Sturl Hryn 10^II

Hæstan kyndu hirðmenn traustir
heitan eld í Danaveldi;
skæriligr gekk húsum hæri
hallar gandr á sviðnu landi.
Víða fór um búkarls búðir
birkisótt, en hræddar dróttir
— bragnar eyddu báli slegnu
brunnit land — til skógar runnu.

Traustir hirðmenn kyndu hæstan heitan eld í Danaveldi; {skæriligr gandr hallar} gekk hæri húsum á sviðnu landi. {Birkisótt} fór víða um búðir búkarls, en hræddar dróttir runnu til skógar; bragnar eyddu land brunnit slegnu báli.

The trusty retainers kindled the highest hot fire in the realm of the Danes; {the bright wolf of the hall} [FIRE] leapt higher than the houses on the scorched land. {The sickness of the birch-tree} [FIRE] went far and wide through the dwellings of the farmer, but the frightened people fled to the wood; men devastated the land burnt by the kindled fire.

Mss: F(117vb), E(189v), 81a(118rb), 8(68r) (ll. 3-8), 304ˣ(347v) (ll. 1-2), Flat(182va) (Hák)

Readings: [1] Hæstan: Hæstum E, 81a, 304ˣ;    kyndu: kenndu E;    traustir: hraustir 304ˣ    [2] eld: eldi 81a;    í: á E, 81a    [3] skæri‑: skæði‑ 81a;    hæri: hæra E, 81a    [5] búkarls: so all others, ‘bukars’ F;    búðir: búðu 8    [6] hræddar: brendar E, 81a, Flat, ‘hræddnar’ 8;    dróttir: þjóðir E    [7] bragnar: ‘braddar’ E;    eyddu: so all others, margir F;    slegnu: so all others, slegnir F

Editions: Skj AII, 105, Skj BII, 115-16, Skald II, 61; F 1871, 550, E 1916, 646, Hák 1910-86, 649, Hák 1977-82, 164, Flat 1860-8, III, 193.

Context: Sturla continues to describe the warfare in Halland and how the troops burned down the Dan. settlements all the way south to the river Ätran, driving the inhabitants away.

Notes: [2] -veldi ‘realm’: Ms. 8 resumes here. — [4] gandr (m.) ‘wolf’: The exact meaning of the word is not clear, but gandr must mean ‘wolf’ here. It can mean, among other things, ‘staff’, ‘stick’ or ‘stake’, ‘magic wand’ or ‘the ride of witches and sorcerers’ or ‘witchcraft’, ‘wolf’ or ‘horse’. See Note to Sturl Hákkv 20/5. — [6-8] en hræddar dróttir runnu til skógar; bragnar eyddu land brunnit slegnu báli ‘but the frightened people fled to the wood; men devastated the land burnt by the kindled fire’: So E, 81a, 8, Flat. There may be a trace of sympathy for the people of Halland here. Sturla himself knew the horrors of fire, his daughter Ingibjörg having narrowly escaped when the farm at Flugumýri was burned down in 1253 (Stu 1988, II, 635-42). The F variant gives the following reading: en hræddar dróttir runnu brunnit land til skógar, margir bragnar slegnir báli ‘but the frightened people fled over the burnt land to the wood, many men struck by fire’. That reading is also possible, but not warranted by the other ms. witnesses.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. Stu 1988 = Örnólfur Thorsson and Bergljót Kristjánsdóttir, eds. 1988. Sturlunga saga. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Svart á hvítu.
4. 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.
5. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
6. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. Internal references
10. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Sturla Þórðarson, Hákonarkviða 20’ 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. 714.