Anon (Styrb) 3^I

Lætr eigi mik lýtir
liðbands, sás frið grandar,
— reiðr emk stála stýri —
Styrbjǫrn vesa kyrran.
Þat mun sáð of síðir
sigrnennum her kenna
— roðin eru leyfðra lofða
lindi* — sôr at binda.

Styrbjǫrn, {lýtir {liðbands}}, sás grandar frið, lætr mik eigi vesa kyrran; emk reiðr {stýri stála}. Þat sáð mun of síðir kenna sigrnennum her at binda sôr; lindi* leyfðra lofða eru roðin.

Styrbjǫrn, {the harmer {of the limb-band}} [RING > GENEROUS MAN], who damages peace, will not let me remain quiet; I am angry with {the wielder of steel weapons} [WARRIOR]. That seed will after a time teach the victory-minded army to bind [their] wounds; the spears of the praised men are reddened.

Mss: Flat(87rb) (Flat)

Readings: [2] frið: frið or ferð Flat    [8] lindi*: lindis Flat

Editions: Skj AI, 187, Skj BI, 176, Skald I, 94, NN §§1853A, 2459; Fms 5, 249-50, Fms 12, 115, Flat 1860-8, II, 72 (Styrb).

Context: Styrbjǫrn returns to Sweden, and the night before the battle with his uncle Eiríkr he sacrifices to Þórr (and Eiríkr to Óðinn). The þáttr then records that a red-bearded man was seen that night in Styrbjǫrn’s camp and spoke the stanza.

Notes: [All]: ̇From the Context (above) we are clearly to understand that the red-bearded man who speaks the stanza is Þórr himself (though in Fms 12 Óðinn is assumed). — [3] reiðr ‘angry’: In Styrb, Þórr does not intervene in favour of Styrbjǫrn in the ensuing battle, and Eiríkr, empowered by Óðinn, is victorious. Kock (NN §2459; Skald) emends to rýrr ‘short, inferior’ to supply hending for the line, and argues that such a sense fits the manner in which Styrbjǫrn treats Þórr as his subordinate. — [5] sáð ‘seed’: The context would suggest that Styrbjǫrn is meant, perhaps with a denigratory sense of ‘stripling, upstart’. Although sáð ‘seed, grain, corn’ is not recorded figuratively, the related sæði n. can refer to human offspring, at least in biblical contexts; see CVC: sæði 2, and cf. words such as afspringr ‘offspring’ and kvísl ‘branch’ which can refer both to plants and to human families.  — [6] sigrnennum ‘victory-minded’: Skj B and Skald both print sig- ‘battle’, but the ms. reads sigr-, and sigrnenninn is the (nom. sg.) form given in LP (cf. Note to st. 1/3).  — [8] lindi* ‘the spears’: The clause is impossible to construe with the gen. sg. reading lindis in the ms. Emendation seems necessary, and lindi (n. nom. pl.) is adopted here, as in Fms, Skj B and Skald. Linden-wood can indicate either shields or spears (see LP: lind 2, 3); spears are preferred here (as also in Skj B and LP: 2. lindi) on account of the emphasis on Styrbjǫrn’s aggression. — [8] at binda sôr ‘to bind [their] wounds’: The import of the second helmingr seems to be that Styrbjǫrn’s war-mongering will in the end lead to destruction for his followers.

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. Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
6. LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
7. CVC = Cleasby, Richard, Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and W. A. Craigie. 1957. An Icelandic-English Dictionary. 2nd edn. Oxford: Clarendon.
8. Flat 1860-8 = Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and C. R. Unger, eds. 1860-8. Flateyjarbók. En samling af norske konge-sagaer med indskudte mindre fortællinger om begivenheder i og udenfor Norge samt annaler. 3 vols. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
9. Internal references
10. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Styrbjarnar þáttr Svíakappa’ 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=5> (accessed 23 April 2024)