Eskál Vell 13^I

Sjau fylkjum kom silkis
(snúnaðr vas þat) brúna
geymir grundar síma
grandvarr und sik (landi).

{Grandvarr geymir {síma silkis {grundar brúna}}} kom sjau fylkjum und sik; þat vas snúnaðr landi.

{The damage-wary keeper {of the silken band {of the land of the brows}}} [HEAD > HEADBAND > RULER] brought seven fylki under himself; that was a change for the better for the land.

Mss: Kˣ(139v), 39(5va), F(23ra), J1ˣ(81r), J2ˣ(76r) (Hkr); 61(11ra), 53(9ra), 54(5ra), Bb(14vb), 62(3vb), Flat(11va) (ÓT)

Readings: [1] silkis: fylkir 53, ‘sylkis’ 54, Bb    [2] snúnaðr: ‘snuðaðr’ J1ˣ, ‘f(ra)naðr’(?) 53, ‘sniviadr’ Bb, svarr maðr 62, Flat;    þat: þar Bb;    brúna: ‘briuna’ 54, ‘brynnia’ Bb, ‘barma’ 62, Flat    [3] grundar: gegn at 53, granda 54, Bb;    síma: sinnar J1ˣ, sínum 53, sinna Bb, seima 62    [4] grand‑: ‘gund‑’ 54, Bb

Editions: Skj AI, 125, Skj BI, 119, Skald I, 67; Hkr 1893-1901, I, 280, IV, 72-3; ÍF 26, 241, Hkr 1991, I, 160 (ÓTHkr ch. 16), F 1871, 105; Fms 1, 91; Fms 12, 33-4, ÓT 1958-2000, I, 98 (ch. 55), Flat 1860-8, I, 86.

Context: The stanza is cited as evidence that Hákon jarl had conquered the entire country.

Notes: [1] sjau fylkjum ‘seven fylki’: The term fylki denotes a community under the law centred around a þing ‘assembly’, and applies by extension to the geographical area under a particular jurisdiction. Information on which seven fylki might be meant here can be gleaned from reports on the rule of Hákon jarl. Eyv Hál 12/2 indicates that Hákon’s rule extended to settlements of the Egðir, the people of Agðir (Agder). This would include the following seven fylki, excluding Þrœndalǫg (Trøndelag), Hákon’s native region: Raumsdalr (Romsdalen), Norðmœrr (Nordmøre) and Sunnmœrr (Sunnmøre), the three peripheral districts that later combined with Þrœndalǫg to form the Frostuþingslǫg, plus Rogaland, Hǫrðaland (Hordaland), Sogn and Firðafylki (Fjordane), the four districts of Gulaþingslǫg (see Indrebø 1931, 43-4). These are also the same fylki given to Hákon by the Danish king Haraldr blátǫnn according to Hkr (ÍF 26, 240). However, the present stanza of Vell portrays this as an autonomous expansion on the part of Hákon. — [1, 2, 3] síma silkis grundar brúna ‘of the silken band of the land of the brows [HEAD > HEADBAND]’: Silk had been imported from Byzantium, and to a lesser extent from China, since the C8th (Mayerhofer 2005, 122-3). Clothing, headdresses, and headbands made of silk have been recovered from graves, especially in Birka (Sweden) and in Mammen (Jutland), in which decorative ornaments of silver, gold and silk are taken to have symbolized social standing (Hägg 1991; Hägg 2000, 619). The silk band worn by Hákon jarl must indicate high status, but it is uncertain whether it was specifically the emblem of a ruler (so Konráð Gíslason 1895-7, I, 120; Ohlmarks 1958, 371). KormǪ Sigdr 3/1^III and Egill Arkv 19/1-4^V (Eg 115) mention similar bands but do not resolve the issue. — [4] grandvarr ‘damage-wary’: Konráð Gíslason (1895-7, I, 119) and Finnur Jónsson (Hkr 1893-1901, IV; Skj B; LP: grandvarr) translate the adj. as retfærdig, retskaffen ‘just, upright’. However, it probably does not refer to moral integrity but to Hákon jarl’s duty to defend his country. This is also supported by the intercalary clause þat vas snúnaðr landi ‘that was a change for the better for the land’ (Marold 1993c, 102-3). Cf. also the phrase on the Karlevi memorial stone (Run Öl 1/8^VI) which proclaims that no ruler in Denmark shall be ørgrandari ‘more unharmful’ than the one commemorated in the inscription.

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. 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.
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. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
8. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
9. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
10. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
11. Konráð Gíslason. 1895-7. Efterladte skrifter. 2 vols. I: Forelæsninger over oldnordiske skjaldekvad. II: Forelæsninger og videnskablige afhandlinger. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
12. ÓT 1958-2000 = Ólafur Halldórsson, ed. 1958-2000. Saga Óláfs Tryggvasonar en mesta. 3 vols. EA A 1-3. Copenhagen: Munksgaard (Reitzel).
13. Ohlmarks, Åke. 1958. Tors skalder och Vite-Krists. Trosskiftestidens isländska furstelovskalder, 980-1013. Stockholm: Geber.
14. Marold, Edith. 1993c. ‘Die Topik der Fürstendarstellung in den Preisliedern des 10. Jahrhunderts’. In Glienke et al. 1993, 96-111.
15. Hägg, Inga. 2000. ‘Kleidung’. In RGA, 16, 603-25.
16. Hägg, Inga. 1991. ‘Rangsymboliska element i vikingatida gravar: Hedeby – Birka – Mammen’. In Iversen 1991, 155-62.
17. Indrebø, Gustav. 1931. Fylke og fylkesnamn. Bergens Museums Årbok 1931, Hist.-ant. rekke nr. 1. Bergen: Grieg.
18. Mayerhofer, Andrea. 2005. ‘Seide’. In RGA, 28, 121-4.
19. Internal references
20. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Heimskringla’ 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=4> (accessed 26 April 2024)
21. Edith Marold with the assistance of Vivian Busch, Jana Krüger, Ann-Dörte Kyas and Katharina Seidel, translated from German by John Foulks 2012, ‘ Einarr skálaglamm Helgason, Vellekla’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 280. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1181> (accessed 26 April 2024)
22. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2022, ‘Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar 115 (Egill Skallagrímsson, Arinbjarnarkviða 19)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 357.
23. Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson, Háleygjatal 12’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 211.
24. Edith Marold (ed.) 2017, ‘Kormákr Ǫgmundarson, Sigurðardrápa 3’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 277.
25. Not published: do not cite (Run Öl 54^VI)