Note to Eyv Hák 6^I

[1-4]: (a) Of (l. 2), the reading of FskBˣ (and its sister transcripts 51ˣ and 302ˣ), is here taken as the expletive particle and adopted rather than the Hkr reading ok ‘and’ (so also Kock, Skald). Of bauga, the particle plus bauga (gen. pl.) ‘of rings’, occurs again in st. 8/4, written um bauga. The reading um/of also appears to be supported by ‘tysvin’ in FskAˣ (and 52ˣ and 301ˣ), which is almost certainly an error for ‘tysvm’ (= týs of, so Jón Helgason 1968); the same error, vin for um = of, occurs in the same mss in Þhorn Harkv 2/8. This solution seems preferable to the alternatives, although it entails assuming an understood conj. between tǫrgur and Norðmanna hausar, hence ‘shields and Norwegians’ skulls’, as well as the difficulty articulated by Sahlgren in (c) below. (b) It is possible to retain the Hkr reading ok, giving a cpd gen. phrase ‘under the swords of the warrior [Hákon] and of the Norwegians’ (so Skj B and, presumably, Möbius (1860) and Fsk 1902-3), or ‘under the hard feet [weapons (?)] of the god of hilts [swords] and shields [WARRIOR]’ (so Hkr 1991). However, the resulting syntax is strained. (c) Sahlgren (1927-8, I, 53-4) thinks it unlikely that Norwegians’ skulls (hausar Norðmanna, l. 4), should here be said to be trampled, and he would construe Norðmanna with harðfótum hjalta ‘hard feet of hilts [SWORDS]’ (so earlier Olsen 1916a, 3, though his overall interpretation of the helmingr is unconvincing). (d) Lie (1948), for similar reasons, would adopt the Fsk reading hausa, as opposed to hausar in the other mss, interpreting it as ‘head’ (gen. sg. of a rare hausi m.), in reference to Haraldr as ‘head’ of the Norwegians, parallel to týs of bauga (cf. also Herbert 1804, 122-3; Ulset 1975, 48; Seim 1984). (e) Lindquist (1929, 12-13) takes the meaning to be that shields made it difficult for the swords to get at the Norwegians’ heads.

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. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
5. Fsk 1902-3 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1902-3. Fagrskinna: Nóregs kononga tal. SUGNL 30. Copenhagen: Møller.
6. Ulset, Tor. 1975. Merknader til en del skaldedikt. Oslo: Novus.
7. Möbius, Theodor. 1860. Edda Sæmundar hins fróða. Mit einem Anhang bisher ungedruckter Gedichte. Leipzig: Hinrichs.
8. Lindquist, Ivar. 1929. Norröna lovkväden från 800 och 900 talen. I: Förslag till restituerad täxt jämte översättning. Lund: Gleerup.
9. Herbert, William. 1804. Miscellaneous Poetry. 2 vols. I: Select Icelandic Poetry. London: T. Reynolds.
10. Jón Helgason, ed. 1968. Skjaldevers. 3rd edn. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
11. Lie, Hallvard. 1948. ‘Et upåaktet gammelnorsk ord: hausi og Hákonarmál 6’. ANF 63, 200-3. Rpt. in Lie 1982, 325-8.
12. Olsen, Magnus. 1916a. ‘Fortjener Hákonarmáls digter tilnavnet “skáldaspillir”?’. In Til Gerhard Gran, 9. December 1916, fra venner og elever. Kristiania (Oslo): Aschehoug (Nygaard), 1-9. Rpt. in Olsen 1938a, 204-12.
13. Sahlgren, Jöran. 1927-8. Eddica et Scaldica. Fornvästnordiska studier I-II. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
14. Seim, Karin Fjellhammer. 1984. ‘Er “et upåaktet gammelnorsk ord: hausi” belagt på bryggen i Bergen?’. MM, 85-9.
15. Internal references
16. (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 19 April 2024)
17. (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 19 April 2024)
18. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Þorbjǫrn hornklofi, Haraldskvæði (Hrafnsmál) 2’ 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. 95.