RvHbreiðm Hl 63^III

Hauðr frák Hôkon síðan
harðgeðjaðastan varða;
þjóð sá ræsi rjóða
ráðvandaðastan branda.
Seimskerðir klauf sverði
snarpeggjuðustu leggi;
getk, at gramr fekk vitni
gráleituðustum sveita.

Frák harðgeðjaðastan Hôkon síðan varða hauðr; þjóð sá ráðvandaðastan ræsi rjóða branda. {Seimskerðir} klauf leggi snarpeggjuðustu sverði; getk, at gramr fekk gráleituðustum vitni sveita.

I heard that the very hardminded Hákon then guarded the land; people saw the very righteous ruler redden blades. {The gold-diminisher} [GENEROUS MAN] split legs with the very sharp-edged sword; I believe that the lord gave blood to the very grey-looking wolf.

Mss: papp25ˣ(37v-38r), R683ˣ(132r)

Readings: [1] Hauðr: ‘Huadur’ papp25ˣ, R683ˣ    [5] ‑skerðir: ‘færder’ papp25ˣ, ‘færir’ R683ˣ    [8] ‑leituðustum: ‘‑læitadostum’ papp25ˣ, ‘‑læitadostom’ R683ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 524, Skj BI, 503, Skald I, 247; Hl 1941, 29, 84-5.

Context: The heading is flagðalag (‘Flagda lag(h)’) ‘ogresses’ metre’ (cf. SnSt Ht 34), which is a dróttkvætt variant with seven syllables in the even lines and a pentasyllabic inflected p. p. in the sup. (or sup. adj. with an inserted extra syllable ‑að- or ‑uð-) occupying positions 1-5.

Notes: [All]: This verse-form is attested only here, in Ht 34 and in VíglÞ Lv 7/2^V (Vígl 10). — [All]: Hákon is Hákon Aðalsteinsfóstri ‘Foster-son of Æthelstan’ Haraldsson (also known as Hákon inn góði ‘the Good’), Eiríkr’s half-brother (see sts 61-2), who ruled Norway c. 934-61 (see ÍF 26, 144-5, 150-2, 157-97; ÍF 29, 72-6, 80-95). See also Anon Nkt 10, 12-15^II and Eyv Hák^I as well as his Biography in SkP I. — [2]: As Holtsmark (Hl 1941, 141) points out, this line recalls Rv Lv 3/2^II hargeðjuðum varða (that line does not display the feature distinctive of flagðalag, however). — [3, 5]: These lines contain aðalhending rather than the expected skothending. — [4] ráðvandaðastan ‘the very righteous’: Hap. leg. An extra syllable has been added to the adj. ráðvandr ‘righteous’ to accommodate the metre. — [5] seimskerðir ‘the gold-diminisher [GENEROUS MAN]’: Some eds retain the reading seimfœrir ‘gold-bringer’ or seimfærir ‘gold-endangerer’ (see LP: seimfœrir). However, neither fœrir nor færir is otherwise attested a base-word in kennings for ‘man’. The reading seimskerðir ‘gold-diminisher’ is supported by ‘-færder’ in papp25ˣ (see also NN §2079), and it restores the missing internal rhyme. — [6] snarpeggjuðustu ‘the very sharp-edged’: Hap. leg.; a sup. adj. derived from the noun egg ‘edge, blade’. — [8] gráleituðustum ‘to the very grey-looking’: Hap. leg. An extra syllable has been added to the adj. gráleitr ‘grey-looking’. The ms. spelling of the last part of the cpd (‘-læitadostom’ papp25ˣ; ‘-læitadostom’ R683ˣ) shows Norwegian lack of u-umlaut (see Hl 1941, 108).

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. LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
5. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
6. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
7. Hl 1941 = Jón Helgason and Anne Holtsmark, eds. 1941. Háttalykill enn forni. BA 1. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
8. SkP I = Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Ed. Diana Whaley. 2012.
9. Internal references
10. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Anonymous Poems, Nóregs konungatal 10’ 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. 768-9.
11. R. D. Fulk 2012, ‘ Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson, Hákonarmál’ 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. 171. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1187> (accessed 3 May 2024)
12. Judith Jesch (ed.) 2009, ‘Rǫgnvaldr jarl Kali Kolsson, 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, pp. 578-9.
13. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 32’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1138.
14. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 34’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1141.
15. Klaus Johan Myrvoll (ed.) 2022, ‘Víglundar saga 10 (Víglundr Þorgrímsson, Lausavísur 7)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1426.