Hallv Knútdr 5^III

Grund liggr und bǫr bundin
breið holmfjǫturs leiðar
— heinlands hoddum grandar
Hǫðr — eitrsvǫlum naðri.

Breið grund, bundin eitrsvǫlum naðri, liggr und {bǫr {leiðar {holmfjǫturs}}}; {Hǫðr {heinlands}} grandar hoddum.

The broad land, surrounded by the poison-cold serpent <Miðgarðsormr>, lies under {the tree {of the path {of the island-fetter}}} [SERPENT > GOLD > MAN = Knútr]; {the Hǫðr <god> {of the whetstone-land}} [SWORD > WARRIOR] harms hoards.

Mss: R(37r), Tˣ(38v), A(13r), C(6r) (SnE)

Readings: [1] bundin: bundinn C    [2] ‑fjǫturs: ‘‑fio᷎trs’ Tˣ, ‘‑fiotrs’ C;    leiðar: ‘[…]eidar’ C    [3] hein‑: so A, C, ‘lein’ R, Tˣ    [4] eitr‑: ‘æitir’ A;    ‑svǫlum: so all others, ‘svꜹlun’ R;    naðri: corrected from ‘navðri’ R

Editions: Skj AI, 317, Skj BI, 294, Skald I, 149, NN §1126; SnE 1848-87, I, 472-3, II, 448, 592, III, SnE 1931, 167, SnE 1998, I, 86; Frank 1994b, 120, Jesch 2000, 246.

Context: This stanza is quoted in Skm to illustrate the use of grund as a heiti for ‘land’.

Notes: [All]: In R and C, this stanza is attributed to ‘Haraldr’ rather than to ‘Hallvarðr’. As Faulkes (SnE 1998, I, 208) points out, the attribution of this verse to Haraldr is likely to be a mistake arising from the similar abbreviations of the two names. — [1, 4] bundin eitrsvǫlum naðri ‘surrounded by the poison-cold serpent <Miðgarðsormr>’: This serpent is Miðgarðsormr ‘the World Serpent’ which, according to Old Norse myth, surrounded the earth. Miðgarðsormr is the god Þórr’s opponent in Bragi Þórr and in Hym (see also ÚlfrU Húsdr 3-6 and EVald Þórr).   — [2] holmfjǫturs ‘of the island-fetter [SERPENT]’: Taken here as a kenning for Miðgarðsormr (see the previous Note); so also Skj B and SnE 1998, II, 316 (cf. Meissner 238). Kock (NN §1126) argues that this cpd is not another kenning for Miðgarðsormr, but rather for ‘sea’, and this idea is also entertained in LP: holmfjǫturr. In that case the larger kenning would be ‘the tree of the path of the island-fetter [SEA > SEAFARER]’. Alternatively, a kenning for ‘seafarer’ could be achieved by taking ‘the path of the world serpent’ as a kenning for ‘sea’. — [3] heinlands ‘of the whetstone-land’: For sword-kennings in which the determinant is a word for ‘whetstone’, see Meissner 155. For whetstones in Viking-Age Scandinavia, see Note to Þjóð Haustl 20/3-4. — [3] grandar hoddum ‘harms hoards’: Knútr harms hoards by dispersing them, by being generous.

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. 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.
7. 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.
8. Jesch, Judith. 2000. ‘Knútr in Poetry and History’. In Dallapiazza et al. 2000, 243-56.
9. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
10. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
11. Frank, Roberta. 1994b. ‘King Cnut in the Verse of his Skalds’. In Rumble 1994, 106-24.
12. Internal references
13. (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 2 May 2024)
14. Margaret Clunies Ross 2017, ‘ Eysteinn Valdason, Poem about Þórr’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 185. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1156> (accessed 2 May 2024)
15. Not published: do not cite ()
16. Margaret Clunies Ross 2017, ‘ Bragi inn gamli Boddason, Þórr’s fishing’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 46. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=3094> (accessed 2 May 2024)
17. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Þjóðólfr ór Hvini, Haustlǫng 20’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 461.
18. Edith Marold (ed.) 2017, ‘Úlfr Uggason, Húsdrápa 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. 412.