Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Haraldr harðráði Sigurðarson, Lausavísur 14’ 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, pp. 55-6.
Krjúpum vér fyr vápna
(valteigs) brǫkun eigi
(svá bauð Hildr) at hjaldri
(haldorð) í bug skjaldar.
Hôtt bað mik, þars mœttusk,
menskorð bera forðum,
Hlakkar íss ok hausar,
hjalmstall í gný malma.
Vér krjúpum eigi í bug skjaldar at hjaldri fyr brǫkun vápna; svá bauð {haldorð Hildr {valteigs}}. {Menskorð} bað mik forðum bera {hjalmstall} hôtt í {gný malma}, þars {íss Hlakkar} ok hausar mœttusk.
We [I] do not creep into the hollow of the shield in battle because of the crash of weapons; thus {the faithful Hildr <valkyrie> {of the falcon-field}} [ARM > WOMAN] commanded. {The necklace-pole} [WOMAN] told me earlier to hold the {helmet-support} [HEAD] high in {the clamour of swords} [BATTLE] where {Hlǫkk’s <valkyrie’s> ice} [SWORD] and skulls met.
Mss: Mork(19r) (Mork); Flat(204ra) (Flat); FskAˣ(305) (Fsk); Kˣ(581v), F(53rb), E(27v), J2ˣ(297r) (Hkr); H(75v), Hr(53vb) (H-Hr); Hb(70v) (Hb)
Readings: [1] Krjúpum: Krjúpu E, J2ˣ, Hb; fyr: við E; vápna: vápni FskAˣ [2] brǫkun: ‘braukum’ Flat, ‘brokom’ FskAˣ, brakan Kˣ, H, braka Hr [3] bauð: bað Flat [4] haldorð: ‘hallorð’ E, J2ˣ [5] Hôtt: hitt Flat; bað mik: bauð mér Flat; þars (‘þar er’): þá er Flat; mœttusk: mœttumsk Flat, mœttisk H [6] menskorð: ‘mennskurð’ FskAˣ, menspǫng Hb; forðum: lǫngum Hb [7] íss: ís FskAˣ, Kˣ, F, E, J2ˣ, Hr, Hb; ok hausar: at hausum FskAˣ, um hausa Hb [8] ‑stall: ‘stal’ FskAˣ, ‑stofn Kˣ, F, Hb
Editions: Skj AI, 360-1, Skj BI, 332, Skald I, 167-8, NN §2027; Mork 1867, 118, Mork 1928-32, 276, Andersson and Gade 2000, 271, 481 (MH); Flat 1860-8, III, 395 (MH); ÍF 29, 284-5 (ch. 68); ÍF 28, 188 (HSig ch. 91), F 1871, 248, E 1916, 97; Fms 6, 416 (HSig ch. 118); Hb 1892-6, 343, Fellows Jensen 1962, 51 (Hem).
Context: Haraldr recites this st. on the same occasion as Lv 13 above, because he considers the former st. to be inferior (it was composed in fornyrðislag rather than in the prestigious dróttkvætt metre).
Notes: [2, 3] Hildr valteigs ‘Hildr <valkyrie> of the falcon-field [ARM > WOMAN]’: This could refer to Haraldr’s mother, Ásta (see Hharð Lv 1 above). If that is the case, Haraldr, during his last stand at Stamford Bridge, fittingly recalls his first battle, the battle of Stiklestad in 1030 (see also Hharð Gamv 5/1). The earlier allusions to ‘the widow’ (Hharð Lv 1/2 and Hharð Gamv 5/1) and to ‘the woman’ in the present st. differ from the apostrophe to the fictitious women in Hharð Lv 11/2 and Hharð Gamv 3/1 above, because the former seems to refer to a specific woman giving advice to Haraldr prior to the battle of Stiklestad. — [4] í bug skjaldar ‘into the hollow of the shield’: For curved shields, see Falk 1912, 135-7. — [5] mœttusk (3rd pers. pl. pret. indic.) ‘met’: Skj B adopts the H variant mættisk (3rd pers. pl. pret. subj.), probably because of the indirect speech. That form is warranted neither by the syntax nor by the ms. witnesses (see NN §2027). — [8] hjalmstall ‘helmet-support [HEAD]’: The variant reading hjalmstofn ‘helmet-stump’ (i.e. ‘head’; so Kˣ, F, Hb) is acceptable, but secondary according to the ms. witnesses.
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