Alison Finlay (ed.) 2012, ‘Bjarni gullbrárskáld Hallbjarnarson, Kálfsflokkr 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. 886.
Hafa lézt unga jǫfra
erfð, sem til réð hverfa;
satts, at sitja knátti
Sveinn at Danmǫrk einni.
Kennduð, Kalfr, til landa
kappfúsum Magnúsi
— olluð ér, þvís stillir
jǫrð of fekk — ór Gǫrðum.
Lézt unga jǫfra hafa erfð, sem réð hverfa til; satts, at Sveinn knátti sitja at Danmǫrk einni. Kalfr, kennduð kappfúsum Magnúsi til landa ór Gǫrðum; ér olluð, þvís stillir of fekk jǫrð.
You allowed the young prince [Magnús Óláfsson] to have the inheritance that came his way; it is true that Sveinn was able to rule only in Denmark. Kálfr, you conducted the spirited Magnús to his lands from Russia; you brought it about that the ruler gained the country.
Mss: Holm2(73v), 321ˣ(279), 73aˣ(214v), Holm4(69ra), 61(129vb), 325V(88va), 325VI(41va), 325VII(41r) (l. 1), Bb(205va), Flat(127ra), Tóm(160v) (ÓH); Kˣ(497v), 39(13ra), F(37vb), J2ˣ(241r), E(3v-4r) (Hkr); FskAˣ(201), 301ˣ(73v-74r) (Fsk, ll. 5-8, 1-4)
Readings: [2] sem til réð: réð sem til Tóm; sem: enn 61; hverfa: ‘[…]erf[…]’ 325V [3] satts at (‘satt er at’): ‘[…]tt at’ 325V, satt var at F, settisk FskAˣ, 301ˣ; sitja: sína 73aˣ, snarr ept FskAˣ, 301ˣ; knátti: kunni 61, Tóm, mátti Flat, þetta FskAˣ [4] at: á 61 [5] Kennduð: kenndr 321ˣ, kenndi 61, FskAˣ, 301ˣ, kenndr Tóm, kenndit 39, F; Kalfr: halfr 325V, kalf E; landa: handa 321ˣ, 61, 325V, 325VI, Flat, ‘hanna’ Tóm, landi 39, om. E [6] kapp‑: kafs FskAˣ, 301ˣ [7] olluð: ǫllu 61, E, ollu J2ˣ, FskAˣ, 301ˣ; ér: þér 321ˣ, 73aˣ, Holm4, 61, 325VI, Bb, 39, F, E, FskAˣ, 301ˣ, þeir 325V, J2ˣ; þvís (‘þvi er’): so Kˣ, 39, F, at Holm2, 321ˣ, 73aˣ, Holm4, 61, 325V, 325VI, Bb, Flat, Tóm, J2ˣ, E, FskAˣ, 301ˣ [8] of fekk: so 73aˣ, Kˣ, ok fekk Holm2, 321ˣ, Holm4, 61, 325V, 325VI, Bb, F, E, hann fekksk Flat, fekk ok Tóm, er fekk 39, ok fekksk J2ˣ, of fekkt FskAˣ, 301ˣ; ór: at 321ˣ, 325VI
Editions: Skj AI, 395, Skj BI, 364, Skald I, 182; Fms 5, 123-4, Fms 12, 107, ÓH 1941, I, 619 (ch. 255), Flat 1860-8, II, 374; Hkr 1893-1901, III, 13, IV, 181-2, ÍF 28, 12, Hkr 1991, II, 563 (MGóð ch. 5), F 1871, 171, E 1916, 10; Fsk 1902-3, 191-2 (ch. 37), ÍF 29, 208 (ch. 44).
Context:
In ÓH-Hkr, this stanza is placed after several chapters (in Hkr spanning the end of ÓHHkr and the beginning of MGóð) relating Kálfr’s withdrawal of support from the unpopular king Sveinn Álfífuson, son of Knútr inn ríki, his journey to Novgorod with Einarr þambarskelfir to bring the young Magnús Óláfsson out of exile and offer him the kingdom, their return to Norway, and the withdrawal of Sveinn to Denmark. In Hkr, the stanza follows, and in ÓH it precedes, the report of the death of Knútr in England (13 November 1035) and of Sveinn in Denmark that same winter. Fsk reports how the reluctance of King Jarizleifr (Jaroslav) to hand his foster-son Magnús into the power of his father’s betrayers Kálfr and Einarr is overcome by their swearing oaths of allegiance to Magnús, then cites the stanza.
Notes: [All]: Lines 1-4 and 5-8 are in reverse order in Fsk. — [1] unga jǫfra ‘the young prince’: According to Arn Magndr 1/5-6II, Magnús was not yet eleven years old when he left Russia. Unga jǫfra is grammatically pl., though it appears to denote Magnús alone. This use of pl. with sg. meaning is paralleled elsewhere, though usually in nouns formed from present participles and within man-kennings (cf. Arn Hryn 19/1II eyðendr, lit. ‘clearers’, and Note). — [2] sem réð hverfa til ‘that came his way’: Hverfa til here has the sense ‘to fall to one’s lot’ (Fritzner: hverfa til 4), referring to the inheritance that Magnús has acquired. Til is used adverbially, with the sense of til hans ‘to him’; réð (inf. ráða) is used as a pleonastic auxiliary verb. — [7] þvís ‘it … that’: At in Holm2 and other mss could be the conj. ‘that’ introducing the subordinate clause (LP: 2. at; NS §251).
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