Hallv Knútdr 2^III

Vestr lézt í haf, hristir,
harðviggs, sikulgjarðar,
umbands allra landa,
íss, framstafni vísat.

{Hristir {íss sikulgjarðar}}, lézt framstafni {harðviggs {umbands allra landa}} vísat vestr í haf.

{Shaker {of the ice of the sword-belt}} [SWORD > WARRIOR], you caused the fore-stem {of the hard horse {of the encircling band of all lands}} [SEA > SHIP] to be directed west across the sea.

Mss: R(38r), Tˣ(39v), A(13r), C(7v) (SnE)

Readings: [1] hristir: so Tˣ, A, hristum R, C    [2] ‑viggs: so A, ‑vígs all others;    sikul‑: so Tˣ, A, ‘svikvl’ R, ‘suikvl’ C    [4] íss: ís all others

Editions: Skj AI, 317, Skj BI, 293, Skald I, 149; SnE 1848-87, I, 496-7, II, 450, 599, III, 102, SnE 1931, 174, SnE 1998, I, 93; Frank 1994b, 119-20, Jesch 2000, 246.

Context: This stanza is quoted in Skm to illustrate the use of haf as one of the heiti for ‘sea’.

Notes: [2] sikulgjarðar ‘of the sword-belt’: Elsewhere in skaldic poetry this cpd occurs only in Þul Skipa 5/6 (see Note there), where it may indicate some sort of sail-rope (Fritzner records no occurrences in prose). Here, though, it is a determinant combining with the base-word íss ‘ice’ (l. 4) to form a sword-kenning, and earlier eds agree that ‘sword-belt’ is the likely meaning (LP: sikulgjǫrð; Frank 1994b, 120; Jesch 2000, 246; Faulkes, SnE 1998, II, 386), though Falk (1914b, 37) suggests some sort of baldric.  Spellings with initial <sv> in R and C may show uncertainty or confusion with ON svikall, ModIcel. svikull ‘treacherous’.

References

1. Bibliography
2. 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.
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. Jesch, Judith. 2000. ‘Knútr in Poetry and History’. In Dallapiazza et al. 2000, 243-56.
6. 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.
7. Falk, Hjalmar. 1914b. Altnordische Waffenkunde. Videnskapsselskapets skrifter, II. Hist.-filos. kl. 1914, 6. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad.
8. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
9. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
10. Frank, Roberta. 1994b. ‘King Cnut in the Verse of his Skalds’. In Rumble 1994, 106-24.
11. Internal references
12. (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Skáldskaparmál’ 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=112> (accessed 19 April 2024)
13. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Skipa heiti 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. 869.