Arn Hardr 2^II

Hjalmôru lét heyra,
hizis rauð fyr Nizi,
tyggi, tyrfings eggjar
tvær, áðr mannfall væri.
Naðrs borð skriðu norðan
nýs at allvalds fýsi;
hlaut til Hallands skjóta
hrafnþarfr konungr stafni.

Tyggi lét {hjalmôru} heyra, [e]s rauð tvær eggjar tyrfings hizi fyr Nizi, áðr mannfall væri. Borð nýs naðrs skriðu norðan at fýsi allvalds; hrafnþarfr konungr hlaut skjóta stafni til Hallands.

The sovereign made {helmet-envoys} [WARRIORS] hear that he reddened the two edges of the sword there by the Nissan, before slaughter of men came about. The bulwarks of the new serpent [ship] slid from the north at the desire of the mighty ruler; lavish to ravens, the king got to speed his prow to Halland.

Mss: Mork(13r) (Mork); Flat(200va) (Flat); H(56v), Hr(41rb) (H-Hr)

Readings: [1] lét: so Flat, lézk þú Mork, H, lézk Hr;    heyra: heyja Flat    [2] hizis (‘hiz er’): ‘hitz er’ Flat, H, Hr;    rauð: so all others, rautt Mork    [3] tyggi: ‘tyrfe’ Hr;    tyrfings: so all others, ‘tyrfins’ Mork    [4] mann‑: so all others, man‑ Mork    [5] Naðrs borð: naðr borðs Flat, naðrs borði Hr    [6] at: á Hr    [7] skjóta: skuta Hr    [8] stafni: ‘sta(n)fe’(?) Flat

Editions: Skj AI, 349, Skj BI, 322, Skald I, 163, NN §837; Mork 1928-32, 211-12, Andersson and Gade 2000, 230, 478 (MH); Flat 1860-8, III, 363 (MH); Fms 6, 318 (HSig ch. 78), Fms 12, 156-7; Whaley 1998, 269-71.

Context: In Mork’s and Flat’s account of the battle at the Nissan (Niz) estuary, the Norwegians have cleared the enemy ships and Sveinn Úlfsson (Sven Estridsson) has fled ashore. ÞjóðA Sex 17 and Arn Hardr 2, 3 and 4 are added as an appendix, without any indication of the exact stage in the battle to which they refer. In H-Hr, Hardr 2 is integrated into an account of the Danes scattering after Haraldr boarded Sveinn’s ship, rushing forward and hacking to both sides.

Notes: [All]: For this battle, see also ÞjóðA Sex 13-18, Stúfr Stúfdr 7, Steinn Nizv, Steinn Úlffl and sts 3-4 below. — [1] lét hjalmôru heyra ‘made helmet-envoys [WARRIORS] hear’: The object is the es-cl. depicting Haraldr’s reddening of the sword, and those who hear may be the terrified and doomed enemy, or Haraldr’s own troops. Alternatively, the sense may be that news of Haraldr’s triumphs spread widely (pers. comm. P. J. Frankis gratefully acknowledged). — [1] lét ‘made’: The 2nd pers. sg. pret. indic. ‘letz þu’ in the main ms. Mork is incongruous in the context of a memorial poem, and of the 3rd pers. sg. verbs in the st. — [2] hizis ‘that there’: The monosyllabic ms. spellings ‘hiz/hitz’ may reflect a scribal attempt to rid the opening of the l., perhaps written ‘hizi er’, of the superfluous syllable. The syllable is better removed by the use of contracted forms (bragarmál, SnE 1999, 8), here elision of the vowel in es. — [5, 6] nýs naðrs ‘of the new serpent [ship]’: The phrase is particularly apt here, since, according to HSigHkr ch. 59, the winter before the encounter at the Nissan (Niz), Haraldr had a dragon-prowed ship built according to the dimensions of Óláfr Tryggvason’s ship Ormr inn langi ‘the Long Serpent’. In ÞjóðA Sex 14/8, which also concerns the Nissan battle, Haraldr’s ship is again referred to as naðr. — [8] hrafnþarfr ‘lavish to ravens’: Lit. ‘useful to, supplying the needs of, ravens’, by providing carrion; cf. varghollr ‘gracious to wolves’, in ÞjóðA Sex 13/2 and elsewhere. The adj., a compressed equivalent of Arn Magndr 18/6 -þarfr hrafni ‘generous to the raven’, is a hap. leg.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
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. Andersson, Theodore M. and Kari Ellen Gade, trans. 2000. Morkinskinna: The Earliest Icelandic Chronicle of the Norwegian Kings (1030-1157). Islandica 51. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.
6. Whaley, Diana, ed. and trans. 1998. The Poetry of Arnórr jarlaskáld: An Edition and Study. Westfield Publications in Medieval Studies 8. Turnhout: Brepols.
7. 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.
8. Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
9. SnE 1999 = Snorri Sturluson. 1999. Edda: Háttatal. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. Rpt. with addenda and corrigenda. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
10. Internal references
11. (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 19 April 2024)
12. (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 19 April 2024)
13. (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 19 April 2024)
14. (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 19 April 2024)
15. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Magnúss saga góða ok Haralds harðráða’ 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=147> (accessed 19 April 2024)
16. Diana Whaley 2012, ‘(Biography of) Óláfr Tryggvason’ 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. 383.
17. Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘ Steinn Herdísarson, Nizarvísur’ 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. 359-66. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1389> (accessed 19 April 2024)
18. Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘ Steinn Herdísarson, Úlfsflokkr’ 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. 366-7. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1391> (accessed 19 April 2024)
19. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Haraldsdrápa 2’ 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. 262-3.
20. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Magnússdrápa 18’ 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. 227-8.
21. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Stúfr inn blindi Þórðarson kattar, Stúfsdrápa 7’ 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. 356-7.
22. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Þjóðólfr Arnórsson, Sexstefja 13’ 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. 125.
23. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Þjóðólfr Arnórsson, Sexstefja 14’ 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. 126-7.
24. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Þjóðólfr Arnórsson, Sexstefja 17’ 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. 130-1.