Arn Þorfdr 13^II

Veitk, þars Vatnsfjǫrðr heitir,
(vask í miklum haska)
míns (við mannkyns reyni)
merki dróttins verka.
Þjóð bar skjótt af skeiðum
skjaldborg fríamorgin;
gǫrla sák, at gínði
grár ulfr of ná sôrum.

Veitk merki verka dróttins míns, þars heitir Vatnsfjǫrðr; vask í miklum haska við {reyni mannkyns}. Þjóð bar skjótt skjaldborg af skeiðum fríamorgin; sák gǫrla, at grár ulfr gínði of sôrum ná.

I know there are tokens of the exploits of my lord, where it is called Vatnsfjǫrðr; I was in great peril with {the trier of men} [RULER]. The crew carried swiftly the shield-wall from the warships on Friday morning; I saw clearly that the grey wolf gaped over the wounded corpse.

Mss: R702ˣ(39v), Flat(131vb), SLR(90) (ll. 7-8) (Orkn)

Readings: [2] vask (‘uásk’): so Flat, ‘varsk’ R702ˣ    [4] merki: so Flat, merkin R702ˣ    [6] fría‑: fira Flat;    ‑morgin: morgun or morgum Flat    [7] sák (‘sa ek’): frá ek Flat;    gínði: so Flat, grínði R702ˣ, SLR    [8] of (‘um’): so Flat, at R702ˣ, SLR;    ná: ‘gna’ Flat;    sôrum: sárann Flat

Editions: Skj AI, 346, Skj BI, 318, Skald I, 161; Flat 1860-8, II, 411, Orkn 1913-16, 61, ÍF 34, 58 (ch.  22); Whaley 1998, 243-5.

Context: A great and bloody battle is fought at Vatnsfjǫrðr, beginning early in the day and ending in victory for the jarls.

Notes: [All]: The relevant part of the text in 332ˣ ends just before this st. would have appeared. — [1] Vatnsfjǫrðr: The most convincing location for Vatnsfjǫrðr, because of the equivalence of the two names, is Loch Vatten, an arm of the sea branching off Loch Bracadale on the west coast of Skye (so, e.g., Anderson 1873, 27, n. 2). It is relatively fertile—a suitable target for plundering and cattle-raiding. An alternative is Waterford in Ireland (Crawford 1987, 74 and 233, n. 74). — [2] vask; haska ‘I was; peril’: Arnórr rhymes háski on bráskat ‘did not cease’ in st. 11/2 and on sásk ‘did not fear’ in Arn Hardr 10/4, but in the present case the suggestion of Konráð Gíslason (1877, 49-50) must be considered, that vowel shortening produced a variant form haski. — [3] reyni mannkyns ‘the trier of men [RULER]’: The kenning probably denotes Þorfinnr and means specifically ‘he who tries men’s strength (in battle)’, as does Mark Eirdr 28 reynir máttar hersa ‘trier of the strength of hersar’. However, it is conceivable that Arnórr also intended the kenning (and perhaps dróttins míns ‘of my lord’ in ll. 3 and 4) to refer to God, thus implying that God was supporting the skald and Þorfinnr. All other recorded kennings meaning ‘trier of men’ (Mark Eirdr 25/7 reynir hǫlða among them) refer to God. — [7] gínði ‘gaped’: This is quite a common image: cf. vargar gínðu of hræ ‘wolves gaped over carrion’ in ESk Geisl 29/7, 8^VII. Grínði ‘grinned, stretched his jaws’ in R702ˣ and SLR may reflect a scribal error in a previous stage of transmission, but as the lectio difficilior cannot be ruled out as the original reading. The verb grína ‘grin, stare, squeal, grunt’ is rare in ON and normally strong (AEW), but grínði is supported by the fact that the verb is weak in ModIcel. Either way, the l. lacks the expected skothending, but no obvious emendation suggests itself. — [8] of sôrum ná ‘over the wounded corpse’: The reading is supported by Geisl 29^VII (see previous Note). At ‘at, towards’ (so R702ˣ, SLR) would also be possible.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
4. Whaley, Diana, ed. and trans. 1998. The Poetry of Arnórr jarlaskáld: An Edition and Study. Westfield Publications in Medieval Studies 8. Turnhout: Brepols.
5. 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.
6. Konráð Gíslason. 1877. Om helrim i förste og tredje linie af regelmæssigt ‘dróttkvætt’ og ‘hrynhenda’. Indbydelsesskrift til Kjøbenhavns universitets aarsfest til erindring om kirkens reformation. Copenhagen: Schultz.
7. ÍF 34 = Orkneyinga saga. Ed. Finnbogi Guðmundsson. 1965.
8. Crawford, Barbara E. 1987. Scandinavian Scotland. Scotland in the Early Middle Ages 2. Leicester: Leicester University Press.
9. Anderson, Joseph, ed. 1873. The Orkneyinga saga. Trans. Jon A. Hjaltalin and Gilbert Goudie. Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas.
10. Orkn 1913-16 = Sigurður Nordal, ed. 1913-16. Orkneyinga saga. SUGNL 40. Copenhagen: Møller.
11. SLR = Worm 1650.
12. Internal references
13. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Haraldsdrápa 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, p. 271.
14. Martin Chase (ed.) 2007, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Geisli 29’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 30-1.
15. Jayne Carroll (ed.) 2009, ‘Markús Skeggjason, Eiríksdrápa 25’ 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. 454-5.
16. Jayne Carroll (ed.) 2009, ‘Markús Skeggjason, Eiríksdrápa 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, pp. 457-8.