Anon Bjark 2^III

Hár inn harðgreipi,         Hrólfr skjótandi,
ættum góðir menn,         þeirs ekki flýja,
vekka yðr at víni         né at vífs rúnum,
heldr vekk yðr at hǫrðum         Hildar leiki.

Hár inn harðgreipi, Hrólfr skjótandi, ættum góðir menn, þeirs flýja ekki, vekka yðr at víni né at rúnum vífs, heldr vekk yðr at {hǫrðum leiki Hildar}.

Hár the Hard-gripper, Hrólfr the Shooter, men of good lineage, who do not flee, I do not wake you for wine nor for a woman’s private conversation, rather I wake you for {the hard play of Hildr <valkyrie>} [BATTLE].

Mss: Kˣ(458v) (Hkr); Holm2(64v), J2ˣ(220r), Bæb(4rb), 68(64r), Holm4(59vb), 61(122va), 325V(78rb-va), 325VII(35v), Bb(196rb), Flat(123ra), Tóm(153v) (ÓH); 141ˣ(52v) (Fbr)

Readings: [1] inn: er Bb;    ‑greipi: ‑greypi 68, ‑geiri Bb, ‑greppi Tóm    [2] Hrólfr: ‘hrofr’ Holm2, ‘h[…]’ Holm4    [3] ættum: hættum J2ˣ, ætt‑ 61, 325V, 325VII, Bb, Flat, Tóm, 141ˣ;    menn: munu 61    [4] þeirs (‘þeir er’): er Flat, 141ˣ;    ekki: eigi J2ˣ    [5] vekka (‘vecka ec’): vekjat ek Bæb, 325VII, vekkat ek Holm4, vek at ek 61, ‘vekia ek’ 325V, Bb, vek ek Flat, Tóm, 141ˣ    [6] vífs: ‘vivils’ 325VII, ‘uifls’ Flat, ‘viferlda’ Tóm;    rúnum: runnum Flat, Tóm, 141ˣ    [7] vekk (‘vec ec’): ‘vek el’ Bb;    hǫrðum: ‘havrðo’ 68

Editions: Skj AI, 180, Skj BI, 170, Skald I, 91, FF §24; Hkr 1893-1901, II, 463, ÍF 27, 361-2 (ÓHHkr ch. 208); ÓH 1941, I, 547, Flat 1860-8, II, 34; ÍF 6, 263 (Fbr ch. 24).

Context: As for st. 1.

Notes: [1] Hár inn harðgreipi ‘Hár the Hard-gripper’: In Hrólf this champion of King Hrólfr is called Hrómundr inn harði ‘the Hard’ (Hrólf 1960, 114). — [2] Hrólfr skjótandi ‘Hrólfr the Shooter’: Again Hrólf has a slightly different, and probably more original name for this champion, Hrólfr skjóthendi ‘the Quick-handed’. In Bjark the element skjót- must derive from the verb skjóta ‘shoot’, while in Hrólf it derives from the adj. skjótr ‘quick’. — [3] ættum góðir menn ‘men of good lineage’: Lit. ‘men good in lineage’ or descent. One group of mss favours the cpd adj. ættgóðir ‘lineage-good’ rather than the noun phrase, but this makes the line fornyrðislag rather than málaháttr. — [5-8]: The second helmingr of st. 2 can be compared with the somewhat longer version of Saxo, which is almost certainly based upon it. Friis-Jensen (1987, 152-3) offers an excellent close analysis of the literary parallels and differences between the two texts. The contrast between the pleasures of eating and drinking and associating with women, on the one hand, and the ‘hard play’ of battle, on the other, are conventional in Old Norse poetry; cf. Þhorn Harkv 6^I. — [7-8] hǫrðum leiki Hildar ‘the hard play of Hildr <valkyrie> [BATTLE]’: A conventional battle-kenning (cf. Edáð Banddr 3/6, 7^I) but here highly appropriate in context, because it contrasts the ‘hard play’ of the valkyrie Hildr, personification of battle, in which men fight one another, with the soft play of the bed, where men and women engage in sexual intercourse (see also SnSt Ht 49 and Note to Vígf Lv 1/7^I).

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. 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.
4. ÓH 1941 = Johnsen, Oscar Albert and Jón Helgason, eds. 1941. Saga Óláfs konungs hins helga: Den store saga om Olav den hellige efter pergamenthåndskrift i Kungliga biblioteket i Stockholm nr. 2 4^to med varianter fra andre håndskrifter. 2 vols. Det norske historiske kildeskriftfond skrifter 53. Oslo: Dybwad.
5. ÍF 6 = Vestfirðinga sǫgur. Ed. Björn K. Þórólfsson and Guðni Jónsson. 1943.
6. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
7. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
8. Friis-Jensen, Karsten. 1987. Saxo Grammaticus as Latin Poet: Studies in the Verse Passages of the Gesta Danorum. Analecta Romana Instituti Danici. Supplementum 14. Rome: Bretschneider.
9. FF = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1922. Fornjermansk forskning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 18:1. Lund: Gleerup.
10. Hrólf 1960 = Slay, Desmond, ed. 1960a. Hrólfs saga kráka. EA B 1. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
11. Internal references
12. (forthcoming), ‘ Anonymous, Fóstbrœðra saga’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=7> (accessed 16 April 2024)
13. 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Hrólfs saga kraka’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 539. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=73> (accessed 16 April 2024)
14. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Óláfs saga helga (in Heimskringla)’ 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=152> (accessed 16 April 2024)
15. Margaret Clunies Ross 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Bjarkamál in fornu’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 495. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1006> (accessed 16 April 2024)
16. Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Eyjólfr dáðaskáld, Bandadrápa 3’ 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. 460.
17. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 49’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1158.
18. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Þorbjǫrn hornklofi, Haraldskvæði (Hrafnsmál) 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. 99.
19. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2012, ‘Vígfúss Víga-Glúmsson, Lausavísa 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. 364.