Ólhelg Lv 6I
Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Óláfr inn helgi Haraldsson, Lausavísur 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. 524.
Avrr ‘’
(not checked:)
ǫrr (adj.): generous, brave
notes
[All]: For the sea-battle in 1027 or 1028 against Erlingr at Bókn (Bokn in Boknafjorden, Jæren, Rogaland), see also Sigv Erlfl, BjHall Kálffl 1-2.
mun ‘will’
(not checked:)
munu (verb): will, must
notes
[All]: The attribution of the stanza in ÓH is tentative: Sva segia menn at hann orti þa visv þesa ‘people say that he then composed this stanza’ (variant visor þessar ‘these stanzas’), and the mutual relationship of Lv 6-7 is problematic. Nine C-class ÓH mss have both lausavísur at this point, while the mss of Hkr, ÓHLeg and Fsk, along with five other ÓH mss, have Lv 7 only, suggesting that the first has lesser authority. Contamination between the two stanzas has clearly occurred, with some exchanging of variants from one stanza to the other (thus halr/hauldr, Lv 6/1, 7/1 and possibly Gunnar/geira, Lv 6/3, 7/3). Finnur Jónsson concluded that the first stanza was a mere variant upon the second and edits accordingly in Skj, printing a single stanza with textual variants in Skj A and a main text immediately followed by an alternative text of ll. 5-8 in Skj B. Nevertheless, the two stanzas are sufficiently distinct and the first stanza is sufficiently well attested that they are edited separately here, following Fidjestøl (1982, 67-70), but with the stanzas in the order found in the mss. The fact that the two stanzas take opposed attitudes to Erlingr (as pointed out by Fidjestøl 1982, 68) suggests that they represent closely linked components in a debate or riposte format (on this format, see Grove 2008, 124-5). That there was widespread and vehement debate about issues of honour attaching to both Erlingr’s and Óláfr’s conduct during these events is attested from a variety of sources including Sigv Erlfl and Sigv Erl, which exhibit clear verbal parallels to the present stanzas (Fidjestøl 1982, 69; see also Jesch 2001a, 263-5). But the indifferent transmission of the stanzas in the C class of ÓH mss has no doubt effaced many of the fine details of the original stanza-pair.
hauldr ‘’
(not checked:)
hǫlðr (noun m.; °-s; -ar): man
herr ‘the army’
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herr (noun m.; °-s/-jar, dat. -; -jar, gen. -ja/herra): army, host
[1] herr: hauldr 325V
notes
[1] herr ‘the army’: This apparently refers to the army assembled by the sons of Erlingr.
enn ‘again’
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2. enn (adv.): still, yet, again
hætta ‘take respite’
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3. hætta (verb): desist
notes
[1] hætta ‘take respite’: The sense of the verb is unclear; when used in the sense of ‘cease, come to a stop’ it normally carries, explicitly or tacitly, an object in the dat. case (Fritzner: hætta). The reading may be corrupt.
hrafn ‘the raven’
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hrafn (noun m.; °hrafns; dat. hrafni; hrafnar): raven
skeit ‘’
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skíta (verb)
gná ‘’
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Gná (noun f.): Gná
peitu ‘’
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peita (noun f.): spear
beitu ‘its meal’
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1. beita (noun f.; °-u; -ur): food, meal
[2] beitu: peitu 61, 75c, Flat, Tóm, 325XI 2 b
nær ‘’
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nær (adv.): near, almost; when
unnum ‘made’
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2. vinna (verb): perform, work
gný ‘the clamour’
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gnýr (noun m.): din, tumult
kennings
gný Gunnar.‘the clamour of Gunnr. ’
= BATTLE
the clamour of Gunnr. → BATTLE
gumnar ‘’
(not checked:)
gumi (noun m.; °-a; gumar/gumnar): man
geira ‘’
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geirr (noun m.): spear
Gunnar ‘of Gunnr’
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Gunnr (noun f.): Gunnr
[3] Gunnar: geira 75c, 325VII, Bb, 325XI 2 b, gumnar Tóm
kennings
gný Gunnar.‘the clamour of Gunnr. ’
= BATTLE
the clamour of Gunnr. → BATTLE
glaðir ‘’
(not checked:)
2. glaðr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): cheerful, glad
glaðr ‘glad’
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2. glaðr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): cheerful, glad
[4] glaðr: glaðir 325VII, Flat, 325XI 2 b
í ‘to’
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í (prep.): in, into
nótt ‘night’
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nátt (noun f.; °náttar/nǽtr, dat. -/-u; nǽtr): night
fyrir ‘’
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fyrir (prep.): for, before, because of
á ‘in’
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3. á (prep.): on, at
[4] á: so 325V, 325VII, fyrir Holm4, 61, 75c, Bb, Flat, Tóm, 325XI 2 b
Jaðri ‘Jæren’
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2. Jaðarr (noun m.): Jæren
verstillis ‘’
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verstillir (noun m.)
verstilli ‘’
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verstilli (noun m.)
verstillir ‘’
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verstillir (noun m.)
Umstilli ‘The machinations’
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umstilli (noun n.): [machinations]
[5] Umstilli: so 325VII, verstilli Holm4, verstillir 61, 75c, Bb, Flat, Tóm, 325XI 2 b, verstillis 325V
notes
[5] umstilli ‘the machinations’: This reading is poorly supported but the majority reading, verstilli-, is impossible because of the failure in alliteration. The error ver for um could have arisen from the interchangeability of <u> and <v> and a misreading of an abbreviation for <m>. Likewise, stillir for stilli could have arisen from scribal expectations that the common agentive class of noun in -ir was intended here. The ‘machinations’ of Erlingr and others of Knútr’s agents were stigmatised by advocates for Óláfr (e.g. Sigv Lv 13-15; cf. Fidjestøl 1975; Jesch 2001a, 262-3). Alternatively, it is possible that all the variant readings derive from some unknown word; Fidjestøl (1982, 68) suggests ýstillir ‘bow-user [WARRIOR]’.
hefr ‘have’
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hafa (verb): have
illa ‘a bad outcome’
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illr (adj.): bad, evil, unwell
notes
[5] illa ‘a bad outcome’: Grammatically an adv. here and in Lv 7/5.
ręgiodr ‘’
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rœgja (verb): [maligned, reviled]
ætt ‘of good’
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1. ætt (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): family < ættgóðr (adj.): high-born
[6] ættgóðr: ‘ręgiodr’ Bb
ok ‘’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
of ‘over’
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3. of (prep.): around, from; too
[6] of: so 61, 75c, 325VII, Bb, Flat, Tóm, 325XI 2 b, ok Holm4, 325V
sætta ‘of settlements’
[6] sætta: ‘s[...]ta’ 325XI 2 b
Erlingr ‘Erlingr’
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Erlingr (noun m.): Erlingr
notes
[7-8] Erlingr beið andrán til árla ‘Erlingr … was robbed of life too soon’: Beið andrán is lit. ‘suffered breath-robbery’. An oppositional attitude to Óláfr seems to be expressed here. See Context above and compare especially Sigv Erlfl and Sigv Erl 1. On Erlingr see also ‘Biographies of other dignitaries’ in Introduction to this volume.
beið ‘was robbed’
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bíða (verb; °bíðr; beið, biðu; beðit): wait, suffer, experience
[7] beið: ‘[...]d’ 325XI 2 b
til ‘too’
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til (prep.): to
árla ‘soon’
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árla (adv.): early
andra ‘’
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andr (noun m.; °; andrar): ski
getit ‘brought’
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2. geta (verb): to beget, give birth to, mention, speak of; to think well of, like, love
hônum ‘him’
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hann (pron.; °gen. hans, dat. honum; f. hon, gen. hennar, acc. hana): he, she, it, they, them...
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Erlingr Skjálgsson has acted as an agent of Knútr inn ríki (Cnut the Great) in bribing Norwegian magnates to oppose Óláfr. This precipitates a naval battle in which Erlingr is killed by a too-zealous follower of Óláfr. The sons of Erlingr raise a large army to retaliate against Óláfr, who is ultimately forced to leave Norway. The stanza is spoken by Óláfr as he realises the strength of the opposition.
[2]: A common ‘beast of battle’ image. Exact counterparts to this line are found in Þmáhl Máv 8/6V (Eb 10) and Hást Lv 4/6IV (Fidjestøl 1982, 68).
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