the sentence, leaving bági jarla ‘adversary of earls’ as the subject (cf. SnE 1998, I, 167). (b) Finnur Jónsson (Hkr 1893-1901, IV; Skj B) points out the possibility of an alternative division into bági dolgs Belja ‘adversary of the enemy of Beli [= Freyr > = Surtr]’ (subject) and útrǫst jarla ‘outlying tract of the jarls’ (object), without reaching a definite decision, but this assumes a somewhat strained word order, and Surtr seems an altogether unlikely adversary for the jarls, given the focus in the rest of Hál on their enemies amongst human beings (mennskir menn).
References
- Bibliography
- Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
- Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
- SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
- Internal references
- Russell Poole 2012, ‘ Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson, Háleygjatal’ 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. 195. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1186> (accessed 24 April 2024)