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Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Hildr Lv 1I

Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2012, ‘Hildr Hrólfsdóttir nefju, Lausavísa 1’ 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. 139.

Hildr Hrólfsdóttir nefjuLausavísa1

Hafnið Nefju nafna;
nú rekið gand ór landi
horskan hǫlða barma;
hví bellið því, stillir?
Illts við ulf at ylfask
Yggs valbríkar slíkan;
muna við hilmis hjarðir
hœgr, ef renn til skógar.

Hafnið {nafna Nefju}; nú rekið gand, horskan barma hǫlða, ór landi; hví bellið því, stillir? Illts at ylfask við slíkan ulf {Yggs {valbríkar}}; muna hœgr við hjarðir hilmis, ef renn til skógar.

You renounce {Nefja’s namesake} [= Hrólfr]; now you banish the wolf, the wise brother of freeholders, from the land; why do you risk that, lord? It is dangerous to threaten such a wolvish enemy {of the Yggr <= Óðinn> {of the slain-plank}} [SHIELD > WARRIOR (= Haraldr)]; he will not be gentle with the ruler’s herds if he runs to the forest.

Mss: (66r), F(11va), J1ˣ(37r), J2ˣ(37v) (Hkr); Holm2(7v), R686ˣ(14r), 972ˣ(50va), 321ˣ(30-31), 78aˣ(22r), 68(6v), 61(80vb), 75c(4r), 325V(9vb), 325VII(2v), Bb(127va), Flat(81vb), Tóm(97r) (ÓH); 158 8°ˣ(87v) (ll. 5-6)

Readings: [1] nafna: nafni R686ˣ, 321ˣ, 78aˣ, 68, 61, Bb, Flat, nefna Tóm    [2] rekið: rekum F, rekr 321ˣ, 78aˣ, er rekinn 75c, 325VII, Flat, Tóm;    gand: gandr 75c, Flat, Tóm, grandir 325VII;    ór: af J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 325VII    [3] hǫlða: hǫrða 68, 75c, 325V, 325VII, Flat, Tóm, hǫfða Bb    [4] hví: h(u)fi(?) R686ˣ;    bellið: bellir 321ˣ, 78aˣ, 75c, 325VII, Flat, Tóm;    því: þú 75c    [5] Illts (‘illt err’): er Bb;    við: om. J2ˣ, 321ˣ;    ulf: ‘ylf’ J1ˣ, J2ˣ;    ylfask: ylfa 321ˣ, yglask Flat, Tóm    [6] Yggs: ýgs J1ˣ, Holm2, 68, 325VII, Bb, Tóm, éls 321ˣ, 78aˣ, ‘Jks’ 158 8°ˣ;    val‑: ‘bal‑’ Bb;    ‑bríkar: ‑birkar R686ˣ, ‘Brixlar’ 158 8°ˣ;    slíkan: slíkr J1ˣ, J2ˣ    [7] muna: ‘mꜹnat’ F, man 78aˣ, munisk Bb, munit corrected from ‘mvnia’ Bb;    hilmis: yðrar 61;    hjarðir: hǫlða Holm2, R686ˣ, 972ˣ, hjarðar 321ˣ    [8] hœgr: Hogr 972ˣ, hœgt 321ˣ;    ef: er J1ˣ, J2ˣ, Holm2, R686ˣ, 972ˣ, 321ˣ, 78aˣ, 61, 325VII;    renn (‘hann renn’): hann gengr F, 68, 61, 75c, 325V, 325VII, Bb, Flat, Tóm, hann kømr J1ˣ, J2ˣ, Holm2, R686ˣ, 972ˣ, 321ˣ, 78aˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 31, Skj BI, 27, Skald I, 17, NN §§2007, 2218B, 2724; Hkr 1893-1901, I, 131-2, ÍF 26, 123-4 (HHárf ch. 24), F 1871, 51; ÓH 1941, I, 52 (ch. 26), Flat 1860-8, II, 30.

Context: Hildr’s son Hrólfr arrives in Vík (Viken, Norway), and slaughters livestock for provisions. King Haraldr hárfagri ‘Fair-hair’ convenes an assembly and outlaws him, banishing him from Norway. Upon hearing that, Hildr goes to Haraldr and pleads her son’s cause to no avail. She then recites this stanza. AM 158 8°ˣ gives a couplet (ll. 5-6) as an illustration of a metaphor in which vargr ‘wolf, outlaw’ is called úlfr ‘wolf’.

Notes: [1] nafna Nefju ‘Nefja’s namesake [= Hrólfr]’: Nefja ‘Nose’ was the nickname of Hildr’s father, Hrólfr, and her son was named after his grandfather. The name Hrólfr originally meant ‘glory-wolf’ (*Hrōþuwolfaʀ > *Hrōðwolfʀ > Hrólfr; see ANG §228 Anm.). It is unclear whether the original meaning of the name would still have been discernible at the time when the stanza was composed, but it certainly would have been in keeping with the ‘wolf-outlaw’ imagery in this stanza. For ‘wolf’ = ‘outlaw’ in Germanic literature, see Jacoby (1974). — [2] gand ‘the wolf’: The primary sense of gandr is ‘(magic) staff, rod’, but it also means ‘wolf’ and is synonymous with vargr, which also means ‘outlaw’. — [3] horskan barma hǫlða ‘the wise brother of freeholders’: Skj B takes this noun phrase as the acc. object of bella ‘risk, be engaged in, harm, destroy’ (l. 4) and translates the clause as hvorfor behandler I höldernes kloge frænde således, konge? ‘why do you treat the wise kinsman of free farmers in such a manner, king?’. However, bella cannot take an acc. object (see NN §§2007, 2218). Barma hǫlða ‘the brother of freeholders’ refers to the fact that Hrólfr belonged to the social class of freeholders or free farmers (see Note to Anon Nkt 15/2II). — [5] ylfask ‘threaten’: Lit. ‘turn oneself into a wolf’. Hap. leg. formed from the noun ulfr ‘wolf’. — [5, 6] slíkan ulf Yggs valbríkar ‘such a wolvish enemy of the Yggr <= Ó̃ðinn> of the slain-plank [SHIELD > WARRIOR (= Haraldr)]’: (a) The kenning Yggs valbríkar ‘of the Yggr of the slain-plank’ refers to Haraldr, and his ulfr ‘wolf’ is his outlaw and enemy, Hrólfr (see LP: ulfr 4). (b) Skj B and Skald emend Yggs (gen.) to Yggr (nom.) and take the noun as a base-word in a warrior-kenning addressing Haraldr: Yggr valbríkar ‘Yggr of the slain-plank [SHIELD > WARRIOR]’, but this goes against all ms. witnesses. (c) Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson (ÍF 26) retains Yggs and construes ulf Yggs valbríkar ‘the wolf of the slain-plank of Yggr [SHIELD > WARRIOR]’. That kenning is overdetermined, however, because ‘slain-plank’ alone is a shield-kenning and hence Yggs ‘of Yggr’ is redundant. — [8] renn (3rd pers. sg. pres. indic.) ‘runs’: For this form, see ANG §278.4b. The other two variants (gengr ‘goes’ and kømr ‘comes’) are also possible.

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. 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. LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. ÓH 1941 = Johnsen, Oscar Albert and Jón Helgason, eds. 1941. Saga Óláfs konungs hins helga: Den store saga om Olav den hellige efter pergamenthåndskrift i Kungliga biblioteket i Stockholm nr. 2 4to med varianter fra andre håndskrifter. 2 vols. Det norske historiske kildeskriftfond skrifter 53. Oslo: Dybwad.
  9. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
  10. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
  11. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
  12. Jacoby, Michael. 1974. Wargus, vargr ‘Verbrecher’ ‘Wolf’: Eine sprach- und rechtsgeschichtliche Untersuchung. Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis: Studia Germanistica Upsaliensia 12. Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiksell.
  13. Internal references
  14. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Haralds saga hárfagra’ 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=140> (accessed 28 March 2024)
  15. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Anonymous Poems, Nóregs konungatal 15’ 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. 771.
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