Arn Þorfdr 6^II

Endr hykk Karli kenndu
kyndóm jǫfur brynju
— land vasa lofðungs kundar
laust — fyr Dýrnes austan.
Fimm snekkjum réð frammi
flugstyggr við hug dyggvan
rausnarmannr at ræsis
reiðr ellifu skeiðum.

Hykk jǫfur endr kenndu Karli {kyndóm brynju} fyr austan Dýrnes; land {kundar lofðungs} vasa laust. Flugstyggr rausnarmannr réð reiðr fimm snekkjum við dyggvan hug frammi at ellifu skeiðum ræsis.

I believe the prince [Þorfinnr] once taught Karl {the monstrous verdict of the mail-coat} [BATTLE] east off Deerness; the land {of the ruler’s son} [RULER = Þorfinnr] was not for the taking. The flight-shunning man of splendour [Þorfinnr] steered, angered, five warships with steadfast heart forth against the eleven longships of the lord [Karl].

Mss: 332ˣ(23), Flat(131ra), 48ˣ(344r-v marg) (Orkn)

Readings: [1] Endr: ‘Andr’ Flat, Endr 48ˣmarg;    Karli: ‘k̄l.’ Flat, Karli 48ˣmarg    [2] kyndóm: kyndum Flat, kyndóm 48ˣmarg;    jǫfur: ‘lofut’ Flat, jǫfur 48ˣmarg    [3] kundar: kindar Flat, kundar 48ˣmarg    [5] réð: helt Flat    [6] við: af Flat;    dyggvan (‘dyggann’): dyggum Flat, dyggvan 48ˣmarg

Editions: Skj AI, 344-5, Skj BI, 317, Skald I, 160-1; Flat 1860-8, II, 405, Orkn 1913-16, 46, ÍF 34, 46 (ch. 20); Whaley 1998, 230-2.

Context: Þorfinnr, threatened with a two-pronged attack from Karl Hundason and the Scots, sails north across the Pentland Firth (Péttlandsfjǫrðr). He reaches Deerness (Dýrnes), just south of Sandwick (Sandvík), but there Karl catches up with him before his reinforcements arrive, and Þorfinnr chooses to fight rather than abandon his ships and goods.

Notes: [All]: 332ˣ cites the st. explicitly from Arnórr í Þorfinnsdrápu. — [1] Karli (dat. sg.) ‘Karl’: (a) This is treated here as the proper name Karl, as also in Orkn ch. 20, in which a king of the Scots named Karl Hundason figures prominently. Karl has been variously identified as a Mormaer (provincial ruler) of Ross, Sutherland or both who annexed Argyll on the death of the ruler whom Orkn names Malcolm (Melkólmr), in 1029 (Taylor 1937); as MacBeth (Crawford 1987, 71-2); as Duncan (Donaldson 1988, 2); or as a Mormaer of Moray (Thomson 1987, 47-9). The Scottish credentials of the name Hundi receive some support from its appearance as the name of a freedman of Scots family in Laxdœla saga ch. 6. (b) It should, however, be noted that there is no evidence in Celtic sources for a king with such a name, and it is conceivable that the karl in Arnórr’s st. is simply the appellative ‘old man, churl’, which was misinterpreted as a pers. n., and the patronymic Hundason added (as suggested by Munch, 1852-63, I, ii 854 n.). — [2] kyndóm brynju ‘monstrous verdict of the mail-coat [BATTLE]’: An unusual battle-kenning, but cf. dómr folkvandar ‘verdict of the battle-rod [SWORD]’ (VGl Lv 2/5, 8^V), and other battle-kennings with base-words referring to assemblies, including brynþing ‘byrnie-assembly’ (several occurrences, including Arn Magndr 6/5-7, and see Note). — [3] kundar lofðungs ‘of the ruler’s son [RULER = Þorfinnr]’: The reference of lofðungs, if kundr is taken in its narrower sense of ‘son’ rather than ‘descendant’, is to Þorfinnr’s father, Sigurðr digri ‘the Stout’ Hlǫðvisson. The near-synonymous variant kindar is also possible. — [4] Dýrnes ‘Deerness’: A peninsula on the east side of Mainland, chief of the Orkney Islands. — [5, 8] fimm snekkjum; ellifu skeiðum ‘five warships; eleven longships’: Although there is uncertainty about the definition of both snekkja and skeið, the skeið seems to have been larger (see Note to ÞjóðA Magnfl 2/2, 3).

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. Thomson, Colin D. 1987. Íslenzk Beygingafræði. Isländische Formenlehre. Icelandic Inflections. Hamburg: Buske.
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. ÍF 34 = Orkneyinga saga. Ed. Finnbogi Guðmundsson. 1965.
7. Taylor, A. B. 1937. ‘Karl Hundason, “King of Scots”’. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 71, 334-42.
8. Crawford, Barbara E. 1987. Scandinavian Scotland. Scotland in the Early Middle Ages 2. Leicester: Leicester University Press.
9. Donaldson, Gordon. 1988. ‘Introductory Essay: The Contemporary Scene’. In Crawford 1988, 1-9.
10. Orkn 1913-16 = Sigurður Nordal, ed. 1913-16. Orkneyinga saga. SUGNL 40. Copenhagen: Møller.
11. Internal references
12. 2022, ‘ Anonymous, Laxdœla saga’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 1199-1203. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=11> (accessed 26 April 2024)
13. (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 26 April 2024)
14. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Magnússdrápa 6’ 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. 215-16.
15. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Þjóðólfr Arnórsson, Magnússflokkr 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, pp. 65-6.
16. John McKinnell (ed.) 2022, ‘Víga-Glúms saga 2 (Víga-Glúmr Eyjólfsson, Lausavísur 2)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1375.