Note to Eskál Vell 23^I

[1-4]: Many suggestions have been made for the interpretation of this helmingr, which consists of two main clauses. (a) The construal above is the most straightforward, and is adopted in ÍF 26 and Hkr 1991. A difficulty here is that síðan ‘then’ (l. 2) would seem to imply that having created mannfall ‘slaughter’, Hákon readied himself for a further battle, although only two (in the north of Sunnmøre and in Sogneforden) are recounted in the prose sources and Ragnfrøðr is said to have fled from Norway after the battle in Sogn (Hkr, ÍF 26, 247; Fsk, ÍF 29, 115), leaving Hákon in control. Possibly the meaning is that Hákon was always ready for battle, or conceivably that the gramr ‘ruler’ is Ragnfrøðr, who was preparing for more strife (cf. Note to ll. 5-8). (b) It is perhaps in order to obviate this difficulty that most interpreters construe the first clause as Gramr varð fyr Vinða myrði við annan styr ‘The ruler encountered the killer of the Wends in a second battle’. En and síðan (l. 2) are then construed with the second clause: en síðan gerðisk mest víðfrægt mannfall at morði ‘and then an immense, widely renowned slaughter arose in battle’ (Fms 12; Vell 1865, 60; Hkr 1893-1901, IV; Konráð Gíslason 1895-7, I, 149-50; Skj B). This produces a better narrative sequence but assumes extreme fragmentation in l. 2: víðfrægt, en, gramr, síðan.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
4. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
5. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
6. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
7. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
8. Konráð Gíslason. 1895-7. Efterladte skrifter. 2 vols. I: Forelæsninger over oldnordiske skjaldekvad. II: Forelæsninger og videnskablige afhandlinger. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
9. Vell 1865 = Freudenthal, Axel Olof. 1865. Einar Skålaglams Vellekla / öfversatt och förklarad af Axel Olof Freudenthal. Helsingfors: Frenckell.
10. Internal references
11. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Heimskringla’ 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, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=4> (accessed 25 April 2024)
12. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Fagrskinna’ 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, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=56> (accessed 25 April 2024)