Cookies on our website

We use cookies on this website, mainly to provide a secure browsing experience but also to collect statistics on how the website is used. You can find out more about the cookies we set, the information we store and how we use it on the cookies page.

Continue

skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

Menu Search

SnSt Ht 38III

Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 38’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1147.

Snorri SturlusonHáttatal
373839

Farar snarar fylkir byrjar;
freka breka lemr á snekkjum;
vaka taka vísa rekkar;
viðar skriðar at þat biðja.
Svipa skipa sýjur hepnar
sǫmum þrǫmum í byr rǫmmum;
Haka skaka hrannir blǫkkum
hliðar; miðar und kjǫl niðri.

Fylkir byrjar snarar farar; lemr freka breka á snekkjum; rekkar vísa taka vaka; biðja skriðar viðar at þat. Hepnar sýjur skipa, sǫmum þrǫmum, svipa í rǫmmum byr; hrannir skaka hliðar {blǫkkum Haka}; miðar niðri und kjǫl.

The leader embarks on swift journeys; greedy breakers are knocked against the warships; the ruler’s warriors begin to keep watch; they ask for speed for the ship after that. The lucky rivetings of the ships, with suitable edges, speed on in the strong wind; waves shake the sides {of Haki’s <sea-king’s> horses} [SHIPS]; there is motion down below the keel.

Mss: R(53r), W(146-147), U(53r) (SnE)

Readings: [1] Farar snarar: so W, U, snarar farar arar snarar R    [3] rekkar: so W, U, added at the end of the stanza R    [4] viðar: so W, U, added at the end of the stanza R    [5] sýjur: so W, U, ‘sygior’ R    [6] þrǫmum: frǫmum U    [7] Haka: so W, U, ‘hvaka’ R

Editions: Skj AII, 62-3, Skj BII, 71, Skald II, 40, NN §§1312, 1313, 2992B; SnE 1848-87, I, 650-1, II, 389, III, 120, SnE 1879-81, I, 6, 78, II, 17, SnE 1931, 232, SnE 2007, 19; Konráð Gíslason 1895-7, I, 24.

Context: The dróttkvætt variant is characterised by the same features as st. 37 above, except that the first two hendingar in each line fall on two short resolved syllables (metrical positions 1 and 2). The resolution on the second of these syllables is illicit in regular dróttkvætt metre.

Notes: [All]: This variant is attested only here. — [All]: In R, the stanza is recorded at the end of Ht, before Jómsvíkingadrápa (Bjbp JómsI), and it is written in the same hand as Ht. In W it is given after st. 54 below, and it is said to be in a metre invented by Veili (for Veili, see Note to st. 35 [All]). In U it is recorded after st. 37 as here (it is omitted in ). — [1] farar snarar ‘swift journeys’: So W, U. Ms. R reads snarar farar arar snarar ‘swift journeys swift eagles’ and arar snarar has been crossed through (R*). An inversion sign has been added by R* to indicate that the order of the first two words should be reversed. — [2] lemr ‘are knocked’: Lit. ‘knocks’. The verb is used impersonally with freka breka ‘greedy breakers’ as the object (acc.). — [3, 4] rekkar; viðar ‘warriors; for the ship’: The words were originally omitted in R, but a cross has been added after vísa ‘the ruler’s’ (l. 3). At the end of the stanza ‘reckar’ and ‘viþar’ was added following a similar cross (in the same hand as R?). — [4] viðar (m. gen. sg.) ‘for the ship’: Lit. ‘for the timber’. Taken here as pars pro toto for ‘ship’. — [5] svipa ‘speed on’: For this verb, see Anon (Hsona) 2/3II. — [5] sýjur ‘rivetings’: So W, U. Written as ‘sygior’ in R, but <g> has been erased (R*); however, part of the letter form is still visible. — [6] sǫmum þrǫmum (m. dat. pl.) ‘with suitable edges’: The noun phrase can either be instr. (so NN §1312 and the present edn), in which case svipar ‘speeds on’ is intransitive (as in Anon (Hsona) 2/3II), or it could be construed as the object (dat.) of svipar ‘speeds, swings, flexes’ (so Konráð Gíslason 1895-7 and Skj B; SnE 2007, 154: svipa gives both options). — [6] rǫmmum ‘the strong’: This adj. has two variant forms, with or without a geminate (ramr and rammr, see ANG §318.10 and Note to Ív Sig 17/4II), and the long form of the word is required by the metre. — [7] Haka ‘of Haki’s <sea-king’s>’: So W, U. In R ‘hvaka’ has been altered to ‘haka’ (R*).

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 1848-87 = Snorri Sturluson. 1848-87. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar: Edda Snorronis Sturlaei. Ed. Jón Sigurðsson et al. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Legatum Arnamagnaeanum. Rpt. Osnabrück: Zeller, 1966.
  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. 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.
  7. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
  8. Konráð Gíslason. 1895-7. Efterladte skrifter. 2 vols. I: Forelæsninger over oldnordiske skjaldekvad. II: Forelæsninger og videnskablige afhandlinger. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
  9. SnE 2007 = Snorri Sturluson. 2007. Edda: Háttatal. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
  10. SnE 1879-81 = Möbius, Theodor, ed. 1879-81. Hattatal Snorra Sturlusonar. 2 vols. Halle an de Saale: Verlag der Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses.
  11. Internal references
  12. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, 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. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=165> (accessed 28 March 2024)
  13. Emily Lethbridge 2012, ‘ Bjarni byskup Kolbeinsson, Jómsvíkingadrápa’ 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. 954. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1122> (accessed 28 March 2024)
  14. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Ívarr Ingimundarson, Sigurðarbálkr 17’ 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, p. 512.
  15. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Anonymous Lausavísur, Lausavísur from Haraldssona saga 2’ 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. 836-7.
Close

Log in

This service is only available to members of the relevant projects, and to purchasers of the skaldic volumes published by Brepols.
This service uses cookies. By logging in you agree to the use of cookies on your browser.

Close

Stanza/chapter/text segment

Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.

Information tab

Interactive tab

The text and translation are given here, with buttons to toggle whether the text is shown in the verse order or prose word order. Clicking on indiviudal words gives dictionary links, variant readings, kennings and notes, where relevant.

Full text tab

This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.

Chapter/text segment

This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.