Diana Whaley (ed.) 2012, ‘Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld Óttarsson, Óláfsdrápa 5’ 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. 397.
Gerðisk ungr við Engla
ofvægr konungr bægja;
naddskúrar réð nœrir
Norðimbra sá morði.
Barði brezkrar jarðar
byggvendr, en hjó tyggi
— grôðr þvarr geira hríðar
gjóði — kumrskar þjóðir.
Ungr, ofvægr konungr gerðisk bægja við Engla; {sá nœrir {naddskúrar}} réð morði Norðimbra. Tyggi barði byggvendr brezkrar jarðar en hjó kumrskar þjóðir; grôðr þvarr {gjóði {hríðar geira}}.
The young, overwhelming king proceeded to contend against the English; {that nourisher {of the missile-shower}} [BATTLE > WARRIOR] determined the killing of the Northumbrians. The prince beat the inhabitants of the British land and cut down the Cumbric peoples; hunger diminished {for the osprey {of the storm of spears}} [BATTLE > RAVEN/EAGLE].
Mss: Kˣ(150r-v) (ll. 1-4), Kˣ(150v) (ll. 5-8), 39(6ra) (ll. 1-4), 39(6rb) (ll. 5-8), F(25ra) (ll. 1-4), F(25ra) (ll. 5-8), J1ˣ(89r) (ll. 1-4), J1ˣ(89r) (ll. 5-8) (Hkr); 61(16vb-17ra) (ll. 1-4), 61(17ra) (ll. 5-8), 53(15rb) (ll. 1-4), 53(15rb) (ll. 5-8), 54(12rb) (ll. 1-4), 54(12rb) (ll. 5-8), Bb(22va) (ll. 1-4), Bb(22va) (ll. 5-8), 62(9va) (ll. 1-4), Flat(16ra) (ll. 1-4) (ÓT); FskBˣ(33r-v), FskAˣ(121) (Fsk); 310(98) (ÓTOdd)
Readings: [1] Gerðisk: gerði Flat; ungr: om. J1ˣ [2] ofvægr: óvæginn 53, óvægr Bb, ‘of væggr’ or ‘of væghr’ FskAˣ; bægja: ‘bæggia’ FskAˣ [3] ‑skúrar réð nœrir: ‘skar rei[...]ęr’ 62, ‘skarr hlod nærre’ Flat [4] sá: því J1ˣ, 61, 53, 54, Bb, 62, 310, þar Flat; morði: mundi 62, timbri Flat [5] brezkrar: ‘breskar’ 39, Bb, ‘brazkrar’ FskAˣ; jarðar: jarðir 39 [6] en: so 39, J1ˣ, 310, ok Kˣ, 61, enn F, FskBˣ, FskAˣ, er 53, 54, Bb [7] þvarr: hjó 61 [8] gjóði: gjóðs FskBˣ; kumrskar: ‘kvmskrar’ F, ‘kyrmskrar’ J1ˣ, valskar 61, 53, vaskar 54, Bb, ‘lumbærskar’ FskBˣ; þjóðir: þjóðar F, J1ˣ
Editions: Skj AI, 158-9, Skj BI, 150, Skald I, 81-2; Hkr 1893-1901, I, 307-8, IV, 85-6, ÍF 26, 264-5, Hkr 1991, 177-8 (ÓTHkr ch. 30), F 1871, 114; ÓT 1958-2000, I, 160-1 (ch. 77), Flat 1860-8, I, 120; Fsk 1902-3, 110-11 (ch. 21), ÍF 29, 143-4 (ch. 23); ÓTOdd 1932, 248.
Context: See Introduction.
Notes: [All]: The pairing of helmingar follows Fsk and ms. 310; see Introduction. In Hkr and ÓT, st. 5/1-4 (beginning Gerðisk) + st. 6/7-8 (Eyddi), 5-6 (Gerði) form a stanza, and st. 6/1-4 (Ýdrógar) + st. 5/5-8 (Barði) form a stanza. — [1, 2] bægja við Engla ‘contend against the English’: Dative would normally be expected with bægja við ‘push, (re)move, hinder’, and Finnur Jónsson emends to Englum in Skj B, but acc. pl. Engla is the reading of all mss, and acc. is supported by the common bægjask við ‘contend against’ + acc. — [3] naddskúrar ‘of the missile-shower [BATTLE]’: Naddr m. is ‘nail, stud’, hence perhaps a spear (LP: naddr); Meissner 184 counts this among terms for weapons in general. — [4] sá ‘that’: The m. nom. sg. demonstrative article is retained here. It is detached from the rest of the noun phrase, naddskúrar nœrir ‘nourisher of the missile-shower [BATTLE > WARRIOR]’, which makes it the lectio difficilior. The variant n. dat. sg. því could have been altered from sá to match the immediately following morði ‘killing’. — [5, 8] brezkrar jarðar … kumrskar þjóðir ‘of the British land … the Cumbric peoples’: Both terms are somewhat elusive, but typically refer to the Celtic, Brittonic-speaking peoples of Strathclyde (now south-west Scotland), Cumbria (north-west England) and Wales; see Poole 1987, 292-8 for a review of the usage of Bretar/brezkr in Old Norse sources. The identification of the peoples mentioned here is not helped by the uncertainty over the ordering of the stanzas (see Introduction).
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