Mark Eirdr 28^II

Hildingr þá við hæst lof aldar
hǫfgan auð í gulli rauðu
halfa lest af harra sjǫlfum
harða vitr í Miklagarði.
Áðan tók við allvalds klæðum
Eirekr; þó vas gefit fleira;
reynir veitti herskip hônum
hersa máttar sex ok átta.

Harða vitr hildingr þá við hæst lof aldar hǫfgan auð í rauðu gulli, halfa lest, af harra sjǫlfum í Miklagarði. Áðan tók Eirekr við klæðum allvalds; þó vas fleira gefit; {reynir máttar hersa} veitti hônum sex ok átta herskip.

The very wise ruler received along with the highest praise of men weighty wealth in red gold, half a lest, from the lord himself in Constantinople. Previously Eiríkr accepted the clothes of the mighty ruler; yet even more was given; {the trier of the might of hersar} [RULER = Byzantine emperor] granted him six and eight warships.

Mss: JÓ(168), 873ˣ(55v-56r), 180b(31v), 20b II(3va) (Knýtl)

Readings: [4] harða: harðla 180b;    vitr: ‘uidr’ 873ˣ, ríkr 180b, 20b II    [5] klæðum: skrúði 180b, 20b II    [6] Eirekr: so all others, Eireki JÓ;    þó vas gefit: at gefit var 180b

Editions: Skj AI, 451, Skj BI, 419, Skald I, 207, NN §2790; JÓ 1741, 168-9, ÍF 35, 237-8 (ch. 81).

Context: The reception that Eiríkr received from Emperor Alexios when he arrived in Constantinople.

Notes: [All]: For Eiríkr’s splendid reception by the Byzantine emperor, see also Saxo (2005, II, 12, 7, 1-6, pp. 78-83). It is interesting that his stay in Constantinople is not documented at all in contemporary Gk sources (see ÍF 35, 238 n. 1). — [3] halfa lest ‘half a lest’: A lest was a unit of measurement, about 1250 kg in weight. According to Knýtl (ÍF 35, 237), Alexios gave Eiríkr the choice between receiving the gift of the gold and getting the opportunity to watch the games in the hippodrome. Because Eiríkr was getting short of money, he chose the gold. When Alexios later made a similar offer to the Norw. king Sigurðr jórsalafari ‘Jerusalem-farer’ Magnússon, Sigurðr chose the games because he, in the words of Knýtl, fór þá heimleiðis ok hafði þá lokit inum mesta fékostnaði í ferð sinni ‘was then on his way back home and most of the expenses for his journey had then come to an end’. For Alexios’s offer to Sigurðr, see ÍF 28, 253 and Mork 1928-32, 349-50. It could well be that the inclusion of this episode in Knýtl, which shows verbal correspondences with Hkr and Mork, was prompted by the gold mentioned in this st. The gold is also mentioned by Saxo (2005, II, 12, 7, 5, pp. 80-3). — [4] vitr ‘wise’: Ríkr ‘powerful’ (so 180b and 20b II), which is adopted in Skj B and Skald, is an acceptable alternative. — [5] klæðum ‘clothes’: 180b and 20b II offer the alternative skrúði ‘apparel’, preferred by both Skj B and Skald. — [6] Eirekr (m. nom. sg.) ‘Eiríkr’: So 873ˣ, 180b, 20b II. Taken here as the subject of the first cl. of the second helmingr. So also Skald, but Kock retains the 180b variant þó at gefit var fleira ‘although more was given’, which is unmetrical (requiring resolution on the third lift and full stress on the adv. þó as part of the conj. þó at ‘although’). Eireki (m. dat. sg., so JÓ) could function as the dat. object of the second cl.: þó vas fleira gefit Eireki ‘yet even more was given to Eiríkr’ (so earlier eds except Skald). However, the JÓ reading looks like a syntactic simplification, and the neutralisation on the last two syllables of the name (required by the metre) would be highly irregular in C12th hrynhent. — [7, 8] sex ok átta herskip ‘six and eight warships’: The emperor’s gift of warships is also mentioned by Saxo (2005, II, 12, 7, 6, pp. 82-3), but the number is not specified.

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. Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
6. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
7. ÍF 35 = Danakonunga sǫgur. Ed. Bjarni Guðnason. 1982.
8. JÓ 1741 = Jón Ólafsson, ed. 1741. Æfi dana-konunga eda Knytlinga saga: Historia Cnutidarum regum Daniæ. Copenhagen: [n. p.].
9. Internal references
10. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Heimskringla’ 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=4> (accessed 25 April 2024)
11. (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 25 April 2024)
12. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Morkinskinna’ 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=87> (accessed 25 April 2024)