Arn Magndr 1^II

Nú hykk rjóðanda reiðu
rógǫrs, þvít veitk gǫrva,
— þegi seimbrotar — segja
seggjum hneitis eggja.
Vasat ellifu allra
ormsetrs hati vetra,
hraustr þás herskip glæsti
Hǫrða vinr ór Gǫrðum.

Nú hykk segja seggjum reiðu {rógǫrs rjóðanda hneitis eggja}, þvít veitk gǫrva; {seimbrotar} þegi. {Hati {ormsetrs}} vasat allra ellifu vetra, þás {hraustr vinr Hǫrða} glæsti herskip ór Gǫrðum.

Now I mean to tell men of the career {of the strife-quick reddener of the sword’s edges} [WARRIOR], for I know it fully; let {gold-breakers} [GENEROUS MEN] be silent. {The hater {of the reptile’s home}} [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN] was not fully eleven winters when [he], {the valiant friend of the Hǫrðar} [NORWEGIAN KING = Magnús], arrayed warships to leave Russia.

Mss: Kˣ(494r), 39(12ra), F(37ra), E(2v-3r), J2ˣ(238v-239r) (Hkr); Holm2(73r), 972ˣ(578va), 325VI(41ra), 73aˣ(213r), Holm4(68rb-va), 325VII(41r), 325V(87vb), 61(129va), Bb(204vb-205ra), Tóm(160r) (ÓH); FskAˣ(202) (Fsk); Hr(3va) (H-Hr, ll. 1-4, 7-8); Flat(189rb) (Flat)

Readings: [1] hykk: hygg 39, F, 325VI, Flat, hygg ek FskAˣ;    rjóðanda: ‘ríǫðanda’ E, rjóðan 73aˣ, rjóðandi Flat;    reiðu: réðu 39, F, 73aˣ, Holm4, 325VII, 325V, ráða E, J2ˣ, ‘rędu’ 61, ‘tedu’ Tóm    [2] rógǫrs: ‘roghs hyrs’ FskAˣ;    róg‑: rang 61, ‘raugg’ Tóm, ‘rǫg’ Hr;    veitk: veit 39, F, J2ˣ, Holm2, 972ˣ, 325VI, 73aˣ, Holm4, 325VII, 325V, 61, Bb, Tóm, Hr, Flat, ‘væict’ FskAˣ;    gǫrva: ‘gervd’ Bb, gnógar FskAˣ    [3] þegi: om. 325VII, þeygi 61, Tóm;    seim‑: seima 325VII, seims FskAˣ;    ‑brotar: ‑brjótar 39, J2ˣ, 73aˣ, Bb, ‑brota Holm2, 325VI, ‑brjótr Holm4, 325V, 61, Tóm, ‘‑br(iota)’(?) 325VII, stafar FskAˣ, ‑stafir Hr, ‑staðar Flat;    segja: seggja 61    [4] hneitis: hneitis heitum Tóm;    eggja: eggjar J2ˣ, 61, Tóm, Hr, eggju 73aˣ    [5] Vasat (‘vara’): ‘vorar’ Tóm;    allra: alla FskAˣ    [6] ormsetrs: ormsetr E, J2ˣ, orms setrs Tóm, Flat;    hati: hatri Tóm, bati FskAˣ;    vetra: vettra F, FskAˣ, betri Tóm    [7] hraustr: austr 61, hraust Flat;    glæsti: geystusk 61, glæstu Flat

Editions: Skj AI, 338, Skj BI, 311, Skald I, 158; Hkr 1893-1901, III, 3, ÍF 28, 3, Hkr 1991, 557 (Mgóð ch. 1), F 1871, 168, E 1916, 7; ÓH 1941, I, 614 (ch. 252); Fsk 1902-3, 192-3 (ch. 38), ÍF 29, 208-9 (ch. 45); Fms 6, 21-2 (Mgóð ch. 10), Fms 12, 126; Flat 1860-8, III, 262, Andersson and Gade 2000, 99, 466 (MH); Whaley 1998, 182-4.

Context: Magnús Óláfsson journeys west from north-west Russia. The summary account in Fsk is brought to a close by st. 1. The others are more leisurely and incorporate at least one other st.

Notes: [All]: In Hkr and ÓH the st. is identified as being from Magnússdrápa. — [1] reiðu ‘the career’: Reiða covers a wide semantic range. This translation, like Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson’s sýsla, iðja ‘activity’ (ÍF 28), assumes that attention is here focussed on Magnús’s deeds, but reiða can also refer to a man’s material splendour, often manifested in generous entertainment or equipping of retainers. — [3] seimbrotar ‘gold-breakers [GENEROUS MEN]’: Presumably Magnús’s hirð ‘retinue’ or close band of retainers were the first audience of this memorial poem. — [4] hneitis ‘of the sword’s’: See Note to ÞjóðA Magnfl 18/6. — [7-8]: These ll. are identical to the second couplet of a st. which is attributed in its sole ms. source, F, to Hallar-Steinn (HSt Frag 1^I), the first couplet of which reads Tolf vas elds at aldri | ýsetrs hati vetra ‘The hater of the fire of the yew-bow’s rest [ARM/HAND > GOLD > GENEROUS MAN] was twelve years in age’. That st. has been taken as belonging to the opening of Hallfreðr’s Óláfsdrápa (Hallfr Óldr^I), and since a st. by Hallfreðr influenced Arn Þorfdr 24 (see Note to [All]), one cannot rule out the possibility that Magndr 1 is composed in imitation of him (a view favoured by de Vries, 1952, 165). On the other hand, the scribe of one or other st., prompted by the similarity of the ll. ormsetrs hati vetra and ýsetrs hati vetra, may have unwittingly substituted hraustr ... Gǫrðum for its original couplet, which is now lost. If so, the likelihood is that hraustr ... Gǫrðum belongs to Arnórr’s st. rather than the other, since (i) it is found in all the diverse ms. texts of Magndr 1; (ii) the adj. hraustr ‘valiant, bold’ is also applied to Magnús in st. 2/6, where it stands at the corresponding point in the st.; and (iii) the doubtful attribution of the Hallar-Steinn/Hallfreðr st. Tolf vas elds... makes its text suspect also. Cf. Fidjestøl (1982, 107), who sees it as a spurious importation from the tradition about Magnús to that of Óláfr Tryggvason. — [7] herskip ‘warships’: This n. acc. noun could be grammatically sg., ‘warship’, but this seems unlikely in context. — [8] vinr Hǫrða ‘friend of the Hǫrðar [NORWEGIAN KING = Magnús]’: The periphrasis anticipates the boy Magnús’s acquisition of power at the end of his voyage (cf. Note to Arn Hryn 3/4, 5).

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. Fidjestøl, Bjarne. 1982. Det norrøne fyrstediktet. Universitet i Bergen Nordisk institutts skriftserie 11. Øvre Ervik: Alvheim & Eide.
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. ÓH 1941 = Johnsen, Oscar Albert and Jón Helgason, eds. 1941. Saga Óláfs konungs hins helga: Den store saga om Olav den hellige efter pergamenthåndskrift i Kungliga biblioteket i Stockholm nr. 2 4^to med varianter fra andre håndskrifter. 2 vols. Det norske historiske kildeskriftfond skrifter 53. Oslo: Dybwad.
9. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
10. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
11. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
12. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
13. Fsk 1902-3 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1902-3. Fagrskinna: Nóregs kononga tal. SUGNL 30. Copenhagen: Møller.
14. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
15. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
16. Internal references
17. (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 19 April 2024)
18. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Óláfs saga helga’ 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=53> (accessed 19 April 2024)
19. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Fagrskinna’ 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=56> (accessed 19 April 2024)
20. 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.
21. (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)
24. Diana Whaley 2012, ‘ Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld Óttarsson, Óláfsdrápa’ 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. 387. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1258> (accessed 19 April 2024)
25. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Hrynhenda, Magnússdrápa 3’ 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. 185-6.
26. 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.
27. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2012, ‘Hallar-Steinn, Fragment 1’ 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. 940.
28. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Þjóðólfr Arnórsson, Magnússflokkr 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. 85-6.