Sturl Hrafn 7^II

Helt inn hraðmælti
hringa viðþingaðr
leiðir lögskíðum
leygs í Suðreyjar.
Upp gaf alkeppnum
Engus herfengna
Íl fyr ítrbóla
eyði dalreyðar.

{Inn hraðmælti viðþingaðr hringa} helt {lögskíðum} leiðir leygs í Suðreyjar. Engus gaf upp herfengna Íl fyr {alkeppnum eyði {ítrbóla {dalreyðar}}}.

{The quick-spoken assembly-convener of swords} [WARRIOR] brought {the sea-skis} [SHIPS] on the paths of the ocean to the Hebrides. Angus surrendered Islay, captured in battle, on account of {the very vigorous spoiler {of the splendid lair {of the valley-char}}} [SNAKE > GOLD > GENEROUS MAN].

Mss: F(122va), 8(78r), 325X(11ra) (ll. 7-8), Flat(185va) (Hák)

Readings: [2] viðþingaðr: vígþingaðr 8, virðingu Flat    [3] lög‑: so 8, lof F, lang Flat;    ‑skíðum: so Flat, skeiðum F, 8    [4] ‑eyjar: so 8, Flat, ‑eyjum F    [7] Íl fyr ítrbóla: ‘[…]ola’ 325X

Editions: Skj AII, 121, Skj BII, 128, Skald II, 69, NN §1357; F 1871, 573, Hák 1977-82, 196, Flat 1860-8, III, 222.

Context: In August, Hákon sailed with most of his fleet to Gigha (island off the west coast of Kintyre). Men came to him and said that Murchaid and Angus, lords of Kintyre, wished to surrender to him. They gave hostages and pledged their allegiance, and Hákon placed Angus in charge of Islay.

Notes: [2] viðþingaðr ‘assembly-convener’: Hap. leg. Nomen agentis formed from þinga við ‘convene an assembly or a meeting, talk to sby’. See NN §1357. See also Sturl Hákfl 1/6. — [3] lögskíðum ‘the sea-skis [SHIPS]’: Lofskeiðum ‘commendable warships’ (so F) appears to be a lectio facilior. — [4]: Note the rhyme -eyg- : -eyj- (see ANG §251). — [4] í Suðreyjar (f. acc. pl.) ‘to the Hebrides’: So 8, Flat. Suðreyjum (f. dat. pl.; so F) is ungrammatical because the prep. requires acc. here. — [8] dalreyðar ‘of the valley-char’: Reyðr ‘char’ (Salvelinus alpinus), a fish of the salmon species (ModIcel. reyður, ModNorw røye). This cpd occurs in Anon (Sǫrl) l. 5^VIII, which is composed in Haðarlag metre as well. See also ESk Øxfl 1^III and ÞBrún Lv 4^V. Reyðr is also a whale (see Note to Steinn Óldr 11/7), but it appears that the word originally denoted ‘char’, because it was borrowed into Saami (rav’do ‘char’) from Proto Scandinavian (*rauðiō) in that sense (see Nielsen 1908, 228). In LP: reyðr 2, both ‘whale’ and ‘char’ are listed as possible meanings of the word in the present kenning, while Meissner (p. 109; so also Konráð Gíslason 1895-7, I, 96) takes it in the sense ‘char’. That interpretation is more likely, because the kenning clearly imitates such circumlocutions for ‘snake’ as attested in dalmiskunn fiska, i.e. miskunn dalfiska ‘the mercy of the valley-fish’ [SNAKE > SUMMER], Egill Lv 8/4^V. In general, if reyðr is excluded from the list, fish-names are far more common than whale-names in snake-kennings (see Meissner 112-13). See also Note to Sturl Hákfl 2/1.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. Meissner = Meissner, Rudolf. 1921. Die Kenningar der Skalden: Ein Beitrag zur skaldischen Poetik. Rheinische Beiträge und Hülfsbücher zur germanischen Philologie und Volkskunde 1. Bonn and Leipzig: Schroeder. Rpt. 1984. Hildesheim etc.: Olms.
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. 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. 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.
8. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
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. Nielsen, Konrad. 1908. ‘En gruppe urnordiske laanord i lappisk’. In Sproglige og historiske afhandlinger viede Sophus Bugges minde, 225-31. Kristiania (Oslo): Aschehoug.
12. Internal references
13. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Øxarflokkr 1’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 141.
14. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2022, ‘Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar 12 (Egill Skallagrímsson, Lausavísur 8)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 185.
15. Rory McTurk (forthcoming), ‘ Anonymous, Sǫrlastikki’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=3124> (accessed 24 April 2024)
16. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Steinn Herdísarson, Óláfsdrápa 11’ 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. 376-7.
17. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Sturla Þórðarson, Hákonarflokkr 1’ 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. 746.
18. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Sturla Þórðarson, Hákonarflokkr 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, p. 747.
19. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2022, ‘Heiðarvíga saga 8 (Þorbjǫrn Brúnason, Lausavísur 4)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 994.
20. Not published: do not cite ()