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Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Anon (HSig) 3II

Kari Ellen Gade and Diana Whaley (eds) 2009, ‘Anonymous Lausavísur, Lausavísur from Haralds saga Sigurðarsonar 3’ 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. 817.

Anonymous LausavísurLausavísur from Haralds saga Sigurðarsonar
234

Anon (HSig) 3-4 are part of a poetic exchange between King Haraldr harðráði Sigurðarson (Hharð), his court poet, Þjóðólfr Arnórson (ÞjóðA), and Þorgils (Þfisk), a Norw. fisherman (see Hharð Lv 10-11, ÞjóðA Lv 4 and Þfisk Lv 1-3). Lv 3 and 4/1-4 are recorded in F only, while Lv 4/5-8 also occur as Hharð Lv 11/5-8 in Mork, H, Hr and Flat in a slightly different version. In F, the two sts are attributed to Þorgils’s two sons, a young man (Lv 3) and a saltburner (Lv 4). For a discussion of the episode and the ms. transmission, see Hharð Lv 10-11 and Þfisk, Biography. See also Fidjestøl 1971.

Ferk í vánda verju;
verr nauð of mér snauðum;
kǫsungr fær víst í vási
vǫmm; en þat vas skǫmmu.
Endr vas hitt, at hrunði
hringkofl of mik inga;
gǫgl bôru sik sára
svǫng; en þat vas lǫngu.

Ferk í vánda verju; verr nauð of snauðum mér; kǫsungr fær víst vǫmm í vási; en þat vas skǫmmu. Hitt vas endr, at hringkofl inga hrunði of mik; {gǫgl sára} bôru sik svǫng; en þat vas lǫngu.

I dress in a coarse cloak; it defends miserable me against distress; the shirt certainly suffers damage in the toil; and that was recently. It was earlier, that the ring-cowl of the king fell around me; {goslings of wounds} [RAVENS/EAGLES] moved hungrily; but that was long ago.

Mss: F(54vb)

Editions: Skj AI, 426, Skj BI, 396, Skald I, 196, NN §2568; F 1871, 255 (HSig).

Context: See Introduction to Lv 3-4 above.

Notes: [6] hringkofl inga ‘the ring-cowl of the king’: Inga is taken here as a noun meaning ‘king’ (see LP: ingi and Sturl Hrafn 15/4); it could also be a variant of the name Yngvi, which is used in poetry for various legendary kings and heroes (see LP: ingi, Yngvi). Skj B treats it as a pers. n. (of a sea-king) and translates hringkofl Inga ‘the ring-cowl of Ingi’ as ‘ring byrnie’ (ringbrynjen). However, hringkofl ‘ring-cowl’ does not appear to be part of a kenning; rather, it most likely denotes a specific type of protective armour. Kufl ‘cowl’ was a combination of a cloak and a hood worn by monks, and protective armour made from iron rings covering the head and shoulders and worn beneath helmets is known from ON and continental sources (see Falk 1914, 169-70). See also ‘Rüstung’ in RGA 25, 446. — [7] bôru sik ‘moved’: Earlier eds emend to the negated brut (bru-at) and read ‘goslings of wounds did not move hungrily’.

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. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
  5. 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.
  6. RGA = Beck, Heinrich and Holger Arbmann, eds. 1973-2008. Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde. 37 vols. Berlin: de Gruyter. 2nd rev. edn of Hoops 1911-19.
  7. Falk, Hjalmar, ed. 1914a. Sólarljóð. Videnskapsselskapets skrifter II. Hist.-filos. kl. 7. 2 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad.
  8. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
  9. Fidjestøl, Bjarne. 1971. ‘Tåtten om Harald Hardråde og fiskaren Þorgils’. MM, 34-49. Rpt. as ‘The Tale of Haraldr harðráði and Þorgils the Fisherman’ in Fidjestøl 1997a, 277-93.
  10. Internal references
  11. Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘(Biography of) Haraldr harðráði Sigurðarson’ 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. 35-56.
  12. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Haralds saga Sigurðssonar’ 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=142> (accessed 29 March 2024)
  13. Kari Ellen Gade and Diana Whaley (eds) 2009, ‘Anonymous Lausavísur, Lausavísur from Haralds saga Sigurðarsonar 3’ 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. 817.
  14. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Haraldr harðráði Sigurðarson, Lausavísur 10’ 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. 51-2.
  15. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Haraldr harðráði Sigurðarson, Lausavísur 11’ 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. 52-3.
  16. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Sturla Þórðarson, Hrafnsmál 15’ 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. 740.
  17. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Þorgils fiskimaðr, Lausavísur 1’ 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. 333-4.
  18. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Þjóðólfr Arnórsson, Lausavísur 4’ 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. 168-9.
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