Gísl Magnkv 1^II

Ungr framði sik,        þars alendr vildu
lofsælan gram        landi ræna
Imðar faxa,        en jǫfurr sótti
Báleygs viðu        með blôum hjǫrvi.

Ungr framði sik, þars {alendr {faxa Imðar}} vildu ræna lofsælan gram landi, en jǫfurr sótti {viðu Báleygs} með blôum hjǫrvi.

The young one excelled where {the nourishers {of Imð’s <troll-woman’s> steed}} [WOLF > WARRIORS] wished to rob the praise-blessed lord of his land, and the prince attacked {Báleygr’s <= Óðinn’s> trees} [WARRIORS] with the dark sword.

Mss: Mork(21v) (Mork); H(81v-82r), Hr(57va) (H-Hr); F(56vb)

Readings: [1] framði: reyndi F;    sik: hann sik all    [2] þars (‘þar er’): þá er H, Hr    [4] landi: lífi F    [5] faxa: fáka F    [6] jǫfurr: ofra Hr    [8] hjǫrvi: so all others, ‘iofri’ corrected in the same hand in the left margin to ‘hiorvi’ Mork

Editions: Skj AI, 440, Skj BI, 409, Skald I, 202; Mork 1867, 132, Mork 1928-32, 299, Andersson and Gade 2000, 287, 484 (Mberf); Fms 7, 6 (Mberf ch. 5); F 1871, 262 (Mberf).

Context: Stanzas 1-3 are cited as a block, documenting how Magnús set out from Oslo in 1094 and travelled north to capture the leaders of the rebellion against him, Steigar-Þórir Þórðarson and Egill Áskelsson (or Ásláksson).

Notes: [1] framði ‘excelled’: Reyndi (sik) ‘tested himself’ (so F) is an equally good reading. Ungr framði sik ‘the young one excelled’ echoes Mark Eirdr 18/3, 4, which was composed approximately at the same time as Magnkv. — [4] ræna landi ‘to rob of his land’: Ræna lífi ‘rob of his life’ (so F) is also a possible reading. — [5] faxa Imðar ‘of Imð’s <troll-woman’s> steed [WOLF]’: Fáka Imðar ‘of Imð’s steeds’ (so F) is metrically and contextually possible. The name of the troll-woman is rendered variously as Imð or Imðr (see LP: Imð, Imðr). — [8] með blôum hjǫrvi ‘with the dark sword’: For the meaning of the adj. blár lit. ‘blue’, see Wolf 2006.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. 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.
5. Andersson, Theodore M. and Kari Ellen Gade, trans. 2000. Morkinskinna: The Earliest Icelandic Chronicle of the Norwegian Kings (1030-1157). Islandica 51. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.
6. Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
7. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
8. Mork 1867 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1867. Morkinskinna: Pergamentsbog fra første halvdel af det trettende aarhundrede. Indeholdende en af de ældste optegnelser af norske kongesagaer. Oslo: Bentzen.
9. Wolf, Kirsten. 2006. ‘The Color Blue in Old Norse-Icelandic Literature’. In McKinnell et al. 2006, II, 1071-80.
10. Internal references
11. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Magnúss saga berfœtts’ 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=144> (accessed 23 April 2024)
12. Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘(Biography of) Steigar-Þórir Þórðarson’ 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, pp. 391-2.
13. Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘ Gísl Illugason, Erfikvæði about Magnús berfœttr’ 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, pp. 416-30. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1201> (accessed 23 April 2024)
14. Jayne Carroll (ed.) 2009, ‘Markús Skeggjason, Eiríksdrápa 18’ 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, pp. 447-8.