Arn Frag 2^III

Svalg áttbogi ylgjar
ógóðr, en varð blóði
grœðir grœnn at rauðum,
grandauknum ná, blandinn.

{Ógóðr áttbogi ylgjar} svalg grandauknum ná, en grœnn grœðir, blandinn blóði, varð at rauðum.

{The evil offspring of the she-wolf} [WOLF] swallowed a wound-swollen corpse, and the green surge, mingled with blood, turned to red.

Mss: R(37r), Tˣ(38v), U(39v), A(14r), B(6r), 744ˣ(39v), C(6v) (SnE)

Readings: [1] átt‑: at Tˣ, C    [2] varð: so A, 744ˣ, var R, Tˣ, U, C    [3] grœðir: gráðugr C;    at: af C    [4] grandauknum: ‘brandvoxnvm’ U, granauknum C

Editions: Skj AI, 350, Skj BI, 323, Skald I, 163, NN §2522; SnE 1848-87, I, 478-9, II, 350, 455, 538, 594, III, 99, SnE 1931, 168, SnE 1998, I, 87; Whaley 1998, 312-14.

Context: The helmingr is quoted in Skm (SnE) within a sequence of skaldic fragments illustrating heiti for ‘wolf’, in this case ylgr.

Notes: [All]: The B text is so badly damaged that to note the many illegible places would be unhelpful, and it is therefore represented in the Readings by the transcript in 744ˣ. The helmingr is printed as st. 5 of Arnórr’s erfidrápa ‘memorial drápa’ for Haraldr harðráði ‘Hard-rule’ Sigurðarson (Arn Hardr^II) in SnE 1848-87, III, 572 (where n. 3 appears as though it refers to this stanza, but does not) and Skj. However, the rather lurid description of the aftermath of a sea-battle could have originated in any of several poems by Arnórr, and the helmingr is therefore best treated as a fragment. — [2, 3] varð at rauðum ‘turned to red’: The variant varð rather than var ‘was’ is needed to produce the construction verða at plus dat. adj. in the sense ‘turn to, become’; cf. Arn Þorfdr 24/1^II Bjǫrt verðr sól at svartri ‘The bright sun will turn to black’. — [4] grandauknum ‘wound-swollen’: The cpd (nom. sg.) grandaukinn, which qualifies nár ‘corpse’, is unique, and its meaning uncertain. (a) Grand normally has the sense ‘harm, injury’ (emotional, spiritual or physical). Compounded with aukinn, it could mean ‘swollen with wounds’ (cf. Bjbp Jóms 31/2^I bólginn ná ‘swollen corpse’) or conceivably ‘increased (in number) by injury/disaster’. (b) Kock (NN §2522) suggested that grand could mean ‘sand’, cf. ON grand ‘grain’ as in ekki grand ‘not a grain, not a morsel’, grandi n. ‘strip of beach’ and New Norw. grande ‘sand-bank, sand-bar’. Grandaukinn ‘increased, swollen with grand’ could then imply that the dead men had taken in sand and become bloated by it. Bodies are described as lying on sand in ÞjóðA Magn 2/5-6, 8^II and Bǫlv Hardr 4/5-8^II; ÞSjár Þórdr 3/5-8^I says that slain warriors lying in the shallows had sand in their mouths, and Arnórr himself pictures ‘sandy corpses’ being driven ashore in Arn Magndr 15/1-2^II. However, in the absence of stronger evidence for grand in the sense ‘sand’, (a) seems the safer solution.

References

1. Bibliography
2. 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.
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. Whaley, Diana, ed. and trans. 1998. The Poetry of Arnórr jarlaskáld: An Edition and Study. Westfield Publications in Medieval Studies 8. Turnhout: Brepols.
6. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
7. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
8. Internal references
9. Edith Marold 2017, ‘Snorra Edda (Prologue, Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál)’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols [check printed volume for citation].
10. (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Skáldskaparmál’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=112> (accessed 19 April 2024)
11. Diana Whaley 2009, ‘ Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Haraldsdrápa’ 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. 260-80. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1099> (accessed 19 April 2024)
12. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Magnússdrápa 15’ 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. 225.
13. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Þorfinnsdrápa 24’ 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. 258-9.
14. Emily Lethbridge (ed.) 2012, ‘Bjarni byskup Kolbeinsson, Jómsvíkingadrápa 31’ 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. 986.
15. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Bǫlverkr Arnórsson, Drápa about Haraldr harðráði 4’ 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. 289-90.
16. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2012, ‘Þórðr Særeksson (Sjáreksson), Þórálfs drápa Skólmssonar 3’ 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. 239.
17. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Þjóðólfr Arnórsson, Stanzas about Magnús Óláfsson in Danaveldi 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, p. 89.