Diana Whaley (ed.) 2012, ‘Bersi Skáld-Torfuson, Flokkr about Óláfr helgi 3’ 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. 794.
Krýpk eigi svá, sveigir
sára linns — í ári
búum ólítinn Áta
ǫndur þér til handa —,
at, herstefnir, hafnak,
heiðmildr, eða þá leiðumk,
— ungr kunnak þar þrøngvi
þínn — hollvini mína.
{Sveigir {linns sára}}, krýpk eigi svá — í ári búum {ólítinn ǫndur Áta} til handa þér —, {heiðmildr herstefnir}, at hafnak, eða þá leiðumk, hollvini mína; ungr kunnak þrøngvi þínn þar.
{Swinger {of the snake of wounds}} [SWORD > WARRIOR], I do not crawl in such a way — early on we are [I am] readying {a not small ski of Áti <sea-king>} [SHIP] for you —, {reward-generous army commander} [RULER], that I forsake, or else then tire of, my loyal friends; [when] young, I got to know your enemy there.
Mss: Kˣ(253r-v) (Hkr); Holm2(13r), R686ˣ(26r), J1ˣ(159v-160r), J2ˣ(136r), 325VI(11rb), 75a(1vb), 68(12r), 61(84vb), Holm4(5ra), 325V(16va), 325VII(5r), Bb(135va), Flat(83vb), Tóm(102v) (ÓH)
Readings: [1] Krýpk (‘Kryp ec’): ‘kryp(or) ec’(?) 325VI, krýp 75a, 61, krýp ek ek 68, ‘Kreyp ec’ Tóm; sveigir: sveigr R686ˣ, síðan 325VII, Bb [2] linns: logs Holm4; í: og R686ˣ; ári: vári 325V, 325VII, Flat, Tóm [3] búum: búinn Flat, Tóm; ólítinn: ‘ollyit(um)’(?) R686ˣ; Áta: úti Holm2, R686ˣ, J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 325VI, 75a, 68, 61, Holm4, 325V, 325VII, Bb, Flat, Tóm [4] ǫndur: endr Flat, Tóm; handa: halda Holm2 [5] ‑stefnir: ‑stefni Holm2, R686ˣ, J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 325VI, 75a, 325V, 325VII, Flat [6] ‑mildr: ‘‑millr’ 325VII; eða: er 325VI, en 75a, né 68, 61 [7] kunnak (‘kunna ec’): kunnig Flat; þar: þá Holm2, J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 325VI, 75a, Holm4, Bb, Tóm, þat 68, 61, þann Flat; þrøngvi (‘þreyngvi’): ‘þrǫngar’ 325VI, þengill 68, þrøngvir 61 [8] ‑vini mína: ‑vina minna 68
Editions: Skj AI, 276, Skj BI, 255, Skald I, 131, NN §§620, 3222; Hkr 1893-1901, II, 74, IV, 124, ÍF 27, 66-7, Hkr 1991, I, 295 (ÓHHkr ch. 50); Fms 4, 102, Fms 12, 80, ÓH 1941, I, 96 (ch. 40), Flat 1860-8, II, 45.
Context: This follows st. 1 (see Context) and st. 2, with no intervening words.
Notes: [2] í ári ‘early on’: This adverbial could be taken with either clause in the first helmingr, and its sense is somewhat elusive. Although ‘this year’ would be a natural translation, ‘early, at daybreak’, or ‘early, soon, quickly’ seem more likely in context (so Finnur Jónsson in Hkr 1893-1901, IV; he prefers the latter in Skj B and LP: 2. ár 5; cf. Kock’s case for ‘in a hurry’, NN §3222). In Hkr 1991 the phrase is taken with the krýpk-clause and understood as ‘this year, at present’. The variant í vári ‘in the spring’ is viable but seems to be secondary. — [3] búum ‘we are [I am] readying’: The point about readying or preparing a ship is not entirely clear, but it seems to be a promise of service, despite not abandoning former friends (so Finnur Jónsson in Hkr 1893-1901, IV; ÍF 27). If búumk is not taken as ‘prepare’ but ‘dwell, inhabit’ it could instead be a reference to the speaker’s captivity on board ship (so Hkr 1991, which favours taking þér til handa with krýpk eigi svá, hence ‘I do not crawl thus into your power’). — [3] Áta ‘of Áti <sea-king>’: Only this, the reading of Kˣ, makes sense of ǫndur ‘ski’ in l. 4 by providing the necessary determinant for a ship-kenning; the majority variant úti must have arisen because the name Áti was relatively unfamiliar. — [5, 6, 8] hafnak, eða þá leiðumk, hollvini mína ‘I forsake, or else then tire of, my loyal friends’: Hafna ‘forsake’ normally takes a dat. object; the acc. pl. object hollvini mína ‘my loyal friends’ is determined by leiðumk ‘I tire of’. — [7] þar ‘there’: This may well mean ‘among them’ (so Hkr 1893-1901, IV; ÍF 27). It is taken, rather awkwardly, with ll. 5-6 in Skj B. — [7] þrøngvi ‘enemy’: Lit. ‘forcer, oppressor’; this is among heiti for ‘enemy’ in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 107).
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