Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Haraldsdrápa I 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, pp. 542-3.
Ótryggum lét eggjar
eljunfrár und hôri
Hveðn á hǫlðum roðnar
hrafns munnlituðr þunnar,
áðr, þars ógnarprúðum
ulfnistanda, missti
hungr, á hǫnd at ganga,
hræskurðr, Danir urðu.
{Eljunfrár munnlituðr hrafns} lét þunnar eggjar roðnar á ótryggum hǫlðum und hôri Hveðn, áðr {hræskurðr} missti hungr, þars Danir urðu at ganga á hǫnd {ógnarprúðum ulfnistanda}.
{The courage-quick mouth-colourer of the raven} [WARRIOR] let thin blades be reddened on disloyal freeholders beneath lofty Ven, before {the carrion-cleaver} [RAVEN/EAGLE] lost its hunger, where the Danes were obliged to surrender {to the battle-proud wolf-feeder} [WARRIOR].
Mss: Mork(32r) (Mork); FskBˣ(94v), 51ˣ(82v), FskAˣ(372) (Fsk, ll. 1-4); Kˣ(639v), F(69va), E(50v), J2ˣ(343r), 42ˣ(37r) (Hkr, ll. 1-4); H(117r), Hr(77ra) (H-Hr, ll. 1-4)
Readings: [1] Ótryggum: Ótryggjum FskAˣ, F, 42ˣ, ‘Bryggum’ E; lét: lézt FskBˣ, FskAˣ, Kˣ, E, J2ˣ, 42ˣ, H, lét ek Hr [2] ‑frár: ‑þrár FskBˣ, FskAˣ, F, E, J2ˣ, 42ˣ, H, Hr; hôri: ‘harre’ FskBˣ [3] Hveðn á: ‘h[...]’ FskBˣ; roðnar: roðna F, E, J2ˣ, 42ˣ [4] hrafns: ‘rams’ FskBˣ, FskAˣ; munn‑: munnr FskAˣ; ‑lituðr: ‑brúðr FskBˣ, ‑litaðr FskAˣ, Kˣ; þunnar: þunnan Hr [6] missti: misstu Mork
Editions: Skj AI, 456, Skj BI, 424, Skald I, 210, NN §922; Mork 1867, 200, Mork 1928-32, 402-3, Andersson and Gade 2000, 365, 490 (MbHg); ÍF 29, 329 (ch. 96); ÍF 28, 296 (MbHg ch. 12), F 1871, 320, E 1916, 176; Fms 7, 196 (MbHg ch. 15).
Notes: [1] lét (3rd pers. sg. pret. indic.) ‘let’: Hkr, Fsk, and H-Hr all have lézt (2nd pers. sg. pret. indic. m. v.), which would mean that the st. was recited in the presence of Haraldr. If that reading is retained, eljunfrár munnlituðr hrafns ‘the courage-quick mouth-colourer of the raven’ (ll. 2, 4) must be taken as a form of address (so most earlier eds). — [2] eljunfrár ‘courage-quick’: So Mork, Kˣ. Eljunþrár ‘courage-tenacious’ (so all other mss) is a possible variant and has been adopted by most earlier eds. — [3] Hveðn ‘Ven’: Island in Øresund between Denmark and Sweden. — [5] áðr ‘before’: Skj B takes this adv. with the second cl. and construes the following reading: áðr Danir urðu at ganga á hǫnd ógnarprúðum ulfnistanda, þars hræskurðr missti hungr ‘before the Danes were obliged to surrender to the terror-proud wolf-feeder, where the corpse-cleaver lost its hunger’ (ll. 5-8). That reading creates an unprecedented tripartite l. (l. 5), and Kock (NN §922) takes ógnarprúðum ulfnistanda (m. dat. sg.) ‘the terror-proud wolf-feeder’ (ll. 5-6) as an absolute dat. of agency (þars hræskurðr missti hungr ógnarprúðum ulfnistanda ‘where the corpse-cleaver lost its hunger on account of the terror-proud wolf-feeder’). Such a construction is, however, unattested (see NS §100 anm. 2).
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