Arn Hardr 4^II

Gekkat Sveinn af snekkju
saklaust inn forhrausti
— malmr kom harðr við hjalma —
— hugi minn es þat — sinni.
Farskostr hlaut at fljóta
fljótmælts vinar Jóta,
áðr an ǫðlingr flýði,
auðr, frá verðung dauðri.

Inn forhrausti Sveinn gekkat saklaust af snekkju sinni; þat es hugi minn; malmr kom harðr við hjalma. Farskostr {fljótmælts vinar Jóta} hlaut at fljóta auðr, áðr an ǫðlingr flýði frá dauðri verðung.

The very brave Sveinn did not go without cause from his warship; that is my thought; steel struck hard on helmets. The choice vessel {of the swift-spoken friend of the Jótar} [DANISH KING = Sveinn] was fated to float unmanned, before the noble one fled from his dead retinue.

Mss: Kˣ(561v), 39(27rb), F(49ra), E(21v), J2ˣ(283v-284r) (Hkr); Mork(13r) (Mork); Flat(200va) (Flat); H(56v), Hr(41rb) (H-Hr)

Readings: [1] af: at Flat, om. Hr;    snekkju: sinni E, ‘s(innk)iu’(?) Flat    [2] ‑laust: ‑laus E;    for‑: tý‑ E    [3] við: á Flat    [4] hugi: hugr Flat, Hr;    es (‘er’): so F, E, Mork, Flat, H, Hr, var Kˣ, J2ˣ    [5] Farskostr: ‘farskott(ir)’(?) E, farkostr Flat, Hr;    hlaut: so Flat, H, Hr, laut Kˣ, 39, F, E, J2ˣ, Mork;    at: om. Flat;    fljóta: flestu Hr    [6] fljótmælts: fljótt mæts 39, F, fljót mæts E, ‘fiol níotz’ Flat, ‘fliotmaltz’ H, Hr    [7] flýði: flœði F, E    [8] auðr: auðs Flat;    frá: om. E;    dauðri: dauðir Hr

Editions: Skj AI, 349-50, Skj BI, 322, Skald I, 163; Hkr 1893-1901, III, 164, ÍF 28, 150-1, Hkr 1991, 657 (HSig ch. 63), F 1871, 229, E 1916, 75; Mork 1928-32, 212, Andersson and Gade 2000, 231, 478 (MH); Flat 1860-8, III, 363-4 (MH); Fms 6, 319 (HSig ch. 78), Fms 12, 157; Whaley 1998, 273-5.

Context: In Hkr, the Norwegians board Sveinn’s ship and clear it so thoroughly that only those who leap overboard survive. In Mork, H-Hr and Flat, the st. follows st. 3, preceded by a sentence that calls attention to Arnórr’s opinion that Sveinn Úlfsson only fled when his situation was desperate.

Notes: [4] es ‘is’: The pret. verb vas in Kˣ and J2ˣ produces hugi minn vas þat ‘that was my thought’, which would be unmotivated in the absence of evidence that the skald had been present at the events he commemorates. — [4] fljótmælts ‘swift-spoken’: For a saga account illustrating Sveinn Úlfsson’s politically dangerous eloquence, see, e.g., Flat 1860-8, III, 274.

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. 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.
5. Whaley, Diana, ed. and trans. 1998. The Poetry of Arnórr jarlaskáld: An Edition and Study. Westfield Publications in Medieval Studies 8. Turnhout: Brepols.
6. 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.
7. Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
8. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
9. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
10. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
11. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
12. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
13. Internal references
14. (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 16 April 2024)
15. (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 16 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 16 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 16 April 2024)
18. (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 16 April 2024)
19. (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 16 April 2024)