Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Rǫgnvaldr jarl and Hallr Þórarinsson, Háttalykill 53’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1060.
Ák frá Óláfi
— eiðar þrár meiðum
sløngði *á* svanvengi
Selju mens — telja.
Fréttu fleystéttar
— fengu gjǫf drengir —
harðir hyr-Nirðir
hildings fémildi.
Ák telja frá Óláfi; þrár eiðar sløngði {meiðum {mens Selju}} *á* {svanvengi}. {Harðir {{fleystéttar} hyr-}Nirðir} fréttu fémildi hildings; drengir fengu gjǫf.
‘I must tell about Óláfr; the one firm of oath flung trees of Selja’s <island’s> necklace [SEA > SHIPS] onto the swan-meadow [SEA]. Harsh Nirðir <gods> of the fire of the ship-path [(lit. ‘ship-path’s fire-Nirðir’) SEA > GOLD > MEN] heard about the leader’s generosity; the warriors received a gift. ’
The heading is Haddarlag (‘Haddar lag’), a metrical variant that corresponds to SnSt Ht 79 (Haðarlag ‘Hǫðr’s metre’). The metre is pentasyllabic málaháttr with internal rhyme, and the second hending in each line falls in penultimate position as in dróttkvætt.
For a discussion of the metre, see Section 4, General Introduction in SkP I. — The stanza is quite garbled in Rugman’s transcriptions, and in papp25ˣ a curly bracket enclosing ll. 1-4 has been added in the right margin along with the abbreviation ‘NB.’. — The identity of ‘Óláfr’ is unclear. Jón Helgason (Hl 1941) suggests Óláfr Bjarnarson, the brother of Eiríkr (see sts 51-2 and Note to st. 51 [All]; ÍF 26, 130), Óláfr sœnski ‘the Swede’, Eiríkr’s son (ÍF 26, passim), or a sea-king named Óláfr (Gautr ch. 11). — [1-4]: Skj B and Skald construe the first helmingr as follows: Ák frá Óláfi | auðar þrámeiðum | sløngði snákvengi | selju mens telja, i.e. ák telja selju mens frá Óláfi; sløngði snákvengi þrámeiðum auðar ‘I must tell the willow of the necklace [WOMAN] about Óláfr; he flung the snake-land [GOLD] to the longing-trees of wealth [MEN]’. However, as Jón Helgason (Hl 1941) points out, this would be the only stanza in Hl in which the poets mention a woman, and st. 54 shows that the intended audience is male. The eds of Hl 1941 admit that Finnur Jónsson’s interpretation is unsatisfactory, but they have no better version to offer. — [3]: As it stands in the mss, the line is hypermetrical, and most earlier eds delete hann (‘han’) ‘he’. Finnur Jónsson and Kock emend ‘svanvenge’ (so papp25ˣ; ‘-s vanvæingi’ R683ˣ) to snákvengi ‘snake-land’, a kenning for ‘gold’ (see Note to ll. 1-4 above). However, it appears that Rugman misread the line much in the same way as he misread the first line of st. 54 (see the Note to st. 54/1), and svanvengi ‘swan-meadow’ also occurs in st. 54/5.
Text is based on reconstruction from the base text and variant apparatus and may contain alternative spellings and other normalisations not visible in the manuscript text. Transcriptions may not have been checked and should not be cited.
Ák frá Óláfi
— auðar þrámeiðum
sløngði †hansvanvenge†
Selju mens — telja.
Fréttu fley†-stetar†
— fengu gjǫf drengir —
harðir her--Nirðir
hildings fémildi.
Ák frá Óláfi
— auðar þrá meiðum
sløngði †hans vanvæingi†
Selju mens — telja.
Fréttu fleystéttar
— fengu gjǫf drengir —
harðir her--Nirðir
hildings fémildi.
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