Arn Þorfdr 1^II

Nú hykk slíðrhugaðs segja
— síð léttir mér stríða —
(þýtr Alfǫður) ýtum
jarls kostu (brim hrosta).

Nú hykk segja ýtum kostu slíðrhugaðs jarls; síð léttir mér stríða; {{brim hrosta} Alfǫður} þýtr.

Now I mean to tell men of the excellence of the tough-minded jarl; not soon [lit. late] will my anguish lighten; {{the surf of malt} [ALE] of Alfaðir <= Óðinn>} [POETRY] roars.

Mss: R(20v), Tˣ(21r), W(45), U(26r), B(3v) (SnE); papp10ˣ(37v), 2368ˣ(80-81), 743ˣ(64r) (LaufE)

Readings: [1] hykk: om. B;    ‑hugaðs: so Tˣ, W, U, hugar R, om. B, hugast papp10ˣ, 2368ˣ, 743ˣ;    segja: seggja papp10ˣ, 2368ˣ, 743ˣ    [2] síð léttir: ‘siþlætr’ U;    stríða: stríðum U    [3] þýtr: þrýtr B, papp10ˣ;    ‑fǫður: fǫðrs U, papp10ˣ, 2368ˣ, 743ˣ    [4] kostu: kost W, papp10ˣ, 2368ˣ, 743ˣ, kosta U

Editions: Skj AI, 344, Skj BI, 316, Skald I, 160; SnE 1848-87, I, 232-3, II, 302, 518, SnE 1931, 88, SnE 1998, I, 6; LaufE 1979, 256-7, 330; Whaley 1998, 220-1.

Context: This, the first skaldic quotation in the Skm section of SnE, illustrates the skalds’ use of mythological heiti and kennings, in this case Óðinn being called Alfaðir ‘All-father’.

Notes: [1, 4] slíðrhugaðs jarls ‘of the tough-minded jarl’: (a) Slíðrhugaðr is attested in Anon Liðs 6/5^I, and there are plentiful parallels to the cpd, including grimmhugaðr ‘grim-minded’ and harðhugaðr ‘hard-minded’. (b) The R reading jarls slíðrhugar ‘of the jarl of tough mind’ is a less likely construction (see Whaley 1998, 221), and may be due to a misreading of ‘-az’ in an antecedent ms. — [3, 4] brim hrosta Alfǫður ‘the surf of malt [ALE] of Alfaðir <= Óðinn> [POETRY]’: Hrosti ‘malt’ or strictly ‘mash’ is the malt and liquid used in brewing. The myth of the mead of poetry, and kennings alluding to it, are discussed in Frank 1981 and Davidson 1983, 418-47.

References

1. Bibliography
2. 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.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. 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.
5. Frank, Roberta. 1981. ‘Snorri and the Mead of Poetry’. In Dronke et al. 1981, 155-70.
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. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
8. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
9. Davidson, Daphne L. 1983. ‘Earl Hákon and his Poets’. D. Phil. thesis. Oxford.
10. Internal references
11. 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].
12. (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Skáldskaparmál’ 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=112> (accessed 6 May 2024)
13. Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Anonymous Poems, Liðsmannaflokkr 6’ 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. 1023.