Hharð Gamv 5^II

Oss munat ekkja kenna
ung né mær, at værim,
þars gerðum svip sverða,
síð í borg of morgun.
Ruddumk umb með oddi;
eru merki þar verka;
þó lætr Gerðr í Gǫrðum
gollhrings við mér skolla.

Ekkja né ung mær munat kenna oss, at værim síð of morgun í borg, þars gerðum {svip sverða}. Ruddumk umb með oddi; eru merki verka þar; þó lætr {Gerðr gollhrings} í Gǫrðum skolla við mér.

Neither the widow nor the young maiden can accuse us [me] of being late in the morning into the stronghold where we made {a swinging of swords} [BATTLE]. I cleared a path with the spear-point; there are marks of my deeds there; yet {the Gerðr <goddess> of the gold ring} [WOMAN] in Russia ridicules me.

Mss: Mork(3r) (Mork); H(28v), Hr(21ra) (H-Hr)

Readings: [1] Oss: Enn H, Ein Hr;    kenna: om. H, sanna Hr    [4] síð: suðr H, Hr;    morgun: morgin H, Hr    [6] þar: þess Hr    [7] þó lætr Gerðr í Gǫrðum: abbrev. as ‘þo letr .g. ig.’ Mork, ‘þo læ. ger. ig.’ H, ‘þo lætr. g. i. g.’ Hr    [8] gollhrings við mér skolla: abbrev. as ‘g. við mer s.’ Mork, ‘g. við mer sk.’ H, ‘g. við mer skolla’ Hr

Editions: Skj AI, 357-8, Skj BI, 329, Skald I, 166, NN §§845, 2524; Mork 1867, 16, Mork 1928-32, 86, Andersson and Gade 2000, 149, 473 (MH); Fms 6, 170-1 (HSig ch. 15).

Notes: [1] ekkja ‘the widow’: See Notes to st. 3/1 above, Hharð Lv 1/2 and Hharð Lv 14/2, 3. — [1] oss ‘us [me]’: Both variants enn ‘yet’ (so H) and ein ‘one’ (so Hr) restore the missing internal rhyme. Skj B reads ein ekkja munat né ung mær kenna síð, at værim í borg of morgin ‘one widow and young maiden will not late (i.e. will soon) get to know that I was in the stronghold one morning’. Kock opts for enn and gives the following variant (NN §§845, 2524): enn munat ekkja né ung mær kenna, at værim síð í borg of morgin ‘yet no widow or young maiden shall allege that I was in the stronghold late in the morning’. However, kenna in the meaning ‘allege, accuse, blame’ requires a dat. object, which renders Kock’s reading ungrammatical. Stanza 6/1 below also lacks internal rhyme, which leads to the suspicion that the H and Hr variants are secondary (see also Louis-Jensen 1977, 154). — [4] morgun ‘morning’: Morgin ‘morning’ (so H, Hr) is also a possible form (see ANG §173.5).

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. ANG = Noreen, Adolf. 1923. Altnordische Grammatik I: Altisländische und altnorwegische Grammatik (Laut- und Flexionslehre) unter Berücksichtigung des Urnordischen. 4th edn. Halle: Niemeyer. 1st edn. 1884. 5th unrev. edn. 1970. Tübingen: Niemeyer.
8. Louis-Jensen, Jonna. 1977. Kongesagastudier: Kompilationen Hulda-Hrokkinskinna. BA 32. Copenhagen: Reitzel.
9. Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
10. 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.
11. Internal references
12. (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 16 April 2024)
13. (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 16 April 2024)
14. 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.
15. 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.