Ólhv Hryn 4^II

Snœfrir drógu enn meðal jǫfra
— aldir kóðu varla haldask
ǫðlings heit við allvald mætan —
árskapðan grun vinir hvárskis.
Minnigr bjoggi siklingr sunnan
sunda vigg, en jarl stǫkk undan
— ýtar brugðusk jǫfri nýtum —
austr of fjall, með drengi snjalla.

Snœfrir vinir hvárskis drógu enn árskapðan grun meðal jǫfra; aldir kóðu heit ǫðlings varla haldask við mætan allvald. Minnigr siklingr bjoggi {vigg sunda} sunnan með snjalla drengi, en jarl stǫkk undan austr of fjall; ýtar brugðusk nýtum jǫfri.

Skilful friends of neither [prince] again aroused the long-standing mistrust between the princes; people said the chieftain’s promises to the excellent mighty ruler were hardly kept. The mindful king steered {steeds of the seas} [SHIPS] from the south with brave men, and the jarl fled east across the mountains; men abandoned the able prince.

Mss: E(165v), F(104vb) (ll. 1-6), 42ˣ(143r), 81a(97vb), 304ˣ(306r-v), 325VIII 5 b(2r), Flat(175ra) (Hák)

Readings: [1] enn: einn 42ˣ    [2] kóðu: kóðusk 304ˣ, 325VIII 5 b, Flat;    varla: so F, 42ˣ, 81a, 304ˣ, Flat, ‘uallḍa’ E, valda 325VIII 5 b;    haldask: ‘halldar’ 304ˣ    [3] ǫðlings heit: ǫðling sleit 304ˣ;    heit: so F, 42ˣ, 81a, ‘hæitt’ E, ‘hǽst’ 325VIII 5 b, hest Flat;    all‑: ‘alld‑’ F    [5] bjoggi: so F, 42ˣ, bjó E, 81a, ‘biuggi’ 304ˣ, ‘bjuggi’ 325VIII 5 b, bygði Flat;    siklingr: siklings 42ˣ, 304ˣ, sikling 81a    [7] ýtar: ‘vrar’ 81a;    brugðusk: so 42ˣ, 81a, Flat, ‘rygduz’ E, ‘brugd og’ 304ˣ, ‘brygduz’ 325VIII 5 b;    nýtum: mætu 42ˣ, mætum Flat    [8] með: við 304ˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 94, Skj BII, 105-6, Skald II, 56, NN §1344; E 1916, 566, F 1871, 485, Hák 1910-86, 484, Hák 1977-82, 93, Flat 1860-8, III, 112.

Context: In 1236 Hákon sailed with his fleet from Bergen to Trondheim to meet with Skúli and reconcile their differences. Not daring to meet him there, Skúli fled south over the mountains with his men, many of whom deserted him.

Notes: [All]: See also Anon (Hák) 3. — [1, 4] snœfrir vinir hvárskis ‘skilful friends of neither [prince]’: I.e. the liegemen of Hákon and Skúli, whose backbiting frequently brought the two into conflict. — [2-4] aldir kóðu heit ǫðlings varla haldask við mætan allvald ‘people said the chieftain’s promises to the excellent mighty ruler were hardly kept’: I.e. the pledges Skúli made to Hákon at the assembly in Bergen in 1233 (see st. 3/7 above). — [8] með snjalla drengi ‘with brave men’: This phrase could be construed with either the first cl. of the second helmingr (minnigr siklingr bjoggi vigg sunda sunnan ‘the mindful king steered steeds of the seas from the south’; so Skj B) or with the second cl. (en jarl stǫkk undan austr of fjall ‘and the jarl fled east across the mountains’; so NN §1344). While the first option is syntactically simpler, the second is contextually preferable, since the prose text, l. 7 of the st. and Anon (Hák) 3 indicate that Skúli was abandoned by many of his men. — [8] drengi (m. acc. pl.) ‘men’: Used as an acc. of accompaniment with the preposition með ‘with’ (l. 8). The origin and meaning of the word drengr (m. nom. sg.) are much debated by scholars. The most basic meaning of the term in skaldic poetry, as in the present st., is ‘(youthful) man’, which often carried the connotation ‘warrior’ by hyponymy (see Goetting 2006).

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. 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. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
7. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
8. Goetting, Lauren. 2006. ‘Þegn and drengr in the Viking Age’. SS 78, 375-404.
9. Hák 1977-82 = Mundt, Marina, ed. 1977. Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar etter Sth. 8 fol., AM 325VIII, 4° og AM 304, 4°. Oslo: Forlagsentralen. Suppl. by James E. Knirk, Rettelser til Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar etter Sth. 8 fol., AM 325VIII, 4° og AM 304, 4°. Norrøne tekster 2. Oslo: Norsk historisk kjeldeskrift-institutt, 1982.
10. Hák 1910-86 = Kjær, Albert and Ludvig Holm-Olsen, eds. 1910-86. Det Arnamagnæanske haandskrift 81a fol. (Skálholtsbók yngsta) indeholdende Sverris saga, Bǫglungasǫgur, Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar. Oslo: Den norske historiske kildeskriftkommission and Kjeldeskriftfondet.
11. Internal references
12. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Anonymous Lausavísur, Lausavísur from Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar 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. 850.