Sturl Hryn 15^II

Digla eldr var sénn í segli,
sviptilundr, á dýrðar skriptum
— rísa tóku roðnir hausar —
Rínar logs, yfir dreka þínum.
Unnar (þóttu eisur brenna
Ullar fars af slegnu gulli)
fasti rauð yfir flota glæstum
flesta rönd (á skeiðabröndum).

{Eldr digla} var sénn á skriptum dýrðar í segli yfir dreka þínum, {sviptilundr {logs Rínar}}; roðnir hausar tóku rísa. {Fasti unnar} rauð flesta rönd yfir glæstum flota; eisur þóttu brenna af slegnu gulli {fars Ullar} á skeiðabröndum.

{The fire of crucibles} [GOLD] was seen on the figures of glory on the sail over your dragon-headed warship, {flinging-tree {of the flame of the Rhine <river>}} [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN]; the reddened heads began to rise. {The fire of the wave} [GOLD] reddened most of the shields above the adorned fleet; cinders seemed to burn from the hammered gold {of the ship of Ullr <god>} [SHIELD] on the warships’ prows.

Mss: F(118va-b), E(191r), 81a(119rb-va), 8(70r), 325X(10rb), Flat(183ra) (Hák)

Readings: [2] skriptum: skiptum E    [3] rísa: ‘tisar’ E    [4] logs: loks 8;    yfir: á 81a;    dreka: drekanum Flat    [5] þóttu: þótti Flat    [7] yfir: með 81a, af 325X;    flota: floti 81a    [8] á: af 325X;    skeiða‑: skeiðar 81a, 8, Flat

Editions: Skj AII, 106, Skj BII, 116-17, Skald II, 62, NN §3149; F 1871, 554, E 1916, 651, Hák 1910-86, 660, Hák 1977-82, 174, Flat 1860-8, III, 198.

Context: Sturla focuses on King Hákon’s fleet in the next three sts, sts 15-17, marvelling at the gold-adorned ships with decorated sails. This st. describes the fleet as it sailed from Tønsberg south to Öckerö (Ekreyjar) in 1257.

Notes: [2, 4] sviptilundr logs Rínar ‘flinging-tree of the flame of the Rhine <river> [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN]’: Both parts of the cpd, sviptir ‘flinger, swift mover’ (nomen agentis) and lundr ‘tree’ could serve as base-words in this kenning. For a discussion of such kennings with verbal first elements, see Kuhn 1990. — [6] fars Ullar ‘of the ship of Ullr <god> [SHIELD]’: For kennings of this type, see Notes to ÞjóðA Frag 3/2 and Sturl Hákkv 20/2-3. — [8] rönd (f. acc. sg.) ‘the shields’: Rönd lit. means ‘rim’ but is often used as pars pro toto for ‘shield’ or ‘shields’, as it is here. — [8] á skeiðabröndum ‘on the warships’ prows’: Kock construed the prepositional phrase with the first cl. (NN §3149), which is also possible.

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. 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. Kuhn, Hans (1927). 1990. ‘Verbale Kenningerweiterungen’. In Pàroli 1990, 131-45.
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. 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.
12. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Þjóðólfr Arnórsson, Fragments 3’ 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. 161-2.