Oddi Lv 2^II

Trautt erum vér, sem ek vætti,
verðir Ermingerðar,
— veitk, at horsk má heita
hlaðgrund konungr sprunda —
þvít sómir Bil bríma
bauga stalls at ǫllu
— hon lifi sæl und sólar
setri — miklu betra.

Vér erum trautt verðir Ermingerðar, sem ek vætti—veitk, at {horsk hlaðgrund} má heita konungr sprunda—, þvít at ǫllu miklu betra sómir {Bil {bríma {stalls bauga}}}; hon lifi sæl und {setri sólar}.

We are hardly worthy of Ermingerðr, as I expect—I know that {the wise headband-ground} [WOMAN] can be called a king among women—, because [something] altogether much better befits {the Bil <goddess> {of the flame {of the standing-place of rings}}} [ARM/HAND > GOLD > WOMAN]; may she live blessed under {the seat of the sun} [SKY/HEAVEN].

Mss: 325I(12v), Flat(140ra), R702ˣ(46v) (Orkn)

Readings: [1] erum: so Flat, eru 325I, R702ˣ;    sem: enn R702ˣ    [5] þvít (‘þviat’): þat Flat    [8] betra: so R702ˣ, betri 325I, Flat

Editions: Skj AI, 529, Skj BI, 510, Skald I, 250, NN §806; Flat 1860-8, II, 479, Orkn 1887, 161-2, Orkn 1913-16, 235, ÍF 34, 212 (ch. 86), Bibire 1988, 233.

Context: Having left Narbonne, Rǫgnvaldr and his poets are sailing in a good wind, and are sitting and drinking, and in good spirits. Rǫgnvaldr, Ármóðr and Oddi each recite a st. containing Ermingerðr’s name.

Notes: [All]: For other sts with similar content recited on the same occasion, see Rv Lv 16 and Árm Lv 3. The st. could be construed as a response to Árm Lv 3: the latter expresses a desire to sleep with Ermingerðr, while Oddi’s response, the final st. in the sequence of three, is that none of them is worthy of her. — [4] konungr sprunda ‘a king among women’: Ermengard was Viscountess of Narbonne and so literally a ruler in her own right (Cheyette 2001, 23-4; Note to Rv Lv 15 [All]) as well as conventionally ‘first among women’, as here. See also Arn Þorfdr 15/2 and Note.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. 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.
5. ÍF 34 = Orkneyinga saga. Ed. Finnbogi Guðmundsson. 1965.
6. Orkn 1913-16 = Sigurður Nordal, ed. 1913-16. Orkneyinga saga. SUGNL 40. Copenhagen: Møller.
7. Bibire, Paul. 1988. ‘The Poetry of Earl Rǫgnvaldr’s Court’. In Crawford 1988, 208-40.
8. Cheyette, Frederic L. 2001. Ermengard of Narbonne and the World of the Troubadours. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.
9. Orkn 1887 = Gudbrand Vigfusson 1887-94, I.
10. Internal references
11. Judith Jesch (ed.) 2009, ‘Ármóðr, Lausavísur 3’ 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. 622.
12. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Þorfinnsdrápa 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, pp. 246-7.
13. Judith Jesch (ed.) 2009, ‘Rǫgnvaldr jarl Kali Kolsson, Lausavísur 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, pp. 592-3.
14. Judith Jesch (ed.) 2009, ‘Rǫgnvaldr jarl Kali Kolsson, Lausavísur 16’ 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. 594.