Eskál Vell 19^I

Hóf und hyrjar kneyfi
— hraut unda fjǫl — Þundar
— þat sleit víg á vági —
vandar dýr at landi.
Né fjǫlsnerrinn fyrri
fégildandi vildi
— vægðit jarl fyr jǫfri —
Yggs niðr friðar biðja.

Hóf {dýr vandar} at landi und {kneyfi {hyrjar Þundar}}; fjǫl unda hraut; þat sleit víg á vági. {Fjǫlsnerrinn fégildandi niðr Yggs} né vildi biðja friðar fyrri; jarl vægðit fyr jǫfri.

{The beast of the mast} [SHIP] was carried towards land under {the destroyer {of the fire of Þundr <= Óðinn>}} [SWORD > WARRIOR = Hákon jarl]; a multitude of wounds spurted; that broke off the battle on the sea. {The war-seasoned generous descendant of Yggr <= Óðinn>} [= Hákon jarl] did not want to be the first to ask for peace; the jarl did not yield to the prince.

Mss: FskBˣ(20r-v), 51ˣ(17v-18r), 302ˣ(28r), FskAˣ(80), 52ˣ(31r-v), 301ˣ(28v) (Fsk)

Readings: [1] hyrjar: ‘hytar’ FskAˣ, 52ˣ, 301ˣ    [3] á: so FskAˣ, 52ˣ, at FskBˣ, 51ˣ, 301ˣ, á corrected from at 302ˣ;    vági: ‘væghe’ 301ˣ    [4] vandar: ‘vendar’ FskAˣ, 52ˣ, 301ˣ    [5] Né: so FskAˣ, 52ˣ, 301ˣ, vé FskBˣ, 51ˣ, 302ˣ;    ‑snerrinn: so FskAˣ, 52ˣ, 301ˣ, ‘‑ner rennr’ FskBˣ, 51ˣ, 302ˣ    [6] ‑gildandi: ‑gjaldandi FskBˣ, 51ˣ, 302ˣ, ‑mildr konungr FskAˣ, 52ˣ, 301ˣ;    vildi: so 51ˣ, 302ˣ, FskAˣ, 52ˣ, 301ˣ, ‘vi(ll)de’(?) FskBˣ    [7] vægðit (‘vægðe at’): vægðisk FskAˣ, 52ˣ, 301ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 126-7, Skj BI, 120, Skald I, 67, NN §§1626, 2240A, 2441; Fsk 1902-3, 71 (ch. 14), ÍF 29, 113 (ch. 16).

Context: Since Hákon has fewer ships but a larger land force, he lands and challenges Ragnfrøðr Eiríksson to do battle with him there; but because he fears Hákon’s host, Ragnfrøðr declines. Fsk cites sts 19 and 20, which both refer to this event, without interruption.

Notes: [1] hóf ‘was carried’: Hóf (inf. hefja) is used impersonally of ships being driven by winds or currents (Fritzner: hefja 4). Dýr ‘beast’, as its object, is acc. here (NN §2441). — [2] fjǫl ‘a multitude’: The ms. spellings point to the synonymous fjǫlð, but since Craigie’s Law demands a short-stemmed noun here (cf. Gade 1995a, 29-30), it appears that fjǫlð has replaced an earlier fjǫl (as also in Hfr ErfÓl 7/6). — [4] vandar ‘of the mast’: Vǫndr normally means ‘wand’ or ‘staff’, but can also denote a ‘mast’ (LP: vǫndr 5). — [5] fjǫlsnerrinn ‘war-seasoned’: The cpd, and indeed the simplex snerrinn, is a hap. leg. Snerrinn is related to adj. snarr ‘bold, keen, vigorous’ and snerra f. ‘battle, tumult’ (AEW: snerra 1, 2), hence fjǫlsnerrinn means ‘much experienced in battle’, or ‘very bold’. — [6] fégildandi ‘generous’: (a) Most eds follow Konráð Gíslason (1895-7, I, 134) and Finnur Jónsson (1891a, 169-70) in choosing fémildr konungr ‘generous king’, the reading of the FskA transcripts, emending konungr to konung. This creates syntactically complicated relationships between l. 6 and l. 8, with fémildr qualifying niðr Yggs ‘descendant of Yggr [= Hákon jarl]’, konung as the object of biðja ‘ask’, and vildi ‘wanted to’ as an auxiliary of biðja. This interpretation also raises the issue of who would be the first to ask the king (who is presumably Ragnfrøðr, see Note to st. 20/2) for peace if it were not the jarl. (b) Selecting fégjaldandi from FskBˣ and 51ˣ, with minor emendation to fégildandi ‘wealth-distributing’, i.e. ‘generous’, solves both of these problems and is adopted by this edn (so Kock, Skald; Ohlmarks 1958, 375). Although gilda normally means ‘appraise, value’, gildir occurs with the sense ‘distributor’ in several kennings (see LP: gildir). — [8] niðr Yggs ‘the descendant of Yggr <= Óðinn> [= Hákon jarl]’: Cf. Eyv Hál 2, which identifies Óðinn and Skaði as ancestors of Hákon jarl. On the divine descent of the jarls of Hlaðir see Introduction to Hál.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
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. Gade, Kari Ellen. 1995a. The Structure of Old Norse dróttkvætt Poetry. Islandica 49. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
7. Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
8. Fsk 1902-3 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1902-3. Fagrskinna: Nóregs kononga tal. SUGNL 30. Copenhagen: Møller.
9. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
10. Konráð Gíslason. 1895-7. Efterladte skrifter. 2 vols. I: Forelæsninger over oldnordiske skjaldekvad. II: Forelæsninger og videnskablige afhandlinger. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
11. Ohlmarks, Åke. 1958. Tors skalder och Vite-Krists. Trosskiftestidens isländska furstelovskalder, 980-1013. Stockholm: Geber.
12. Finnur Jónsson. 1891a. ‘Vellekla: Tekstkritiske bemærkninger’. ÅNOH, 147-82.
13. Internal references
14. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Fagrskinna’ 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=56> (accessed 26 April 2024)
15. Russell Poole 2012, ‘ Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson, Háleygjatal’ 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. 195. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1186> (accessed 26 April 2024)
16. Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson, Háleygjatal 2’ 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. 199.
17. Kate Heslop (ed.) 2012, ‘Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld Óttarsson, Erfidrápa Óláfs Tryggvasonar 7’ 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. 411.