Rv Lv 31^II

Ríðum Ræfils Vakri!
Rekuma plóg af akri!
Erjum úrgu barði
út at Miklagarði!
Þiggjum þengils mála!
Þokum framm í gný stála!
Rjóðum gylðis góma!
Gerum ríks konungs sóma!

Ríðum {Vakri Ræfils}! Rekuma plóg af akri! Erjum úrgu barði út at Miklagarði! Þiggjum mála þengils! Þokum framm í {gný stála}! Rjóðum góma gylðis! Gerum sóma ríks konungs!

Let’s ride {the Vakr <horse> of Ræfill <sea-king>} [SHIP]! Let’s not drive the plough from the field! Let’s plough with a drenched prow out to Constantinople! Let’s receive the wages of the prince! Let’s move forward in {the din of weapons} [BATTLE]! Let’s redden the gums of the wolf! Let’s create the honour for the powerful king!

Mss: 325I(13r), R702ˣ(50v) (Orkn); Flat(141ra)

Readings: [2] a: ei 325I, eigi Flat, R702ˣ;    af: ór R702ˣ    [7] gylðis: ‘gilldris’ R702ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 511, Skj BI, 486, Skald I, 238, NN §3236; Flat 1860-8, II, 488, Orkn 1887, 178, Orkn 1913-16, 258, ÍF 34, 235-6 (ch. 88), Bibire 1988, 238.

Context: Sailing north to Byzantium, Rǫgnvaldr’s fleet sail með prís miklum, sem þeir vissu, at gǫrt hafði Sigurðr Jórsalafari ‘in great style, as they knew Sigurðr jórsalafari had done’ (ÍF 34, 235).

Notes: [All]: For similar exhortatory sts from the C12th, see Nefari Lv and Blakkr Lv 1. The metre of this st. however is in minzta runhenda, as defined in SnE and exemplified in SnSt Ht 88^III (SnE 1999, 35-6); see Notes to Hbreiðm Lv and Árm Lv 3. — [3] erjum úrgu barði ‘let’s plough with a drenched prow’: With the exception of the Djulefors stone (Sö 65), this is the earliest surviving use in Scandinavian culture of the widespread metaphor in which a ship is figured as ‘ploughing’ the sea (Jesch 2001a, 177). — [5-8]: In the following ch. (89) of Orkn, Rǫgnvaldr and his men are well received in Byzantium by Emperor Menelías (Manuel I) and it is even said that the jarl was given much money by the emperor, but there is no further detail about the ways in which the crusaders earned their keep.

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. Jesch, Judith. 2001a. Ships and Men in the Late Viking Age: The Vocabulary of Runic Inscriptions and Skaldic Verse. Woodbridge: Boydell.
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. ÍF 34 = Orkneyinga saga. Ed. Finnbogi Guðmundsson. 1965.
7. SnE 1999 = Snorri Sturluson. 1999. Edda: Háttatal. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. Rpt. with addenda and corrigenda. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
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. Edith Marold 2017, ‘Snorra Edda (Prologue, Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál)’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols [check printed volume for citation].
13. (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 20 April 2024)
14. Judith Jesch 2009, ‘ Hallr Þórarinsson breiðmaga, Lausavísa’ 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. 610-11. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1251> (accessed 20 April 2024)
15. Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘ Nefari, Lausavísa’ 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. 645-6. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1308> (accessed 20 April 2024)
16. 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.
17. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Blakkr, 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, p. 649.
18. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 88’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1198.