Eyv Hák 15^I

Ræsir þat mælti         — vas frá rómu kominn,
        stóð allr í dreyra drifinn —:
‘illúðigr mjǫk         þykkir oss Óðinn vesa;
        séumk vér hans of hugi.’

Ræsir mælti þat — vas kominn frá rómu, stóð allr drifinn í dreyra —: ‘Óðinn þykkir oss vesa mjǫk illúðigr; séumk vér of hugi hans.’

The ruler [Hákon] said that [this] — he had come from battle, stood all drenched in blood —: ‘Óðinn appears to us [me] to be very hostile; we [I] fear his intentions.’

Mss: Kˣ(106v), F(18va), J1ˣ(64r), J2ˣ(60v-61r) (Hkr); 761bˣ(100v)

Readings: [3] allr: allir J1ˣ;    dreyra: so F, J1ˣ, J2ˣ, ‘drøra’ Kˣ, 761bˣ    [4] mjǫk: om. F    [5] þykkir oss: oss þykkir F    [6] séumk vér: séum vér Kˣ, ‘sia var’ F, ‘siam ver’ J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 761bˣ;    hans of: so F, um hans Kˣ, 761bˣ, of hans J1ˣ, J2ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 67, Skj BI, 59, Skald I, 36; Hkr 1893-1901, I, 221, IV, 60, ÍF 26, 196, Hkr 1991, I, 128 (HákGóð ch. 31/32), F 1871, 84; Möbius 1860, 234, Jón Helgason 1968, 27-8, Krause 1990, 111-13.

Context: As for st. 1. 

Notes: [3] allr drifinn í dreyra ‘all drenched in blood’: Noreen (1922b, 540-1) compares the phrase (allr í dreyra drifinn in text) with Grí 52/6 allan í dreyra drifinn (NK 68). — [6] séumk ‘fear’: (a) The emendation is adopted by several eds, but the reason for Hákon’s wariness in Óðinn’s hall is uncertain. It may be that he is still resentful about events at Fitjar, or specifically about his treatment by Óðinn, who engineers the deaths of his favoured heroes. Alternatively, Paasche (1916, 14) explains Hákon’s wariness in the context of the assertion of Anon Eirm 6 that his enemy Eiríkr was a more desirable guest to Óðinn than other kings. Others have attributed it to the Christian belief attributed to Hákon in Hkr and Fsk (Du Méril 1839, 160 n. 1; Finnur Jónsson 1904-5a, 60; Jón Helgason 1953, 120; Holm-Olsen 1961b; Frank 1984b, 570; Kreutzer 1999b, 89). Indeed, st. 18 can reasonably be perceived as a resolution to the issue of what it is that is troubling Hákon, if this is what sts 16 and 17 allude to. (b) The non-reflexive sjá(u)m (earlier sé(u)m) of most of the mss is retained with the sense ‘I am concerned about him’ in Hkr 1991 (cf. Möbius 1860; Jón Helgason 1968). Geijer (1816, 56) must have a similar reading in mind when he takes the line to mean ‘Let’s see how he turns out’, and cf. Cederström 1860, 23: Vi ser på hans sinnelag ‘We observe his disposition’.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. NK = Neckel, Gustav and Hans Kuhn (1899), eds. 1983. Edda: Die Lieder des Codex Regius nebst verwandten Denkmälern. 2 vols. I: Text. 5th edn. Heidelberg: Winter.
4. Jón Helgason. 1953. ‘Norges og Islands digtning’. In Sigurður Nordal 1953a, 3-179.
5. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
6. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
7. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
8. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
9. Möbius, Theodor. 1860. Edda Sæmundar hins fróða. Mit einem Anhang bisher ungedruckter Gedichte. Leipzig: Hinrichs.
10. Du Méril, Edélestand. 1839. Histoire de la poésie Scandinave: Prolégomènes. Paris: Brockhaus & Avenarius.
11. Finnur Jónsson. 1904-5a. Bókmentasaga Íslendinga fram undir siðabót. Copenhagen: S. L. Möller.
12. Frank, Roberta. 1984b. ‘Eyvindr Finnsson skáldaspillir’. In Strayer 1982-9, IV, 570.
13. Holm-Olsen, Ludvig. 1961b. ‘Hákonarmál’. KLNM 6, 50-1.
14. Jón Helgason, ed. 1968. Skjaldevers. 3rd edn. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
15. Krause, Arnulf, ed. 1990. Die Dichtung des Eyvindr skáldaspillir: Edition-Kommentar-Untersuchungen. Altnordische Bibliothek 10. Leverkusen: Literaturverlag Norden Mark Reinhardt.
16. Kreutzer, Gert. 1999b. ‘Valhall – Himmel – Hölle. Das Bild des Königs Hákon Aðalsteinsfóstri in der nordischen Literatur des Mittelalters’. In Andersen 1999, 85-110.
17. Noreen, Erik. 1922b. ‘Eiríksmál och Hákonarmál’. NT, 535-42.
18. Cederström, Rudolf. 1860. Forsök til tolkning och förklaring af Hákonar-mál. Stockholm: [n. p.].
19. Geijer, E. G. 1816. ‘Hakonar-Mal. Konung Hakons dödssång. Ofwersättning ur Hakon Adalstens fostres Saga’. Iduna 1, 52-8.
20. Paasche, Fredrik. 1916. ‘Hákonarmál’. In Til Gerhard Gran, 9 december 1916, fra venner og elever. Kristiania (Oslo): Aschehoug (Nygaard), 10-16.
21. Internal references
22. (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)
23. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Anonymous Poems, Eiríksmál 6’ 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. 1011.
24. (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)
25. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Hákonar saga góða’ 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=130> (accessed 25 April 2024)
26. Not published: do not cite ()