Eyv Lv 5^I

Veitk, at beit inn bitri
byggving meðaldyggvan
bulka skíðs ór bôðum
benvǫndr konungs hǫndum.
Ófælinn klauf Ála
éldraugr skarar hauga
gollhjǫltuðum galtar
grandaðr Dana brandi.

Veitk, at {inn bitri benvǫndr} beit {meðaldyggvan byggving {skíðs bulka}} ór bôðum hǫndum konungs. {{{Ála galtar} él}draugr}, {grandaðr Dana}, klauf ófælinn {hauga skarar} gollhjǫltuðum brandi.

I know that {the biting wound-wand} [SWORD] bit {the middling-valiant inhabiter {of the ski of cargo}} [SHIP > SEAFARER] from both the king’s hands. {The log {of the storm {of the boar of Áli <legendary king>}}} [(lit. ‘storm-log of the boar of Áli’) HELMET > BATTLE > WARRIOR = Hákon], {injurer of the Danes} [= Hákon], cleft, unflinching, {the burial-mounds of hair} [HEADS] with his gold-hilted sword.

Mss: Kˣ(103v-104r), F(18rb), J1ˣ(62v), J2ˣ(59r) (Hkr); 61(6ra), 325IX 1 a(2vb), Bb(8ra), Flat(8rb) (ÓT); FskBˣ(11r-v), FskAˣ(54) (Fsk)

Readings: [1] Veitk (‘Veit ec’): sá ek Flat;    bitri: so all others, added in a later hand Kˣ    [2] byggving: ‘hyggiung’ FskBˣ;    ‑dyggvan: ‘‑dyggvang’ FskAˣ    [3] bulka: ‘buska’ J1ˣ, balka Flat;    skíðs: skíð F    [4] ben‑: bein J1ˣ, J2ˣ    [5] Ófælinn: ‘vfallum’ J1ˣ, ófallinn J2ˣ, ‘ofeilinn’ Flat;    Ála: Óla FskBˣ, FskAˣ    [6] ‑draugr: draugar 61, 325IX 1 a, Bb;    skarar: skǫr 61, 325IX 1 a, ‘skuo᷎r’ Bb, af skǫr Flat    [7] goll‑: ‘g[…]’ J1ˣ;    galtar: corrected from hjaltar J2ˣ    [8] grandaðr: ‘grand daðr’ J1ˣ, J2ˣ, ‘grandraðr’ 61, grandað FskBˣ, FskAˣ;    brandi: branda F, brandr J1ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 72, Skj BI, 63, Skald I, 39, NN §2217; Hkr 1893-1901, I, 215-16, IV, 57, ÍF 26, 190, Hkr 1991, I, 122 (HákGóð ch. 31), F 1871, 83; Fms 1, 45, Fms 12, 29, ÓT 1958-2000, I, 44 (ch. 28), Flat 1860-8, I, 61; Fsk 1902-3, 44 (ch. 12), ÍF 29, 90-1 (ch. 13); Krause 1990, 225-30.

Context: Fsk incorporates the stanza within a description of how Hákon single-handedly kills Eyvindr skreyja, having declined an offer of help from Þórálfr inn sterki ‘the Strong’ Skólmsson. Hkr and ÓT mention first that Hákon kills Eyvindr skreyja, following up on an initial attack by Þórálfr, and then that Þórálfr kills Álfr askmaðr ‘Shipman’.

Notes: [2, 3] byggving skíðs bulka ‘inhabiter of the ski of cargo [SHIP > SEAFARER]’: This, the warrior killed by the king, is identified as Eyvindr skreyja in Fsk and Hkr (see Context; followed in ÍF 26; ÍF 29; Hkr 1991). To judge from the stanza itself, however, the reference could be to Álfr (see Note to Lv 3/4) through his nickname askmaðr ‘Shipman, viking’ (so Hkr 1893-1901, IV; Skj B; see also Finnur Jónsson 1907, 284 and Lind 1920-1, 6 on the nickname, and Jesch 2001a, 135 on askr ‘ship’). There may have been competing accounts of the deaths of Eyvindr and Álfr, and in crediting the killing of Álfr to Þórálfr Skólmsson (an Icelander in whose honour ÞSjár Þórdr was composed), the prose sources may include some elements of early tradition. — [2] meðaldyggvan ‘middling-valiant’: An ironic understatement of the deceased warrior’s allegedly abysmal level of prowess. ÍF 26 translates meðaltrúan ‘middling-loyal’. — [5, 6, 7] Ála galtar éldraugr ‘the log of the storm of the boar of Áli <legendary king> [(lit. storm-log of the boar of Áli) HELMET > BATTLE > WARRIOR]’: This solution is based upon that of Finnur Jónsson (Hkr 1893-1901, IV; Skj B), which is followed, with variations, by most eds. The ‘boar of Áli’ is understood as ‘helmet’, since Hildigǫltr or Hildisvín ‘battle-boar’ was the name of the helmet belonging to king Áli of Norway (Hkr 1893-1901, IV; Skj B; cf. ÍF 26, 190 n.), which later passed to Aðils of Sweden (Skm, SnE 1998, I, 58; cf. a comparable allusion to the hostilities between Aðils and Hrólfr kraki at Fýrisvellir in Eyv Lv 8.) There is an element of ofljóst here, since the battle-kenning equates to hildr ‘battle’, and together with galtar (gen. sg. of gǫltr ‘boar’) forms a counterpart to Hildigǫltr. Editors differ as to the exact analysis of the kenning (and see Note to l. 6 draugr for a further complication). The analysis above is favoured in ÍF 26, ÍF 29 and Hkr 1991, while Finnur Jónsson and seemingly Kock (NN §2217) take él Ála ‘storm of Áli’ as the battle-kenning and the gǫltr ‘boar’ of battle as the helmet. The ofljóst works more straightforwardly on this analysis, but the structure of the inverted kenning is more problematic. Gǫltr and other words for ‘boar’ are found in other expressions for ‘helmet’, though Meissner expresses reservations about their status as kennings (Meissner 164). Boar images on helmets are attested from pre-Viking Age Sweden and from Anglo-Saxon England (see Beowulf 2008, 12, 135-7; Mitchell et al. 1998, 189). — [6] -draugr ‘the log’: The juxtaposition and rhyme of draug- with hauga ‘burial-mounds’ in l. 6 may evoke the homonym draugr ‘ghost, undead’ (LP: 1. draugr; cf. Note to ÞHjalt Lv 1/5). Finnur Jónsson (Hkr 1893-1901, IV; cf. Skj B; LP: gǫltr) emends draugr to draugs, and hence makes the warrior-kenning Ála galtar éldraugs (discussed in Note to ll. 5, 6, 7) dependent on hauga skarar ‘burial-mounds of hair [HEADS]’, but the emendation is unnecessary since the two kennings in ll. 5-8 can be taken in apposition. — [6] hauga ‘the burial-mounds’: The pl. number implies that this stanza is a description of Hákon’s actions against the enemy in general, not his killing of an individual warrior. ON haugr can denote a natural hill or a burial-mound, but the juxtaposition with draugr (see previous Note) and the context of deadly blows suggest that burial-mounds are evoked here. — [7] gollhjǫltuðum ‘gold-hilted’: Some hilts from this period exhibit golden or silver ornamentation (Pedersen 2004, 595). — [8] grandaðr ‘injurer’: Printed in older eds as grǫnduðr, but there is no ground for alteration of the ms. spelling here, and ÍF 26, ÍF 29, Hkr 1991 all print grandaðr. This type of agentive noun can be formed with either -aðr or -uðr, the latter with mutation of a in the root syllable to ǫ.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
6. Meissner = Meissner, Rudolf. 1921. Die Kenningar der Skalden: Ein Beitrag zur skaldischen Poetik. Rheinische Beiträge und Hülfsbücher zur germanischen Philologie und Volkskunde 1. Bonn and Leipzig: Schroeder. Rpt. 1984. Hildesheim etc.: Olms.
7. 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.
8. Jesch, Judith. 2001a. Ships and Men in the Late Viking Age: The Vocabulary of Runic Inscriptions and Skaldic Verse. Woodbridge: Boydell.
9. Flat 1860-8 = Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and C. R. Unger, eds. 1860-8. Flateyjarbók. En samling af norske konge-sagaer med indskudte mindre fortællinger om begivenheder i og udenfor Norge samt annaler. 3 vols. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
10. Lind, Eric Henrik. 1920-1. Norsk-isländska personbinamn från medeltiden: samlade ock utgivna med forkläringar. Uppsala: Lundequist.
11. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
12. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
13. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
14. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
15. Beowulf 2008 = Fulk, Robert D., Robert E. Bjork and John D. Niles, eds. 2008. Klaeber’s Beowulf and the Fight at Finnsburg. 4th rev. edn of Beowulf and the Fight at Finnsburg, ed. Fr. Klaeber. Toronto, Buffalo and London: University of Toronto Press.
16. Fsk 1902-3 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1902-3. Fagrskinna: Nóregs kononga tal. SUGNL 30. Copenhagen: Møller.
17. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
18. Finnur Jónsson. 1907. ‘Tilnavne i den islandske oldlitteratur’. ÅNOH, 161-381.
19. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
20. ÓT 1958-2000 = Ólafur Halldórsson, ed. 1958-2000. Saga Óláfs Tryggvasonar en mesta. 3 vols. EA A 1-3. Copenhagen: Munksgaard (Reitzel).
21. Krause, Arnulf, ed. 1990. Die Dichtung des Eyvindr skáldaspillir: Edition-Kommentar-Untersuchungen. Altnordische Bibliothek 10. Leverkusen: Literaturverlag Norden Mark Reinhardt.
22. Pedersen, Anne. 2004. ‘Schwert: Karolinger- und Wikingerzeit’. In RGA, 27, 593-7.
23. Internal references
24. (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)
25. (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)
26. (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 19 April 2024)
27. (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Skáldskaparmál’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=112> (accessed 19 April 2024)
28. (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)
29. Not published: do not cite (Run^VI)
30. Kari Ellen Gade 2012, ‘ Þórðr Særeksson (Sjáreksson), Þórálfs drápa Skólmssonar’ 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. 236. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1420> (accessed 19 April 2024)
31. Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson, Lausavísur 8’ 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. 226.
32. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2012, ‘Þorvaldr Hjaltason, Lausavísur 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. 271.