ESk Run 8^II

Drap dǫglingr gegn
— dreif strengjar regn —
við Skǫrpusker
skjaldkœnan her.
Rauf styrjar garð,
þás støkkva varð
randǫlun sótt
reiðmanna gnótt.

Gegn dǫglingr drap skjaldkœnan her við Skǫrpusker; {regn strengjar} dreif. {Garð styrjar} rauf, þás gnótt reiðmanna, sótt {randǫlun}, varð støkkva.

The reliable ruler killed the shield-skilled company at the Farne Islands; {the rain of the bow-string} [ARROWS] streamed. {The enclosure of strife} [SHIELD] shattered when plenty of horsemen, attacked {by the rim-fish} [SWORD], were forced to scatter.

Mss: Mork(35v) (Mork); Kˣ(659v), F(73vb), E(57r), J2ˣ(356v), 42ˣ(47r) (Hkr, ll. 1-4); H(124r), Hr(81rb) (H-Hr, ll. 1-4)

Readings: [2] strengjar: strengja 42ˣ    [3] Skǫrpu‑: skarpa‑ F    [4] skjaldkœnan: ‘skiallkonan’ E, skaldkœnan Hr    [7] randǫlun: ‘ranndølom’ Mork

Editions: Skj AI, 474, Skj BI, 447, Skald I, 220, NN §3107; Mork 1867, 226, Mork 1928-32, 444-5, Andersson and Gade 392, 495 (Hsona); ÍF 28, 329 (Hsona ch. 20), F 1871, 340, E 1916, 199; Fms 7, 236-7 (Hsona ch. 20).

Context: As sts 5-7 above.

Notes: [3] Skǫrpusker ‘the Farne Islands’: Skǫrpusker can be lit. translated as ‘the sharp skerries’ and the p. n. is also found in Anon Krm 6/5^VIII. These islands have been identified as the Farne Islands, two of which are still known as Little Scarcar and Big Scarcar. They are located off the coast of Northumbria (see Townend 1998, 69-70 and A. Taylor 1965, 132-3). — [5] rauf ‘shattered’: Used impersonally with garð styrjar ‘the enclosure of strife’ as the acc. object. Kock (NN §3107; Skald) emends to stakk ‘pierced’ to achieve double alliteration. — [7] randǫlun (m. dat. sg.) ‘by the rim-fish [SWORD]’: The nonsensical ‘ranndølom’ (so Mork) has been emended to randǫlun ‘rim-fish’ (so Skj B). Kock (NN §3107; Skald) suggests randrǫðli ‘rim-sun’ (i.e. ‘sword’) to achieve double alliteration. For a discussion of the word ǫlunn, possibly ‘mackerel’, see Nordgaard 1912, 56-7 and 57 n. 1. See also OHG alunt, alant, OS alund ‘whitefish’ (Leuciscus cephalus; AEW: ǫlunn).

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. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
6. AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
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. Nordgaard, O. 1912. ‘Fiskenavnene i Snorres Edda’. MM, 54-66.
13. Taylor, A. B. 1965. ‘Eysteinn Haraldsson in the West, c. 1151: Oral Traditions and Written Record’. In Small 1965, 119-34.
14. Townend, Matthew. 1998. English Place-Names in Skaldic Verse. English Place-Name Society extra ser. 1. Nottingham: English Place-Name Society.
15. Internal references
16. Rory McTurk (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Poems, Krákumál 6’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 728.