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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Sturl Hryn 20II

Valgerður Erna Þorvaldsdóttir (ed.) 2009, ‘Sturla Þórðarson, Hrynhenda 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. 697.

Sturla ÞórðarsonHrynhenda
192021

Norðr líkar þér alt at auka
yðvart vald um heiminn kalda,
— gegnir munu því fyrðar fagna —
fjörnis álfr, und leiðarstjörnu.
Þengill hefr þar annarr engi,
allvaldr, en þú ríki haldit;
lengra reiða þjóðir þangat
þína dýrð, en röðull skíni.

Þér líkar at auka vald yðvart, {álfr fjörnis}, um heiminn kalda, alt norðr und leiðarstjörnu; gegnir fyrðar munu fagna því. Engi annarr þengill en þú, allvaldr, hefr haldit ríki þar; þjóðir reiða dýrð þína þangat lengra, en röðull skíni.

It pleases you to increase your power, {elf of the helmet} [WARRIOR], around the cold world, all the way north under the North Star; reliable men will welcome that. No other prince but you, mighty ruler, has held power there; people will spread your glory in that direction further than the sun shines.

Mss: F(121ra), 8(75v), Flat(184vb) (Hák)

Readings: [1] alt: all 8    [7] reiða: reiða þó 8, telja Flat

Editions: Skj AII, 108, Skj BII, 118, Skald II, 63; F 1871, 567, Hák 1977-82, 189, Flat 1860-8, III, 214.

Context: The praise reaches its climax in the last two sts by describing the extent of Hákon’s domain. King Hákon added Greenland and Iceland to his kingdom in the 1260s, expanding the Norw. state even further to the north-west.

Notes: [2] um heiminn kalda ‘around the cold world’: Greenland became a Norw. dominion in the early 1260s and Iceland in 1262. The ‘cold world’ probably refers to Greenland rather than to Iceland, and is meant to show how far and wide Hákon’s kingdom stretched. — [4] und leiðarstjörnu ‘under the North Star’: Hermann Pálsson (1988, 72) thought this phrase showed Sturla’s interest in geography and astrology, and that he knew that Greenland stretched far to the north. — [7] reiða ‘spread’: The verb is used in the meaning ‘spread’ or ‘talk about’: ‘people will talk about your glory’.

References

  1. Bibliography
  2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
  3. 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.
  4. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
  5. 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.
  6. Hermann Pálsson. 1988. ‘Kveðskapur Sturlu Þórðarsonar’. In Guðrún Ása Grímsdóttir et al. 1988, 61-85.
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