Hallv Knútdr 7^III

Esat und jarðar hǫslu
— orðbrjótr Dǫnum forðar
moldreks — munka valdi
mæringr an þú nærri.

Esat mæringr und {hǫslu jarðar} nærri {valdi munka} an þú; {{{moldreks} orð}brjótr} forðar Dǫnum.

There is not a prince under {the hazel of the earth} [= Yggdrasill] closer to {the ruler of monks} [= God] than you; {the breaker {of the speech {of the soil-ruler}}} [(lit. ‘speech-breaker of the soil-ruler’) GIANT > GOLD > GENEROUS MAN] protects Danes.

Mss: R(39r), Tˣ(41r), 744ˣ(47r), C(8v) (SnE)

Readings: [1] Esat und jarðar hǫslu (‘Erat vnd iarþar havslv’): ‘Eru . .. j́ardar hellu’ 744ˣ    [2] ‑brjótr: bjartr C;    forðar: ‘fordat’ 744ˣ    [3] munka: ‘mýndo’ 744ˣ;    valdi: veldi C    [4] nærri: ‘nerri’ Tˣ, ‘ne..í’ 744ˣ, næri C

Editions: Skj AI, 318, Skj BI, 294, Skald I, 150; SnE 1848-87, I, 516-17, II, 546, 605, III, 108,  SnE 1931, 180, SnE 1998, I, 101; Frank 1994b, 120-1, Jesch 2000, 248.

Context: This stanza is quoted in Skm to illustrate the use of mæringr ‘prince’ as a nafn ókent ‘non-periphrastic term’ for ‘man’.

Notes: [All]: Ms. B(7r) is now almost illegible and 744ˣ has been used in its place. — [1] esat ‘is not’: The non-rhotasised <s> is ensured by internal rhyme here (es- : -ǫs-), and is in keeping with a C11th date for this poem (see ANG §532.3 n. 1). — [1] hǫslu jarðar ‘the hazel of the earth [= Yggdrasill]’: The world-tree Yggdrasill is usually regarded as an ash, but in this kenning it is referred to figuratively as hasla ‘hazel’, representing the category ‘tree’. For Yggdrasill, see Gylf (SnE 2005, 17-19, 50-1), Vsp 47 and Grí 30/2. This is the only kenning in the corpus of Old Norse poetry that paraphrases the world-tree (Meissner 426). — [2] Dǫnum ‘Danes’: This reference to Danes as the specific recipients of the king’s generosity may have offered particular reassurance to the Old Norse-speaking members of Knútr’s Anglo-Danish court in England (see Frank 1994b, 109). — [2, 3] moldreks orðbrjótr ‘the breaker of the speach of the soil-ruler [(lit. ‘speach-breaker of the soil-ruler’) GIANT > GOLD > GENEROUS MAN]’: For the myth relating how a giant’s wealth was measured in mouthfuls, see Note to Anon Bjark 5/8. Moldrekr ‘soil-ruler’ is an odd kenning for ‘giant’ (it could equally well denote a dwarf) and attested only here. — [3] valdi munka ‘the ruler of monks [= God]’: Munkr is an ecclesiastical loanword in Old Norse, probably from OE munuc (ultimately from Lat. monachus) (Fischer 1909, 53). As Frank (1994b, 124 n. 60) notes, the use of munkr ‘monk’ as a determinant is very rare in skaldic verse, paralleled only by reynir munka ‘tester of monks’ in Anon Hafg 2/1^IV and dróttinn munka ‘lord of monks’ in Skapti Frag 1/1, the attributed date (C10th and C11th respectively) of both of which may be doubted. The juxtaposition of pagan and Christian references (noted in the Introduction) is especially striking in this stanza.

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. 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. Jesch, Judith. 2000. ‘Knútr in Poetry and History’. In Dallapiazza et al. 2000, 243-56.
6. ANG = Noreen, Adolf. 1923. Altnordische Grammatik I: Altisländische und altnorwegische Grammatik (Laut- und Flexionslehre) unter Berücksichtigung des Urnordischen. 4th edn. Halle: Niemeyer. 1st edn. 1884. 5th unrev. edn. 1970. Tübingen: Niemeyer.
7. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
8. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
9. SnE 2005 = Snorri Sturluson. 2005. Edda: Prologue and Gylfaginning. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
10. Fischer, Frank. 1909. Die Lehnwörter des Altwestnordischen. Palaestra 85. Berlin: Mayer & Müller.
11. Frank, Roberta. 1994b. ‘King Cnut in the Verse of his Skalds’. In Rumble 1994, 106-24.
12. Internal references
13. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Poems, Bjarkamál in fornu 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. 502.
14. Not published: do not cite (Anon Hafg 2^IV)
15. (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 26 April 2024)
16. (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Gylfaginning’ 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=113> (accessed 26 April 2024)
17. Not published: do not cite ()
18. Not published: do not cite ()
19. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2017, ‘Skapti Þóroddsson, Fragment 1’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 356.