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Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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RvHbreiðm Hl 16III

Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Rǫgnvaldr jarl and Hallr Þórarinsson, Háttalykill 16’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1023.

Rǫgnvaldr jarl and Hallr ÞórarinssonHáttalykill
151617

Harðr vann ráð ok ríki;
réð hans enginn líki;
… hann gagn af gunni
gnóg dag …
… vellbrota vissu
víst skjǫldungar flestir
… Agnars bróður
án gǫrvallra beina.

Harðr vann ráð ok ríki; enginn líki hans réð … hann gagn af gunni … gnóg dag … … flestir skjǫldungar vissu víst {vellbrota} án gǫrvallra beina … {bróður Agnars}.

The harsh one gained control and power; none to match him ruled … he victory from the battle … abundant day … … most lords certainly knew {the gold-breaker} [GENEROUS MAN] without complete bones [as] … {Agnarr’s brother} [= Ívarr].

Mss: papp25ˣ(42v), R683ˣ(126v)

Readings: [1] Harðr vann: Harðr papp25ˣ, R683ˣ    [2] réð (‘red’): so R683ˣ, reið papp25ˣ    [5] vellbrota: vellbrjóta R683ˣ    [6] flestir: ‘fle …’ papp25ˣ, R683ˣ    [8] án (‘a\o/n’): einn R683ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 515, Skj BI, 491, Skald I, 241, NN §§2796, 3115, 3237; Hl 1941, 35, 52-3.

Context: As st. 15 above.

Notes: [1-4]: The first helmingr is distorted beyond reconstruction in Rugman’s transcriptions. — [1]: The line is one syllable too short, but Rugman does not indicate that anything is missing. Kock (NN §3115) inserts the verb vann ‘gained’ in position 2, which is plausible from a metrical and syntactic point of view, and has been adopted in the present edn. It remains conjectural. Jón Helgason suggests that an initial syllable was omitted, and he conjectures a cpd sóknharðr or ógnharðr ‘battle-hard’ (Hl 1941). That suggestion must be rejected for metrical reasons (a disyllabic cpd cannot occur before the first alliterating stave). — [2] réð ‘ruled’: The line is corrupt, and it is difficult to determine whether reið ‘swung, rode’ (so papp25ˣ) or réð ‘ruled’ (so R683ˣ) represents the correct reading, but in view of ráð ok ríki ‘control and power’ in the previous line, réð appears to be the most likely reading. — [2] enginn líki ‘none to match’: Lit. ‘No match’. These words are underscored with dots in papp25ˣ, which indicates that Rugman was uncertain about the reading. The line lacks internal rhyme, but the word in the cadence rhymes with the last word in the preceding line (runhent), which does not otherwise occur in munnvǫrp. — [3]: The clause is missing a verb, and Skj B and Skald supply fekk ‘got’ in position 1. Jón Helgason (Hl 1941) maintains that fá gagn af gunni ‘get victory from the battle’ is rather awkward, but that construction occurs elsewhere in poetry (see Glúmr Gráf 2/3I hann fekk gagn af gunni). — [4]: The line contains only two words, gnóg (f. nom. sg. or n. nom./acc. pl.) ‘abundant’ and dag (m. acc. sg.) ‘day’ and it cannot be reconstructed. It is possible that gnóg could have been connected with gagn (l. 3): gnóg gagn ‘abundant victories’. Kock’s suggestions (NN §§3115, 3237) are conjectural and must be dismissed. — [5]: Earlier eds (Kock, Jón Helgason) supply the pron. þann (m. acc. sg.) ‘that’ in position 1 as a qualifier to vellbrota ‘gold-breaker’. However, Type C-lines with an adjectival pron. in anacrusis are extremely rare (see Gade 1995a, 123-8), and it would also violate the word order in an independent clause. It is more likely that the word missing in anacrusis was a connective (ok, en ‘and, but’). — [6] flestir ‘most’: The word can be reconstructed with a fair amount of certainty because of the internal rhyme. — [7]: The missing word in position 1 (or positions 1-2 if disyllabic) must carry alliteration and have a vocalic onset. Jón Helgason (Hl 1941) suggests an adj. qualifying bróður Agnars ‘Agnarr’s brother’ (æra ‘younger’ or ítran ‘splendid’). While it is likely that the word could have been an adj., the word itself cannot be reconstructed. — [7] Agnars ‘Agnarr’s’: He was Ívarr’s half-brother, as they were sons of Ragnarr by different mothers. — [8] án gǫrvallra beina ‘without complete bones’: According to legend, Ívarr had cartilage rather than bones and had to be carried because he was unable to walk (see ÍF 35, 89 n. 20). For Ívarr, see also KrákÁsl Lv 4VIII (Ragn 6) and ÍvRagn Lv 1VIII (Ragn 22).

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. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
  5. Gade, Kari Ellen. 1995a. The Structure of Old Norse dróttkvætt Poetry. Islandica 49. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
  6. ÍF 35 = Danakonunga sǫgur. Ed. Bjarni Guðnason. 1982.
  7. Hl 1941 = Jón Helgason and Anne Holtsmark, eds. 1941. Háttalykill enn forni. BA 1. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
  8. Internal references
  9. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2012, ‘Glúmr Geirason, Gráfeldardrápa 2’ 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. 249.
  10. Rory McTurk (ed.) 2017, ‘Ragnars saga loðbrókar 22 (Ívarr Ragnarsson, Lausavísa 1)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 668.
  11. Rory McTurk (ed.) 2017, ‘Ragnars saga loðbrókar 36 (Anonymous Lausavísur, Lausavísur from Ragnars saga loðbrókar 6)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 695.
  12. Rory McTurk (ed.) 2017, ‘Ragnars saga loðbrókar 6 (Kráka/Áslaug Sigurðardóttir, Lausavísur 4)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 635.
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