Sturl Hákkv 37^II

Svá var Elfr
öll at líta
glæsilig,
sem á gull sæi
frægðarfólk,
er flota þeysti
lofsæll konungr
Ljóðhúsa til.

Öll Elfr var svá glæsilig at líta, sem frægðarfólk sæi á gull, er lofsæll konungr þeysti flota til Ljóðhúsa.

The entire Götaälv was so glorious to see, as if the famous people were looking at gold, when the praise-blessed king hastened his fleet to Lödöse.

Mss: E(185v), F(115va-b), 42ˣ(176v), 81a(115va), 8(64v), Flat(181rb) (Hák)

Readings: [1] Elfr: elf 8    [5] ‑fólk: om. 81a, fólki Flat    [6] þeysti: leysti 81a

Editions: Skj AII, 119, Skj BII, 126, Skald II, 68, NN §2290; E 1916, 632, F 1871, 539, Hák 1910-86, 619, Hák 1977-82, 151, Flat 1860-8, III, 180.

Context: When Hákon arrived in the Götaälv, both King Eiríkr and Jarl Birgir had left because of rumours about Hákon’s large fleet. Hákon’s messengers rode after the jarl and caught up with him in Götaland. Birgir agreed to return to the Götaälv, and he was to wait for Hákon in Lödöse.

Notes: [5] frægðarfólk ‘the famous people’: Taken here as the subject of sæi (3rd pers. pl. pret. subj.) ‘were looking, looked’ (l. 4) referring to high-ranking Gautar observing Hákon’s fleet (E 1916, 632): mikils þotti Gꜹtum um vert er þeir sá sua maurg skip ok stór ok uel buin ‘it seemed a great marvel to the Gautar when they saw so many large and well-equipped ships’. Skj B and Skald assume sæi to have an unexpressed subject, ‘as if [one] looked’ and regard frægðarfólk as the subject of þeysti ‘hastened’ (l. 6) and both eds accordingly emend lofsæll konungr (m. nom. sg.) ‘praise-blessed king’ (l. 7) (so all mss) to lofsæls konungs (m. gen. sg.) as a qualifier to frægðarfólk (‘the famous people of the praise-blessed king’). — [6]: The l. echoes Eyv Hál 11/6^I. — [7] lofsæll konungr ‘the praise-blessed king’: The l. is in fornyrðislag rather than kviðuháttr and Kock (NN §2290) suggests that Sturla used the monosyllabic form kóngr (Skald: kóngs). However, that is a C14th form. — [8] til Ljóðhúsa ‘to Lödöse’: On the Götaälv, north of Kungälv. In the C13th, Lödöse was the meeting place of the monarchs of Norway, Sweden and Denmark.

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. 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. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. Internal references
11. Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson, Háleygjatal 11’ 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. 210.