Bjbp Jóms 16^I

Sagt var, at sunnan heldu
snyrtimenn of hrannir
— kaldr dreif marr á meiða
morðbáls — skipastóli.
Lǫmðu héldir húfar
— hríð kannaði lýði —
— gnúði svalr á sýju
sær — ísugar bárur.

Sagt var, at snyrtimenn heldu skipastóli sunnan of hrannir; kaldr marr dreif á {meiða {morðbáls}}; héldir húfar lǫmðu ísugar bárur; hríð kannaði lýði; svalr sær gnúði á sýju.

It was said that the fine men sailed their fleet of ships from the south across the waves; the cold sea drove against {the poles {of the battle-fire}} [SWORD > WARRIORS]; the rime-covered hulls beat the icy waves; the storm tested the men; the chill sea roared against the planking.

Mss: R(53v)

Editions: Skj AII, 4, Skj BII, 4, Skald II, 3; Fms 11, 167, Fms 12, 243, Jvs 1879 108-9.

Notes: [All]: The images of the hulls of the Jómsvíkingar’s fleet battling through icy waves are reminiscent of ÞGísl Búdr 2, where the same voyage is described. — [1] sunnan ‘from the south’: The Jómsvíkingar sail north from Denmark to Norway. — [2] snyrtimenn ‘the fine men’: The cpd is unique in skaldic poetry, though cf. snyrtidrengr ‘fine warrior’ in st. 39/2 and elsewhere (LP: snyrtidrengr). Snyrti- ‘fine’ probably refers to splendid appearance; cf. the sword-heiti Snyrtir ‘polisher’ or ‘polished one’ (Þul Sverða 1/7^III and Note), and ModNorw. snyrta ‘decorate’. — [4] morðbáls; skipastóli ‘of the battle-fire [SWORD]; fleet of ships’: The line recalls Hskv Útdr 9/2^II morðhjóls skipastóli ‘of the killing-wheel [SHIELD]; fleet of ships’. — [7] sýju ‘the planking’: Originally ‘seam, joining’; cf. sýja ‘to sew’, probably referring to a row of rivets joining the strakes together, and hence the planking and perhaps, by pars pro toto, the whole ship (see AEW: sýja 1, 2; Þul Skipa 5/3^III and Note).

References

1. Bibliography
2. Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
5. LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
6. Jvs 1879 = Petersens, Carl af, ed. 1879. Jómsvíkinga saga (efter Cod. AM. 510, 4:to) samt Jómsvíkinga drápa. Lund: Gleerup.
7. Internal references
8. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Sverða heiti 1’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 790.
9. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Skipa heiti 5’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 869.
10. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Halldórr skvaldri, Útfarardrápa 9’ 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. 490.
11. Emily Lethbridge (ed.) 2012, ‘Þorkell Gíslason, Búadrápa 2’ 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. 944.