Note to Skúli Svǫlðr 2^III

[1] dolgi Frísa ‘the Frisians’ enemy [= Eiríkr]’: No other ruler in the surviving skaldic corpus is described as an enemy of the Frisians. This kenning is usually presumed to refer to Eiríkr jarl (see his Biography in Introduction to SkP I), son of Hákon jarl inn ríki ‘the Mighty’ and, after his victory at the battle of Svolder, ruler of Norway (as a vassal of the Danish king Knútr inn ríki, son of another of Svolder’s victors, Sveinn tjúguskegg ‘Forkbeard’), although no source associates Eiríkr with campaigns in Frisia (ÓT ch. 90, cited by Finnur Jónsson in Hkr 1893-1901, IV, 97, does not in fact mention Frisia), and some have doubted the association with him (cf. the references in Baetke 1951, 93; Wood 1964, 180).  Baetke (1951, 93-4) argues that the kenning could refer to Eiríkr’s later campaigns in England. According to Hkr (ÓTHkr ch. 105, ÍF 26, 358), Skúli was Eiríkr’s forecastle man during the battle of Svolder; cf. also Egils saga (Eg ch. 87, ÍF 2, 300): Skúli var lengi í víking; hann var stafnbúi Eiríks jarls á Járnbarðanum, þá er Óláfr konungr Tryggvason fell ‘Skúli was for a long time on viking expeditions; he was Eiríkr jarl’s forecastle man on Járnbarðinn ‘Iron-prow’ when King Óláfr Tryggvason fell’.

References

1. Bibliography
2. ÍF 2 = Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar. Ed. Sigurður Nordal. 1933.
3. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
4. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
5. SkP I = Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Ed. Diana Whaley. 2012.
6. Baetke, Walter. 1951. Christliches Lehngut in der Sagareligion: Das Svoldr-Problem. Berichte über die Verhandlungen der Sächsischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, Phil.-Hist. Kl. 98 (6). Berlin: Akademie-Verlag.
7. Wood, Cecil. 1964. ‘Skúli Þorsteinsson’. SS 36, 175-88.
8. Internal references
9. (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 23 April 2024)
10. 2022, ‘ Anonymous, Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 162-389. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=14> (accessed 23 April 2024)
11. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta’ 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. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=60> (accessed 23 April 2024)
12. Diana Whaley 2012, ‘(Biography of) Óláfr Tryggvason’ 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. 383.