HSt Rst 30^I

Spell vann (sparðit stillir)
spjótrunns (skaða bótir)
meingarðr margra jarða
mikit dýrligri skikkju.
Goðvefr gerðisk jǫfri
grôn ok skinn á hônum
sjónfagr svipstund eina
síðan jafn eða fríðri.

{Meingarðr margra jarða} vann mikit spell dýrligri skikkju {spjótrunns}; stillir sparðit bótir skaða. Síðan gerðisk jǫfri sjónfagr goðvefr ok grôn skinn á hônum jafn eða fríðri eina svipstund.

{The harmful enclosure of many lands} [SEA] did great harm to the splendid cloak {of the spear-tree} [WARRIOR = Þorkell]; the ruler did not hold back from remedying the damage. After that the beautiful precious cloth and the grey fur on it became for the ruler the same or even finer in a single moment.

Mss: Bb(112rb); 61(64va), 54(59rb), Bb(94vb-95ra), Flat(62rb) (ÓT)

Readings: [1] sparðit: sparði ei 54, Bb(94vb), spurðisk Flat    [2] ‑runns: so 61, 54, Bb(94vb), ruðs Bb(112rb), runn Flat;    bótir: so 61, 54, Bb(94vb), bóta Bb(112rb), bótar Flat    [3] meingarðr: so 61, 54, Bb(94vb), meingarðs Bb(112rb), mengerðr Flat;    margra: so all others, margrar Bb(112rb)    [4] mikit: mikill all others;    dýrligri: so 54, Bb(94vb), dýrligrar Bb(112rb), dýrðligri 61, Flat    [5] jǫfri: efri Flat    [6] grôn: grám 54, Bb(94vb);    á: und all others    [7] sjónfagr: so all others, senn á Bb(112rb);    eina: eina so all others, einni Bb(112rb)    [8] jafn: so all others, jǫfn Bb(112rb)

Editions: Skj AI, 551, Skj BI, 532-3, Skald I, 259; ÓT 1958-2000, II, 234 (ch. 238), Flat 1860-8, I, 467; SHI 3, 262-5, CPB II, 299, Wisén 1886-9, I, 49, Finnur Jónsson 1893b, 164, Konráð Gíslason 1895-7, I, 276-8.

Context: See also st. 29. The sea-water has ruined Þorkell’s cloak. The king lays his hand on it and in a moment the cloak is dry and as good as before, or better.

Notes: [3] meingarðr margra jarða ‘the harmful enclosure of many lands [SEA]’: The context and skaldic convention suggest this interpretation (see Meissner 94 for comparable sea-kennings). Sveinbjörn Egilsson (Fms 12, 55) and Konráð Gíslason (1895-7) took the kenning as a reference to Óláfr as fence or protector against harm (perhaps specifically paganism), but this is unlikely. — [4] mikit ‘great’: Mikill (m. nom. sg.) in the ÓT mss would qualify meingarðr ‘harmful enclosure’, the base-word of the sea-kenning. — [5] gerðisk jǫfri ‘became for the ruler’: Although Óláfr is not grammatically the agent, the sense is probably as suggested in Skj B: ved kongen(s jærtegn) ‘by the king(’s miracle)’. — [6] grôn skinn ‘the grey fur’: Lit. pl., ‘grey skins’. — [6] á ‘on’: The ÓT mss have und ‘under’, thus the versions differ as to whether the fur is on the outside or inside of the cloak. — [7] sjónfagr svipstund eina ‘beautiful ... a single moment’: This, the reading of the ÓT mss, gives good sense and metre. Sjónfagr is lit. ‘appearance-beautiful’. For the use of acc. sg. eina stund ‘in a single moment’ as an adverbial of time, cf. NS §98. The line in Bb(112rb), senn á svipstund einni ‘at once ... in a single moment’, gives good sense and is identical to ÞjóðA Sex 17/3^II, but it is less satisfactory since it is not skjálfhent or tvískelft (see Introduction). — [8] jafn ‘the same’:  This m. adj. agrees with goðvefr m. ‘precious cloth’. Konráð Gíslason (1895-7) retains the Bb(112rb) reading jǫfn, suggesting that the scribe had the cloak (skikkja f.) in mind; it could alternatively be n. pl. qualifying goðvefr ok grôn skinn á hônum ‘the precious cloth and the grey fur on it’.

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. Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
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. 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.
7. Wisén, Theodor, ed. 1886-9. Carmina Norrœnæ: Ex reliquiis vetustioris norrœnæ poësis selecta, recognita, commentariis et glossario instructa. 2 vols. Lund: Ohlsson.
8. Finnur Jónsson. 1893b. Carmina Norrœna: Rettet Tekst. Copenhagen: Nielsen & Lydiche.
9. 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.
10. NS = Nygaard, Marius. 1906. Norrøn syntax. Kristiania (Oslo): Aschehoug. Rpt. 1966.
11. Konráð Gíslason. 1895-7. Efterladte skrifter. 2 vols. I: Forelæsninger over oldnordiske skjaldekvad. II: Forelæsninger og videnskablige afhandlinger. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
12. ÓT 1958-2000 = Ólafur Halldórsson, ed. 1958-2000. Saga Óláfs Tryggvasonar en mesta. 3 vols. EA A 1-3. Copenhagen: Munksgaard (Reitzel).
13. 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.
14. Internal references
15. (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 19 April 2024)
16. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Þjóðólfr Arnórsson, Sexstefja 17’ 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. 130-1.