Mark Eirdr 15^II

Rǫndu lauk of rekka kindir
risnumaðr, svát hver tók aðra;
hamalt — knôttu þá hlífar glymja —
hildingr fylkði liði miklu.

Risnumaðr lauk rǫndu of kindir rekka, svát hver tók aðra; hildingr fylkði miklu liði hamalt; þá knôttu hlífar glymja.

The doughty man enclosed the descendants of champions with the shield, so that each linked with the next; the prince marshalled his great troop in a wedge-shaped formation; then the shields began to resound.

Mss: JÓ(154), 873ˣ(51r), 180b(30r) (Knýtl)

Readings: [1] kindir: ‘kinndur’ 180b    [3] knôttu: ‘guattu’ 180b;    þá: þá er 180b

Editions: Skj AI, 447-8, Skj BI, 417, Skald I, 206, NN §3104; JÓ 1741, 154-5, Knýtl 1919-25, 177, ÍF 35, 223 (ch. 76).

Context: As st. 14 above. When the Wendish chieftains heard that the Dan. army was approaching, they mustered their troops. Eiríkr put to shore and marshalled his army.

Notes: [3] hamalt ‘in a wedge-shaped formation’: See ÞjóðA Run 1/4 and Note to Gísl Magnkv 10/6. — [4] miklu ‘great’: The word does not provide the required aðalhending and all modern eds except Knýtl 1919-25 emend here. As all the mss agree on miklu (which makes good sense), it is retained here, despite the metrical infidelity. Skj B emends to gildu ‘splendid’, qualifying liði ‘troop’ (l. 4). Skald’s emendation to mildi ‘generous’, qualifying hildingr ‘prince’ is perhaps preferable to gildu, as it retains the first two letters of the ms. readings, and, as NN §3104 notes, it anticipates mildingr in the next st. A further possible emendation which would restore the aðalhending is vildru ‘desirable, splendid’, qualifying liði.

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. ÍF 35 = Danakonunga sǫgur. Ed. Bjarni Guðnason. 1982.
6. JÓ 1741 = Jón Ólafsson, ed. 1741. Æfi dana-konunga eda Knytlinga saga: Historia Cnutidarum regum Daniæ. Copenhagen: [n. p.].
7. Knýtl 1919-25 = Petersens, Carl af and Emil Olsen, eds. 1919-25. Sǫgur danakonunga. 1: Sǫgubrot af fornkonungum. 2: Knýtlinga saga. SUGNL 66. Copenhagen: SUGNL.
8. Internal references
9. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Gísl Illugason, Erfikvæði about Magnús berfœttr 10’ 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. 423-4.
10. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Þjóðólfr Arnórsson, Runhent poem about Haraldr 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. 103-5.