Arn Hryn 15^II

Keppinn vannt, þats æ mun uppi,
Yggjar veðr, meðan heimrinn byggvisk;
valgammr skók í vápna rimmu
viðr Helganes blóðugt fiðri.
Yngvi, fekktu ǫll með hringum,
— jarl vissi sik foldar missa —
þjóðum kunnr, en þú tókt síðan,
þeira flaust, við sigri meira.

Vannt keppinn {veðr Yggjar}, þats mun æ uppi meðan heimrinn byggvisk; {valgammr} skók blóðugt fiðri í {rimmu vápna} viðr Helganes. Yngvi kunnr þjóðum, fekktu ǫll flaust þeira með hringum; jarl vissi sik missa foldar, en þú tókt síðan við meira sigri.

You fought, vigorous, {a wind-storm of Yggr <= Óðinn>} [BATTLE], which will always be extolled while the world is peopled; {the corpse-vulture} [RAVEN/EAGLE] ruffled his bloody plumage in {the roar of weapons} [BATTLE] at Helgenæs. Sovereign renowned to men, you seized all their vessels, every one; the jarl [Sveinn Úlfsson] knew he had lost land, and you gained then a greater victory.

Mss: H(12r), Hr(11ra) (H-Hr); Flat(191vb) (Flat); 20dˣ(16v), 873ˣ(16v-17r) (Knýtl)

Readings: [1] Keppinn: ‘Keppir madr’ Hr;    þats æ: þat æ Hr, Flat, þat er ey 20dˣ, 873ˣ    [2] Yggjar: ‘ygiar’ Flat    [3] valgammr: vargr Flat;    rimmu: so all others, ‘‑rímv’ H    [7] þjóðum kunnr: þjóðum kyrr Flat, þjóðkuðr 20dˣ, 873ˣ;    kunnr: kuðr Hr;    síðan: síðar Flat

Editions: Skj AI, 336-7, Skj BI, 309-10, Skald I, 157, NN §§816 anm. 1, 2019; Fms 6, 85 (Mgóð ch. 40), Fms 12, 137; Flat 1860-8, III, 284, Andersson and Gade 2000, 124, 470 (MH); ÍF 35, 132 (Knýtl ch. 22); Whaley 1998, 173-4.

Context: Sveinn Úlfsson flees from his disabled ships at Helgenæs (Helganes). 

Notes: [All]: The st. is cited from Arnórr ‘i hrynhendu’ (H), ‘i hrunhendu’ (Hr), or í Magnússdrápu (Knýtl mss). — [2] heimrinn ‘the world’: The scansion of l. 2 confirms heimrinn as the original reading. This is striking, as a very early example of a noun with suffixed art. (see further Whaley 1998, 174). — [5] ǫll ... með hringum ‘all ... every one’: Með /at hringum is recorded elsewhere in verse and prose, although not very common. LP: 1. hringr 6 compares með hringum with með bugum ‘with (all its) curves, completely’. The phrase might be compared with Ív Sig 41/4 með stǫfnum ‘from stem to stern’, referring to the clearing of a warship (see also Note to Anon Nkt 28/2), however, and the collocation with allr ‘all’ and the context (Magnús’s capture of Sveinn’s ships at Helgenæs) both here and in Arn Magndr 14/4 would suggest that the sense is of seizing (numerically) all the ships, rather than each ship completely. — [6] jarl ‘the jarl [Sveinn Úlfsson]’: Sveinn Úlfsson, son of the Dan. jarl Úlfr Þorgilsson and of Ástríðr, sister of Knútr inn ríki, hence known also as Sven Estridsson. Appointed Magnús’s viceroy over Jylland, he broke his oaths of loyalty and attempted to establish himself as king (e.g. MgóðHkr ch. 25, ÍF 28, 40-1). See also ÞjóðA Magnfl 5 and ‘Royal Biographies’ in Introduction to this vol.

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. 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. 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.
7. Whaley, Diana, ed. and trans. 1998. The Poetry of Arnórr jarlaskáld: An Edition and Study. Westfield Publications in Medieval Studies 8. Turnhout: Brepols.
8. 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.
9. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
10. ÍF 35 = Danakonunga sǫgur. Ed. Bjarni Guðnason. 1982.
11. Internal references
12. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Knýtlinga 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=19> (accessed 23 April 2024)
13. (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 23 April 2024)
14. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Anonymous Poems, Nóregs konungatal 28’ 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. 779.
15. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Magnússdrápa 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. 223-4.
16. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Ívarr Ingimundarson, Sigurðarbálkr 41’ 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. 525.
17. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Þjóðólfr Arnórsson, Magnússflokkr 5’ 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. 69-70.