Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Magnússdrápa 10’ 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. 219-20.
Óð með øxi breiða
ódæsinn framm ræsir
— varð of hilmi Hǫrða
hjǫrdynr — ok varp brynju,
þás of skapt, en skipti
skapvǫrðr himins jǫrðu,
— Hel klauf hausa fǫlva —
hendr tvær jǫfurr spendi.
Ódæsinn ræsir óð framm með breiða øxi ok varp brynju; {hjǫrdynr} varð of {hilmi Hǫrða}, þás jǫfurr spendi tvær hendr of skapt, en {skapvǫrðr himins} skipti jǫrðu; Hel klauf fǫlva hausa.
The unsluggish ruler stormed forth with broad axe, and cast off his byrnie; {a sword-clash} [BATTLE] arose around {the ruler of the Hǫrðar} [NORWEGIAN KING = Magnús], as the prince clenched both hands around the shaft, and {the shaping guardian of heaven} [= God] allotted earth; Hel clove pallid skulls.
Mss: Kˣ(511r-v), 39(16rb), F(40ra), E(7v), J2ˣ(250r) (Hkr); Holm2(74v-75r), 972ˣ(588va), 325VI(42vb), 321ˣ(285), 325V(90va), 61(130vb), Bb(206vb-207ra), Tóm(161v) (ÓH); FskBˣ(58r), FskAˣ(222) (Fsk, ll. 1-4); H(8v), Hr(8vb) (H-Hr); Flat(191va) (Flat)
Readings: [2] ódæsinn: ‘odælinn’ E, ‘odræsinn’ 325V, Tóm; framm: frá Tóm [3] varð: virð Tóm; of: und 61; Hǫrða: ‘hordan’ 61 [4] hjǫrdynr: ‘hiordvnr’ Bb, ‘hiorðine’ FskBˣ, hjǫrdyn H, Hr, hrædýr Flat; ok: so F, Holm2, 972ˣ, 325VI, 321ˣ, 325V, 61, Bb, Tóm, FskBˣ, FskAˣ, H, Hr, Flat, en Kˣ, er E, J2ˣ; brynju: brynjum Hr, Flat [5] þás (‘þa er’): þar er E, J2ˣ, Holm2, þat er 325VI, 321ˣ, þá 325V; en: er Bb; skipti: skeptir 61, Tóm, skepti Flat [6] ‑vǫrðr: vǫrð 61; himins: ‘himis’ 325V [7] Hel klauf hausa fǫlva: om. 61; klauf: ‘klaup’ 321ˣ [8] tvær: tveim 325V, tveimr 61, Tóm; jǫfurr spendi: so 39, F, E, J2ˣ, Holm2, 972ˣ, 325VI, 321ˣ, 325V, 61, Bb, FskBˣ, H, Hr, Flat, jǫfurs spendu Kˣ, jǫfur spendar Tóm
Editions: Skj AI, 340-1, Skj BI, 313, Skald I, 159; Hkr 1893-1901, III, 48-9, ÍF 28, 43-4, Hkr 1991, 584 (Mgóð ch. 28); ÓH 1941, I, 630 (ch. 265); Fsk 1902-3, 212 (ch. 42), ÍF 29, 223 (ch. 50), F 1871, 183, E 1916, 24; Fms 6, 65 (Mgóð ch. 32), Fms 12, 132-3; Flat 1860-8, III, 281, Andersson and Gade 2000, 121, 469 (MH); Whaley 1998, 201-3.
Context: In Hkr, ÓH and H-Hr, the st. is quoted near the beginning of the account of the battle of Lyrskovshede (Hlýrskógsheiðr). After receiving heartening portents, Magnús casts off his byrnie and rushes into the attack. In Flat, st. 10 is the first of three sts by Arnórr which are quoted at the end of the brief account of the battle; it has the same summary role in Fsk.
Notes: [All]: This battle is also commemorated in st. 11 below, ÞjóðA Magnfl 6-7, Arn Hryn 13 and Þfagr Sveinn 1. — [2] ódæsinn ‘unsluggish’: I.e. ‘energetic’. Ódæsinn is recorded only here, although dæsinn and dásinn, both ‘inactive, feeble’ each appears once in LP, and dási m. ‘sluggish, inactive person’ twice. The literal sense of ódæsinn is ‘not out of breath, unwearied’ (cf. dæsa(sk) ‘groan, lose one’s breath from exhaustion’, p. p. dæstr ‘exhausted’). — [4] ok ‘and’: En ‘and/but’ in the main ms. Kˣ and 39 also gives excellent sense, but ok has by far the stronger ms. support. — [6] skapvǫrðr himins ‘the shaping guardian of heaven [= God]’: Skapvǫrðr is a hap. leg. in which skap- could have the active sense ‘creating, shaping, fashioning’ emphasised here, or the passive ‘natural, fated’ as in the adjectives skapligr ‘natural, suitable’ and skapdauði ‘fated to die’. — [7] Hel: The axe Hel had, according to Snorri, been owned by Magnús’s father Óláfr (MgóðHkr ch. 28, ÍF 28, 43). Theodoricus, in his Historia (MHN 49) also reports that Magnús wielded his father’s axe (not there named) two-handed at Lyrskovshede (Hlýrskógsheiðr), and that it was shattered in the battle but is partly preserved in the cathedral at Trondheim (Niðaróss). Hel was the goddess of death and her realm in pre-Christian mythology, and by juxtaposing the name with himins ‘heaven’s’ and jǫrðu ‘earth’ (both l. 6) the skald seems to encourage these associations. — [8] jǫfurr spendi ‘the prince clenched’: This has much the stronger ms. authority, but Kˣ’s hendr tvær jǫfurs spendu (of skapt) ‘the prince’s two hands clenched (round the shaft)’ gives equally good sense, and is printed in Skj B, but must be secondary.
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