Eskál Hardr 2^III

Né ættstuðill ættar
ógnherði mun verða
— skyldr emk hróðri at halda —
Hilditanns in mildri.

Né mun verða {ættstuðill ættar Hilditanns} in mildri {ógnherði}; emk skyldr at halda hróðri.

There will not be {a lineage-pillar of the family of Hilditann (‘War-tooth’)} [DANISH KING] more generous than {the terror-enhancer} [WARRIOR]; I am bound to uphold praise.

Mss: U(36r), R(36v), Tˣ(38r), W(82) (SnE)

Readings: [1] ætt‑: ‘et‑’ Tˣ, átt‑ W    [2] ‑herði: herðir all others    [4] mildri: mildi R, W

Editions: Skj AI, 122, Skj BI, 117, Skald I, 66; SnE 1848-87, I, 464-5, II, 339, III, 95, SnE 1848, 95, SnE 1931, 164, SnE 1998, I, 83.

Context: The helmingr is cited to illustrate the point that persons may be referred to in skaldic verse by their descent. In the present instance, the person addressed is identified simply as a descendant of Haraldr hilditǫnn (see Note to l. 4 below).

Notes: [1] ættstuðill ‘a lineage-pillar’: That is, a pillar of the family. The form of the word with átt- (so W) is a normal variant (see LP: áttstuðill; ættstuðill), and adopted in Skj B and Skald (presumably to avoid aðalhending in an odd line). — [2, 4] in mildri ógnherði ‘more generous than the terror-enhancer [WARRIOR]’: The word ógn ‘terror’ is frequently used as a heiti for ‘battle’; the cpd thus characterises the king as successful in war. In the construction in mildri ógnherði, the word in is a colourless adjunct of the comparative (probably originally ‘yet’ in meaning) common in verse (LP: enn 4), and the use of the dat. for ógnherði ‘terror-enhancer’ is the older method of expressing the comparand in comparative constructions. The reading inn mildi ógnherðir ‘the generous terror-enhancer’ of R, W is a plausible noun phrase (and adopted in SnE 1848-87), but it would have to be the subject of the verb of the main clause, with the resulting meaning that the generous warrior is not (or will not be) a pillar of the family. This is not the sort of sentiment normally expressed in panegyric. — [4] Hilditanns ‘of Hilditann (“War-tooth”)’: The reference is to Haraldr hilditǫnn Hrœreksson, a Danish king of legendary times (see Note to SnSt Lv 5/1, 4). His family is thus the line of Danish kings. The form is unusual, as the epithet is usually f. hilditǫnn. Masculine -tanns has certain parallels (e.g. Sigurðr sýr ‘Sow’ (f.) could be sýrr (m.) as well); and -tanns rather than ‑tannar is required by the metre.

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. SnE 1848-87 = Snorri Sturluson. 1848-87. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar: Edda Snorronis Sturlaei. Ed. Jón Sigurðsson et al. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Legatum Arnamagnaeanum. Rpt. Osnabrück: Zeller, 1966.
4. SnE 1848 = Sveinbjörn Egilsson, ed. 1848. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar, eða Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál og Háttatal. Reykjavík: Prentsmiðja landsins.
5. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
6. 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.
7. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
8. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
9. Internal references
10. Guðrún Nordal (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Lausavísur’ in Guðrún Nordal (ed.), Poetry on Icelandic History. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 4. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1378> (accessed 3 May 2024)