Arn Þorfdr 23^II

Hringstríði varð hlýða
herr frá Þursaskerjum
— rétt segik þjóð, hvé þótti
Þórfinnr — til Dyflinnar.

Herr varð hlýða {hringstríði} frá Þursaskerjum til Dyflinnar; segik þjóð rétt, hvé Þórfinnr þótti.

People had to heed {the ring-harmer} [GENEROUS RULER] from Þursasker to Dublin; I tell men truly how Þorfinnr was regarded.

Mss: Kˣ(330v) (Hkr); Holm2(32r), 325V(33va), 325VI(19vb), 75a(24vb), 73aˣ(79r-v), Holm4(24ra), 325VII(17r), Flat(102va), Bb(160vb), Tóm(119r) (ÓH); Flat(133ra) (Orkn)

Readings: [1] Hringstríði: Hringstríðr 73aˣ, Tóm, Hrafnsfœði Flat(133ra);    varð: var Holm2, 325V, 75a;    hlýða: hlyðinn Holm2, 325V, 75a, 73aˣ    [2] frá: fyrir Holm2, 75a;    Þursa‑: ‘þyssa’ 325VII, ‘þíassa’ Tóm    [3] rétt: réttr Holm4;    segik (‘segi ec’): segi Holm2, 325V, segit 75a, segir 73aˣ;    þjóð: þér 75a, 73aˣ;    hvé: so 325V, 325VI, 75a, 73aˣ, 325VII, Flat(102va), Flat(133ra), hverr Kˣ, Holm2, Holm4, Bb, Tóm    [4] Þórfinnr: so 325V, Flat(102va), Bb, Tóm, Flat(133ra), Þorfinns Kˣ, Holm2, 75a, 73aˣ, Holm4, 325VII, ‘þorf’’ 325VI

Editions: Skj AI, 348, Skj BI, 321, Skald I, 162; Hkr 1893-1901, II, 214, ÍF 27, 174, Hkr 1991, 374 (ÓH ch. 103); Flat 1860-8, II, 182, ÓH 1941, I, 255 (ch. 89); Flat 1860-8, II, 421, Orkn 1913-16, 86, ÍF 34, 81 (ch. 32); Whaley 1998, 362-4.

Context: The st. is preceded in Hkr and ÓH by a comment on Þorfinnr’s pre-eminence, which ends with a remark that he gained possession of Shetland, the Orkneys and the Hebrides, and had great power in Scotland and Ireland. Orkn claims nine earldoms in Scotland, all the Hebrides and great power in Ireland.

Notes: [2] Þursaskerjum ‘Þursasker’: Lit. ‘Giants’ skerries’. Dublin (til Dyflinnar) (l. 4) presumably marks the south-western extremity of Þorfinnr’s sphere of influence, so that one would expect Þursasker to be its north-eastern limit, just as it is the eastern boundary of Scandinavian Scotland in Hák ch. 265 (1977-82, 149; ms. ‘þussa-sker’). Finnbogi Guðmundsson’s identification of Þursasker with The Skerries, a group of islets in the extreme east of the Shetland Isles, is therefore plausible (ÍF 34). Quite close by are fishing grounds which Crawford (1987, 75) notes had the traditional name ‘de Tussek’, possibly a reminiscence of Þursa-/Þussasker. — [3-4] hvé Þórfinnr þótti ‘how Þorfinnr was regarded’: The variant readings hvé/hverr and Þorfinns/Þorfinnr yield four possible ways in which the ll. can be interpreted. Whichever readings are adopted, the result is a subordinate cl. dependent on rétt segik þjóð ‘I tell men truly’. (a) Hvé þótti Þorfinnr, lit. ‘what kind of man Þorfinnr seemed / how Þorfinnr was regarded’, is found in mss 325V, Flat and probably also 325VI. This reading is adopted here, following ÍF 34, 81, though it is only marginally superior to (b) and (c) below. (b) Hverr þótti Þorfinns is the reading of the main ms. Kˣ and two others. If the meaning were ‘who was considered Þorfinnr’s (subject)’ it would accord particularly well with the remainder of the helmingr, but this assumption may be slightly forced. (c) Hverr þótti Þorfinnr, lit. ‘who Þorfinnr was considered to be’, could have the sense ‘what ... like, how great’, but this is the reading only of the often unreliable mss Bb and Tóm; it is nevertheless adopted in Skj B and retained in Skald. (d) The remaining option, hvé þótti Þorfinns (in three mss), makes no sense.

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. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
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. 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.
7. ÍF 34 = Orkneyinga saga. Ed. Finnbogi Guðmundsson. 1965.
8. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
9. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
10. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
11. Crawford, Barbara E. 1987. Scandinavian Scotland. Scotland in the Early Middle Ages 2. Leicester: Leicester University Press.
12. Orkn 1913-16 = Sigurður Nordal, ed. 1913-16. Orkneyinga saga. SUGNL 40. Copenhagen: Møller.
13. Internal references
14. (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)
15. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar’ 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=33> (accessed 23 April 2024)
16. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Orkneyinga saga’ 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=47> (accessed 23 April 2024)
17. (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 23 April 2024)