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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Hallv Knútdr 6III

Matthew Townend (ed.) 2017, ‘Hallvarðr háreksblesi, Knútsdrápa 6’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 237.

Hallvarðr háreksblesiKnútsdrápa
567

text and translation

Englandi ræðr yngvi
einn — hefsk friðr at beinni —
bǫðrakkr bœnar nǫkkva
barkrjóðr ok Danmǫrku.
Ok hefr (odda Leiknar)
jalm-Freyr und sik malma
(hjaldrǫrr haukum þverrir
hungr) Nóregi þrungit.

Yngvi, {bǫðrakkr {{nǫkkva bœnar} bark}rjóðr}, ræðr einn Englandi ok Danmǫrku; friðr hefsk at beinni. Ok {{malma jalm-}Freyr} hefr þrungit und sik Nóregi; hjaldrǫrr þverrir hungr {haukum {Leiknar odda}}.
 
‘The king, the battle-bold reddener of the bark of the ship of prayer [(lit. ‘bark-reddener of the ship of prayer’) BREAST > MAIL-SHIRT > WARRIOR], alone rules England and Denmark; peace commences the more easily. And the Freyr <god> of the noise of weapons [(lit. ‘noise-Freyr of weapons’) BATTLE > WARRIOR] has forced under him Norway; the battle-eager one diminishes hunger for the hawks of the Leikn <giantess> of spears [VALKYRIE > RAVENS/EAGLES].’

notes and context

The stanza is quoted in ÓH and Hkr following Knútr’s 1028 conquest of Norway orrostulaust ‘without a battle’.

On Knútr’s conquest, see further Bolton (2009). — [5-8]: Kock and Meissner (1931, II, 93) interpret the kennings in this second helmingr as odda Leiknar jalm-Freyr ‘the Freyr of the noise of the Leikn <giantess> of spears [VALKYRIE > BATTLE > WARRIOR]’ and haukar malma ‘hawks of weapons [RAVENS/EAGLES]’. This has the syntactic benefit of leading to only one intercalary phrase, not two, but the resultant kennings seem less satisfactory (see also NN §2265B). Other eds adopt the interpretation followed here.

readings

sources

Text is based on reconstruction from the base text and variant apparatus and may contain alternative spellings and other normalisations not visible in the manuscript text. Transcriptions may not have been checked and should not be cited.

editions and texts

Skj: Hallvarðr háreksblesi, Knútsdrápa 6: AI, 318, BI, 294, Skald I, 149-50, NN §2265B; Hkr 1893-1901, II, 400, ÍF 27, 311 (ÓHHkr ch. 173); ÓH 1941, I, 477 (ch. 167), Flat 1860-8, II, 307 ; Frank 1994b, 120, Jesch 2000, 247.

319
Hkr 320 (II 119)
321
562
Flat 563
564
118
ÓHHkr 119 (II 119)
120
125
ÓH 126 (122)
127
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