Hharð Lv 2a^II

Lv 2a (Hharð Lv 2a) is recorded in 972ˣ and it is also printed in vol. II of Peringskiöld’s 1697 edn of Hkr. The half-st. is of unknown provenance, but it apparently derives from the lost Uppsala ms. (*U) of ÓH. In 972ˣ and Hkr 1697 II, the helmingr directly precedes Lv 2b (Hharð Lv 2b) (written as one st.). Lv 2b is preserved in Hkr (Kˣ, 39, F, E), ÓH (Holm2, J2ˣ, 972ˣ, 321ˣ, 73aˣ, Holm4, 325VII (ll. 1-2), 325V, 61, Flat, Tóm, Bb), in H-Hr (H, Hr) and Flat (Flat; Mork redaction) as well in Orkn (332ˣ, 325III β, Flat). Because the variant readings belong to different ms. traditions, the two half-sts have been printed separately here (they are given as one st. in Skj and Skald).

Réðk, en benjar blœða,
— búþegna sák megna
lið; fekk lindar váði
lífs grand — í bǫð standa.

Réðk standa í bǫð, en benjar blœða; sák búþegna megna lið; {váði lindar} fekk grand lífs.

I stood in battle, and the wounds bled; I saw farmers strengthen their host; {the distress of the linden-shield} [SWORD] dealt death.

Mss: 972ˣ(537va) (ÓH); Hkr 1697 II(55)

Readings: [1] Réðk: Reið ek both    [4] standa: stranda Hkr 1697 II

Editions: Skj AI, 356, Skj BI, 328, Skald I, 166, NN §§1137, 3227; Hkr 1697, II, 55, ÓH 1941, II, 1086-7.

Context: With the help of Jarl Rǫgnvaldr Brúsason of Orkney, Haraldr escapes wounded from the battle of Stiklestad, and takes shelter with a farmer who heals him. The farmer’s son accompanies Haraldr on his way from Norway to Sweden, when Haraldr recites this and the following helmingr (Lv 2b).

Notes: [1, 4] réðk standa ‘I stood’: Lit. ‘I decided to stand’. Reiðk ‘I rode’ has been emended to réðk to provide an auxiliary for the inf. standa ‘to stand’ (so also Skj B; Skald). — [1] en benjar blœða ‘and the wounds bled’: Lit. ‘and the wounds bleed’. Skj B connects this cl. with the following cl. and translates blœða as an inf.: sák … en benjar blœða ‘I saw … and (I saw) the wounds bleed’. That construction creates an impossible cl. arrangement (see Kuhn 1983, 190). Kock (NN §3227) suggests that the pres. tense of the verb was caused by the internal rhyme and should be translated as a pret. That suggestion has been adopted in the present edn. — [2] megna ‘strengthen’: For this verb, see LP: megna. The host of farmers from Trøndelag opposed and outnumbered Haraldr and Óláfr at Stiklestad (see also Hharð Lv 1, Hharð Gamv 1, ÞjóðA Sex 1 and Bǫlv Hardr 1/1-4). Earlier eds emend to vegna (m. acc. pl.) ‘slain’ (‘I saw the host of slain farmers’), which is not supported by the ms. witnesses. — [3] váði lindar ‘the distress of the linden-shield [SWORD]’: Skj B emends váði (m. nom. sg.) ‘distress’ to váða (m. dat. sg.) and treats it as an instr.: lið fekk lífs-grand lindar váða ‘the company received death by the sword’. Kock (NN §1137) rejected that emendation and chose rather to take váði lindar as the subject: váði lindar fekk lið lífs grand ‘the sword gave death to the company’. However, the verb fá ‘give, receive’ (fekk 3rd pers. sg. pret. indic.) takes the dat. of the recipient, and lið ‘company’ cannot be be construed as a dat. (see ANG §361 Anm. 2). In the present edn, lið is taken with the preceding cl., which obviates the need for emendation. For fá ‘provide sth.’ with an acc. object but without a dat. recipient, see Fritzner: fá 7. — [8] grand lífs ‘death’: Lit. ‘life’s damage’.

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. ANG = Noreen, Adolf. 1923. Altnordische Grammatik I: Altisländische und altnorwegische Grammatik (Laut- und Flexionslehre) unter Berücksichtigung des Urnordischen. 4th edn. Halle: Niemeyer. 1st edn. 1884. 5th unrev. edn. 1970. Tübingen: Niemeyer.
7. Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
8. ÓH 1941 = Johnsen, Oscar Albert and Jón Helgason, eds. 1941. Saga Óláfs konungs hins helga: Den store saga om Olav den hellige efter pergamenthåndskrift i Kungliga biblioteket i Stockholm nr. 2 4^to med varianter fra andre håndskrifter. 2 vols. Det norske historiske kildeskriftfond skrifter 53. Oslo: Dybwad.
9. Kuhn, Hans (1899). 1983. Das Dróttkvætt. Heidelberg: Winter.
10. 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.
11. Internal references
12. (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 24 April 2024)
13. (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 24 April 2024)
14. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Orkneyinga saga’ 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=47> (accessed 24 April 2024)
15. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Óláfs saga helga’ 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=53> (accessed 24 April 2024)
16. (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 24 April 2024)
17. (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 24 April 2024)
18. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Bǫlverkr Arnórsson, Drápa about Haraldr harðráði 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. 286-8.
19. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Haraldr harðráði Sigurðarson, 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. 42-3.
20. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Haraldr harðráði Sigurðarson, Lausavísur 2b’ 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. 44-5.
21. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Haraldr harðráði Sigurðarson, Gamanvísur 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, p. 36.
22. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Þjóðólfr Arnórsson, Sexstefja 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. 112-13.
23. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Haraldr harðráði Sigurðarson, Lausavísur 2a’ 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. 43-4.