Hharð Gamv 6^II

Fœddr vas ek, þars alma
Upplendingar bendu;
nú lætk við sker skolla
skeiðr búmǫnnum leiðar.
Vítt hef ek, sízt ýttum,
eygarð skotit barði;
þó lætr Gerðr í Gǫrðum
gollhrings við mér skolla.

Ek vas fœddr, þars Upplendingar bendu alma; nú lætk skeiðr, leiðar búmǫnnum, skolla við sker. Vítt hef ek skotit barði {eygarð}, sízt ýttum; þó lætr {Gerðr gollhrings} í Gǫrðum skolla við mér.

I was born where the Upplendingar bent the elm-bows; now I let my warships, loathsome to farmers, rock among skerries. Far and wide I have thrust the prow across {the island-enclosure} [SEA] since we [I] set out; yet {the Gerðr <goddess> of the gold ring} [WOMAN] in Russia ridicules me.

Mss: Mork(3r) (Mork); H(28v), Hr(21ra) (H-Hr); N B88(1) (ll. 1-3)

Readings: [1] Fœddr: alinn N B88;    þars: þar H, Hr;    alma: ‘amær’ N B88    [2] Upplendingar: ‘uplendkær’ N B88    [3] lætk (‘let ec’): verðk N B88;    sker skolla: ‘[…]’ N B88    [5] ýttum: ‘ytum’ H    [7] þó lætr Gerðr í Gǫrðum: abbrev. as ‘þ. l.’ Mork, ‘þo læ. ger. ig.’ H, ‘þo lætr .g. i. g.’ Hr    [8] gollhrings við mér skolla: om. Mork, abbrev. as ‘goll við mer sk.’ H, ‘g. við mer skolla’ Hr

Editions: Skj AI, 358, Skj BI, 329, Skald I, 166, NN §2024A; Mork 1867, 16, Mork 1928-32, 86, Andersson and Gade 2000, 149, 473 (MH); Fms 6, 171 (HSig ch. 15).

Notes: [1-3]: The first three ll. are also recorded on the rune stick N B88, which is edited separately in SkP VI (Run B88^VI). The variant readings are given in the present edn, because they have some bearing on the possible interpretations of the st. See also Note to Hharð Lv 2b/4. — [1]: The l. lacks internal rhyme (see st. 5/1 above), and Kock (NN §2024A) attempts to restore the rhyme by emending fœddr ‘born’ to alinn ‘born, raised’ or alma ‘bows’ to odda ‘spear- or sword-points’. The first emendation results in an unmetrical l. with three alliterative staves: alinn ‘born, raised’, ek ‘I’, alma ‘elm-bows’ (cf. Skald: Alinn vas ek, þars alma) and the second in a nonsensical construction (‘where the Upplendingar bent the spear- or sword-points’). However, N B88 also gives the reading alinn, and the only way to restore the metre would be to construe the l. as follows: Alinn vask þar, es alma lit. ‘I was raised [or: born] there, where the elm-bows’. The internal rhyme (al- : alm-) leads to the suspicion that this reading is secondary. — [2] Upplendingar ‘the Upplendingar’: Opplandene (Upplǫnd) comprised present-day Hedmark, Hadeland, Romerike, Gudbrandsdalen and Østerdalen in Norway. Haraldr’s father, Sigurðr sýr, was a petty king of that district. — [5] ýttum ‘set out’: For ýta in this intransitive meaning (‘set out, embark on a sea-voyage’), see Fritzner: ýta 2. — [6] eygarð (m. acc. sg.) ‘the island-enclosure [SEA]’: An acc. of place.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
8. 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.
9. SkP VI = Runic Poetry. Ed. Edith Marold. Forthcoming.
10. Internal references
11. (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 19 April 2024)
12. (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 19 April 2024)
13. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Haraldr harðráði Sigurðarson, Lausavísur 2b’ 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. 44-5.