Stúfr Stúfdr 5^II

Autt varð Falstr at fréttum;
fekk drótt mikinn ótta;
gœddr vas hrafn, en hræddir
hvert ár Danir vôru.

Falstr varð autt at fréttum; drótt fekk mikinn ótta; hrafn vas gœddr, en Danir vôru hræddir hvert ár.

Falster was laid waste, according to reports; people were overcome with great fear; the raven was fattened, and the Danes were frightened every year.

Mss: Mork(9r) (Mork); Flat(197vb) (Flat); H(44v), Hr(32ra) (H-Hr); FskBˣ(70r-v), FskAˣ(263) (Fsk); Kˣ(542r), 39(23va), F(45vb), E(16r), J2ˣ(270r) (Hkr)

Readings: [1] Autt: Eytt Flat;    varð: var Flat, FskAˣ;    Falstr: ‘falar’ Flat, flaustr Hr    [3] gœddr vas: bræðisk Flat;    gœddr: gladdr H, FskAˣ, glaðr Hr, FskBˣ;    vas (‘var’): varð H, Hr, FskAˣ, F, E    [4] Danir: bœndr FskBˣ, FskAˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 405, Skj BI, 374, Skald I, 186, NN §881; Mork 1867, 54, Mork 1928-32, 160, Andersson and Gade 2000, 197-8, 476 (MH); Flat III, 338 (MH); Fms 6, 255 (HSig ch. 49); ÍF 29, 253 (ch. 55); ÍF 28, 112 (HSig ch. 33), F 1871, 212, E 1916, 55.

Context: After the death of his nephew, Magnús Óláfsson, in 1047, Haraldr became sole ruler of Norway, and he harried in Denmark every summer in his ongoing warfare against Sveinn Úlfsson of Denmark.

Notes: [1] at fréttum ‘according to reports’: Skj B connects this prepositional phrase with the next cl.: drótt fekk mikinn ótta at fréttum (translated as ved efterretningen blev folk meget forskrækkede ‘at the news people became very frightened’). That interpretation creates an awkward syntax (see NN §881). Stúfr was blind or of weak eyesight, and he must have relied on eyewitness accounts of the events in Haraldr’s life that he commemorated in his drápa. — [3] gœddr ‘fattened’: Gladdr ‘pleased’ (so H, FskAˣ) is metrically and syntactically possible, but the other ms. witnesses show that it is a lectio facilior. — [4] Danir ‘the Danes’: Bœndr (i.e. búendr) ‘the farmers’ (so FskBˣ, FskAˣ) is metrically correct, but clearly secondary.

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. Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
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. Andersson, Theodore M. and Kari Ellen Gade, trans. 2000. Morkinskinna: The Earliest Icelandic Chronicle of the Norwegian Kings (1030-1157). Islandica 51. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.
7. Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
8. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
9. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
10. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
11. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
12. Mork 1867 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1867. Morkinskinna: Pergamentsbog fra første halvdel af det trettende aarhundrede. Indeholdende en af de ældste optegnelser af norske kongesagaer. Oslo: Bentzen.
13. Internal references
14. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Flateyjarbók’ 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=44> (accessed 26 April 2024)
15. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Haralds saga Sigurðssonar’ 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=142> (accessed 26 April 2024)
16. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Magnúss saga góða ok Haralds harðráða’ 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=147> (accessed 26 April 2024)