SnSt Ht 93^III

Þengill lætr hǫpp hrest;
honum fylgir dáð mest;
vísi gefr vel flest
verbál ólest.
Húfar brutu haf ljótt;
heim létk jǫfur sótt;
yngva lofar ǫll drótt;
jarls sák frama gnótt.

Þengill lætr hǫpp hrest; mest dáð fylgir honum; vísi gefr {vel flest verbál} ólest. Húfar brutu ljótt haf; létk jǫfur sótt heim; ǫll drótt lofar yngva; sák gnótt frama jarls.

The lord makes successes flourish; the greatest achievement accompanies him; the leader gives {nearly every sea-pyre} [PIECE OF GOLD] undamaged. Hulls broke the hideous ocean; I visited the prince at his home; the entire court praises the ruler; I saw the abundance of the jarl’s glory.

Mss: R(52v) (SnE)

Readings: [1] hǫpp: ‘havp’ R    [6] létk: leit ek R    [7] lofar: lofa R    [8] jarls: jarl R;    sák: sá er R

Editions: Skj AII, 75, Skj BII, 86, Skald II, 47; SnE 1848-87, I, 708-11, III, 133-4, SnE 1879-81, I, 15, 84, II, 33, SnE 1931, 250, SnE 2007, 37; Konráð Gíslason 1895-7, I, 62-3.

Context: This is another variant called in minni runhenda (‘the lesser end-rhyme’), and the identical end-rhymes are confined to each helmingr. According to the commentary, it is a catalectic version of st. 92, and it is based on náhent ‘close-rhymed’ (st. 75) and hálfhnept ‘half-curtailed’ (st. 77). Whereas the odd lines can be construed as either náhent or hálfhnept, l. 4 is alhnept ‘completely curtailed’ (st. 78), and none of the remaining even lines corresponds structurally to the even lines given as examples of even náhent and hálfhnept lines. It could be that Snorri here compared ll. 2, 6 and 8 to odd náhent and hálfhnept lines, as defined by the fillers of the last two metrical positions (a monosyllable followed by a monosyllable in náhent and hálfhnept, and a short-stemmed disyllabic word followed by a monosyllable in hálfhnept). The metre is not attested elsewhere.

Notes: [1] hǫpp ‘successes’: Altered to ‘havpp’ in R (R*). — [4]: Skj B and Skald insert ok and read verbál ok ólest ‘sea-pyre and undamaged’ to restore a pentasyllabic line. However, that emendation makes the line unmetrical. — [5-8]: The visit referred to in this half-stanza must be Snorri’s previous stay at the Norwegian court (1218-20). — [6] létk jǫfur sótt heim ‘I visited the prince at his home’: Lit. ‘I let the prince be visited at his home’. In constructions with láta ‘let’ plus p. p., the participle usually agrees with the object in case, number and gender; hence we ought to have expected sóttan m. acc. sg. ‘visited’ agreeing with jǫfur m. acc. sg. ‘prince’. There are, however, instances in which the p. p. appears in n. sg. as here (cf. LP: 1. láta). — [6] létk: Lit. ‘I let’. The reading of R, leit ek ‘I saw’, makes little sense in the context, and the emendation is in keeping with earlier eds. — [7] lofar (3rd pers. sg. pres. indic.) ‘praises’: The reading in R, lofa (3rd pers. pl. pres. indic.), is ungrammatical since the subject is in the sg., and it has been altered to lofar (R*). — [8] jarls ‘of the jarl’s’: The R reading, jarl (m. nom. or acc. sg.), does not fit the syntax and has been altered to jarls (R*). — [8] sák ‘I saw’: The emendation and normalisation of ‘sa er’ ‘who’ to sák (sá ek) is necessary from a syntactical point of view and follows earlier eds.

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. 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.
6. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
7. Konráð Gíslason. 1895-7. Efterladte skrifter. 2 vols. I: Forelæsninger over oldnordiske skjaldekvad. II: Forelæsninger og videnskablige afhandlinger. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
8. SnE 2007 = Snorri Sturluson. 2007. Edda: Háttatal. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
9. SnE 1879-81 = Möbius, Theodor, ed. 1879-81. Hattatal Snorra Sturlusonar. 2 vols. Halle an de Saale: Verlag der Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses.