Bkrepp Magndr 10^II

Hætt vas hvert, þats átti,
hvarf, Guðrøðar arfi;
lǫnd vann lofðungr Þrœnda
Lǫgmanni þar bannat.
Nýtr fekk nesjum útarr
naðrbings tǫpuð finginn
Egða gramr, þars umðu,
ungr, véttrima tungur.

Hvert hvarf, þats {arfi Guðrøðar} átti, vas hætt; {lofðungr Þrœnda} vann bannat Lǫgmanni lǫnd þar. {Nýtr ungr gramr Egða} fekk finginn {tǫpuð {naðrbings}} útarr nesjum, þars {tungur véttrima} umðu.

Every hiding place that {Guðrøðr’s heir} [= Lǫgmaðr] had was hazardous; {the ruler of the Þrœndir} [NORWEGIAN KING = Magnús] refused Lǫgmaðr lands there. {The bountiful young lord of the Egðir} [NORWEGIAN KING = Magnús] captured {the destroyer {of the snake-lair}} [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN] off the headlands, where {tongues of hilts} [SWORDS] were wailing.

Mss: Kˣ(598r), 39(34va), E(33v), J2ˣ(310v), 42ˣ(11r) (Hkr); Mork(23r) (Mork); F(58va); H(89r), Hr(61va) (H-Hr)

Readings: [1] vas (‘var’): so all others, vann Kˣ;    þats (‘þat er’): þá er 42ˣ    [2] ‑røðar: ‑røðr E    [4] þar: þat E, far F    [5] Nýtr: nýtt H, Hr;    fekk: lét Mork, F, H, Hr;    útarr: útan F    [6] naðrbings: naðrs bing E, J2ˣ, 42ˣ, Mork, F, H, Hr;    tǫpuð: so 39, E, J2ˣ, 42ˣ, Mork, H, Hr, tapað Kˣ, tǫpuðr F;    finginn: fanginn 39, fengit E, J2ˣ, 42ˣ, fenginn Mork, H, Hr    [7] þars (‘þar er’): þá er 39, 42ˣ, er F, þar Hr;    umðu: undu 39, 42ˣ, ‘eirdu’ Hr

Editions: Skj AI, 436, Skj BI, 406, Skald I, 200; ÍF 28, 221-2 (Mberf ch. 9), E 1916, 119; Mork 1867, 144, Mork 1928-32, 318, Andersson and Gade 2000, 299-300, 485 (Mberf); F 1871, 270 (Mberf); Fms 7, 43 (Mberf ch. 21).

Context: Magnús captured Lǫgmaðr Guðrøðarson, king of the Hebrides, the Isle of Man and parts of Ireland (1098).

Notes: [2] arfi Guðrøðar ‘Guðrøðr’s heir [= Lǫgmaðr]’: Guðrøðr crovan ‘Little-hand’ was the son of Haraldr svarti ‘the Black’ of Islay. He fought at the battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066 alongside Haraldr harðráði Sigurðarson of Norway, escaped to the Isle of Man and later became king of the Hebrides, Man and parts of Ireland. He died of illness in 1095 (see Munch 1860, 50-9). — [5, 6] fekk finginn ‘captured’: Lit. ‘got captured’. Lét ‘let’ (so Mork, F, H and Hr) is equally possible in the construction lét finginn ‘let [be] captured’, and H-Hr again reverts to the Mork redaction for the poetic text. — [8] véttrima ‘of hilts’: Véttrim must have been a part of the sword, and Falk (1914, 28-9) suggests that it could have been a metal plate on the sword-hilt. Vétt (n.) is an oval lid on a chest, and rim a pole, post, or the upper plank on a ship’s railing. LP: véttrim takes the first part of the cpd as vétt ‘weight’ (f.) and supplies the translation tynd stang, rim, til at løfte med ‘thin pole, rim, to lift [sth.] with’. According to that interpretation, véttrim was a part of the sword-blade close to the sword point, which makes little sense in the present kenning. See also ESk Geisl 47/4^VII, in which naðr véttrima, translated as ‘the snake of sword-rings’, is a kenning for ‘sword’, which also refutes the LP interpretation.

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. 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.
5. 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.
6. Falk, Hjalmar, ed. 1914a. Sólarljóð. Videnskapsselskapets skrifter II. Hist.-filos. kl. 7. 2 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad.
7. Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
8. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
9. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
10. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
11. 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.
12. Munch, P. A., ed. 1860. Chronica regvm Manniæ et Insvlarvm: The Chronicle of Man and the Sudreys Edited from the Manuscript Codex in the British Museum and with Historical Notes. Christiania (Oslo): Brøgger & Christie.
13. Internal references
14. (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 16 April 2024)
15. (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 16 April 2024)
16. Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘(Biography of) Haraldr harðráði Sigurðarson’ 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, pp. 35-56.
17. (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 16 April 2024)
18. Martin Chase (ed.) 2007, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Geisli 47’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 45-6.