Sturl Hryn 11^II

Gneistum hratt fyrir Elfi austan
elris garmr í ráfit varma;
síðan fellu hávar hallir
hrygðarstund í Dana bygðum.
Innin tóku öll at brenna
(ógnarstríðr) á Hallandssíðu
(ýta rann um stórlig stræti
storðar úlfr fyrir Glaumstein norðan).

{Garmr elris} hratt gneistum í ráfit varma fyrir austan Elfi; síðan fellu hávar hallir hrygðarstund í bygðum Dana. Öll innin tóku at brenna á Hallandssíðu; {ógnarstríðr úlfr storðar} rann um stórlig stræti ýta fyrir norðan Glaumstein.

{The hound of the alder-tree} [FIRE] threw sparks at the warm roof east of the Götaälv; then the high halls fell down at that sorrowful time in the Danes’ settlements. All the houses began to burn on the coast of Halland; {the battle-harsh wolf of the land} [FIRE] ran through the great streets of men north of Glaumsteinn.

Mss: F(117vb-118ra), E(189v) (ll. 1-4), 81a(118va), 8(68r), Flat(182vb) (Hák)

Readings: [1] austan: austa Flat    [2] ráfit: ræfrit E, 8, Flat, rétt svá 81a    [4] í: á 81a    [5] Innin: inni all others    [6] ‑stríðr: so 8, stríð F, 81a, Flat    [8] fyrir: við 81a;    Glaum‑: so 81a, 8, glym‑ F, Flat

Editions: Skj AII, 105, Skj BII, 116, Skald II, 61, NN §1351; F 1871, 550, E 1916, 647, Hák 1910-86, 650, Hák 1977-82, 165, Flat 1860-8, III, 193.

Context: The night after the burning, the fleet got caught in a storm and some of the ships drifted off. The Danes took the opportunity to attack and kill some of Hákon’s men, and set the ships that drifted ashore on fire. The Norwegians managed to save some of the ships before heading off again to Årnäs (Aranes), where they burned the Dan. settlement.

Notes: [All]: Sturla seems to have been particularly fascinated with fire. He creates a similar, but more elaborate nýgerving ‘extension of meaning’, i.e. giving a new meaning to words (see SnE 1999, 131) in Sturl Hákkv 7-8, where fire is shown as a vicious dog set free by Hákon, devouring everything in its path. — [2] garmr elris ‘the hound of the alder-tree [FIRE]’: See Sturl Hákkv 7/7. — [2] ráfit (n. sg.) ‘the roof’: E, 8 and Flat have the later form of the word, ræfrit. — [5-8]: Finnur Jónsson and Kock did not agree on the interpretation of this helmingr. Skj B construes stórlig ‘great’(l. 7) with innin (inni) ‘houses’ (l. 5) and gives the following reading: ǫll stórlig inni fyr norðan Glymstein tóku at brenna ‘all great houses north of Glymsteinn began to burn’. The present edn agrees with Kock’s (NN §1351) and Konráð Gíslason’s (1895-7, I, 75) interpretations, except that Konráð places stórlig stræti ýta ‘great streets of men’ (l. 7) more precisely á Hallandssíðu fyr norðan Glymstein ‘on the coast of Halland north of Glymsteinn’ (ll. 6, 7, 8). — [8] Glaumstein ‘Glaumsteinn’: This p. n. has not been identified.

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. SnE 1999 = Snorri Sturluson. 1999. Edda: Háttatal. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. Rpt. with addenda and corrigenda. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
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. 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.
11. Internal references
12. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Sturla Þórðarson, Hákonarkviða 7’ 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. 704-5.