Grani Har 2^II

Dǫglingr fekk at drekka
danskt blóð ara jóði;
hirð hykk hilmi gerðu
Hugins jól við nes Þjólar.
Ætt spornaði arnar
allvítt við valfalli;
hold át vargr, sem vildi,
— vel njóti þess — Jóta.

Dǫglingr fekk jóði ara danskt blóð at drekka; hykk hilmi gerðu {hirð Hugins} jól við Þjólarnes. Allvítt spornaði ætt arnar við valfalli; vargr át hold Jóta, sem vildi; vel njóti þess.

The lord gave the brood of eagles Danish blood to drink; I believe the ruler prepared a yule-feast {for the retinue of Huginn <raven>} [RAVENS] by Þjólarnes. Far and wide the kin of the eagle trod on the fallen carrion; the wolf ate the flesh of the Jótar as it pleased; may it truly enjoy that.

Mss: Mork(9r) (Mork); H(44v), Hr(32ra) (H-Hr); R(40r) (ll. 1-2), Tˣ(41v) (ll. 1-2), U(37v) (ll. 1-2), A(15r) (ll. 1-4), B(6v) (ll. 1-4), 744ˣ(42r-v) (ll. 1-4), C(9r) (ll. 1-2) (SnE)

Readings: [1] Dǫglingr: ‘[…]inngr’ B    [3] hirð: so A, B, hríð Mork, hǫrð H, Hr;    hykk: veitk H, verk Hr;    hilmi: hilmir Hr, ‘h[…]me’ B;    gerðu: gerði Hr, stýrðu A, 744ˣ, ‘st[…]’ B    [4] Hugins jól við ‑nes: ‘[…]’ B, ‘hugins hiol ' es’ 744ˣ;    Þjólar‑: þjóðar B    [6] við: um H, of Hr    [7] vargr: ‘[…]gr’ H    [8] vel njóti: vel njóti hann all

Editions: Skj AI, 387, Skj BI, 357, Skald I, 179; Mork 1867, 53, Mork 1928-32, 158-9, Andersson and Gade 2000, 196-7, 476 (MH); Fms 6, 254-5 (HSig ch. 49); SnE 1848-87, I, 524-5, II, 344, 462, 541, 608, SnE 1931, 184, SnE 1998, I, 103.

Context: In Mork and H-Hr this st. follows st. 1 above. In SnE the first two ll. illustrate that dǫglingr lit. ‘descendant of the legendary king Dagr’ is a heiti for ‘ruler, dignitary’.

Notes: [All]: For this campaign, see Note to st. 1 [All] above. — [1-4]: Because B is difficult to read, AM 744 4°ˣ (744ˣ), an early C18th copy of B by Jón Ólafsson, has been consulted selectively. — [3]: This l. has significant variants. (a) The present edn follows the Mork version but replaces hríð ‘storm, onslaught’ (l. 3) (so Mork) with hirð (f. dat. sg.) ‘retinue’ (so A, B), which restores the internal rhyme (-irð- : ‑erð-) and retains the imagery from ll. 1-2 of Haraldr preparing a feast of carrion for the beasts of battle. It looks as though <ri> in Mork is a misreading of the original abbreviation for <ir>. The H and Hr versions (hǫrð veitk hilmi gerðu ‘I know that the leader performed harsh’ (so H); hǫrð verk hilmir gerði ‘the leader performed harsh deeds’ (so Hr)) are secondary and must represent attempts to restore the missing internal rhyme (see Louis-Jensen 1977, 153). (b) A and B provide stýrðu lit. ‘controlled, ruled, possessed’ (l. 3) for Mork’s gerðu (past inf.) ‘prepared, made’. The syntax of the resulting cl. is not clear. Faulkes (SnE 1998, I, 222, II, 404-5) suggests that stýra (stýrðu past inf.) here means ‘prepare’ although the verb is otherwise not attested in that meaning (see Fritzner: stýra; LP: stýra). Furthermore, stýra is regularly construed with a dat. object (see NS §102.e), and jól ‘yule-feast’ (l. 4) is n. acc. pl. (c) Skj B (and Skald) emends hilmi (m. dat. or acc. sg.) ‘the leader’ to hilmis (m. gen. sg.) qualifying hirð ‘retinue’ (l. 3), taken as f. acc. sg.: hykk hirð hilmis gerðu hugins jól translated as jeg ved, at kongens hird foranstaltede en fest for ravnen ‘I know that the king’s retinue prepared a feast for the raven’ (ll. 3-4). This reading entails an emendation that goes against all ms. witnesses and shifts the focus from Haraldr to his retinue. (d) Another possible reading would be hykk hirð gerðu hilmi jól Hugins ‘I believe the retinue prepared the yule-feast of Huginn (i.e. ‘carrion’) for the ruler’, but again, this interpretation destroys the otherwise consistently applied imagery of Haraldr preparing a feast for the beasts of battle. — [3, 4] hirð Hugins ‘for the retinue of Huginn <raven> [RAVENS]’: This is an unusual kenning for ‘ravens’, because such circumscriptions normally have a base-word that is a kinship term (see Meissner 119; but see ferð gylðis ‘the company of the wolf’ in ESk Run 9/2). However, hirð Hugins ‘the retinue of Huginn’ neatly parallels jóði ara ‘the brood of eagles’ (l. 2) and ætt arnar ‘the kin of the eagle’ (l. 5). Earlier eds construe Hugins with jól (jól Hugins ‘yule-feast of Huginn’), which could be taken quite literally (Haraldr fed the ravens) or else as a kenning for ‘carrion’ (so SnE 1998, II, 480). Huginn was one of Óðinn’s ravens (see SnE 1998, I, 91). — [4] við nes Þjólar ‘by Þjólarnes’: Could go with the first cl. (so Skj B; Skald). Þjólarnes (no longer an extant p. n.) was located by the river Gudenå in Jylland (Jutland).

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. 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.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
9. NS = Nygaard, Marius. 1906. Norrøn syntax. Kristiania (Oslo): Aschehoug. Rpt. 1966.
10. Louis-Jensen, Jonna. 1977. Kongesagastudier: Kompilationen Hulda-Hrokkinskinna. BA 32. Copenhagen: Reitzel.
11. Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
12. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
13. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
14. 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.
15. Internal references
16. 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].
17. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Hulda-Hrokkinskinna’ 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=84> (accessed 18 April 2024)
18. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Morkinskinna’ 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=87> (accessed 18 April 2024)
19. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Magnúss saga góða ok Haralds harðráða’ 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=147> (accessed 18 April 2024)
20. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Runhenda 9’ 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. 557-8.