Eyv Hál 12^I

Þeims allt austr
til Egða býs
brúðr valtýs
und bœgi liggr.

Þeims {brúðr {valtýs}} liggr und bœgi allt austr til býs Egða.

Under whose arm {the bride {of the slaughter-god}} [= Óðinn > = Jǫrð (jǫrð ‘land’)] lies all the way east to the territory of the Egðir.

Mss: FskBˣ(22v), 51ˣ(20r), 302ˣ(31v), FskAˣ(87), 301ˣ(31v) (Fsk)

Readings: [1] Þeims (‘Ðæim er’): ‘eim er’ FskAˣ, 301ˣ;    allt: so FskAˣ, 301ˣ, om. FskBˣ, 51ˣ, 302ˣ    [3] valtýs: ‘valryss tunar’ FskAˣ, ‘valtyss tunar’ 301ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 71, Skj BI, 62, Skald I, 38; Fsk 1902-3, 79 (ch. 15), ÍF 29, 121 (ch. 17); Krause 1990, 198-200.

Context: Hákon jarl consolidates his control over the kingdom presented to him by the Danish king and launches raids in Vík (Viken, the area around Oslofjorden), which was subject to the Danish king.

Notes: [All]: The rel. þeims ‘whose’ presumably refers back to Hákon, the sverðalfr ‘sword-elf [WARRIOR]’ of st. 11/9. Possibly st. 12 originally continued directly from st. 11. — [2] býs Egða ‘the territory of the Egðir’: The Egðir are the people of Agðir (Agder), a district in southern Norway. The reference would imply that Hákon was able to consolidate power as far as the southernmost stretch of the west coast of Norway. Territories further east of Agðir, such as Telemark and Vestfold, were under Danish overlordship at this stage (Andersen 1977, 100). — [3-4]: This has been regarded as an allusion to the ritual marriage (hieros gamos) of ruler to land (e.g. Ström 1983; Steinsland 1991) and might point to the jarl’s revival of such a cult; see further Note to Gsind Hákdr 5/1, 2-3. — [3] valtýs ‘of the slaughter-god [= Óðinn]’: The second element could be the common noun týr ‘god’ or the god-name Týr: see Note to Eyv Hák 1/2.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. Fsk 1902-3 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1902-3. Fagrskinna: Nóregs kononga tal. SUGNL 30. Copenhagen: Møller.
4. Andersen, Per Sveaas. 1977. Samlingen av Norge og kristningen av landet 800-1130. Handbok i Norges historie 2. Bergen: Universitetsforlaget.
5. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
6. Krause, Arnulf, ed. 1990. Die Dichtung des Eyvindr skáldaspillir: Edition-Kommentar-Untersuchungen. Altnordische Bibliothek 10. Leverkusen: Literaturverlag Norden Mark Reinhardt.
7. Steinsland, Gro. 1991. Det hellige bryllup og norrøn kongeideologi. En analyse av hierogami-myten i Skírnismál, Ynglingatal, Háleygjatal og Hyndluljóð. Oslo: Solum.
8. Ström, Folke. 1983. ‘Hieros gamos-motivet i Hallfreðr Óttarssons Hákonardrápa och den nordnorska jarlavärdigheten’. ANF 98, 67-79.
9. Internal references
10. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson, Hákonarmál 1’ 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. 174.
11. Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Guthormr sindri, Hákonardrápa 5’ 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. 163.