Blakkr Lv 2^II

Ǫld man hitt, at hœldusk
(hvatir guldu þess skatnar)
fyrr (ór flokki þeira)
foraðstungur Kuflunga.
Nú kná bergs í bjǫrgum
— búk reiðir lô sjúkan —
— mettr vas hrafn í Hrotti —
hóts annan veg þjóta.

Ǫld man hitt, at foraðstungur Kuflunga hœldusk fyrr; hvatir skatnar ór flokki þeira guldu þess. Nú kná þjóta hóts annan veg í bjǫrgum bergs; lô reiðir sjúkan búk; hrafn vas mettr í Hrotti.

People remember this, that the terrifying tongues of the Kuflungar boasted earlier; bold warriors from their band paid for that. Now it howls quite differently in the stones of the mountain; the sea tosses the wounded torso; the raven was sated in Rott.

Mss: 327(55v), Flat(155va-b), 8(10r), E(103r), 81a(31va) (Sv)

Readings: [1] man: mun E;    hitt: so all others, heldr 327;    at: hvé Flat, ‘att’ 8, er 81a;    hœldusk: ‘hellduz’ Flat, ‘helldvz’ 8, ‘haullduz’ E, ‘hældízztth’ 81a    [2] guldu: ‘gulldut’ E, ‘gullduzt’ 81a    [4] ‑tungur: om. Flat    [6] búk reiðir: ‘bwk reidr’ 81a    [7] vas (‘var’): varð Flat;    Hrotti: ‘hrotta’ E    [8] hóts: ‘hottz’ 8, ‘hrotz’ E, ‘hotzzh’ 81a

Editions: Skj AI, 538, Skj BI, 519, Skald I, 253, NN §2480E; ÍF 30, 164 (ch. 106), Sv 1920, 113, Flat 1860-8, II, 628, E 1916, 356, Sv 1910-86, 140.

Context: After the episode described above (Blakkr Lv 1), the fleet of the Kuflungar on their way north to Trondheim is scattered in a storm. The ships, which have been separated into smaller groups, encounter various units of Sverrir’s fleet. Twenty ships which have put into harbour at the island of Rott are attacked by Sverrir’s commander, Úlfr from Laufnes, and his brother, Hiði. The Kuflungar flee, but two ships are captured and the crew is killed. Jón kuflungr finally rejoins the rest of his fleet and sails south to Tønsberg.

Notes: [All]: For the boasting of the Kuflungar referred to in this st., see Nefari Lv above. The content of Blakkr’s two sts is certainly in the spirit of Sverrir’s own speeches when he addressed his men before and after battles (see Sv 1920, lxvii-lxx; ÍF 30, lxvi-lxx). — [1] hitt ‘this’: Lit. ‘that’. Skj B, Skald and ÍF 30 retain the reading heldr ‘more’ (so 327) which they take with the verb hœldusk ‘boasted’. That reading is not warranted by the other ms. witnesses and, furthermore, it creates a l. with three internal rhymes. — [4] foraðs- ‘the terrifying’: For different attempts at establishing an etymology for this word, see Elmevik 1976. — [4] Kuflunga ‘of the Kuflungar’: For this name, see Note to Lv 1/2 above. — [5, 8] nú kná þjóta hóts annan veg í bjǫrgum bergs ‘now it howls quite differently in the stones of the mountain’: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) speculates that í bjǫrgum bergs ‘in the stones of the mountain’ could allude to the mountain Slottsfjellet (Bergit ‘the Mountain’) in Tønsberg. However, the expression nú kná þjóta hóts annan veg í hǫmrum ‘now it howls quite differently in the cliffs’ is a proverb that means ‘now they are dancing to a different tune’ (see Heggstad, Hødnebø and Simensen 1990: þjóta). It is not clear therefore whether bergs ‘of the mountain’ here refers to Slottsfjellet, or whether í bjǫrgum bergs ‘in the stones of the mountain’ refers to mountain cliffs. — [7] vas ‘was’: Both Skj B and Skald adopt the Flat variant varð ‘became’. — [7] í Hrotti ‘in Rott’: Island off Jæren in south-western Norway.

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. 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. Sv 1920 = Indrebø, Gustav, ed. 1920. Sverris saga etter Cod. AM 327 4°. Christiania (Oslo): Dybwad. Rpt. 1981. Oslo: Norsk historisk kjeldeskrift-institutt.
6. Flat 1860-8 = Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and C. R. Unger, eds. 1860-8. Flateyjarbók. En samling af norske konge-sagaer med indskudte mindre fortællinger om begivenheder i og udenfor Norge samt annaler. 3 vols. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
7. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
8. Elmevik, Lennart. 1976. ‘Fvn. forað’. In Svensson et al. 1976, 85-8.
9. ÍF 30 = Sverris saga. Ed. Þorleifur Hauksson. 2007.
10. Sv 1910-86 = Kjær, Albert and Ludvig Holm-Olsen, eds. 1910-86. Det Arnamagnæanske haandskrift 81a fol. (Skálholtsbók yngsta) indeholdende Sverris saga, Bǫglungasǫgur, Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar. Oslo: Den norske historiske kildeskriftkommission and Kjeldeskriftfondet.
11. Internal references
13. Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘ Nefari, Lausavísa’ 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. 645-6. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1308> (accessed 24 April 2024)
14. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Blakkr, Lausavísur 1’ 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. 649.