Hfr ErfÓl 28^I

Norðr eru ǫll of orðin
auð lǫnd at gram dauðan;
allr glepsk friðr af falli
flugstyggs sonar Tryggva.

Ǫll lǫnd norðr eru of orðin auð at dauðan gram; allr friðr glepsk af falli {flugstyggs sonar Tryggva}.

All lands in the north have been desolated by the king’s death; all peace is confounded by the fall {of the flight-shunning son of Tryggvi} [= Óláfr].

Mss: 178ˣ(1v), 177ˣ(1v), 100ˣ(145v) (Þiðr); Holm18(54r) (ÓTOdd); M(155va), Flat(71rb) (Hallfr)

Readings: [1] Norðr: nú M, auð Flat;    of: lǫnd 177ˣ, lǫnd deleted by same hand 100ˣ    [2] auð lǫnd at: ‘ętlo᷎nðum’ Flat;    lǫnd: strǫnd 177ˣ;    at: of Holm18;    dauðan: dauðum 177ˣ, 100ˣ    [3] allr: so all others, allt 178ˣ;    glepsk: so 177ˣ, 100ˣ, Holm18, Flat, gleðsk 178ˣ, lemsk M;    af: so all others, at 178ˣ    [4] flug‑: so M, folk‑ 178ˣ, 177ˣ, 100ˣ, flyg‑ Holm18, fjǫl‑ Flat;    sonar: ‘Son[…]’ 177ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 163, Skj BI, 154, Skald I, 84, NN §480; Þiðr 1905-11, I, 3; ÓTOdd 1932, 234, ÍF 25, 350; ÍF 8, 194, Hallfr 1977, 103 (ch. 11), Flat 1860-8, I, 534.

Context: Hallfr recounts that Hallfreðr sails via Orkney to Norway where, learning the details of Óláfr Tryggvason’s death, he composes a memorial poem, Óláfsdrápa, for him, from which this is a refrain (stef). The ÓT redaction of Hallfr reports that Hallfreðr composed a drápa straight away (þegar), but only Flat quotes the stef. In ÓTOdd, this follows sts 18 and 19; after the stanza it is explained that auð ‘desolate’ has the sense that norðrlǫnd ‘the Nordic lands’ are bereft of a leader who will never be matched. The prologue to Þiðreks saga cites this stanza as an example of hyperbole in praise poetry.

Notes: [All]: The helmingr is a stef ‘refrain’, according to Hallfr (see Context). The grandiose content makes all four lines suitable for a stef, but only ll. 3-4 appear elsewhere in the extant poem (st. 23/7-8). — [1, 2] lǫnd norðr ‘lands in the north’: Finnur Jónsson hyphenates norðr- and lǫnd to produce ‘Nordic lands’ by tmesis, but this is not necessary, as Kock points out in NN §480. — [2] at dauðan gram ‘by the king’s death’: Lit. ‘by/at the dead king’, or ‘by the king [being] dead’.  — [3] glepsk ‘is confounded’: This reading is supported by glepsk (ms. ‘glæps’) in the corresponding line of the stef in st. 23/7. The main ms. reading gleðsk ‘rejoices’ is unlikely purely by virtue of its semantics and could have originated in a misreading of glepz as gleþz. M’s lemsk ‘is ruined, crushed’ is close in meaning to glepsk (see Fritzner: lemja 3) and an acceptable alternative reading, — [4] flugstyggs ‘flight-shunning’: Comparison with st. 23/8 once again decides among strongly divergent readings here.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. ÓTOdd 1932 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1932. Saga Óláfs Tryggvasonar af Oddr Snorrason munk. Copenhagen: Gad.
7. ÍF 8 = Vatnsdœla saga. Ed. Einar Ólafur Sveinsson. 1939.
8. Þiðr 1905-11 = Bertelsen, Henrik, ed. 1905-11. Þiðriks saga af Bern. SUGNL 34. Copenhagen: Møller.
9. Hallfr 1977 = Bjarni Einarsson, ed. 1977. Hallfreðar saga. RSÁM 15. Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar.
10. ÍF 25 = Færeyinga saga; Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar eptir Odd munk Snorrason. Ed. Ólafur Halldórsson. 2006.
11. Internal references
12. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Flateyjarbók’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=44> (accessed 27 April 2024)
13. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=60> (accessed 27 April 2024)
14. 2022, ‘ Anonymous, Hallfreðar saga’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 873-914. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=63> (accessed 27 April 2024)
15. (forthcoming), ‘ Oddr Snorrason, Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar by Oddr Snorrason’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=66> (accessed 27 April 2024)
16. Diana Whaley 2012, ‘(Biography of) Óláfr Tryggvason’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 383.