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Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Rv Lv 18II

Judith Jesch (ed.) 2009, ‘Rǫgnvaldr jarl Kali Kolsson, Lausavísur 18’ 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. 596-7.

Rǫgnvaldr jarl Kali KolssonLausavísur
171819

Muna munk jól, þaus ólum
austr gjaldkera hraustum,
Ullr, at Egða fjǫllum,
undleygs, með Sǫlmundi.
Nú gerik enn of ǫnnur
jafnglaðr, sem vask þaðra,
sverðs at sunnanverðum
svarm kastala barmi.

{Ullr {undleygs}}, munk muna jól, þaus ólum austr at Egða fjǫllum með Sǫlmundi, hraustum gjaldkera. Nú, jafnglaðr, sem vask þaðra, gerik enn of ǫnnur {svarm sverðs} at sunnanverðum barmi kastala.

{Ullr <god> {of the wound-flame}} [SWORD > WARRIOR], I will remember the Christmases when we entertained in the east beside Agder’s mountains with Sǫlmundr, the valorous steward. Now, just as glad as I was there, I make, once again, throughout another [Christmas], {a swarm of the sword} [BATTLE] at the southern perimeter of the castle.

Mss: Flat(140rb), R702ˣ(47r) (Orkn)

Readings: [1] ólum: ‘ǫlumz’ R702ˣ    [4] undleygs: ‘vnnlógs’ R702ˣ;    ‑leygs: ‘ley⸜r⸝giar’ Flat    [6] þaðra: so R702ˣ, ‘þeirra’ Flat

Editions: Skj AI, 509, Skj BI, 483, Skald I, 237, NN §1155; Flat 1860-8, II, 481, Orkn 1887, 166, Orkn 1913-16, 241, ÍF 34, 217 (ch. 87), Bibire 1988, 233.

Context: After the beginning of the attack on the Galician castle described in st. 17, ch. 87 of Orkn recounts the fighting in some detail. During a lull, three sts (sts 18-19, Sigm Lv 1) are recited.

Notes: [1] ólum ‘we entertained’: While Kock NN §1155 maintains that there is no expression ala jól (and prefers the R702ˣ variant), Finnbogi Guðmundsson (ÍF 34) claims that it means ‘to feed a person during Christmas’. Contrary to Kock’s idea that Rǫgnvaldr is remembering the Christmases when he enjoyed his kinsman’s hospitality, an active verb seems to be required both by the prep. með ‘with’ (l. 4) and the parallelism with the second helmingr (cf. enn ‘once again’ in l. 5). The idea is that once Rǫgnvaldr and Sǫlmundr used to provide food for Christmas together (note that the saga says that the two men were jafnaldrar ‘of a similar age’, ÍF 34, 130). Now, by contrast, Rǫgnvaldr is providing food for the beasts of battle, an idea which is implicit in this st. but explicit in the closely-related st. 19 below. The full rhyme in an odd l. is the more acceptable given that it also occurs in l. 7. — [2, 3] austr at Egða fjǫllum; gjaldkera ‘in the east beside Agder’s mountains; steward’: Ch. 58 of Orkn notes that, in his youth, Kali spent time with his kinsman Sǫlmundr, who was the gjaldkeri in Tønsberg and a chieftain with a large following and an estate in Aust-Agder. Fritzner: gjaldkeri defines the term as Kongens Ombudsmand i Kjøbstaden, som der havde at opkræve hans Indtægter, holde tilbørlig Orden og sørge for Retspleien ‘the king’s official in the trading-centre, who was there to collect his income, keep appropriate order and administer justice’. — [3] at Egða fjǫllum ‘beside Agder’s mountains’: Lit. ‘beside the mountains of the Egðir (the people of Agder)’. — [4] undleygs ‘of the wound-flame’: The Flat. variant undleygjar, though chosen by most eds, is unmetrical. As the m. noun undleygr could have a gen. sg. in either -s or -jar (LP), the emendation is an obvious one, supported by the variant in R702ˣ, which could easily be a scribal error for this form.

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. 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. 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. Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
  7. ÍF 34 = Orkneyinga saga. Ed. Finnbogi Guðmundsson. 1965.
  8. Orkn 1913-16 = Sigurður Nordal, ed. 1913-16. Orkneyinga saga. SUGNL 40. Copenhagen: Møller.
  9. Bibire, Paul. 1988. ‘The Poetry of Earl Rǫgnvaldr’s Court’. In Crawford 1988, 208-40.
  10. Orkn 1887 = Gudbrand Vigfusson 1887-94, I.
  11. Internal references
  12. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Orkneyinga 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=47> (accessed 29 March 2024)
  13. Judith Jesch (ed.) 2009, ‘Sigmundr ǫngull, Lausavísur 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. 626-7.
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