Bjbp Jóms 20^I

Ok hǫfðingjar hraustir
heyra menn at væri
— þat hefr þjóð at minnum —
þrír með flokki hverjum,
þar er hreggviðir hittusk
hjálma skóðs á víðum
— fundr þótti sá fyrðum
frægr — Hjǫrungavági.

Ok menn heyra, at þrír hraustir hǫfðingjar væri með hverjum flokki — þjóð hefr þat at minnum —, þar er {{{hjálma skóðs} hregg}viðir} hittusk á víðum Hjǫrungavági; sá fundr þótti frægr fyrðum.

And men hear that three bold chieftains were with each troop — people hold that in memory —, where {the trees {of the storm {of the harm of helmets}}} [(lit. ‘storm-trees of the harm of helmets’) SWORD > BATTLE > WARRIORS] met in wide Liavågen; that meeting seemed famous to men.

Mss: R(53v), 65ˣ(381v); 61(19va), 53(16ra), 54(15vb), Bb(26ra-b) (ÓT)

Readings: [1] hǫfðingjar: so 65ˣ, RCP, RFJ, 61, 54, Bb, ‘havfþingi[…]’ R, hǫfðing 53    [2] heyra: heyri 53, 54, Bb;    væri: váru 61, 53, 54, Bb    [3] at: í 61, 53, 54, Bb;    minnum: so RCP, RFJ, 61, 54, Bb, ‘[…]’ R, minnask 65ˣ, ‘minn[…]’ 53    [4] þrír: ‘[…]’ 53;    hverjum: so 53, 54, Bb, hvárum R, 65ˣ, 61    [5] ‑viðir: ‑undir 54, Bb    [6] skóðs: ‘[...]’ 53;    á víðum: so 65ˣ, RCP, RFJ, 61, ‘a viþ[…]’ R, om. 53, viðjum 54, Bb    [7] fundr þótti: so RCP, RFJ, 61, 53, 54, Bb, ‘[…]ndr […]’ R, ok undr 65ˣ;    sá: om. 53, 54, þá Bb;    fyrðum: yrða 61, 53, 54, Bb    [8] frægr: ‘fragr’ 53;    Hjǫrunga‑: so RCP, RFJ, 61, 54, ‘hior[…]’ R, ‘hirvnga’ 65ˣ, Hjǫrungar‑ 53, ‘hiorro᷎nga’ Bb

Editions: Skj AII, 5, Skj BII, 5, Skald II, 3, NN §2818; Fms 11, 168, Fms 12, 244, Jvs 1879, 110-11, 133; Fms 1, 170, Fms 12, 42, ÓT 1958-2000, I, 186-7 (ch. 90), Ólafur Halldórsson 2000, 25, 78.

Context: Hákon jarl and Eiríkr jarl reach Hjǫrungavágr (Liavågen) where the Jómsvíkingar are. Those leading the Jómsvíkingar, the number of ships they command, and the positions of their ships are enumerated, as are those in the Norwegian fleet (see further Note to ll. 1, 4 below).

Notes: [1, 4] þrír hraustir hǫfðingjar ‘three bold chieftains’: It is not entirely clear who the three men commanding each troop are or which side they are on, but to judge from ÓT the reference may be to the Norwegian leaders, three heading each of three sections of the battle-line, and if that is correct the reading hverjum flokki ‘each troop’ is preferable to hvárum ‘each troop (of two)’. ÓT (1958-2000, I, 186) says that the Jómsvíkingr Sigvaldi jarl is in the centre of the troop formation; against him is Hákon jarl together with the chieftains Þórir hjǫrtr ‘Stag’ and Styrkárr. One wing is headed by the Jómsvíkingr Búi digri and his brother Sigurðr kápa; against them is Eiríkr jarl with the chieftains Guðbrandr hvíti, Þorkell leira, and a man called Ármóðr, a great champion. On the other wing is the Jómsvíkingr Vagn Ákason, and against him is Sveinn Hákonarson together with Skeggi and Rǫgnvaldr. — [2] heyra (3rd pers. pl. pres. indic.) ‘hear’: The subj. reading heyri ‘let (men) hear’ in 53, 54 and Bb is also possible. — [2] væri (3rd pers. pl. pret. subj.) ‘were’: The indic. counterpart váru ‘were’ in the ÓT mss is also possible. — [5, 6] hjálma skóðs hreggviðir ‘the trees of the storm of the harm of helmets [(lit. ‘storm-trees of the harm of helmets’) SWORD > BATTLE > WARRIORS]’: Hreggviðir ‘storm-trees’ forms part of another kenning for ‘warriors’ in st. 30/3. See Note to l. 8 for Kock’s proposal to emend gen. sg. skóðs to gen. pl. skóða.  — [7] fyrðum ‘to men’: The ÓT reading fyrða gives sá fundr fyrða var frægr ‘that meeting of men was famous’, which is also satisfactory. — [8] Hjǫrungavági ‘Liavågen’: A small inlet south of Ålesund, Møre og Romsdal. The location of the battle is disputed: see Megaard (1999). Kock (NN §2818) adopts the 61 reading á Hjǫrungavági ‘at Liavågen’ to improve the metre of l. 8, in which resolution of Hjǫrung- is suspended (cf. Note to st. 9/6); but the line remains unmetrical. Further, l. 6 has á ‘at’, so in order to avoid duplication Kock has to emend l. 6 skóðs á to skóða ‘of harms’.

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. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. ÓT 1958-2000 = Ólafur Halldórsson, ed. 1958-2000. Saga Óláfs Tryggvasonar en mesta. 3 vols. EA A 1-3. Copenhagen: Munksgaard (Reitzel).
6. Jvs 1879 = Petersens, Carl af, ed. 1879. Jómsvíkinga saga (efter Cod. AM. 510, 4:to) samt Jómsvíkinga drápa. Lund: Gleerup.
7. Megaard, John. 1999. ‘Hvor sto “Slaget i Hjǫrungavágr”? Jomsvikingeberetningens stedsnavn og Sæmundr fróði’. alv 9, 29-54.
8. Ólafur Halldórsson. 2000a. Danish Kings and the Jomsvikings in the Greatest Saga of Óláfr Tryggvason. London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
9. Internal references
10. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta’ 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=60> (accessed 25 April 2024)
11. Matthew Townend 2012, ‘(Biography of) Vagn Ákason’ 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. 365.