Eyv Hák 4^I

Hrauzk ór hervôðum,         hratt á vǫll brynju,
vísi verðungar,         áðr til vígs tœki.
Lék við ljóðmǫgu         — skyldi land verja —
gramr inn glaðværi;         stóð und gollhjalmi.

Vísi verðungar hrauzk ór {hervôðum}, hratt brynju á vǫll, áðr tœki til vígs. Inn glaðværi gramr lék við ljóðmǫgu; skyldi verja land; stóð und gollhjalmi.

The leader of the retinue [Hákon] threw off {his war-garments} [ARMOUR], cast his mail-shirt to the ground, before beginning the battle. The cheerful ruler joked with his men; he had to protect the land; he stood under a golden helmet.

Mss: Kˣ(102r-v), Kˣ(105v) (l. 1), F(18ra), F(18va) (l. 1), J1ˣ(62r), J1ˣ(63v) (l. 1), J2ˣ(58r), J2ˣ(60r) (l. 1) (Hkr); FskBˣ(10r-v), FskAˣ(51) (Fsk); R(39v), Tˣ(41r), U(38r), B(6v), C(9r) (SnE, ll. 5-8); 761bˣ(96v)

Readings: [1] ‑vôðum: ‑fótum FskBˣ    [2] hratt: rætt FskAˣ    [3] vísi: ‘vis’ J1ˣ(62r), vísir FskBˣ;    verðungar: ‘verðunger’ J1ˣ(62r), verðunga FskBˣ, ‘varðungar’ FskAˣ    [4] áðr: áðr an FskBˣ;    vígs: ‘viks’ FskAˣ;    tœki: so F(18ra), J1ˣ(62r), J2ˣ(58r), FskBˣ, FskAˣ, 761bˣ, tókisk or tœkisk Kˣ(102r)    [5] Lék: leik J1ˣ(62r), J2ˣ(58r);    ‑mǫgu: ‘mangu’ FskBˣ, FskAˣ    [6] verja: so F(18ra), J1ˣ(62r), J2ˣ(58r), FskBˣ, FskAˣ, Tˣ, U, B, C, vera Kˣ(102r), R, 761bˣ    [7] gramr: so F(18ra), J1ˣ(62r), J2ˣ(58r), FskBˣ, FskAˣ, U, gram Kˣ(102r), 761bˣ, Gylfi R, Tˣ, B, C    [8] und: um 761bˣ;    ‑hjalmi: ‘[…]’ B

Editions: Skj AI, 65, Skj BI, 57, Skald I, 35; Hkr 1893-1901, I, 212, 219, IV, 55, ÍF 26, 186-7, 193, Hkr 1991, I, 119-20, 125 (HákGóð chs 30, 32), F 1871, 81; Fsk 1902-3, 41 (ch. 11), ÍF 29, 88 (ch. 12); SnE 1848-87, I, 518-19, II, 342, 539, 606, SnE 1931, 182, SnE 1998, I, 102; Möbius 1860, 233, Jón Helgason 1968, 25, Krause 1990, 54-63.

Context: In Hkr, as for st. 1. In Fsk, the preceding prose remarks that the day of the battle was warm, and Hákon removed his mail-shirt and (contrary to what the stanza says) helmet and heartened his men, laughing and cheering them up with his demeanour. In SnE, ll. 5-8 are cited with other stanzas to illustrate the remark that the names of the sons of Hálfdan gamli ‘the Old’ are used in verse as heiti for noblemen, the name in this instance being Gylfi: see Readings.

Notes: [1] hrauzk ór hervôðum ‘threw off his war-garments [ARMOUR]’: Lit. ‘threw himself out of his war-garments’. This could be a heroic gesture, though the Fsk context asserts that the day was warm. According to the F reading in st. 2/2, Hákon had already taken off his mail-shirt (see Note). Herbert (1804, 110) accordingly translates hrauzk here as ‘has cast’. — [2] hratt ‘cast’: 3rd pers. sg. pret. indic. of hrinda. — [5] lék við ‘joked with’: Leika við refers to play of any sort, but verbal sport seems likely here.  — [5] ljóðmǫgu ‘his men’: Lit. ‘people-sons’. — [6] verja land ‘protect the land’: Wolff (1952, 104) argues that this is a pun, with the alternate meaning ‘clothe the land’ (since Hákon has cast his mail-shirt on the ground), and this is the nature of the king’s joking or playing with his men, an interpretation perhaps anticipated by Metcalfe (1880, 387).

References

1. Bibliography
2. SnE 1848-87 = Snorri Sturluson. 1848-87. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar: Edda Snorronis Sturlaei. Ed. Jón Sigurðsson et al. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Legatum Arnamagnaeanum. Rpt. Osnabrück: Zeller, 1966.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
5. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
6. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
7. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
8. Fsk 1902-3 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1902-3. Fagrskinna: Nóregs kononga tal. SUGNL 30. Copenhagen: Møller.
9. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
10. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
11. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
12. Möbius, Theodor. 1860. Edda Sæmundar hins fróða. Mit einem Anhang bisher ungedruckter Gedichte. Leipzig: Hinrichs.
13. Herbert, William. 1804. Miscellaneous Poetry. 2 vols. I: Select Icelandic Poetry. London: T. Reynolds.
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. Metcalfe, Frederick. 1880. The Englishman and the Scandinavian; or, a Comparison of Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse Literature. London: Trübner.
17. Wolff, Ludwig. 1952. ‘Eddisch-skaldische Blütenlese’. In Schneider 1952, 92-107.
18. Internal references
19. Edith Marold 2017, ‘Snorra Edda (Prologue, Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál)’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols [check printed volume for citation].
20. (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 19 April 2024)
21. (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 19 April 2024)
22. (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 19 April 2024)