Arn Hryn 19^II

Eyðendr, fregnk, at elska þjóðir
— inndrótt þín es hǫfð at minnum —
grœði lostins goði it næsta
geima Vals í þessum heimi.

Fregnk, at þjóðir elska {eyðendr {Vals geima}}, lostins grœði, it næsta goði í þessum heimi; inndrótt þín es hǫfð at minnum.

I hear that people love {the clearer {of the Valr <horse> of the ocean}} [SHIP > SEA-WARRIOR], lashed by the swell, next after God in this world; your personal troop is held in memory.

Mss: Mork(5v) (Mork); Flat(196va) (Flat); H(33r), Hr(24ra) (H-Hr)

Readings: [1] Eyðendr: ‘Eydíndr’ Hr;    fregnk (‘fregn ec’): frá ek H, Hr    [2] inndrótt: en drótt Flat;    at minnum: at mínum Flat, ‘at míníum’ Hr

Editions: Skj AI, 337, Skj BI, 310-11, Skald I, 158; Mork 1928-32, 118, Andersson and Gade 2000, 167, 475 (MH); Flat 1860-8, III, 322 (MH); Fms 6, 197 (HSig ch. 24), Fms 12, 148; Whaley 1998, 179-81.

Context: As for sts 3, 16, 17, and 18. In Mork and Flat, there are no introductory words, since sts 18 and 19 are treated as one st., while in H-Hr a brief link is inserted.

Notes: [1] eyðendr ‘the clearer’: Lit. ‘the clearers’. Þjóðir ‘people’ is the subject, and eyðendr object, to elska ‘love’. Eyðendr is grammatically pl. and forms a kenning with vals geima ‘the Valr <horse> of the ocean [SHIP]’ (l. 4). The sea-warrior disables his enemies’ ships by clearing them of crew and equipment in battle. This is the only example in ON poetry of a kenning formed from eyðandi and a determinant meaning ‘ship’. The reference of the kenning is slightly difficult to determine. (a) The pl. is assumed to have sg. meaning here, referring to Magnús (so Finnur Jónsson, who translates søkrigeren ‘the sea-warrior’ in Skj B). There are other examples of this phenomenon amongst kennings for ‘man’ built on pres. participles, including ættstýrǫndum (dat. pl.), lit. ‘rulers of men’, which seems to refer to Haraldr alone in Arn Hardr 16/6 (see Note). The abrupt transition to the grammatically sg. þín ‘your’ in l. 2 is not a difficulty: compare fórt ‘you (sg.) went’ and kynduð ‘you (pl.) kindled’ in st. 12, or fenguð ‘you (pl.) furnished’ and lætr þú ‘you (sg.) allow’ in st. 14. (b) It has been suggested that eyðendr Vals geima ‘clearers of the Valr of the ocean’ refers to the two kings Haraldr and Magnús (CPB II, 188 n.), but the sg. þú in l. 2 and the focus on Magnús throughout the poem render this unlikely. — [1] fregnk ‘I hear’: The pret. variant frák (so H, Hr) would give equally good sense. — [4] Vals geima ‘of the Valr <horse> of the ocean [SHIP]’: Valr, also a noun meaning ‘falcon’, occurs as the name of a horse, and is frequent in ship-kennings on the pattern ‘horse of the sea’ (see LP: 1. valr and 2. Valr). See also Þfagr Sveinn 7/7, Ólhv Hryn 8/6.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 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. CPB = Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and F. York Powell, eds. 1883. Corpus poeticum boreale: The Poetry of the Old Northern Tongue from the Earliest Times to the Thirteenth Century. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon. Rpt. 1965, New York: Russell & Russell.
8. Whaley, Diana, ed. and trans. 1998. The Poetry of Arnórr jarlaskáld: An Edition and Study. Westfield Publications in Medieval Studies 8. Turnhout: Brepols.
9. 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.
10. Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
11. Internal references
12. (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)
13. (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)
14. (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)
15. (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)
16. (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)
17. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Haraldsdrápa 16’ 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. 278-9.
18. Lauren Goetting (ed.) 2009, ‘Óláfr hvítaskáld Þórðarson, Hrynhenda 8’ 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. 664-5.
19. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Þorleikr fagri, Flokkr about Sveinn Úlfsson 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, p. 319.