Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson, Háleygjatal 9’ 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. 207.
Ok Sigurð,
hinns svǫnum veitti
hróka bjór
Haddingja vals
farmatýs,
fjǫrvi næmðu
jarðráðendr
á Ǫglói.
Ok {jarðráðendr} næmðu Sigurð, hinns veitti {bjór {hróka {vals Haddingja}}} {svǫnum {farmatýs}}, fjǫrvi á Ǫglói.
And {the rulers of the land} [RULERS] deprived Sigurðr, he who supplied {beer {of the cormorants {of the chosen of the Haddingjar <legendary heroes>}}} [WARRIORS > RAVENS/EAGLES > BLOOD] {to the swans {of the god of cargoes}} [= Óðinn > RAVENS], of life at Ǫgló.
Mss: Kˣ(112r), 39(3vb), F(19va), J1ˣ(67v), J2ˣ(64v) (Hkr); Bb(9va), Flat(8vb) (ÓT); FskBˣ(14v), FskAˣ(64) (Fsk); R(20v), R(35v) (ll. 5-8), Tˣ(21r), Tˣ(37r) (ll. 5-8), W(45), W(81) (ll. 5-8), U(26r), U(34v) (ll. 5-8), A(12v) (l. 5), B(4r) (SnE); W(108) (TGT, ll. 5-8)
Readings: [1] Sigurð: sigrum Flat, Sigurðr R(20v), sigrað U(26r) [2] hinns: honum FskAˣ; svǫnum: sonum FskBˣ [3] hróka: hauka Flat, ‘hraka’ R(20v) [4] Haddingja: ‘haddinga’ J1ˣ, J2ˣ, Flat, ‘handingia’ FskAˣ; vals: val Flat, om. U(26r) [5] farma‑: frama Flat; ‑týs: ‘tyr’ Flat [6] næmðu: nômu J1ˣ, J2ˣ, ‘næmndo’ FskAˣ, næmði W(45), U(34v), W(108) [7] jarðráðendr: ‘iarþ rá þrændr’ R(20v), ‘iarþa ðrændr’ R(35v) [8] á Ǫglói: ‘a ogloi’ 39, F, J1ˣ, Flat, FskAˣ, R(20v), R(35v), W(45), U(34v), W(108), ‘a agloe’ FskBˣ, ‘a gloe’ W(81), U(26r)
Editions: Skj AI, 69-70, Skj BI, 61, Skald I, 38; Hkr 1893-1901, I, 235, IV, 65-6, ÍF 26, 207, Hkr 1991, I, 138 (HGráf ch. 6), F 1871, 89; ÓT 1958-2000, I, 54 n. (ch. 34), Flat 1860-8, I, 64; Fsk 1902-3, 55 (ch. 13), ÍF 29, 101 (ch. 14); SnE 1848-87, I, 232-5, 452-3, II, 160, 302-3, 335, 446, SnE 1931, 88, 160, SnE 1998, I, 7-8, 78; SnE 1848-87, II, 160-1, TGT 1884, 27, TGT 1927, 75, TGT 1998, 200-1; Krause 1990, 179-86.
Context: Stanzas 9 and 10 commemorate the death of Sigurðr jarl Hákonarson (c. 962) and are cited without interruption. In Hkr and ÓT, Sigurðr’s younger brother, Grjótgarðr (grandson of the Grjótgarðr alluded to in st. 8), is suborned by offers of friendship from Haraldr gráfeldr ‘Grey-cloak’ and his brother Erlingr Eiríksson and divulges that Sigurðr is on an itinerary of feasts (veizlur) with only a small entourage. They make their way to Ǫgló, where Sigurðr is staying, and burn down the hall, with the jarl and his following trapped inside. Hákon Sigurðarson then takes up the jarldom. Fsk cites the stanzas after briefly recording the slaying of Sigurðr jarl by the Eiríkssynir (Gunnhildarsynir). In SnE, st. 9 is cited to illustrate the Óðinn-kenning farma-Týr or farmatýr (see Note to l. 5 below) and ll. 5-8 are cited to illustrate the king-kenning jarðráðendr ‘rulers of the land’. In TGT, ll. 5-8 are quoted to exemplify kennings such as farma-Týr.
Notes: [1] Sigurð ‘Sigurðr’: Acc. case, because object of næmðu ‘deprived’ in l. 6. The isolated reading of R, Sigurðr (nom.), probably derives from the wide separation of this noun from the verb that governs it, though Faulkes (SnE 1998, I, 156) suggests that ‘the nom. is perhaps explicable as anacoluthon (“It was S. whom…”)’. — [3] bjór ‘beer’: The collocation of Haddingja (see Note to l. 4) with bjór ‘beer’ may suggest associations with an episode in Saxo’s Gesta Danorum: see Note to Yt 1/5-8. — [4] vals Haddingja ‘of the chosen of the Haddingjar <legendary heroes> [WARRIORS]’: The Haddingjar are legendary, perhaps semi-divine, warrior-aristocrat figures in Swedish, Norwegian and Danish tradition (LP: Haddingi, Haddingjar, Haddingr), sometimes envisaged as a pair of brothers and connected with cultic practices (ARG II, 249, 253; Simek 1993, 127; and see Saxo 2005, I, 1, 8, 12, pp. 122-3). The majority interpretation of this line understands val as n. ‘choice, elite’, hence vals Haddingja is ‘the best of the Haddingjar’ (Hkr 1893-1901, IV; Skj B; LP: Haddingjar; ÍF 26; Hkr 1991). A further possibility preferred by Bjarni Einarsson (ÍF 29) is valr m. ‘the slain’, hence ‘the corpses of the Haddingjar’. — [5] farmatýs ‘of the god of cargoes [= Óðinn]’: As determinant of an Óðinn-kenning, farma ‘of cargoes’ may refer primarily to his hanging as a burden on the gallows (cf. Note to st. 1/7 above). The god may also be associated with commerce and shipping, though this is less certain than his association with journeys (see Notes to st. 1/11 above and Þul Óðins 2/4III). The second element could be the common noun týr ‘god’ or the god-name Týr, and it is presented as the latter in SnE: see Note to Eyv Hák 1/2 Gautatýr. — [8] Ǫglói ‘Ǫgló’: The first element of the p. n. is obscure; the second element ló denotes a meadow flatland by a stretch of water (Rygh et al. 1897-1936, XV, 1, 29, 66; cf. Rygh 1891, 246). The place was in the vicinity of Skatval (Rygh 1891, 246; cf. Rygh et al. 1897-1936, XV, 1, 29), east of Trondheim.
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