Refr Frag 5^III

This helmingr (Refr Frag 5) is found in mss R (main ms.), Tˣ, W and U of Snorri Sturluson’s Ht (SnE). The poet, identified as Refr in all mss, expresses his satisfaction with his life as a skald.

Sæll es hinn, es hranna
hádýri vel stýrir;
tíð erumk vitnis váða
víngerð; unir sínu.

Hinn, es stýrir {hádýri hranna} vel, es sæll; unir sínu; tíð erumk {{vitnis váða} vín}gerð.

The one who steers {the tall animal of waves} [SHIP] well is fortunate; he is content with his lot; I take pleasure in the production {of the wine {of the threat of the wolf}} [= Óðinn > POETRY].

Mss: R(46r), Tˣ(48r), W(139-140), U(49v) (SnE)

Readings: [1] hinn: ‘heinn’ U    [2] ‑dýri: ‑dýra all    [3] tíð: tíðir U    [4] vín‑: tún‑ Tˣ;    ‑gerð: so all others, ‑grið R

Editions: Skj AI, 320, Skj BI, 296, Skald I, 150, NN §§1827Ec, 1837, 1936G; SnE 1848-87, I, 612-13, II, 378, III, 113, SnE 1931, 219, SnE 2007, 8.

Context: The helmingr is given in Ht (SnE) as an example of poetic licence (leyfi), in this case the repetition of er (es) ‘is’ or ‘who’ in l. 1.

Notes: [All]: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) interpreted ll. 1-2, 4 of this helmingr as follows: Hinn hranna hádýra stýrir, es unir sínu vel, es sæll, which can be translated as ‘That commander of the tall animals of waves [SHIPS > SEAFARER], who is well content with his own condition, is happy’. That interpretation results in a tripartite l. 1 as well as a tripartite l. 2: Sæll es hinn, es, hranna | hádýra, vel, stýrir. Kock (NN §§1827Ec, 1837) justifiably objected to this tortuous word order, and he attempted to avoid a tripartite l. 2 by combining the last two words into a cpd (velstýrir lit. ‘well-steerer’). Kock’s suggestion is metrically acceptable, since l. 2 would then be an even E3-line which allows for such trisyllabic compounds in positions 3-6 (cf. Gade 1995a, 79-80). Kock (NN §1936G) himself also lists numerous lines of a similar metrical structure. The cpd velstýrir is problematic, however, because no cpd with vel- as the first element and a nomen agentis as the second is otherwise attested. According to the entries in Fritzner, the adv. vel- forms compounds with nomina actionis (e.g. velferð ‘wellbeing’), adjectives (e.g. velfœrr ‘easily traversed’) and participles (e.g. velborinn ‘wellborn’, velgerandi ‘well-doing’), but not with nomina agentis. Because Kock’s suggestion is untenable, the present edn emends hádýra (n. gen. pl.) ‘of tall animals’ to hádýri (n. dat. sg. and the object of the verb stýrir ‘steers’), which results in a simple syntax and a straightforward word order in ll. 1-2. — [3] tíð erumk ‘I take pleasure in’: see LP: tíðr. — [3] váða vitnis ‘of the threat of the wolf [= Óðinn]’: The word váði ‘threat’ is an abstract noun, which does not designate persons, but here it refers metonymically to Óðinn, and there are other examples of similar use (see LP: váði). The kenning refers to Óðinn’s fight against Fenrisúlfr at the end of the world; cf. the kenning bági ulfs ‘adversary of the wolf’ in Egill St 24/2^V (Eg 95) and in SnSt Ht 3/1. These are the only three kennings that make reference to Óðinn’s and Fenrir’s final battle.

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. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
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. Gade, Kari Ellen. 1995a. The Structure of Old Norse dróttkvætt Poetry. Islandica 49. Ithaca: 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. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
10. SnE 2007 = Snorri Sturluson. 2007. Edda: Háttatal. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
11. Internal references
12. 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].
13. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Háttatal’ 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=165> (accessed 20 April 2024)
15. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2022, ‘Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar 95 (Egill Skallagrímsson, Sonatorrek 24)’ 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. 325.
16. Edith Marold (ed.) 2017, ‘Hofgarða-Refr Gestsson, Fragments 5’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 264.
17. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 3’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1107.