RvHbreiðm Hl 58^III

Hilmir rauð ok hjalma
hjalmskóð í dyn malma;
skjǫldungr komat skildi
skjaldfimr í bug sjaldan.
Bǫrr lét vígs at vígi
vígreyr lituð dreyra,
þvít gunnþorinn gunni
gunn-Freyr hvata kunni.

Hilmir rauð {hjalmskóð} ok hjalma í {dyn malma}; skjaldfimr skjǫldungr komat sjaldan í bug skildi. {Bǫrr vígs} lét {vígreyr} lituð dreyra at vígi, þvít {gunnþorinn gunn-Freyr} kunni hvata gunni.

The ruler reddened {helmet-harmers} [SWORDS] and helmets in {the din of swords} [BATTLE]; the shield-deft lord did not seldom advance in the hollow of the shield. {The tree of slaughter} [WARRIOR] let {slaughter-reeds} [WEAPONS] be coloured with blood at the slaughter, because {the battle-daring battle-Freyr <god>} [WARRIOR] knew how to hasten battle.

Mss: papp25ˣ(37r), R683ˣ(131r)

Readings: [2] ‑skóð: ‑skúr papp25ˣ, R683ˣ    [4] skjald‑: ‘sciell’ papp25ˣ, R683ˣ;    sjaldan: ‘skialldan’ papp25ˣ, ‘skialdan’ R683ˣ    [6] ‑reyr: so R683ˣ, ‑Freyr papp25ˣ    [8] Freyr: ‑Frey corrected from ‑Freyr R683ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 522, Skj BI, 501, Skald I, 246; Hl 1941, 28, 81-2.

Context: As st. 57 above.

Notes: [1] hilmir ‘the ruler’: Hilmir is a heiti for ‘ruler’ (see SnE 1998, I, 101 and Þul Konunga 2/3), which originally may have meant ‘helmet-provider’ (see SnE 1998, II, 309). — [2] hjalmskóð ‘helmet-harmers [SWORDS]’: The kenning hjalmskúr ‘helmet-shower’ (so both mss) means ‘battle’ and makes no sense in the context. All earlier eds emend to hjalmskóð (n. acc. sg./pl.) ‘helmet-harmer(s)’, i.e. ‘sword(s)’. — [3, 4]: The form ‘sciell’ for skjald- ‘shield-’ (l. 4) is likely to have resulted from progressive i-umlaut and assimilation in Norwegian (Hl 1941, 109), and ‘skialldan’ (papp25ˣ; ‘skialdan’ R638ˣ) for sjaldan ‘seldom’ (l. 4) must be Rugman’s own, late Icelandic form of this word (Hl 1941, 80). Koma í bug skjaldar lit. ‘creep into the hollow of the shield’ is usually a sign of cowardice (see Hharð Lv 14/1-4^II). In this laudatory context, it appears to mean ‘advance behind the shield’ (so Skj B), or ‘attack sby from the side on which he is not protected by the shield’, i.e. ‘take sby by surprise, blind-side sby’ (see Hl 1941). — [3] skjǫldungr ‘lord’: Another heiti for ‘ruler’. Explained by Snorri as a descendant of Skjǫldr (SnE 1998, I, 103). It may originally have had the meaning ‘shield-bearer’ (see Faulkes, SnE 1998, II, 393 and Note to Þul Konunga 3/3). — [3] skildi (m. dat. sg.) ‘of the shield’: Skj B and Skald emend to skjaldi (m. dat. sg.) ‘shield’ to preserve the identical rhyming syllable (for the earlier form skjaldi, see ANG §396 Anm. 1 and Note to Þhorn Harkv 10/4^I). However, as Jón Helgason (Hl 1941) points out, similar infelicities occur in other lines of sts 57-8 as well (see sts 57/3, 58/1). — [6] vígreyr ‘slaughter-reeds [WEAPONS]’: In R683ˣ ‘vig-fręir’ (i.e. víg-Freyr ‘battle-Freyr [WARRIOR]’) has been altered to ‘vig-ręijr’.

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. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. ANG = Noreen, Adolf. 1923. Altnordische Grammatik I: Altisländische und altnorwegische Grammatik (Laut- und Flexionslehre) unter Berücksichtigung des Urnordischen. 4th edn. Halle: Niemeyer. 1st edn. 1884. 5th unrev. edn. 1970. Tübingen: Niemeyer.
5. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
6. Hl 1941 = Jón Helgason and Anne Holtsmark, eds. 1941. Háttalykill enn forni. BA 1. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
7. Internal references
8. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Konunga heiti 2’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 689.
9. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Konunga heiti 3’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 690.
10. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Haraldr harðráði Sigurðarson, Lausavísur 14’ 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. 55-6.
11. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Þorbjǫrn hornklofi, Haraldskvæði (Hrafnsmál) 10’ 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. 105.