Óláfsdrápa — Steinn Óldr^II

Sixteen sts survive of Steinn Herdísarson’s encomium to Óláfr kyrri Haraldsson, Óláfsdrápa ‘Drápa about Óláfr’ (Steinn Óldr). All sts are transmitted in Mork (Mork). H-Hr (H, Hr) contains fifteen sts (sts 1-8, 10-16), Flat (Flat) five (sts 1-5), FskAˣ has five (sts 1, 6/5-8, 7-8, 12), and FskBˣ has four (sts 6/5-8, 7-8, 12) (Fsk). Of the Hkr mss, F has six sts (sts 1, 7, 12-15), E four (sts 1, 7, 12-13), J2ˣ three (sts 7, 12-13), and Kˣ and 39 have three sts (sts 1, 7, 12). The poem is said to be a drápa about Óláfr (in all versions directly after st. 1), and all sts are attributed to Steinn. The order of the sts varies in the different redactions. Fsk, Flat and the Hkr mss follow the sequence in Mork, but the redactor of H-Hr tried to reconcile the prose of Mork with that of Hkr. Hence the order of sts is changed in H-Hr, and new prose environments are often created from the content of the poetry. Skj and Skald reproduce the order of sts from H-Hr. The present edn gives the sequence presented in the earliest mss (i.e. Mork, FskBˣ, FskAˣ and the Hkr mss), which also restores the order of ll. of the klofastef ‘split refrain’ (see Note to st. 1/8 below). For a discussion of the sequence of sts, see Fidjestøl 1982, 147-9, 173. In the present version (in keeping with the prose witnesses), sts 1-3 commemorate the battle of Fulford in 1066, sts 4-5 document Óláfr’s and the Norw. army’s return to Norway via Orkney in 1067 and sts 7-12 illustrate Óláfr defending Norway against incursions from Sveinn Úlfsson of Denmark, including a battle that took place off the coast of Halland. Stanzas 13-16 bear witness to Óláfr’s munificence. It is possible, however, that some of the sts (notably sts 9-11) have been misplaced in their current prose environments, and that the original sequence of sts in Óldr was sts 9-11, 1-8, 12, 13-16 (see Notes to sts 9 and 11 below). Stanza 1 of Óldr in Skj, which is recorded only in SnE, cannot be attributed to that poem with any certainty, and it has been edited in SkP III as Steinn Frag^III. Because all sts are recorded in Mork, it has been chosen as the main ms. Like Stúfr Stúfdr, Óldr is characterised by a split refrain (klofastef), in which l. 8 in sts 1, 4-6, 8, 12-14 forms an independent cl. that does not belong syntactically to the preceding seven ll. (see Note to st. 1/8 below).

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. Fidjestøl, Bjarne. 1982. Det norrøne fyrstediktet. Universitet i Bergen Nordisk institutts skriftserie 11. Øvre Ervik: Alvheim & Eide.
4. SkP III = Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Ed. Kari Ellen Gade in collaboration with Edith Marold. 2017.
5. Internal references
6. Edith Marold 2017, ‘Snorra Edda (Prologue, Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál)’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols [check printed volume for citation].
7. (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)
8. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Flateyjarbók’ 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=44> (accessed 25 April 2024)
9. (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)
10. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Hulda-Hrokkinskinna’ 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=84> (accessed 25 April 2024)
11. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Morkinskinna’ 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=87> (accessed 25 April 2024)
12. Kari Ellen Gade 2017, ‘(Biography of) Steinn Herdísarson’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 388.
13. Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘ Stúfr inn blindi Þórðarson kattar, Stúfsdrápa’ 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. 350-8. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1394> (accessed 25 April 2024)
14. Kari Ellen Gade 2017, ‘ Steinn Herdísarson, Fragment’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 388. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=3263> (accessed 25 April 2024)