RvHbreiðm Hl 73^III

Óláfr náði eggjar rjóða
enskra þjóða vǫrmu blóði;
hneigiborða háði skerðir
hjǫrva þeyja Viðris meyja.
Bǫðvar hauka bráðar snáka
beiti-Nirðir ógnar girði
rjóða nômu; rekkar kómu
randar Freyju þing at heyja.

Óláfr náði rjóða eggjar vǫrmu blóði enskra þjóða; {skerðir {hneigiborða hjǫrva}} háði {þeyja {meyja Viðris}}. {Beiti-Nirðir {snáka {bráðar {hauka bǫðvar}}}} nômu rjóða {girði ógnar}; rekkar kómu at heyja {þing {Freyju randar}}.

Óláfr was able to redden edges with the warm blood of English people; {the diminisher {of the bending-boards of swords}} [SHIELDS > WARRIOR] waged {warm winds {of Viðrir’s <= Óðinn’s> maidens}} [VALKYRIES > BATTLES]. {The brandishing-Nirðir <gods> {of the snakes {of the meat {of hawks of battle}}}} [RAVENS/EAGLES > CORPSES > SWORDS > WARRIORS] began to redden {fences of fight} [SHIELDS]; warriors came to hold {an assembly {of the Freyja <goddess> of the shield-rim}} [VALKYRIE > BATTLE].

Mss: papp25ˣ(38v), R683ˣ(133v)

Readings: [2] enskra þjóða: so R683ˣ, enskar þjóðir papp25ˣ    [3] skerðir: skerða papp25ˣ, R683ˣ    [5] bráðar: ‘baudar’ papp25ˣ, R683ˣ    [6] Nirðir: ‑Nirði papp25ˣ, R683ˣ;    ógnar: ‘agnar’ papp25ˣ, R683ˣ    [8] Freyju: Freyja papp25ˣ, R683ˣ;    heyja: ‘hæijio’ papp25ˣ, R683ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 526, Skj BI, 505-6, Skald I, 248, NN §986; Hl 1941, 30, 91-2.

Context: The heading is konungslag (‘Konongs lagh’) ‘king’s metre’, a term not found in SnSt Ht. The metre is a variant of hrynhent which corresponds to Ht 63 (trollsháttr ‘troll’s verse-form’): all lines are trochaic (Type A) and the internal rhymes in both odd and even lines fall in positions 3 and 5.

Notes: [All]: According to de Vries (1938, 717), this hrynhent variant is modelled on Medieval Latin metres. While it is quite possible that hrynhent itself was influenced by Latin metres (see Whaley 1998, 79-80 and Section 4 of the General Introduction in SkP I), it is more likely that the poets of Hl were familiar with such poems as Arn Hryn (see Note to st. 30/4 above), and there is no reason to assume a direct influence from and a conscious imitation of Latin poetry in this particular instance. — [All]: The hero commemorated is Óláfr Haraldsson (S. Óláfr), who died at the battle of Stiklestad, Norway, on 29 July 1030. For his life, see ÓH, ÓHLeg, ÍF 27 and ÍF 29, 167-201 as well as his Biography in SkP I. The present stanza is devoted to his early campaigns in England (see ÓH 1941, I, 41-7, 56-7; ÓHHkr chs 12-15, 28, ÍF 27, 13-22, 34; ÍF 29, 167-70; Sigv Víkv 6-9^I; Ótt Hfl 7-11^I). — [3-4]: Skj B and Skald construe the kennings in the last clause as follows: skerðir hneigiborða meyjar Viðris ‘the diminisher of the bending-boards of Viðrir’s <= Óðinn’s> maidens [VALKYRIES > SHIELDS > WARRIOR]’ (ll. 3, 4); þeyja hjǫrva ‘the swords’ warm winds [BATTLES]’ (l. 4). Jón Helgason (Hl 1941) offers skerðir hneigiborða þeyja hjǫrva háði Viðris meyja ‘the diminisher of the bending-boards of the warm winds of swords [BATTLES > SHIELDS > WARRIOR] held Viðrir’s maidens [VALKYRIES = BATTLE]’. But as Holtsmark points out (Hl 1941), þeyja Viðris meyja ‘the warm winds of Viðrir’s maidens’ must go together. — [3] skerðir (m. nom. sg.) ‘the diminisher’: Skerða (inf.) ‘diminish’ has been emended to the agent noun skerðir (m. nom. sg.) ‘diminisher’ in keeping with earlier eds, since the clause needs a subject. — [5-8]: The second helmingr is garbled and cannot be interpreted without fairly extensive emendations. ‘Baudar’ (l. 5; so both mss) is clearly wrong and apparently based on Rugman’s conjecture that there existed a poetic word baud ‘blood’ (Hl 1941). (a) The present edn follows that of Jón Helgason in Hl 1941, which requires the fewest emendations, but the interpretation remains conjectural. (b) Skj B emends ‘baudar’ to búðar (f. gen. sg.) ‘of the booth’ (a reading suggested in SnE 1848, 247) and construes the first clause as follows: Beiti-Nirðir hauka bǫðvar nômu rjóða snáka girðibúðar ógnar ‘the feeding-Nirðir of the hawks of battle [RAVENS/EAGLES > WARRIORS] began to redden the snakes of the protecting-booth of battle [SWORD-SHEATH > SWORDS]’. Finnur Jónsson’s interpretation of this helmingr results in an impossible word order. (c) Kock (NN §986) reads: beiti-Nirðir búðar snáka nômu rjóða girði ógnar haukum bǫðvar ‘the brandishing-Nirðir of the booth of snakes [GOLD > GENEROUS MEN] began to redden the girdle of fight [SHIELD] for the hawks of battle [RAVENS/EAGLES]’. As Jón Helgason (Hl 1941) points out, the kenning beiti-Nirðir búðar snáka ‘the brandishing-Nirðir of the booth of snakes’ for ‘generous men’ is unparalleled in the corpus of skaldic poetry (and, further, one can brandish a sword, but not gold). — [6] -Nirðir ‘-Nirðir <gods>’: For this word, see Note to st. 6/3. For the possible loss of final -r, see Note to st. 5/2.

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. Whaley, Diana, ed. and trans. 1998. The Poetry of Arnórr jarlaskáld: An Edition and Study. Westfield Publications in Medieval Studies 8. Turnhout: Brepols.
7. ÓH 1941 = Johnsen, Oscar Albert and Jón Helgason, eds. 1941. Saga Óláfs konungs hins helga: Den store saga om Olav den hellige efter pergamenthåndskrift i Kungliga biblioteket i Stockholm nr. 2 4^to med varianter fra andre håndskrifter. 2 vols. Det norske historiske kildeskriftfond skrifter 53. Oslo: Dybwad.
8. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
9. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
10. Hl 1941 = Jón Helgason and Anne Holtsmark, eds. 1941. Háttalykill enn forni. BA 1. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
11. SkP I = Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Ed. Diana Whaley. 2012.
12. Vries, Jan de. 1938. Een skald onder de troubadours. Ledeburg, Gent: N. V. Drukkerij Erasmus.
13. Internal references
14. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Óláfs saga helga (Legendary)’ 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. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=31> (accessed 24 April 2024)
15. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Óláfs saga helga’ 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. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=53> (accessed 24 April 2024)
16. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Óláfs saga helga (in Heimskringla)’ 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. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=152> (accessed 24 April 2024)
17. Diana Whaley 2009, ‘ Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Hrynhenda, Magnússdrápa’ 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. 181-206. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1101> (accessed 24 April 2024)
18. 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 24 April 2024)
19. 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 24 April 2024)
20. Matthew Townend (ed.) 2012, ‘Óttarr svarti, Hǫfuðlausn 7’ 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. 749.
21. Judith Jesch (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Víkingarvísur 6’ 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. 541.
22. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 60’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1169.