Halli stirði — Halli XIII
skaldsVol. 2, 337-43 — — ed. Russell Poole
Poetry
Biography
Russell Poole 2009, ‘(Biography of) Halli stirði’ 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, pp. 337-43.
The poet who composed these sts is unidentified in the extant medieval sources. However, Johan Peringskiöld’s edn of
Hkr (
Hkr 1697, II, 143) contains an ascription to one ‘Halli stríði’ ‘the Stern’. This might have originated in a lost source (cf.
Fidjestøl 1982, 145-6) but is more plausibly explained as a result of a misinterpretation of contracted
svá sem hér segir ‘as is told here’ in
Hkr as
svá segir Halli stríði ‘as Halli stríði says’ or similar (
ÍF 28, 160). This attribution might have been prompted by mention of an otherwise unknown
Halli stirði ‘the Stubborn’, with nearly identical nickname, in
Skáldatal (
SnE 1848-87,
III, 254, 262, 275) as one of the skalds of Haraldr harðráði. Possibly Peringskiöld was aware of this attestation.
Halli stirði must be a separate identity from Haraldr’s well-known skald, Sneglu-Halli (SnH), since
Skáldatal lists both Sneglu-Halli and
Halli stirði among the poets who eulogised Haraldr. Also, the present sts indicate that their speaker was with Haraldr in 1064 when the events narrated took place, whereas, according to
Sneglu-Halla þáttr (
Snegl), Sneglu-Halli returned permanently to Iceland at an earlier date. Sneglu-Halli also composed encomiastic poetry, as indicated in
Snegl (see
Mork 1928-32,
234-47;
ÍF 9, 261-95;
Andersson and Gade 2000, 243-52).
References
- Bibliography
- SnE 1848-87 = Snorri Sturluson. 1848-87. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar: Edda Snorronis Sturlaei. Ed. Jón Sigurðsson et al. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Legatum Arnamagnaeanum. Rpt. Osnabrück: Zeller, 1966.
- Andersson, Theodore M. and Kari Ellen Gade, trans. 2000. Morkinskinna: The Earliest Icelandic Chronicle of the Norwegian Kings (1030-1157). Islandica 51. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.
- Fidjestøl, Bjarne. 1982. Det norrøne fyrstediktet. Universitet i Bergen Nordisk institutts skriftserie 11. Øvre Ervik: Alvheim & Eide.
- Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
- ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
- Hkr 1697 = Peringskiöld, Johann, ed. 1697. Heims Kringla, eller Snorre Sturlusons Nordländske konunga sagor, sive Historiae regum septentrionalium a Snorrone Sturlonide, ante secula quinque patrio sermone antiquo conscriptae: quas ex manuscriptis codicibus edidit, versione gemina notisque brevioribus, indici poëtico vel rerum sparsim insertis, illustravit Johann Peringskiöld. 2 vols. Stockholm: Literis Wankiwianis.
- ÍF 9 = Eyfirðinga sǫgur. Ed. Jónas Kristjánsson. 1956.
- Internal references
- (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 March 2024)
- (forthcoming), ‘ Anonymous, Sneglu-Halla þáttr’ 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=57> (accessed 19 March 2024)
- Not published: do not cite ()
other information
Halli stirði (Halli XI)
11th century
Skj AI, 401-2; BI, 370-1
volume 2
main editor: Russell Poole