Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Kali Sæbjarnarson, Lausavísa 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. 393-4.
Hvé launa þér þínir
þingmæltir dýrlingar
— vestr bifask rengr í rǫstum —
— reyn oss jǫfurr! — hnossir?
Hvé launa þingmæltir dýrlingar þínir þér hnossir? Vestr bifask rengr í rǫstum; reyn oss, jǫfurr!
‘How do your assembly-eloquent darlings repay you for your treasures? In the west, ship-frames tremble in the currents; test us, prince!’
In Orkn and H-Hr the helmingr is attributed to Kali and recited as a question to Magnús berfœttr Óláfsson (see Mberf Lv 1) when Magnús’s army winters in the Hebrides (1098-9). In Mork it is anonymous but part of a verbal exchange with Magnús which takes place before Magnús embarks on his second expedition to the west in 1102.
Text is based on reconstruction from the base text and variant apparatus and may contain alternative spellings and other normalisations not visible in the manuscript text. Transcriptions may not have been checked and should not be cited.
Hví launa þér þínir
þingmæltir dýrlingar
— vestr bifask rengr í rǫstum —
— reyn oss jǫfurr! — hnossir?
Hvé launa þér þínir
þingríkir hǫfðingjar
— vestr bifask rengr í rǫstum —
— reyn oss jǫfurr! — hnossir?
Hvé launa þínir
þingríkir hǫfðingjar
— vestr bifask rangir í rǫstum —
— reyn oss jǫfurr! — hnossir?
Hvé launa þér þínir
þingdjarfir hǫfðingjar
— austr bifask rengr í rǫstu —
— reyn oss konungr! — hnossir?
Hvé launa þér þínir
þingríkir hǫfðingjar
— vestr bifask rengr í rǫstum —
— reyn oss konungr! — hnossir?
Hvé launa þér þínir
þingríkir hǫfðingjar
— vestr bifask regn í rǫstu —
— reyn oss konungr! — hnossir?
Hvé launa þér þínir
þingríkir hǫfðingjar
— vestr bifask regn í rǫstu —
— reyn oss konungr! — hnossir?
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