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Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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RvHbreiðm Hl 43III

Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Rǫgnvaldr jarl and Hallr Þórarinsson, Háttalykill 43’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1051.

Rǫgnvaldr jarl and Hallr ÞórarinssonHáttalykill
424344

Frá ek Angantýs ævi
— óð stofnak svá — góða;
lét drjúgum brot bauga
bjúg hertogi fljúga,
nema ek ljúga, en ek mun eigi ljúga.
Kannk fyr randa runnum
— ráð hófsk grams við dáðir;
menn lofa vísa vinnur —
veg þess konungs segja,
nema ek þegja, en ek mun eigi þegja.

Frá ek Angantýs ævi góða; svá stofnak óð; hertogi lét {bjúg brot bauga} fljúga drjúgum, nema ek ljúga, en ek mun eigi ljúga. Kannk segja veg þess konungs fyr {runnum randa} – ráð grams hófsk við dáðir; menn lofa vinnur vísa –, nema ek þegja, en ek mun eigi þegja.

I heard that Angantýr’s life was good; thus I make poetry; the army-leader let {bent fragments of rings} [GOLD] fly abundantly, unless I lie, and I shall not lie. I can relate the glory of that king before {shrubs of shield-rims} [WARRIORS] – the power of the ruler was elevated through deeds; men praise the achievements of the leader –, unless I keep quiet, and I shall not keep quiet.

Mss: papp25ˣ(35r), R683ˣ(129v)

Readings: [5] nema: so R683ˣ, ‘mema’ papp25ˣ    [7] fsk: ‘host’ papp25ˣ, R683ˣ    [8] lofa: so R683ˣ, lafa papp25ˣ    [9] segja: ‘seggia’ papp25ˣ, R683ˣ    [10] nema ek þegja en ek mun eigi þegja: ‘+’ papp25ˣ, ‘…’ R683ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 520, Skj BI, 497-8, Skald I, 244, NN §2075A; Hl 1941, 26, 70-1.

Context: The heading is hnúfu háttr (‘Nufo hottr’), and the verse-form has no parallel in SnSt Ht, but it occurs in later medieval claves metricae. The metre is dróttkvætt with an additional line at the end of each helmingr with internal alliteration and two words (in this case a single word used twice) that rhyme with the last word in the preceding line.

Notes: [All]: The meaning of hnúfu (nom. hnúfa) in hnúfu háttr is disputed. Jón Sigurðsson suggested ‘hump-form’, referring to the additional line added to each helmingr, whereas Finnur Jónsson (1892, 56; 1907, 203) and Magnus Olsen (1932a, 150) believed that the term could have been derived from the nickname of the skald Ǫlvir hnúfa (ǪlvI) ‘Snub-nose’ (?). For later attestations of the metre, see Maríulykill st. 18 (ÍM II, 216) and Háttalykill Lopts Guttormssonar sts 5, 31 (Småstykker 11, 220, 238), where it is called álagsháttr ‘extension’s form’ (see sts 79-80 below and SnSt Ht 27). Holtsmark (Hl 1941, 132-3) suggested that the metre originated as an imitation of Old French troubadour poetry, and that the refrain may have been sung (for similar refrains in troubadour poems, see Holtsmark loc. cit.). — [All]: Angantýr Heiðreksson was a legendary king and one of the main characters in Heiðreks saga (see Heiðr, FSGJ 2, 1-71; Hlǫðskviða, NK 302-12 and AngH Lv 1-11VIII (Heiðr 93, 95-8, 106-8, 111, 118-19)). — [3-4]: Cf. SnSt Ht 45/1-2. — [7] fsk ‘was elevated’: The ms. reading ‘host’ cannot be construed to make any sense, and Skj B emends to hófsk ‘was elevated, uplifted’, i.e. ‘increased’ (Sveinbjörn Egilsson, SnE 1848, 243, provides hèlzt ‘endured’). Kock’s (NN §2075A) suggestion hefsk ‘is raised’ is based on a misreading of R683ˣ (‘hæst’). — [9]: This line recalls Eyv Lv 1/6I. — [9] segja ‘relate’: For the spelling <gg> for <g>, see Hl 1941, 107. — [10]: This line was supplied by Jón Sigurðsson and adopted by all subsequent eds. The reading is conjectural, but it can be restored with a fair amount of certainty based on the rhyme (segja : þegja) and the formulaic structure of the refrains. In papp25ˣ, there is a cross at the end of l. 9, possibly indicating that there was an additional line in Rugman’s exemplar but that he was unable to read it. That assumption is corroborated by the dots added in R683ˣ.

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. SnE 1848 = Sveinbjörn Egilsson, ed. 1848. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar, eða Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál og Háttatal. Reykjavík: Prentsmiðja landsins.
  4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
  5. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
  6. NK = Neckel, Gustav and Hans Kuhn (1899), eds. 1983. Edda: Die Lieder des Codex Regius nebst verwandten Denkmälern. 2 vols. I: Text. 5th edn. Heidelberg: Winter.
  7. ÍM = Jón Helgason, ed. 1936-8. Íslenzk miðaldarkvæði: Islandske digte fra senmiddelalderen. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
  8. FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
  9. Hl 1941 = Jón Helgason and Anne Holtsmark, eds. 1941. Háttalykill enn forni. BA 1. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
  10. Olsen, Magnus. 1932a. ‘Orknø-Norn og norrøn diktning på Orknøene’. MM, 137-53.
  11. Finnur Jónsson. 1892. ‘Navnet Ljóðaháttr og andre versarters navne, samt rettelser i texten i Codex regius af Snorres Edda’. ANF 8, 307-22.
  12. Internal references
  13. 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 367. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=23> (accessed 28 March 2024)
  14. Margaret Clunies Ross 2017, ‘(Biography of) Ǫlvir hnúfa’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 491.
  15. Not published: do not cite (AngHVIII)
  16. Kari Ellen Gade 2017, ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1094. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1376> (accessed 28 March 2024)
  17. Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson, Lausavísur 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. 215.
  18. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 27’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1133.
  19. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 45’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1154.
  20. Hannah Burrows (ed.) 2017, ‘Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks 93 (Angantýr Heiðreksson, Lausavísur 1)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 462.
  21. Not published: do not cite ()
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