Mark Eirdr 22^II

Flaustum lukði folka treystir
foldar síðu brimi kníða;
ǫrr vísi bað oddum læsa
úrga strǫnd ok svalri rǫndu.
Hlífum keyrði hersa reifir
harða nýtr of land it ýtra;
hilmir lauk við hergang olman
hauðr Eydana skjaldborg rauðri.

{Treystir folka} lukði brimi kníða síðu foldar flaustum; ǫrr vísi bað læsa úrga strǫnd oddum ok svalri rǫndu. {Harða nýtr reifir hersa} keyrði hlífum of it ýtra land; hilmir lauk hauðr Eydana rauðri skjaldborg við olman hergang.

{The trier of men} [RULER] barricaded the wave-lashed edge of the land with ships; the generous leader commanded the wet shore to be sealed with spear-points and a chilly shield. {The very bountiful gladdener of hersar} [RULER] drove shields around the outer land; the prince shut off the earth of the Island-Danes with a red shield-wall during the furious onslaught.

Mss: JÓ(158), 873ˣ(52r-v), 180b(30v) (Knýtl)

Readings: [1] Flaustum: flaustrum 180b;    folka: folk á 180b    [2] kníða: ‘kuida’ 180b    [4] úrga: víga 873ˣ;    ok: á 873ˣ;    svalri: snjallri 180b    [6] harða: harðla 180b    [7] hergang: hernað 180b

Editions: Skj AI, 449, Skj BI, 418, Skald I, 206; JÓ 1741, 158-9, ÍF 35, 227 (ch. 76).

Context: After the campaign, Eiríkr left men behind in Wendland to secure that country, and he then set sail for Denmark via the island of Öland.

Notes: [All]: For the custom of blockading the coasts with ships and spears, see Notes to Steinn Óldr 8/4 and Halli XI Fl 1/1, 5. — [All]: It looks as though the compiler of Knýtl misunderstood the geographical information provided by the st. (ÍF 35, 227): Hann kom fyrst við Eyland skipum sínum, er hann kom sunnan af Vinðlandi, sem Markús segir ‘He first came to Öland with his ships when he returned north from Wendland, as Markús says’. The island of Öland (Eyland) is located in the Baltic off the south-eastern coast of Sweden (Småland), and it was never a part of Denmark. While it is by no means unlikely that Eiríkr could have put to shore in Öland on his way back, he certainly had no reason to fortify or protect that island. The misunderstanding most likely arose from the phrase hauðr Eydana ‘the earth of the Island-Danes’ (l. 8), which refers to the Dan. islands off the south-eastern coast of Denmark and not to Öland. Hence the st. seems to describe Eiríkr securing the coasts of Denmark (and the Dan. islands) before (or after?) he was campaigning in Wendland. — [1] flaustum ‘with ships’: For the later form flaustrum ‘with ships’ (so 180b), see Note to st. 4/2 above. — [7] við olman hergang ‘during the furious onslaught’: Skj B and Skald adopt the 180b variant hernað ‘campaign’ (not so ÍF 35), which looks like a lectio facilior. — [8] Eydana ‘of the Island-Danes’: Skj B construes this with hilmir (hilmir Eydana ‘the prince of the Island-Danes’), which is possible but unlikely since hilmir is otherwise not accompanied by an ethnic qualifier (see LP: hilmir). For Eydanir, see also Arn Hardr 6/2.

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. 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.
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. Internal references
8. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Knýtlinga saga’ 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=19> (accessed 23 April 2024)
9. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Haraldsdrápa 6’ 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. 267.
10. Russell Poole (ed.) 2009, ‘Halli stirði, Flokkr 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. 338-9.
11. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Steinn Herdísarson, Óláfsdrápa 8’ 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. 374-5.