SnSt Ht 63^III

Stála kendi støkkvilundum
styrjar valdi rauðu falda;
— rekkar stýrðu rétt til jarðar
roðnu barði — austan fjarðar.
Oddum rendi eljunstrandir
ýta ferðar hringa skerðir;
hilmir stœrði hvǫssu sverði
heila grundar meginundir.

{Valdi styrjar} kendi {støkkvilundum stála} falda rauðu austan fjarðar; rekkar stýrðu roðnu barði rétt til jarðar. {Skerðir hringa} rendi {eljunstrandir} ferðar ýta oddum; hilmir stœrði meginundir {grundar heila} hvǫssu sverði.

{The ruler of battle} [WARRIOR = Skúli] taught {impelling trees of swords} [WARRIORS] to hood themselves in red east of the fjord; warriors steered the reddened prow straight to the shore. {The notcher of rings} [GENEROUS MAN] ran {the energy-shores} [CHESTS] of the troop of men through with sword-points; the leader increased mighty wounds {of the ground of the brain} [HEAD] with the sharp sword.

Mss: R(50v), W(148) (SnE); E(150r), F(92rb), 42ˣ(105v), 81a(78rb), 8(42v), Flat(168va) (Hák)

Readings: [1] kendi: so all others, kend R;    ‑lundum: lundu 81a    [2] valdi: valdr E, F, 42ˣ, 81a, Flat;    rauðu: rauðu at W, F    [5] eljun‑: elju 81a;    ‑strandir: straddir E, standir 42ˣ, strandi 81a    [6] ýta: útan 81a;    hringa: hingat 42ˣ    [7] stœrði: stœrðir 42ˣ, stýrði 81a, ‘sterdi’ 8

Editions: Skj AII, 69, Skj BII, 78, Skald II, 43, NN §1320; SnE 1848-87, I, 676-9, III, 127, SnE 1879-81, I, 11, 81, II, 24, SnE 1931, 242, SnE 2007, 27; Konráð Gíslason 1895-7, I, 39-40; E 1916, 509, F 1871, 427, Hák 1910-86, 364, Hák 1977-82, 45, Flat 1860-8, III, 46.

Context: This hrynhent variant is called trollsháttr ‘troll’s verse-form’. In all lines, the first internal rhyme falls in position 3, which causes a trochaic rhythm (see draugsháttr ‘ghost’s verse-form’, st. 30 above). The stanza is cited in Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar (Hák) to document events that took place in 1221, when Skúli fought a battle against one of the Ribbung chieftains, Gunnarr Ásuson, in Bohuslän (now Sweden), east of Oslofjorden. Gunnarr and ninety of his men fell in that battle.

Notes: [All]: In Hák the stanza is attributed to Snorri Sturluson (81a has ‘Sverri Sturluson’), and in 81a, 8 and Flat it is assigned to Ht. — [All]: For this metre, see also RvHbreiðm Hl 73-4. — [1] kendi ‘taught’: In R ‘kend’ has been altered to ‘kendi’ (R*). — [2] falda rauðu ‘to hood themselves in red’: I.e. ‘die’. Cf. Sturl Hákkv 21/1^II. — [4] austan fjarðar ‘east of the fjord’: I.e. east of Oslofjorden. According to Hák, this battle took place near the farmstead Apelsäter (ON Apaldrssetr) in Tanum parish, Bohuslän.

References

1. Bibliography
2. 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.
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. Flat 1860-8 = Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and C. R. Unger, eds. 1860-8. Flateyjarbók. En samling af norske konge-sagaer med indskudte mindre fortællinger om begivenheder i og udenfor Norge samt annaler. 3 vols. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
6. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
7. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
8. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
9. Hák 1977-82 = Mundt, Marina, ed. 1977. Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar etter Sth. 8 fol., AM 325VIII, 4° og AM 304, 4°. Oslo: Forlagsentralen. Suppl. by James E. Knirk, Rettelser til Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar etter Sth. 8 fol., AM 325VIII, 4° og AM 304, 4°. Norrøne tekster 2. Oslo: Norsk historisk kjeldeskrift-institutt, 1982.
10. Konráð Gíslason. 1895-7. Efterladte skrifter. 2 vols. I: Forelæsninger over oldnordiske skjaldekvad. II: Forelæsninger og videnskablige afhandlinger. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
11. Hák 1910-86 = Kjær, Albert and Ludvig Holm-Olsen, eds. 1910-86. Det Arnamagnæanske haandskrift 81a fol. (Skálholtsbók yngsta) indeholdende Sverris saga, Bǫglungasǫgur, Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar. Oslo: Den norske historiske kildeskriftkommission and Kjeldeskriftfondet.
12. SnE 2007 = Snorri Sturluson. 2007. Edda: Háttatal. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
13. SnE 1879-81 = Möbius, Theodor, ed. 1879-81. Hattatal Snorra Sturlusonar. 2 vols. Halle an de Saale: Verlag der Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses.
14. Internal references
15. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar’ 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. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=33> (accessed 24 April 2024)
16. (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 24 April 2024)
18. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Rǫgnvaldr jarl and Hallr Þórarinsson, Háttalykill 73’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1082.
19. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Sturla Þórðarson, Hákonarkviða 21’ 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. 715.