Ólhelg Lv 7^I

Lítt mun halr inn hvíti
— hrafn etr af ná getnum —
— vér unnum gný Gunnar —
glaðr í nótt á Jaðri.
Svá hefr ǫllungis illa
— ek gekk reiðr of skeiðar —
— jǫrð veldr manna morði —
mitt rán getit hônum.

Lítt mun inn hvíti halr glaðr í nótt á Jaðri; hrafn etr af getnum ná; vér unnum {gný Gunnar}. Svá hefr rán mitt getit hônum ǫllungis illa; ek gekk reiðr of skeiðar; jǫrð veldr morði manna.

Little will the pale warrior be glad tonight in Jæren; the raven eats from the corpse it has got; we made {the clamour of Gunnr <valkyrie>} [BATTLE]. Thus robbing me has brought him an entirely bad outcome; I walked enraged across the warships; land causes the death of men.

Mss: Kˣ(433r-v), J2ˣ(209r) (Hkr); Holm2(58r), 972ˣ(430va-431va), 321ˣ(219), 73aˣ(179v), 68(57v), Holm4(56ra), 61(116vb), 75c(39r), 325V(69rb), 325VII(32r), Bb(189va), Flat(119rb), Flat(187va), Tóm(147r), 325XI 2 b(1ra) (ÓH); DG8(94v) (ÓHLeg); FskBˣ(49v), FskAˣ(185) (Fsk)

Readings: [1] halr: halfr Holm2, hauldr 325V, Flat(187va), DG8, hallr 325VII, ‘haal’ Tóm, heldr FskBˣ, FskAˣ    [2] hrafn: ‘hrasn’ 972ˣ;    af ná getnum: af 321ˣ, ‘ar af gottnum’ FskAˣ    [3] vér: om. 321ˣ;    Gunnar: geira 325V, gumnar Tóm, ‘gynnar’ FskAˣ    [4] glaðr: glaðir 325VII, Flat(119rb), 325XI 2 b, FskBˣ;    á: af 73aˣ, fyrir 61, 75c, Bb, Flat(119rb), Tóm, 325XI 2 b    [5] Svá: sá DG8    [6] ek gekk reiðr: gekk ek reiðr FskBˣ, ‘ægg ræiðr gegk’ FskAˣ;    of: af DG8, af gram FskBˣ;    skeiðar: skeiðir 321ˣ, 73aˣ, 325V, Bb, Tóm, skeiði DG8    [8] mitt: ‘[...]’ 325XI 2 b;    rán: ráð Tóm;    getit: gefisk J2ˣ, 972ˣ, 321ˣ, 73aˣ, Flat(187va), gefit Holm2

Editions: Skj AI, 222, Skj BI, 212, Skald I, 110-11; Hkr 1893-1901, II, 409, IV, 157-8, ÍF 27, 319-20 (ÓHHkr ch. 177); Fms 5, 16-17, Fms 12, 95-6, ÓH 1941, I, 487 (ch. 173), II, 691, Flat 1860-8, II, 311, III, 244; ÓHLeg 1922, 66-7, ÓHLeg 1982, 158-9; Fsk 1902-3, 177 (ch. 28), ÍF 29, 196 (ch. 33).

Context: Flat introduces its second text of Lv 7, within one of the Styrmir extracts, with a brief note that Óláfr helgi composed the stanza after the fall of Erlingr Skjálgsson. In the other sources, the context is similar to that for Lv 6.

Notes: [All]: The ascription of the stanza is less than fully vouched for by the prose compilers (with the exception of Flat, noted in the Context above). Fsk and ÓHLeg introduce it as kennd Óláfi konungi ‘attributed to King Óláfr’, while Hkr has Svá segja menn, at hann orti þá vísu þessa ‘People say that he then composed this stanza’ (ÓH similar; cf. Note to Lv 6 [All]). — [1] inn hvíti halr ‘the pale warrior’: This may be one of Erlingr’s sons (Hkr 1893-1901, IV), but Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson prefers to identify him with Erlingr himself (see Note to l. 4 below). Line 1 may be formulaic (cf. Egill Lv 31/2^V, 34/8^V (Eg 60, 63), Hfr Lv 17/1^V (Hallfr 20) and GunnlI Lv 8/5^V (Gunnl 13); cf. Fidjestøl 1982, 68), with the adj. used pejoratively. — [2] hrafn etr af getnum ná ‘the raven eats from the corpse it has got’: Like Lv 6/2, a stereotypical ‘raven’ motif, and the line has an almost exact counterpart in Þjsk Hák 1/6 (ÍF 27; cf. Fidjestøl 1982, 68). The corpse is presumably that of Erlingr (Hkr 1893-1901, IV). — [4] í nótt á Jaðri ‘tonight in Jæren’: Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson (ÍF 27) suggests that this reference to night-time at Jæren may owe its force to the ancestral belief that the dead sought their lifetime homes upon death. — [5] ǫllungis illa ‘an entirely bad outcome’: Cf. Note to Lv 6/5.  — [6] ek gekk reiðr of skeiðar ‘I walked enraged across warships’: Another apparently formulaic line that has a close counterpart in Sigv Erlfl 2/2, describing the same battle. — [7] jǫrð ‘land’: The sense is presumably that desire for land or strife over land is a cause of killings. — [8] rán mitt ‘robbing me’: Lit. ‘my robbery’. The contention is that Erlingr has gained no benefit from his robbery of Óláfr’s tenure of kingship (cf. Hkr 1893-1901, IV).

References

1. Bibliography
2. Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. Fidjestøl, Bjarne. 1982. Det norrøne fyrstediktet. Universitet i Bergen Nordisk institutts skriftserie 11. Øvre Ervik: Alvheim & Eide.
5. 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.
6. ÓH 1941 = Johnsen, Oscar Albert and Jón Helgason, eds. 1941. Saga Óláfs konungs hins helga: Den store saga om Olav den hellige efter pergamenthåndskrift i Kungliga biblioteket i Stockholm nr. 2 4^to med varianter fra andre håndskrifter. 2 vols. Det norske historiske kildeskriftfond skrifter 53. Oslo: Dybwad.
7. ÓHLeg 1982 = Heinrichs, Anne et al., eds and trans. 1982. Olafs saga hins helga: Die ‘Legendarische Saga’ über Olaf den Heiligen (Hs. Delagard. saml. nr. 8^II). Heidelberg: Winter.
8. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
9. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
10. Fsk 1902-3 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1902-3. Fagrskinna: Nóregs kononga tal. SUGNL 30. Copenhagen: Møller.
11. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
12. ÓHLeg 1922 = Johnsen, Oscar Albert, ed. 1922. Olafs saga hins helga efter pergamenthåndskrift i Uppsala Universitetsbibliotek, Delagardieske samling nr. 8^II. Det norske historiske kildeskriftfond skrifter 47. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad.
13. Internal references
14. (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 19 April 2024)
15. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Óláfs saga helga (Legendary)’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=31> (accessed 19 April 2024)
16. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Flateyjarbók’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=44> (accessed 19 April 2024)
17. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Óláfs saga helga’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=53> (accessed 19 April 2024)
18. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Fagrskinna’ 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=56> (accessed 19 April 2024)
19. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Óláfs saga helga (in Heimskringla)’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=152> (accessed 19 April 2024)
20. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2022, ‘Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar 60 (Egill Skallagrímsson, Lausavísur 31)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 274.
21. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2022, ‘Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu 13 (Gunnlaugr ormstunga Illugason, Lausavísur 8)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 846.
22. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2022, ‘Hallfreðar saga 20 (Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld Óttarsson, Lausavísur 17)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 898.
23. Judith Jesch (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Flokkr about Erlingr Skjálgsson 2’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 632.
24. Kate Heslop (ed.) 2012, ‘Þorleifr jarlsskáld Rauðfeldarson, Poem about Hákon 1’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 369.