Þorm Lv 22^I

Haraldr vas bitr at berjask
bǫðreifr með Ôleifi;
þar gekk harðra hjǫrva
Hringr ok Dagr at þingi.
Réðu þeir und rauðar
randir prútt at standa
— fekk benþiðurr blakkan
bjór — dǫglingar fjórir.

Bǫðreifr Haraldr vas bitr at berjask með Ôleifi; þar gekk Hringr ok Dagr at {þingi harðra hjǫrva}. Þeir fjórir dǫglingar réðu at standa prútt und rauðar randir; {benþiðurr} fekk blakkan bjór.

Battle-happy Haraldr was sharp at fighting beside Óláfr; there Hringr and Dagr went to {the assembly of hard swords} [BATTLE]. Those four princes stood magnificently under red shields; {the wound-grouse} [RAVEN/EAGLE] got dark beer [blood].

Mss: Hb(89v), 142ˣ(105), 566aˣ(29v), Flat(125vb-126ra) (Fbr); DG8(101v) (ÓHLeg); A(3r), W(99), B(2r) (TGT, l. 4); 761bˣ(489v)

Readings: [1] vas bitr at berjask: sá ek at vel varðisk DG8;    bitr: ‘bifr’ with bitr in margin 761bˣ    [2] bǫð‑: víg‑ DG8    [3] harðra: harðr á 142ˣ, hára DG8;    hjǫrva: so all others, om. Hb    [4] at: á Flat, DG8    [5] Réðu: so all others, réðusk Hb;    und: um 142ˣ, 566aˣ, 761bˣ    [7] ‑þiðurr blakkan: ‑þiðurs blakki all others    [8] bjór: bjórr DG8

Editions: Skj AI, 287, Skj BI, 265, Skald I, 136, NN §1853C; Hb 1892-6, 414-15, Fbr 1852, 110, Flat 1860-8, II, 365, Fbr 1925-7, 212, ÍF 6, 271 (ch. 24), Loth 1960a, 156 (ch. 17), ÍS II, 842, 849 (ch. 24); ÓHLeg 1849, 72, 120, ÓHLeg 1922, 87, ÓHLeg 1982, 200-1; SnE 1848-87, II, 92-3, TGT 1884, 58, TGT 1927, 38, TGT 1998, 92-3; Gaertner 1907, 312, 346, Finnur Jónsson 1932-3, 75-6.

Context: Cf. Lv 21. In Fbr and ÓHLeg, a woman asks Þormóðr which of Óláfr’s men were most valiant in the battle, and he replies. In Málfræðinnar grundvǫllr, the first section of TGT, l. 4 is cited to illustrate the use of the conjunction, here ok ‘and’.

Notes: [1] Haraldr: This is Óláfr’s half-brother, later King Haraldr harðráði ‘Hard-rule’ Sigurðarson, who took part in the battle of Stiklastaðir (Stiklestad) at the age of fifteen and was severely wounded. — [3] gekk ‘went’: A sg. verb with cpd subject (here Hringr ok Dagr, l. 4) is not unusual in skaldic poetry; cf. Hfr ErfÓl 27/1 and Note. — [3] harðra ‘of hard’: Gaertner (1907, 346) adopts the reading hára ‘high, long’ of ÓHLeg, seemingly on the basis of the belief that harðr is not attested as an epithet for a sword; but cf. LP: harðr 1. — [4] Hringr ok Dagr ‘Hringr and Dagr’: According to Hkr (ÍF 27, 105) King Hringr of Hedmark had been banished to Sweden when Óláfr had captured the kings of Upplǫnd (Opplandene). Snorri gives no indication that Hringr was at the battle, but his son Dagr played a prominent role, coming to the king’s aid with nearly 1200 men (ÍF 27, 348-9). Von See (1977b, 467-71) argues that both names are fictitious, derived from a genealogy constructed to give Hringaríki (Ringerike) an eponymous founder, and thus that this stanza cannot have been composed by Þormóðr. See also the Note to Lv 24/8. — [5, 6] réðu at standa ‘stood’: Réðu (inf. ráða) is here, as frequently, merely an auxiliary (see LP: ráða 12). Skj B and Skald also prefer this, the reading of all the other mss, to that of Hb, réðusk at standa ‘took their positions, resolved to stand’, which looks like a scribal improvement. — [7-8] blakkan bjór ‘dark beer [blood]’: Structurally, this is not a complete kenning, since it lacks a determinant referring to a beast of battle (see Meissner 207-8 for complete examples), but semantically a determinant is provided by benþiðurr ‘wound-grouse’ (cf. Note to Lv 10/2).

References

1. Bibliography
2. TGT 1884 = Björn Magnússon Ólsen, ed. 1884. Den tredje og fjærde grammatiske afhandling i Snorres Edda tilligemed de grammatiske afhandlingers prolog og to andre tillæg. SUGNL 12. Copenhagen: Knudtzon.
3. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
4. 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.
5. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
6. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
7. Meissner = Meissner, Rudolf. 1921. Die Kenningar der Skalden: Ein Beitrag zur skaldischen Poetik. Rheinische Beiträge und Hülfsbücher zur germanischen Philologie und Volkskunde 1. Bonn and Leipzig: Schroeder. Rpt. 1984. Hildesheim etc.: Olms.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. ÓHLeg 1982 = Heinrichs, Anne et al., eds and trans. 1982. Olafs saga hins helga: Die ‘Legendarische Saga’ über Olaf den Heiligen (Hs. Delagard. saml. nr. 8^II). Heidelberg: Winter.
11. ÍF 6 = Vestfirðinga sǫgur. Ed. Björn K. Þórólfsson and Guðni Jónsson. 1943.
12. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
13. Hb 1892-6 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1892-6. Hauksbók udgiven efter de Arnamagnæanske håndskrifter no. 371, 544 og 675, 4° samt forskellige papirshåndskrifter. Copenhagen: Det kongelige nordiske oldskrift-selskab.
14. ÓHLeg 1922 = Johnsen, Oscar Albert, ed. 1922. Olafs saga hins helga efter pergamenthåndskrift i Uppsala Universitetsbibliotek, Delagardieske samling nr. 8^II. Det norske historiske kildeskriftfond skrifter 47. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad.
15. TGT 1927 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1927b. Óláfr Þórðarson: Málhljóða- og málskrúðsrit. Grammatisk-retorisk afhandling. Det kgl. Danske Videnskabernes Selskab. Historisk-filologiske meddelelser 13, 2. Copenhagen: Høst.
16. TGT 1998 = Krömmelbein, Thomas, ed. and trans. 1998. Dritte grammatische Abhandlung. Studia nordica 3. Oslo: Novus.
17. See, Klaus von. 1977b. ‘Skaldenstrophe und Sagaprosa: Ein Beitrag zum Problem der mündlichen Überlieferung in der altnordischen Literatur’. MS 10, 58-82. Rpt. in von See 1981a, 461-85.
18. Gaertner, K. H. 1907. ‘Zur Fóstbrœðra saga. I. Teil: Die vísur’. BGDSL 32, 299-446.
19. Loth, Agnete, ed. 1960a. Membrana regia deperdita. EA A 5. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
20. Fbr 1925-7 = Björn K. Þórólfsson, ed. 1925-7. Fóstbrœðra saga. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
21. Finnur Jónsson. 1932-3. ‘Þórmóðr Kolbrúnarskald’. APS 7, 31-82.
22. Fbr 1852 = Konráð Gíslason, ed. 1852. Fóstbrœðra saga. Copenhagen: Berling.
23. ÓHLeg 1849 = Keyser, R. and C. R. Unger. eds. 1849. Olafs saga hins helga: En kort saga om kong Olaf den Hellige fra anden halvdeel af det tolfte aarhundrede. Efter et gammelt pergaments-haandskrift i Universitets-bibliotheket i Upsala. Christiania (Oslo): Feilberg & Landmark.
24. ÍS = Bragi Halldórsson et al., eds. 1987. Íslendinga sögur og þættir. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Svart á hvítu.
25. Internal references
26. (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 26 April 2024)
27. (forthcoming), ‘ Anonymous, Fóstbrœðra saga’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=7> (accessed 26 April 2024)
28. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Óláfs saga helga (Legendary)’ 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=31> (accessed 26 April 2024)
29. (forthcoming), ‘ Óláfr hvítaskáld Þórðarson, The Third Grammatical Treatise’ in Tarrin Wills (ed.), The Third Grammatical Treatise. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=32> (accessed 26 April 2024)
30. Kate Heslop (ed.) 2012, ‘Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld Óttarsson, Erfidrápa Óláfs Tryggvasonar 27’ 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. 439.