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Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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BjHall Kálffl 5I

Alison Finlay (ed.) 2012, ‘Bjarni gullbrárskáld Hallbjarnarson, Kálfsflokkr 5’ 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. 885.

Bjarni gullbrárskáld HallbjarnarsonKálfsflokkr
456

Jǫrð rétt vígi at varða
vígreifr fyr Ôleifi;
brauzt við bragning nýztan
bág; þat kveðk mik frôgu.
Fyrr gekkt á stað Stiklar
stór verk, en óð merki;
satts, at sókn of veittir
snjallr, unz gramr vas fallinn.

Vígreifr, rétt at varða jǫrð vígi fyr Ôleifi; brauzt bág við nýztan bragning; þat kveðk mik frôgu. Fyrr gekkt stór verk á Stiklarstað, en merki óð; satts, at of veittir snjallr sókn, unz gramr vas fallinn.

War-cheerful, you set about defending the land with war against Óláfr; you raised hostility against the most excellent king; I declare that I heard that. Before, you achieved great deeds at Stiklestad, and the standard surged; it is true that you kept up the attack, brave, until the king had fallen.

Mss: Holm2(68r), J2ˣ(227v), 321ˣ(257), 73aˣ(202r), Holm4(63vb), 61(125vb), 325V(81rb), 325VII(38v), Bb(199ra), Flat(124vb), Tóm(156r) (ÓH); Kˣ(471v) (Hkr)

Readings: [1] Jǫrð: ‘ad’ 321ˣ, ‘Jardr’ 73aˣ, ‘Jorðr’ or ‘Jarðr’ 325V;    rétt: rétti 73aˣ;    at: om. J2ˣ    [3] brauzt (‘brauztu’): bauztu Kˣ;    nýztan: nýzta J2ˣ, nýztum 325VII    [4] bág: dag Bb;    kveðk (‘kveð ec’): kveð 325VII    [5] Fyrr: fram Flat;    gekkt (‘gecctv’): gekksk þú 61, Bb;    á stað Stiklar: í styr strǫngum 61, Flat, Tóm, styrs unz stilli Bb;    Stiklar: Stikla 73aˣ, Holm4, 325V, 325VII, Kˣ    [6] stór‑: stóð 61, Bb, Flat, Tóm;    óð: orð J2ˣ, at 73aˣ    [7] satts at (‘satt er at’): so 73aˣ, Holm4, 61, 325V, 325VII, Flat, Kˣ, satt er Holm2, satt var at J2ˣ, satt var Tóm    [8] unz: ‘vyz’ 73aˣ;    gramr: framr J2ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 395, Skj BI, 364, Skald I, 182Fms 5, 83-4, Fms 12, 101ÓH 1941, I, 575 (ch. 226), Flat 1860-8, II, 357; Hkr 1893-1901, II, 494, IV, 171, ÍF 27, 385-6, Hkr 1991, II, 534 (ÓHHkr ch. 228). 

Context: The stanza is cited at the point where King Óláfr Haraldsson is killed in the battle of Stiklastaðir (Stiklestad). ÓH-Hkr record uncertainty as to whether one of the three decisive blows was struck by Kálfr Árnason or his kinsman Kálfr Arnfinnsson (and see ÍF 27, 385 n. 2).

Notes: [4] frôgu ‘heard’: This is the past inf. of fregna ‘to hear, learn by enquiry’ forming an inf. with acc. construction with (kveðk) mik ‘me’, hence ‘(I declare that) I heard’. — [5-8]: (a) The construal here follows Skj B. It requires treating gekkt, normally ‘you went’, as a transitive verb meaning ‘achieved’, which is unusual but possible (Fritzner: ganga 10). (b) ÍF 27 reads Gekktu á Stiklastað fyrr an merki óð; satt stórverk es, at of veittir ... ‘You advanced at Stiklestad before the standard surged; it is a truly [lit. true] great deed, that you kept up ... ’, but this assumes a contorted syntax. (c) Konráð Gíslason (1895-7, II, 249; followed in Hkr 1893-1901, II) hazarded an emended form stórverkr, which he took as either a substantive (stordådsmand ‘man of great deeds’) or an adj. (‘doing great deeds’) qualifying the understood subject þú ‘you’. But the element ‑verkr in compounds is more usually nominal, with the sense ‘pain’. — [5] Stiklarstað ‘Stiklestad’: The p. n. elements are reversed in the text in a mild form of tmesis, as often with place names in skaldic lines; Sigv ErfÓl 10/7 is a direct parallel (see Note). On the p. n. Stikla(r)staðir, here sg. rather than the normal pl., see Note to Þorm Lv 23/3-4, and on the battle see ‘Óláfr inn helgi Haraldsson’ in ‘Ruler biographies’ in Introduction to this volume. — [8] snjallr ‘brave’: This is taken as applying to Kálfr, the addressee of the 2nd pers. verb veittir ‘you kept up’ (l. 7), just as vígreifr ‘war-cheerful’ (l. 2) qualifies the 2nd pers. rétt ‘you set about’ (l. 2). Snjallr could alternatively qualify gramr ‘the king’ in l. 8 (so Hkr 1991).

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. Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
  4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
  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. Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
  7. 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 4to med varianter fra andre håndskrifter. 2 vols. Det norske historiske kildeskriftfond skrifter 53. Oslo: Dybwad.
  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. Konráð Gíslason. 1895-7. Efterladte skrifter. 2 vols. I: Forelæsninger over oldnordiske skjaldekvad. II: Forelæsninger og videnskablige afhandlinger. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
  12. Internal references
  13. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Óláfs saga helga (in Heimskringla)’ 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=152> (accessed 29 March 2024)
  14. Russell Poole 2012, ‘(Biography of) Óláfr inn helgi Haraldsson’ 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. 515.
  15. Judith Jesch (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Erfidrápa Óláfs helga 10’ 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. 677.
  16. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Þormóðr Kolbrúnarskáld, Lausavísur 23’ 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. 838.
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