Arn Magndr 12^II

Vítt hefk heyrt at heiti
Helganes, þars elgi
vágs inn víða frægi
vargteitir hrauð marga.
Røkr ǫndurt bað randir
reggbúss saman leggja;
rógskýja helt rýgjar
regni haustnôtt gegnum.

Hefk heyrt, at heiti vítt Helganes, þars {inn víða frægi vargteitir} hrauð {marga elgi vágs}. Ǫndurt røkr bað {reggbúss} leggja saman randir; {regni {rýgjar {rógskýja}}} helt gegnum haustnôtt.

I have heard that it is called broad Helgenæs, where {the widely famed wolf-cheerer} [WARRIOR] stripped {many elks of the wave} [SHIPS]. At the beginning of twilight {the ship-tree} [SEAFARER] called for shields to be set together; {the rain {of the troll-woman {of strife-clouds}}} [SHIELDS > AXE > BATTLE] persisted through the autumn night.

Mss: Kˣ(516v), 39(17va), F(41ra), E(9r), J2ˣ(254r) (Hkr); FskBˣ(58v-59r), FskAˣ(223-224) (Fsk); H(12r), Hr(10vb) (H-Hr); Flat(191vb) (Flat, ll. 1-4); R(33v), Tˣ(35r), W(76), U(32r), A(10v), C(5r) (SnE, ll. 5-8); 2368ˣ(114) (LaufE)

Readings: [1] Vítt: Hitt FskAˣ;    hefk (‘hefi ec’): hæfir FskBˣ, hǫfum FskAˣ;    heyrt: ‘hæyt’ FskBˣ;    heiti: héti F, E, H, Hr, Flat, ‘hæyti’ FskAˣ    [2] þars (‘þar er’): þar FskAˣ    [3] vágs: ‘vægs’ FskAˣ, ‘vox’ Flat;    inn: ‘menn’ FskBˣ, ins Flat    [4] ‑teitir: teitr Hr;    hrauð: so E, J2ˣ, H, Hr, rauð Kˣ, 39, F, FskBˣ, FskAˣ, Flat;    marga: margan FskBˣ, Flat    [5] Røkr: reykr F, FskAˣ, C, rekr FskBˣ, rekkr Hr, ‘rek[...]’ U;    ǫndurt: ‘andrt’ FskBˣ, ǫndur FskAˣ, ‘[...]dvrt’ U;    bað: var U;    randir: om. H, randar C    [6] regg‑: regn‑ FskBˣ, ‘r[...]’ U    [7] róg‑: so 39, F, E, H, Hr, R, Tˣ, W, U, A, C, 2368ˣ, rógs Kˣ, J2ˣ, FskBˣ, FskAˣ;    ‑skýja: skyggja J2ˣ, ‘skyiara’ Hr, ‘sk[...]a’ U;    helt: lét Hr;    rýgjar: ‘rygia’ R, Tˣ, W, C, 2368ˣ    [8] regni: regin or regni R, rogni W, ‘r[...]ni’ U, regn C;    gegnum: í gegnum C

Editions: Skj AI, 340-1, Skj BI, 314, Skald I, 159, NN §822; Hkr 1893-1901, III, 63, ÍF 28, 56-7, Hkr 1991, 593-4 (Mgóð ch. 33), F 1871, 189, E 1916, 30; Fsk 1902-3, 214 (ch. 42), ÍF 29, 224 (ch. 50); Fms 6, 83 (Mgóð ch. 40), Fms 12, 137; Flat 1860-8, III, 285, Andersson and Gade 2000, 126, 470-1 (MH); SnE 1848-87, I, 414-15, II, 325, 436, 585, SnE 1931, 148, SnE 1998, I, 65; LaufE 1979, 373; Whaley 1998, 205-8.

Context: In Hkr and H-Hr, it is remarked that the battle off Helgenæs (Helganes) began in the evening, and that at the outset Magnús had a smaller force but larger and better-manned ships. In Fsk, the same battle is summarily narrated up to the point where, after a night-long battle, Sveinn flees ashore. In Flat, on the other hand, the st. follows a description of Sveinn’s flight to Sweden after the battle of Århus (Áróss), Magnús’s capture of Sveinn’s ships and treasure, and his reprisals on the men of Skåne (Skáney). SnE and LaufE quote st. 12/5-8 to show that maðr er kendr til viða—that a kenning for ‘man’ (here reggbúss) can have ‘tree’ as its base-word.

Notes: [All]: The battle off Helgenæs (Helganes) and its aftermath are also commemorated in sts 13-18 below, Ókík Magn 1, ÞjóðA Magnfl 8-18, ÞjóðA Magn 1-14 and Arn Hryn 14-15. — [1] vítt ‘broad’: (a) The adj. is here taken as qualifying Helganes. The epithet may be conventional (cf. st. 9/4) but also aptly describes the rhomboidal peninsula, which would appear broad from both the mainland and the sea. (b) Vítt could alternatively be an adv. ‘widely, far and wide’ modifying hefk heyrt ‘I have heard’. — [7] rýgjar ‘of the troll-woman’: (a) The reading is here taken, as by Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson, as rýgjar, gen. sg. of the f. noun meaning ‘mighty woman, ogress’ (ÍF 28, 56-7 n., following Nj 1875-8, II, 518); it forms part of an axe-kenning (cf. Meissner 148) which in turn is determinant to a battle-kenning. (b) An alternative also proposed by Bjarni is that rýgr, again like other words for ‘troll-woman’ or ‘giantess’ (e.g. gnepja and vígglǫð), might be an axe-heiti in itself. Róg rýgjar ‘strife of the axe’ would then be ‘battle’, rógský rýgjar ‘clouds of battle’ would be ‘shields’ and the regn of shields once more ‘battle’. (c) Skj B reads the minority variant ‘rygia’ as acc. pl. of Rygjar (men of Rogaland), hence bað Rygja leggja saman randir ‘asked the Rygjar to set their shields together’. (d) Kock (NN §822) reads Rygja and construes rógskýja ... Rygja regni ‘the Rogalanders’ battle’. — [8] gegnum ‘through’: Gegnum is established here by the aðalhending on regni, but the variant gǫgnum is established by aðalhendingar on Hǫgna (st. 13/6) and Rǫgnvalds (Arn Þorfdr 2/4). Both variants are attested in other skaldic rhymes from the C11th, e.g. þegnar : gegnum (Halli XI Fl 4/6), and Rǫgnvalds : gǫgnum (Sigv Austv 12/4^I).

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. 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.
5. Nj 1875-89 = Konráð Gíslason and Eiríkur Jónsson. 1875-89. Njála: Udgivet efter gamle håndskrifter. Íslendingasögur udgivne efter gamle haandskrifter af Det Kongelige Nordiske Oldskrift-selskab 4. Copenhagen: Thiele.
6. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
7. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
8. LaufE 1979 = Faulkes, Anthony, ed. 1979. Edda Magnúsar Ólafssonar (Laufás Edda). RSÁM 13. Vol. I of Two Versions of Snorra Edda from the 17th Century. Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar, 1977-9.
9. Meissner = Meissner, Rudolf. 1921. Die Kenningar der Skalden: Ein Beitrag zur skaldischen Poetik. Rheinische Beiträge und Hülfsbücher zur germanischen Philologie und Volkskunde 1. Bonn and Leipzig: Schroeder. Rpt. 1984. Hildesheim etc.: Olms.
10. 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.
11. Whaley, Diana, ed. and trans. 1998. The Poetry of Arnórr jarlaskáld: An Edition and Study. Westfield Publications in Medieval Studies 8. Turnhout: Brepols.
12. 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.
13. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
14. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
15. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
16. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
17. Fsk 1902-3 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1902-3. Fagrskinna: Nóregs kononga tal. SUGNL 30. Copenhagen: Møller.
18. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
19. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
20. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
21. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
22. Internal references
23. 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].
24. (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 23 April 2024)
25. (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 23 April 2024)
26. (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 23 April 2024)
27. (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 23 April 2024)
28. (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)
29. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Hrynhenda, 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. 200-1.
30. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Þorfinnsdrápa 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. 232.
31. Russell Poole (ed.) 2009, ‘Halli stirði, Flokkr 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. 341-2.
32. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Austrfararvísur 12’ 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. 600.
33. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Þjóðólfr Arnórsson, Stanzas about Magnús Óláfsson in Danaveldi 1’ 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. 88-9.
34. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Þjóðólfr Arnórsson, Magnússflokkr 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. 73-4.
35. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Laufás Edda’ 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=10928> (accessed 23 April 2024)