Hfr ErfÓl 12^I

Firrðisk vætr, sás varði
víð lǫnd, Breta stríðir
bleyði firrðr við bráðan
bekkdóm Heðins rekka.
Hann lét of sǫk sanna
(sverðjalmr óx þar) verða
— skilit frá ek — (fyr skylja)
skóð mǫrg roðin blóði.

{Stríðir Breta}, firrðr bleyði, sás varði víð lǫnd, firrðisk vætr við {bráðan {{Heðins rekka} bekk}dóm}. Hann lét mǫrg skóð verða roðin blóði of sanna sǫk; {sverðjalmr} óx þar fyr skylja; ek frá skilit.

{The harmer of Britons} [RULER = Óláfr], shunning cowardice, who defended broad lands, shunned nothing in {the headlong judgement {of the bench {of the champions of Heðinn <legendary hero>}}} [(lit. ‘bench-judgement of the champions of Heðinn’) = Hjaðningar > SHIELD > BATTLE]. He caused many harmers [weapons] to become reddened with blood in a true cause; {sword-screech} [BATTLE] grew there before the king; I was informed clearly.

Mss: 61(68ra), 54(65ra-b), Bb(100vb), Flat(65ra) (ÓT)

Readings: [1] vætr: vætti 54, Bb, veðr Flat    [2] stríðir: corrected from stýrir 54, ‘stryðrer’ Flat    [4] bekk‑: ‘brekk’ Flat;    ‑dóm: dóms Flat;    Heðins: fyr konungs Flat    [6] ‑jalmr: hjálmr 54, Bb, gust Flat;    óx þar: corrected from ‘of saul’ 54, ‘háinn’ Flat    [8] skóð: slóð Flat;    mǫrg: so 54, Flat, mær 61, morð Bb;    roðin: roðit Bb

Editions: Skj AI, 161, Skj BI, 152, Skald I, 83, NN §475; SHI 2, 315-16, ÓT 1958-2000, II, 276 (ch. 252), Flat 1860-8, I, 487.

Context: Óláfr courts danger by showing himself to his enemies, as his valour commands him, despite their overwhelming numbers.

Notes: [3-4] bráðan Heðins rekka bekkdóm ‘the headlong judgement of the bench of the champions of Heðinn <legendary hero> [(lit. ‘bench-judgement of the champions of Heðinn’) = Hjaðningar > SHIELD > BATTLE]’: (a) Bekkr m. ‘bench’ is here taken as the base-word of a shield-kenning cf. brík ‘slab’, flet ‘platform’, setr ‘seat’ (Meissner 167, 169). Heðins rekka ‘the champions of Heðinn [= Hjaðningar]’ is then a minor elaboration of the pattern in which legendary heroes provide the determinant of shield-kennings. (b) Alternatively, bekkdómr ‘bench-judgement’ could be taken as a single kenning element, the base-word of a battle-kenning; so LP: bekkdómr, suggesting it is a final judgement, such as would be delivered by judges from their benches. But the cpd is otherwise unattested, and there is no evidence for the association of judges with bekkir. (c) Flat’s reading ‘brekk’ could yield brekdómr ‘deceit’, also unattested but cf. breksekð ‘deceptive sentence of outlawry’ (ONP: breksekð), and svikdómr ‘treachery’, Mark Eirdr 13/3^II. Firðisk vætr bráðan brekdóm rekka Heðins ‘did not avoid the sudden deceit of the champions of Heðinn [WARRIORS]’ could then refer to Sigvaldi’s luring of Óláfr into battle, and would contrast with the sǫnn sǫk ‘true cause’ attributed to Óláfr in the second helmingr. — [4] Heðins ‘of Heðinn <legendary hero>’: See Note to st. 24/3, 4. — [7] ek frá skilit ‘I was informed clearly’: Cf. st. 25/5. In both lines the initial disyllable skilit undergoes resolution, so the pers. pron. cannot be cliticised (see Gade 1995a, 149-50 on this metrical pattern). Konráð Gíslason and Eiríkur Jónsson (Nj 1875-8, II, 916-19), arguing for syllabic ek in both cases, see the slow rhythm of em ek ‘I am’ in st. 25/5 as expressive of the skald’s anguish. — [7] fyr skylja ‘before the king’: I.e. ‘in the presence of the king’, cf. st. 24/8 fyr Ôleifi ‘before Óláfr’. Kock (Skald and NN §475) takes the phrase instead with the main clause, though he does not specify in what sense. — [8] skóð ‘harmers [weapons]’: This could be taken as a half-kenning (Meissner 77, and cf. LP: skóð for full kennings employing it) or as a heiti for a dangerous weapon (cf. verb skaða ‘to harm, damage’). — [8] mǫrg ‘many’: The agreement of 54 and Flat speaks for this reading, though mær ‘splendid’ (so 61) is also possible.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Nj 1875-89 = Konráð Gíslason and Eiríkur Jónsson. 1875-89. Njála: Udgivet efter gamle håndskrifter. Íslendingasögur udgivne efter gamle haandskrifter af Det Kongelige Nordiske Oldskrift-selskab 4. Copenhagen: Thiele.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 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. 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.
7. Gade, Kari Ellen. 1995a. The Structure of Old Norse dróttkvætt Poetry. Islandica 49. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
8. 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.
9. ONP = Degnbol, Helle et al., eds. 1989-. A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose / Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog. 1-. Copenhagen: The Arnamagnæan Commission.
10. ÓT 1958-2000 = Ólafur Halldórsson, ed. 1958-2000. Saga Óláfs Tryggvasonar en mesta. 3 vols. EA A 1-3. Copenhagen: Munksgaard (Reitzel).
11. 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.
12. Internal references
13. Jayne Carroll (ed.) 2009, ‘Markús Skeggjason, Eiríksdrápa 13’ 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, p. 444.