RvHbreiðm Hl 49^III

Heyja réð hjǫrþey
Hjalmarr vígsnarr;
auðar vôru óleið
ǫrbrjót geirmót.
Vekja frák vítt mjǫk*
vápnþing dǫgling;
fella spurðak fǫrsnjǫll
fira kyn víghlyn.

Vígsnarr Hjalmarr réð heyja {hjǫrþey}; {geirmót} vôru óleið {ǫrbrjót auðar}. Frák dǫgling vekja {vápnþing} mjǫk* vítt; spurðak {víghlyn} fella fǫrsnjǫll kyn fira.

Battle-swift Hjálmarr waged {a sword-wind} [BATTLE]; {spear-meetings} [BATTLES] were not unpleasant {to the generous breaker of wealth} [GENEROUS MAN]. I heard that the hero stirred up {weapon-assemblies} [BATTLES] very far and wide; I learned that {the battle-maple} [WARRIOR] killed attack-clever kin of men.

Mss: papp25ˣ(36r), R683ˣ(130r)

Readings: [1] Heyja: Hefja papp25ˣ, R683ˣ    [2] vígsnarr: ‘wignar’ papp25ˣ, ‘vig‑nar’ R683ˣ    [3] vôru: var R683ˣ    [5] Vekja: ‘Wæikia’ papp25ˣ, ‘væikia’ R683ˣ;    mjǫk*: ‘miott’ papp25ˣ, R683ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 521, Skj BI, 499, Skald I, 245; Hl 1941, 27, 74.

Context: The heading is ‘Half ɴefst’ (‘Halfnesst’ 683ˣ), i.e. hálfhnept ‘half-curtailed’ (SnSt Ht 77). However, only the odd lines are similar in Hl and in Ht: in Ht the even lines, too, could contain 5-7 syllables and have the second internal rhyme on the last syllable. The tetrasyllabic even lines in Hl correspond to the even lines in Ht 78 (alhnept ‘completely curtailed’).

Notes: [All]: Hjálmarr is Hjálmarr inn hugumstóri ‘the Great-minded’, a Swedish legendary hero. He was killed in the battle of Sámsey against Angantýr Arngrímsson and his brothers (see Hjálm Lv 1-19^VIII (Ǫrv 5-6, 9, 14-29), Heiðr ch. 3, FSGJ 2, 4-10; Ǫrv chs 14-15, FSGJ 2, 250-64). — [1] heyja ‘waged’: Lit. ‘wage’ (inf. with the pleonastic réð, 3rd pers. sg. pret. indic. of ráða). Earlier eds emend hefja ‘begin’ to heyja ‘wage’ to restore the missing skothending. — [2] vígsnarr ‘battle-swift’: The ms. reading ‘wignar’ (papp25ˣ; ‘vig-nar’ R683ˣ) is not an Old Norse word and must be a misreading of vígsnarr ‘battle-swift’. For the possible loss of final ‑r see Note to st. 5/2. — [5] vekja ‘stirred up’: Lit. ‘stir up’ (inf. with frák ‘I heard’). For the Norwegian spelling <æi> (diphthongisation) for earlier [e], see Hl 1941, 104. — [5] mjǫk* ‘very’: The ms. reading ‘miott’ (mjót ‘narrow’) cannot be construed to make any sense. The emendation, in keeping with most earlier eds, also restores rhymes in the correct positions (1 and 5).

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
4. Hl 1941 = Jón Helgason and Anne Holtsmark, eds. 1941. Háttalykill enn forni. BA 1. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
5. Internal references
6. 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 26 April 2024)
7. 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Ǫrvar-Odds saga’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 804. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=35> (accessed 26 April 2024)
8. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, 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. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=165> (accessed 26 April 2024)
9. Not published: do not cite (Hjálm^VIII)
10. Not published: do not cite (Angantýr^VIII)
11. Kari Ellen Gade 2017, ‘ Rǫgnvaldr jarl and Hallr Þórarinsson, Háttalykill’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1001. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1347> (accessed 26 April 2024)
12. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 75’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1186.
13. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 77’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1188.
14. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Ǫrvar-Odds saga 5 (Hjálmarr inn hugumstóri, Lausavísur 1)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 816.