HSt Rst 14^I

Morðlinns mǫrgu sinni
móðþrútinn bjó úti
— húfr svall; hrannir fellu —
hvessimeiðr á skeiðum.
Gyllt hlýr — gnǫpðu skoltar —
gunnfíkinn lét blíkja
herrunnr hǫfnum fjarri.
Hollr ok fremstr at ǫllu.

{Móðþrútinn hvessimeiðr {morðlinns}} bjó mǫrgu sinni úti á skeiðum; húfr svall; hrannir fellu. {Gunnfíkinn herrunnr} lét gyllt hlýr blíkja fjarri hǫfnum; skoltar gnǫpðu. Hollr ok fremstr at ǫllu …

{The courage-swollen whetting pole {of the battle-snake}} [SWORD > WARRIOR] many a time stayed out at sea on his warships; the hull swelled; the waves crashed. {The battle-eager army-tree} [WARRIOR] let the gilded bow gleam far from harbours; foreheads bent forward. Faithful and foremost in all things …

Mss: Bb(111vb-112ra); 61(62rb), 53(60rb), 54(56rb), Bb(91vb-92ra), Flat(60vb) (ÓT)

Readings: [1] ‑linns: so 61, 53, 54, Flat, bands Bb(111vb), lindr or linds Bb(91vb)    [2] ‑þrútinn: ‘‑(b)rutin’(?) 53;    bjó: svall Flat    [5] Gyllt: so 61, Bb(91vb), Flat, ‘gullt’ Bb(111vb), 53, 54;    skoltar: so 61, Flat, ‘skalptar’ Bb(111vb), 54, Bb(91vb), skolptar 53    [6] ‑fíkinn: so 61, 53, Flat, ‘‑filínn’ Bb(111vb), 54, Bb(91vb);    blíkja: so 61, 53, Flat, blikra Bb(111vb), 54, Bb(91vb)    [8] Hollr: hǫll all others

Editions: Skj AI, 546-7, Skj BI, 528, Skald I, 257, NN §1795; ÓT 1958-2000, II, 214 (ch. 234), Flat 1860-8, I, 456; SHI 3, 252-3, CPB II, 297, Wisén 1886-9, I, 47-8, Finnur Jónsson 1893b, 164, Konráð Gíslason 1895-7, I, 234-8.

Context: The stanza concludes a brief passage on the king’s seaborne expeditions during the summers.

Notes: [1] -linns ‘-snake’: The ÓT reading is adopted here since it yields a standard sword-kenning (Meissner 154), and although it produces aðalhending in an odd line, such lines are well attested in Rst (see Introduction). The Bb(111vb) reading bands (ms. ‘bandz’) makes no sense in context and may be a corruption of brandr ‘flame, fire’, which also occurs in sword-kennings (Meissner 150). — [5] skoltar ‘foreheads’: This, the younger form of skolptr (LP: skolptr), is indicated by the skothending on gyllt. The word must refer to the dragon heads or other figure-heads on viking ships. — [6] blíkja ‘gleam’: This, the reading of some ÓT mss, is preferable in terms of sense and rhyme to the rare blikra, which could mean ‘blink’ (CVC: blikra) or (impersonal) ‘quiver (from fright)’ (ONP: blikra). — [8]: For this line of the refrain, see Note to st. 9/8.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. CVC = Cleasby, Richard, Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and W. A. Craigie. 1957. An Icelandic-English Dictionary. 2nd edn. Oxford: Clarendon.
7. CPB = Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and F. York Powell, eds. 1883. Corpus poeticum boreale: The Poetry of the Old Northern Tongue from the Earliest Times to the Thirteenth Century. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon. Rpt. 1965, New York: Russell & Russell.
8. Wisén, Theodor, ed. 1886-9. Carmina Norrœnæ: Ex reliquiis vetustioris norrœnæ poësis selecta, recognita, commentariis et glossario instructa. 2 vols. Lund: Ohlsson.
9. Finnur Jónsson. 1893b. Carmina Norrœna: Rettet Tekst. Copenhagen: Nielsen & Lydiche.
10. 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.
11. ONP = Degnbol, Helle et al., eds. 1989-. A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose / Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog. 1-. Copenhagen: The Arnamagnæan Commission.
12. Konráð Gíslason. 1895-7. Efterladte skrifter. 2 vols. I: Forelæsninger over oldnordiske skjaldekvad. II: Forelæsninger og videnskablige afhandlinger. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
13. ÓT 1958-2000 = Ólafur Halldórsson, ed. 1958-2000. Saga Óláfs Tryggvasonar en mesta. 3 vols. EA A 1-3. Copenhagen: Munksgaard (Reitzel).
14. SHI = Sveinbjörn Egilsson, ed. 1828-46. Scripta historica islandorum de rebus gestis veterum borealium, latine reddita et apparatu critico instructa, curante Societate regia antiquariorum septentrionalium. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp etc. and London: John & Arthur Arch.
15. Internal references
16. (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 23 April 2024)
17. Rolf Stavnem 2012, ‘ Hallar-Steinn, Rekstefja’ 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. 893. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1237> (accessed 23 April 2024)