Bkrepp Magndr 8^II

Vítt bar snarr á slétta
Sandey konungr randir;
rauk of Íl, þás jóku
allvalds menn á brennur.
Grœtti Grenlands dróttinn
— gekk hôtt Skota støkkvir —
— þjóð rann mýlsk til mœði —
meyjar suðr í eyjum.

Snarr konungr bar randir vítt á slétta Sandey; rauk of Íl, þás menn allvalds jóku á brennur. {Dróttinn Grenlands} grœtti meyjar suðr í eyjum; {støkkvir Skota} gekk hôtt; mýlsk þjóð rann til mœði.

The swift king carried shields far and wide on level Sanda; smoke drifted throughout Islay when the mighty ruler’s men fuelled the fires. {The lord of Grenland} [NORWEGIAN KING = Magnús] grieved women south in the isles; {the banisher of the Scots} [= Magnús] was superior; the people of Mull fled until exhaustion.

Mss: Kˣ(597r), Kˣ(597v), 39(34rb), 39(34va), E(33v), J2ˣ(310r), 42ˣ(10v-11r), 42ˣ(11r) (Hkr); Mork(23r) (Mork); F(58rb-va); H(88v), Hr(61rb) (H-Hr)

Readings: [1] Vítt: Vítr F;    bar: berr Mork, F;    snarr: so Mork, H, Hr, snjallr Kˣ, 39, E, J2ˣ, 42ˣ, snart F;    á: of F    [3] þás (‘þa er’): þar er Mork, F    [4] brennur: brennu 42ˣ    [5] Gren‑: so 39, J2ˣ, 42ˣ, Mork, F, H, Hr, grøn‑ Kˣ, ‘grænd‑’ E    [6] Skota: so E, J2ˣ, 42ˣ, Mork, F, H, Hr, fira Kˣ, 39;    støkkvir: so 39, Mork, F, H, stokkum Kˣ, søkkvir E, J2ˣ, ‘sokkum’ 42ˣ, ‘soknir’ Hr    [7] mýlsk: ‘mylks’ E, ‘mvlsk’ Mork    [8] eyjum: eyjar E, J2ˣ, 42ˣ, Mork

Editions: Skj AI, 436, Skj BI, 405-6, Skald I, 200; ÍF 28, 221, 220 (Mberf chs 9, 8), E 1916, 118; Mork 1867, 144, Mork 1928-32, 317, Andersson and Gade 2000, 299, 485 (Mberf); F 1871, 270 (Mberf); Fms 7, 42 (Mberf ch. 20).

Context: As sts 5-7 above.

Notes: [All]: In Hkr and H-Hr the name of the poet is given and the two helmingar are assigned to different sts: ll. 1-4 precede st. 9 below and ll. 5-8 follow st. 6 above. In Mork and F the st. is given as one unit. — [1] snarr ‘swift’: The Hkr variant snjallr ‘courageous’ is possible, but was likely caused by snjallr in st. 9/4 below. The fact that H and Hr have the same variant as Mork (cf. F: ‘snart’), indicates that H-Hr follows the poetic text of the Mork redaction at this point, and the stemma has been changed accordingly. — [2] Sandey ‘Sanda’: Sanda is a small island south of Kintyre, and Fidjestøl points out that the redactors of both Mork and Hkr appear to have identified it with Iona, which occurs in its place in the prose texts (Fidjestøl 1982, 151; see also Jesch 1996, 120 and n. 8). But all versions (including Fsk) state explicitly that Magnús did not harry in Iona (Eyin helga ‘the Holy Island’) (see Mork 1928-32, 317; ÍF 28, 220; Fms 7, 42; ÍF 29, 307), which is difficult to reconcile with the ‘carrying of shields’ mentioned in the st. See also Power 1986, 118 n. 3. — [6] gekk hôtt ‘was superior’: Lit. ‘went high’. For this meaning, see LP: ganga 13. — [6] støkkvir ‘banisher’: Skj B emends to stekkvir to preserve the full rhyme (gekk : stekkvir). However, there are no variant forms of this word with -e- (see ANG §494 Anm.). The stem vowel is a result of w-umlaut of æ (see ANG §82.6). — [8] suðr í eyjum ‘south in the isles’: The variant suðr í eyjar ‘south to the isles’ (so J2ˣ, E, 42ˣ, Mork) is possible, but would require the prepositional phrase to be taken with the preceding cl.: mýlsk þjóð rann til mœði suðr í eyjar ‘the people of Mull fled until exhaustion south to the isles’ (ll. 7, 8). The ms. witnesses indicate this is an independent variant, and the reading suðr í eyjum is preferable from the point of view of w. o. and context (there is no mention of the people of Mull fleeing south).

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. 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. Andersson, Theodore M. and Kari Ellen Gade, trans. 2000. Morkinskinna: The Earliest Icelandic Chronicle of the Norwegian Kings (1030-1157). Islandica 51. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.
7. Fidjestøl, Bjarne. 1982. Det norrøne fyrstediktet. Universitet i Bergen Nordisk institutts skriftserie 11. Øvre Ervik: Alvheim & Eide.
8. ANG = Noreen, Adolf. 1923. Altnordische Grammatik I: Altisländische und altnorwegische Grammatik (Laut- und Flexionslehre) unter Berücksichtigung des Urnordischen. 4th edn. Halle: Niemeyer. 1st edn. 1884. 5th unrev. edn. 1970. Tübingen: Niemeyer.
9. Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
10. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
11. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
12. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
13. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
14. Jesch, Judith. 1996. ‘Norse Historical Traditions and the Historia Gruffud vab Kenan: Magnús berfœttr and Haraldr hárfagri’. In Maund 1996, 117-47.
15. Mork 1867 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1867. Morkinskinna: Pergamentsbog fra første halvdel af det trettende aarhundrede. Indeholdende en af de ældste optegnelser af norske kongesagaer. Oslo: Bentzen.
16. Power, Rosemary. 1986. ‘Magnus Bareleg’s Expeditions to the West’. Scottish Historical Review 65, 107-32.
17. Internal references
18. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Heimskringla’ 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. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=4> (accessed 25 April 2024)
19. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Fagrskinna’ 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. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=56> (accessed 25 April 2024)
20. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Hulda-Hrokkinskinna’ 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. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=84> (accessed 25 April 2024)
21. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Morkinskinna’ 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. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=87> (accessed 25 April 2024)
22. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Magnúss saga berfœtts’ 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. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=144> (accessed 25 April 2024)