Hharð Lv 14^II

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.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
6. Andersson, Theodore M. and Kari Ellen Gade, trans. 2000. Morkinskinna: The Earliest Icelandic Chronicle of the Norwegian Kings (1030-1157). Islandica 51. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.
7. Falk, Hjalmar. 1912. Altnordisches Seewesen. Wörter und Sachen 4. Heidelberg: Winter.
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. Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
10. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
11. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
12. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
13. Fellows Jensen, Gillian, ed. 1962. Hemings þáttr Áslákssonar. EA B 3. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
14. Hb 1892-6 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1892-6. Hauksbók udgiven efter de Arnamagnæanske håndskrifter no. 371, 544 og 675, 4° samt forskellige papirshåndskrifter. Copenhagen: Det kongelige nordiske oldskrift-selskab.
15. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
16. Mork 1867 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1867. Morkinskinna: Pergamentsbog fra første halvdel af det trettende aarhundrede. Indeholdende en af de ældste optegnelser af norske kongesagaer. Oslo: Bentzen.
17. Internal references
18. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Haralds saga Sigurðssonar’ 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. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=142> (accessed 23 April 2024)
19. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Magnúss saga góða ok Haralds harðráða’ 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. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=147> (accessed 23 April 2024)
20. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Haraldr harðráði Sigurðarson, Lausavísur 1’ 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. 42-3.
21. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Haraldr harðráði Sigurðarson, Lausavísur 11’ 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. 52-3.
22. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Haraldr harðráði Sigurðarson, Gamanvísur 5’ 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. 40.
23. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Haraldr harðráði Sigurðarson, Gamanvísur 3’ 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. 38.