Eskál Vell 24^I

Strǫng varð gunnr, áðr gunnar
gammi nás und hramma
þrøngvimeiðr of þryngvi
þrimr hundruðum lunda.
Knátti hafs at hǫfðum
— hagnaðr vas þat — bragna
folkeflandi fylkir
fangsæll þaðan ganga.

Gunnr varð strǫng, áðr {þrøngvimeiðr {lunda gunnar}} of þryngvi þrimr hundruðum und hramma {gammi nás}. Fangsæll folkeflandi fylkir knátti ganga þaðan hafs at hǫfðum bragna; þat vas hagnaðr.

The battle became intense before {the oppressing-pole {of trees of battle}} [WARRIORS > WARRIOR] pressed three hundred [men] under the claws {of the vulture of the corpse} [RAVEN/EAGLE]. The plunder-rich battle-supporting ruler was able to walk from there to the sea over the heads of men; that was an advantage.

Mss: Kˣ(142r), F(23va), J1ˣ(82v-83r), J2ˣ(78r), 325VIII 1(3rb) (Hkr); 61(11v), 53(9va), 54(5va), Bb(15rb) (ÓT); FskBˣ(20v-21r), FskAˣ(81-82) (Fsk)

Readings: [1] varð: var F, J1ˣ, Bb, FskBˣ;    gunnr: ‘gum’ J1ˣ;    áðr: at Bb;    gunnar: gumnar F, 61, FskBˣ, gumar J1ˣ    [2] gammi: glammi 325VIII 1, gamma FskBˣ;    nás: vals Bb, FskBˣ;    und: við 54, til Bb;    hramma: hrammi F, ‘(r)amma’(?) FskBˣ    [3] of: áðr J1ˣ, 61, 53, 54, Bb;    þryngvi: ‘þryngri’ 54, þrunginn FskBˣ, ‘þrongvi’ FskAˣ    [5] hafs: haf F;    at: af J1ˣ, 61, 53, 54, Bb    [6] þat: þar Bb    [7] ‑eflandi: ‑eflanda F;    fylkir: fylkis F    [8] fang‑: feng‑ F;    ‑sæll: ‑sæl Bb;    ganga: gengi F

Editions: Skj AI, 128, Skj BI, 121, Skald I, 68, NN §405; Hkr 1893-1901, I, 287, IV, 77, ÍF 26, 247, Hkr 1991, I, 165 (ÓTHkr ch. 18), F 1871, 107; Fms 1, 95, Fms 12, 35, ÓT 1958-2000, I, 103 (ch. 56); Fsk 1902-3, 73 (ch. 14), ÍF 29, 115 (ch. 16).

Context: According to Hkr and ÓT the great battle between Hákon jarl and King Ragnfrøðr is fought at Þinganes, at the border between Sogn and Hǫrðaland (Hordaland). Hákon jarl has the larger force and is victorious. Ragnfrøðr flees to his ships, and three hundred of his company are killed. Fsk reports more briefly that Hákon defeated the Eiríkssynir (Gunnhildarsynir) in Sogn, killing three hundred of their troops.

Notes: [1, 3, 4] þrøngvimeiðr lunda gunnar ‘the oppressing-pole of trees of battle [WARRIORS > WARRIOR]’: To achieve a simpler word order, Kock (NN §405) takes lunda ‘of trees’ as a half-kenning meaning ‘of the men’, construing it with þrimr hundruðum ‘three hundreds’. However, half-kennings of this kind are rare and only occur later (see LP: 2. lundr; Reichardt 1930, 208-9). Moreover, semantic problems result within the warrior-kenning, which would then read ‘oppressing-pole of battle’, i.e. þrøngvi ‘oppressing’ would have gunnar ‘battle’ as its object. There are no warrior-kennings where the warrior oppresses battle, and therefore this and all other eds prefer the more complicated word order. — [5] hafs ‘to the sea’: This edn and most others interpret hafs as a gen. of direction modifying ganga ‘to walk, go’. A possible parallel is eggþings, which could mean ‘in the blade-assembly [BATTLE]’ in st. 22/6, 8 (see Note above, and Hkr 1893-1901, IV). (b) Hafs and bragna ‘men’s’ could be construed together in the sense ‘men of the sea’, referring to Ragnfrøðr’s men (Fms 12; Vell 1865, 64; Konráð Gíslason 1895-7, I, 154-5). However, this would be an unusual expression, and to judge from the prose sources Ragnfrøðr was a landed ruler with no particular affiliation to the sea. — [5, 6, 8] ganga at hǫfðum bragna ‘to walk over the heads of men’: This phrase could be understood literally, as a grotesque image of the victor walking over the heads of his (three hundred) slain enemies. It appears to be understood thus by the Fsk author, who singles it out after his citation of the stanza. A variant on this would be to understand hǫfuð as standing for the whole body or person (cf. Note to Sigv ErfÓl 18/7). A metaphorical expression of triumph over enemies is also possible, however, cf. Fritzner: höfuð 1: stíga yfir höfuð e-m, lit. ‘tread/climb over sby’s head’, hence blive ens Overmand ‘to overcome sby, to walk all over sby’. — [7] folkeflandi ‘battle-supporting’: A translation as ‘people-supporting’ would also be possible, but the context seems to favour a translation using ‘battle’ for folk.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 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. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
7. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
8. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
9. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
10. Fsk 1902-3 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1902-3. Fagrskinna: Nóregs kononga tal. SUGNL 30. Copenhagen: Møller.
11. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
12. Konráð Gíslason. 1895-7. Efterladte skrifter. 2 vols. I: Forelæsninger over oldnordiske skjaldekvad. II: Forelæsninger og videnskablige afhandlinger. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
13. ÓT 1958-2000 = Ólafur Halldórsson, ed. 1958-2000. Saga Óláfs Tryggvasonar en mesta. 3 vols. EA A 1-3. Copenhagen: Munksgaard (Reitzel).
14. Reichardt, Konstantin. 1930. ‘Beiträge zur Skaldenforschung’. ANF 46, 32-62, 199-258.
15. Vell 1865 = Freudenthal, Axel Olof. 1865. Einar Skålaglams Vellekla / öfversatt och förklarad af Axel Olof Freudenthal. Helsingfors: Frenckell.
16. Internal references
17. (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 25 April 2024)
18. (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 25 April 2024)
19. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta’ 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. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=60> (accessed 25 April 2024)
20. Judith Jesch (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Erfidrápa Óláfs helga 18’ 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. 686.