Sturl Hryn 12^II

Hrinda lét út herskips bröndum
hilmir frægr á saltan ægi;
eldi hrauð fyrir æsiköldum
unnar meið ór dregnum hlunni.
Almenningr varð út at sinna,
ógnar lundr, á þinni grundu;
mildir höfðu herboð höldar
harða sveld af Nóregsveldi.

Frægr hilmir lét hrinda bröndum herskips út á saltan ægi; eldi hrauð ór dregnum hlunni fyrir {æsiköldum meið unnar}. Almenningr á grundu þinni varð at sinna út, {lundr ógnar}; mildir höldar höfðu harða sveld herboð af Nóregsveldi.

The famous king had the prows of warships propelled out onto the salty sea; fire poured from the worn slipway before {the terribly cold tree of the wave} [SHIP]. All people in your land had to set out, {tree of battle} [WARRIOR]; the generous men had a very large conscripted army from the kingdom of Norway.

Mss: F(118rb), E(190v), 81a(119ra), 8(69r), Flat(183ra) (Hák)

Readings: [1] lét út: réð úr E, réðu 81a, réð út 8, ‘reedtu’ Flat    [3] hrauð: rauð all others;    fyrir: á 81a;    æsi‑: ægi‑ 81a    [4] meið: meiðr 81a;    hlunni: hlunnum 81a    [5] sinna: ganga 81a    [7] her‑: so all others, út‑ F    [8] harða: hardla Flat;    sveld: sveldr 81a, Flat;    af: ór E, 8, Flat, om. 81a

Editions: Skj AII, 105, Skj BII, 116, Skald II, 61, NN §§1106, 1914D; F 1871, 553, E 1916, 650, Hák 1910-86, 656, Hák 1977-82, 172, Flat 1860-8, III, 196.

Context: In 1256 King Hákon called up yet another fleet to sail to Denmark. This was the largest fleet he had ever sent there, 300 ships. 

Notes: [1] lét ... út ‘had ... out’: This edn follows Konráð Gíslason (1895-7, I, 76) in choosing the reading of F, but Finnur Jónsson and Kock (Skj B; Skald) adjust the reading of Flat and 8 to réðuð (2nd pers. pl. pret. indic.) as an auxiliary with the inf. hrinda ‘propel’. According to that interpretation, frægr hilmir ‘famous king’ (l. 2) is a form of address. — [3] æsiköldum ‘terribly cold’: This is an example of a clever wordplay, in which the ‘terribly cold’ stem of the ship forms a sharp contrast with the fiery-hot slipway, bringing to mind the icy waves of the northern seas. — [4] dregnum hlunni ‘worn slipway’: Ships were launched out to sea on a wooden slipway and were pulled up the same way to be stored on land for the winter. The weight of the ships as they were being pulled on the slipway wore down the wooden planks and the rubbing generated heat, causing sparks to fly from under the ships, according to LP: draga 11. That interpretation is partly supported by ONP: draga 26 præt. part.: dreginn ‘weakened, worn out’. By using the p. p. dreginn Sturla plays with the two meanings, ‘pulled’ and ‘worn’. Kock rejected the latter interpretation. He construed the couplet as eldi hrauð fyr æsiköldum meið unnar dregnum ór hlunnum ‘fire poured from the terribly cold tree of the wave dragged from the slipway’ (NN §§1106, 1914D). — [5] almenningr ‘all people’: It is hard to determine whether almenningr means ‘general levy’ or simply ‘people’. Both meanings are possible (see CVC: almenning 3, 4; Fritzner: almenningr 3, 4; ONP: almenningr 4, 5). LP translates almenningr as det samlede udbud (til leding), den samlede krigerskare ‘the general conscription (for the levy), the gathered army’. Jesch (2001a, 196) pointed out that the term almenningr is used in the later Norw. laws for the general levy that the king could call up if needed. Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) chose the more general meaning alle mand ‘all people’ and this edn follows his interpretation. — [7] herboð ‘conscripted army’: So E, 81a, 8, Flat. This reading gives alliteration in three words in the same l. (höfðu : herboð : höldar), but that is not unusual in hrynhent. Konráð Gíslason (1895-7, I, 76) adopted the reading of F, útboð ‘levy’, avoiding the extra alliteration, but the other ms. witnesses show that this is a secondary variant. — [8] sveld ‘large’: This is the p. p. n. nom. sg. of the weak causative verb svella ‘make swell’. Finnur Jónsson says (LP: 2. svella): med hensyn til den strænge befaling om meget mandskab der skulde samles ‘in consideration of the strict order about a large number of men that should be gathered’. The herboð ‘conscripted army’ (l. 7) swelled in numbers, as men all over the Norw. kingdom received orders to join King Hákon on his expedition to 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. 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. CVC = Cleasby, Richard, Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and W. A. Craigie. 1957. An Icelandic-English Dictionary. 2nd edn. Oxford: Clarendon.
7. Jesch, Judith. 2001a. Ships and Men in the Late Viking Age: The Vocabulary of Runic Inscriptions and Skaldic Verse. Woodbridge: Boydell.
8. 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.
9. Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
10. ONP = Degnbol, Helle et al., eds. 1989-. A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose / Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog. 1-. Copenhagen: The Arnamagnæan Commission.
11. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
12. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
13. 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.
14. Konráð Gíslason. 1895-7. Efterladte skrifter. 2 vols. I: Forelæsninger over oldnordiske skjaldekvad. II: Forelæsninger og videnskablige afhandlinger. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
15. 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.