Hfr ErfÓl 20I
Kate Heslop (ed.) 2012, ‘Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld Óttarsson, Erfidrápa Óláfs Tryggvasonar 20’ 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. 429.
text and translation
†Samr† vas ôrr of ævi
oddbragðs, hinns þat sagði,
at lofða gramr lifði,
læstyggs burar Tryggva.
Vesa kveðr ǫld ór éli
Ôleif kominn stála;
menn geta máli sǫnnu
— mjǫks verr an svá — ferri.
{Ôrr {oddbragðs}}, hinns sagði þat, at {gramr lofða} lifði, vas †samr† of ævi {læstyggs burar Tryggva}. Ǫld kveðr Ôleif vesa kominn ór {éli stála}; menn geta ferri sǫnnu máli; mjǫks verr an svá.
‘The envoy of the point-thrust [BATTLE > WARRIOR], who said that the ruler of warriors [= Óláfr] was alive was … about the life of the deceit-shunning son of Tryggvi [= Óláfr]. People say Óláfr escaped the blizzard of steel weapons [BATTLE]; men guess [things] further from the true story; it is much worse than that.’
notes and context
All three prose sources cite this stanza after their description of the battle of Svǫlðr, as part of a group of stanzas attributed to Hallfreðr and concerned with the question of whether or not King Óláfr survived the defeat of his force.
[1-4]: The helmingr is syntactically difficult and the unanimously attested samr resists explanation. As none of the proposed interpretations is satisfactory and no alternative ms. readings for samr exist, it has been obelised in the Text. Most previous eds emend samr: (a) to sumr ‘some (envoy …)’ (Jón Þorkelsson 1884, 63); (b) to sá ‘that (envoy …)’ (Hkr 1893-1901; Skj B), though it is unclear to whom this would refer; (c) or most audaciously to the rare adj. svífr ‘unreliable’ (Skald; NN §2757), giving svífr vas ôrr ‘the envoy was unreliable’. Other scholars avoid emendation by ingenious interpretations of samr. (d) ÍF 26 construes samr as an attributive adj., ‘seemly, worthy’ from sama ‘to suit, befit’, qualifying ôrr oddbraks ‘the envoy of the point-clash [BATTLE > WARRIOR]’, and similarly ÍF 29, Hkr 1991, with variants on ‑braks. But such an adj. is not well attested in verse or prose; the single, later skaldic parallel is breks ósamr ‘disinclined to treachery’ GunnLeif Merl I 2/7VIII. (e) Sveinbjörn Egilsson (SHI 3) suggests samr meaning ‘constant’, hence hinn ... var um æfi samr oddflagðs árr ‘that one ... was [his] whole life an envoy of the point-trollwife [AXE > WARRIOR] devoted (to Óláfr)’. (f) Kock, as an alternative to his construal in Skald, also proposes a tmesis, óðbragðssamr vas ôrr ‘the envoy was very deceitful’ (NN §512). — [1] †samr† vas ôrr of ævi ‘the envoy ... was ... about the life’: The line lacks skothending. Finnur Jónsson’s emendation of Samr to Sá ‘that’ gives a so-called empty rhyme, in which vowels rhyme without the participation of following consonants, here sá : ævi (Kuhn 1983, 76; Kristján Árnason 1991, 99-102, 107-10; Gade 1995a, 5-6, 32).
readings
- [1] vas ôrr (‘var arr’): so Kˣ, 22ˣmarg, F, J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 61, 53, 54, 325VIII 2 g, Bb, varrar FskAˣ
- [2] odd‑: ‘oð‑’ J1ˣ, J2ˣ
- [2] ‑bragðs: so J1ˣ, J2ˣ, ‘‑flaghs’ FskAˣ, ‑brags Kˣ, 22ˣmarg, ‑braks F, ‑flagðs 61, 53, 54, 325VIII 2 g, Bb
- [2] hinns (‘hinn er’): er 53
- [3] lifði: ‘liðe’ Kˣ
- [4] burar: sonr or sonar Kˣ, sonar J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 61, 53, 54, 325VIII 2 g, Bb
- [5] kveðr: kveða 22ˣmarg, F, J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 61, 53
- [5] ǫld: hǫlð 22ˣmarg, ‘áls’ F
- [7] geta: gefa 22ˣmarg, akta 54, 325VIII 2 g, Bb
- [7] máli: ‘mal̄’ J1ˣ, J2ˣ, málin 61, 53, 54, Bb, ‘milín’ 325VIII 2 g
- [8] verr an svá: verr ek var 61, ‘[…] sva’ 325VIII 2 g
- [8] ferri: færi J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 54, 325VIII 2 g, Bb
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.
-
AM 303 4°x (FskAx) — 144/18 - 145/2
images†Samr† varrar of ævi
odd†-flaghs†, hinns þat sagði,
at lofða gramr lifði,
læstyggs burar Tryggva.
Vesa kveðr ǫld ór éli
Ôleif kominn stála;
menn geta máli sǫnnu
— mjǫks verr an svá — ferri.Samr varrar um æfe | oddflaghs hinn er þat saghðe | at lofða gramr lifðe | læstygs burar tryggva. | vera cvæðr old ur ælli | Olaf cominn stala || menn geta male sonnu | mioc er værr enn sva færri |
(DW)
-
AM 301 4°x (301x) — 53r/15 - 53r/18
images -
AM 35 folx (Kx) — 216v/14 - 216v/21
†Samr† †var arr† of ævi
images
odd-brags, hinns þat sagði,
at lofða gramr †liðe†,
læstyggs sonr Tryggva.
Vesa kveðr ǫld ór éli
Ôleif kominn stála;
menn geta máli sǫnnu
— mjǫks verr an svá — ferri. -
OsloUB 521 folx (521x) — 166r/8 - 166r/15
-
Holm papp 18 folx (papp18x) — 63v - 64r
images -
Holm papp 22 folx (22x) — 102r - 102r
†Samr† vas ôrr of ævi
images
odd-brags, hinns þat sagði,
at lofða gramr lifði,
læstyggs burar Tryggva.
Vesa kveða hǫlð ór éli
Ôleif kominn stála;
menn gefa máli sǫnnu
— mjǫks verr an svá — ferri. -
AM 45 fol (F) — 36vb/20 - 36vb/23
†Samr† vas ôrr of ævi
images
odd-braks, hinns þat sagði,
at lofða gramr lifði,
læstyggs burar Tryggva.
Vesa kveða †áls† ór éli
Ôleif kominn stála;
menn geta máli sǫnnu
— mjǫks verr an svá — ferri. -
AM 37 folx (J1x) — 134v/14 - 134v/17
†Samr† vas ôrr of ævi
images
†oð-†bragðs, hinns þat sagði,
at lofða gramr lifði,
læstyggs sonar Tryggva.
Vesa kveða ǫld ór éli
Ôleif kominn stála;
menn geta †mal̄† sǫnnu
— mjǫks verr an svá — færi. -
AM 38 folx (J2x) — 117r/20 - 117r/27
†Samr† vas ôrr of ævi
images
†oð-†bragðs, hinns þat sagði,
at lofða gramr lifði,
læstyggs sonar Tryggva.
Vesa kveða ǫld ór éli
Ôleif kominn stála;
menn geta †mal̄† sǫnnu
— mjǫks verr an svá — færi. -
AM 61 fol (61) — 69va/30 - 69va/33
†Samr† vas ôrr of ævi
images
odd-flagðs, hinns þat sagði,
at lofða gramr lifði,
læstyggs sonar Tryggva.
Vesa kveða ǫld ór éli
Ôleif kominn stála;
menn geta málin sǫnnu
— mjǫks verr ek var — ferri. -
AM 53 fol (53) — 66ra/24 - 66ra/29
†Samr† vas ôrr of ævi
images
odd-flagðs, er þat sagði,
at lofða gramr lifði,
læstyggs sonar Tryggva.
Vesa kveða ǫld ór éli
Ôleif kominn stála;
menn geta málin sǫnnu
— mjǫks verr an svá — ferri. -
AM 54 fol (54) — 67rb/37 - 67va/1
†Samr† vas ôrr of ævi
images
odd-flagðs, hinns þat sagði,
at lofða gramr lifði,
læstyggs sonar Tryggva.
Vesa kveðr ǫld ór éli
Ôleif kominn stála;
menn akta málin sǫnnu
— mjǫks verr an svá — færi. -
AM 325 VIII 2 g 4° (325VIII 2 g) — 1rb/37 - 1va/1
†Samr† vas ôrr of ævi
images
odd-flagðs, hinns þat sagði,
at lofða gramr lifði,
læstyggs sonar Tryggva.
Vesa kveðr ǫld ór éli
Ôleif kominn stála;
menn akta †milín† sǫnnu
— mjǫks †[…] sva† — færi. -
Holm perg 1 fol (Bb) — 103ra/11 - 103ra/15
†Samr† vas ôrr of ævi
images
odd-flagðs, hinns þat sagði,
at lofða gramr lifði,
læstyggs sonar Tryggva.
Vesa kveðr ǫld ór éli
Ôleif kominn stála;
menn akta málin sǫnnu
— mjǫks verr an svá — færi. -
AM 52 folx (52x) — 54v/28 - 55r/6
images
editions and texts
Skj: Hallfrøðr Óttarsson vandræðaskáld, 3. Óláfsdrápa, erfidrápa 22: AI, 164, BI, 155, Skald I, 84, NN §§512, 513, 2757; Fsk 1902-3, 132 (ch. 22), ÍF 29, 161 (ch. 24); Hkr 1893-1901, I, 456, IV, 102, ÍF 26, 368-9, Hkr 1991, 250 (ÓTHkr ch. 112), F 1871, 166; SHI 3, 8-9, ÓT 1958-2000, II, 292-3 (ch. 256).
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