[1] myrði Vinða ‘the murderer of Wends [?= Óláfr]’: This kenning is ambiguous in its reference (compare Ohlmarks 1958, 446 with von See 1977a, 116). (a) ÓT’s prose suggests the referent here is Óláfr, and we do see him harrying the Wends in Hfr Óldr 1/5-8. According to ÓTOdd (ÍF 25, 312, 367) and, to a lesser degree, Fsk (ÍF 29, 147), the Wends supported Óláfr at Svǫlðr, which does not confirm a view of Óláfr as ‘the murderer of the Wends’, but the other early prose sources, Ágr and HN, speak only of Óláfr making unsuccessful attempts to raise Wendish or Slavic troops. Possibly this and similar skaldic allusions to hostility to the Wends are rather generic, referring to raiding of Slav territories on the Baltic, perhaps around the mouth of the Oder (see Morawiec 2006). (b) The kenning may denote Eiríkr jarl, since the same kenning is used of his father Hákon jarl in Eskál Vell 23/1. It also occurs in relation to Svǫlðr in Hókr Eirfl 6/7, where the referent is probably Óláfr but could be Eiríkr, and it is applied to the Danish king Haraldr blátǫnn ‘Blue-tooth’ in Anon (ÓTHkr) 1/3. However, it is unusual for Óláfr’s enemies to be the focus of the stanza; e.g. in st. 17 Eiríkr is referred to, but only in tandem with Óláfr.
References
- Bibliography
- Ágr = [Anonymous] Ágrip af Nóregs konunga sögum.
- HN = Historia Norwegiæ. In MHN 69-124.
- ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
- Morawiec, Jakub. 2006. ‘Vinða myrðir, Vinðum háttr: Viking Raids on the Territory of the Slavs in the Light of Skaldic Poetry’. In McKinnell et al. 2006, II, 707-17.
- See, Klaus von. 1977a. ‘Polemische Zitate in der Skaldendichtung. Hallfrøðr vandræðaskáld und Haldórr ókristni’. skandinavistik 7, 115-19. Rpt. in von See 1981a, 384-8.
- Ohlmarks, Åke. 1958. Tors skalder och Vite-Krists. Trosskiftestidens isländska furstelovskalder, 980-1013. Stockholm: Geber.
- ÍF 25 = Færeyinga saga; Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar eptir Odd munk Snorrason. Ed. Ólafur Halldórsson. 2006.
- Internal references
- (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 29 March 2024)
- (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 29 March 2024)
- (forthcoming), ‘ Oddr Snorrason, Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar by Oddr Snorrason’ 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=66> (accessed 29 March 2024)
- Diana Whaley (ed.) 2012, ‘Anonymous Lausavísur, Lausavísa from Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar in Heimskringla 1’ 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. 1073.
- Edith Marold (ed.) 2012, ‘Einarr skálaglamm Helgason, Vellekla 23’ 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. 311.
- Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2012, ‘Halldórr ókristni, Eiríksflokkr 6’ 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. 481.
- Diana Whaley (ed.) 2012, ‘Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld Óttarsson, Óláfsdrápa 1’ 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. 392.