Note to Eskál Vell 21I
[5-6] af fjórum folklǫndum ‘from four folklǫnd’: The uncommon word folkland (see LP, Fritzner: folkland) is often thought to be synonymous with fylki (for this term see Note to st. 13/1). Indrebø (1931, 36-9), however, rejects this notion, assuming that it designated a stamme-umraade ‘tribal area’. He refers to this stanza and points out that Hákon, anticipating a major battle, would not have summoned warriors from only four of the seven fylki that he ruled according to st. 13/1. From the prose context, which tells that the south of Norway had been occupied by Ragnfrøðr, he concludes that the four folklǫnd are Trøndelag, Møre, Romsdalen and Hålogaland which he thinks to have included Namdalen. Even if Indrebø’s interpretation of folklǫnd as ‘tribal area’ is contentious, it can be assumed that the term probably designated a larger area than fylki.
References
- Bibliography
- LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
- Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
- Indrebø, Gustav. 1931. Fylke og fylkesnamn. Bergens Museums Årbok 1931, Hist.-ant. rekke nr. 1. Bergen: Grieg.