Sturl Hryn 3^II

Öldum segik, hvé ófrið gulduð,
unnviggs skipuðr, Dönum sunnan;
víða settu þínar þjóðir
þunnar skeiðr af fýrihlunnum.
Stórir höfðu útboð ærin
yðrir þegnar rán at hegna
(ýtum þóttit leiðangr lítill)
langa stund (fyrir víðri grundu).

Segik öldum, hvé gulduð Dönum ófrið sunnan, {skipuðr {unnviggs}}; þjóðir þínar settu víða þunnar skeiðr af fýrihlunnum. Stórir þegnar yðrir höfðu ærin útboð at hegna rán langa stund; ýtum þóttit leiðangr lítill fyrir víðri grundu.

I tell men how you repaid the Danes for hostility from the south, {commander {of the wave-steed}} [SHIP > KING]; your troops launched far and wide slender warships from the fir-rollers. Your mighty liegemen had ample conscription to punish plundering for a long time; men did not consider the fleet to be small off the wide land.

Mss: F(116vb), E(187v), 81a(117ra), 8(66v), Flat(182ra) (Hák)

Readings: [1] segik: ‘seg eg’ Flat;    gulduð: guldu 81a    [2] unnviggs: ‘unduígs’ E, unnviggjat Flat;    skipuðr: skipuðu Flat    [3] víða: viðu E;    settu: leitu 81a;    þínar: þína E    [4] fýri‑: nýjum Flat    [5] Stórir: stærri 81a;    útboð: boð 81a;    ærin: ærir E, 8, en bærri 81a, ærit Flat    [6] þegnar: þegnir Flat;    rán at hegna: rána hegnar E, rána hegnir 8, Flat    [7] þóttit: þótti E, þótti eigi 81a, þótti ei Flat    [8] víðri: ‘uiðris’ 8

Editions: Skj AII, 102-3, Skj BII, 114, Skald II, 60; F 1871, 545, E 1916, 639-40, Hák 1910-86, 635, Hák 1977-82, 157, Flat 1860-8, III, 187.

Context: In 1253, King Hákon summoned a large fleet and prepared to set sail for Denmark. The inhabitants of Halland were terrified when the news of the Norw. fleet reached Denmark. Stanzas 3-4 describe the launching of the fleet, the sailing to Halland and the reaction of the inhabitants.

Notes: [All]: For this event, see also Sturl Hákfl 8. — [5-6] stórir þegnar yðrir höfðu ærin útboð at hegna rán ‘your mighty liegemen had ample conscription to punish plundering’: In the summer of 1247, Norw. ships were attacked by the Danes, as well as by Ger. merchants from Lübeck, off the shore of Halland. King Hákon demanded compensation from the Dan. king, Kristófór, who had ascended the throne in 1252. Hákon summoned his troops in 1253 and threatened to attack Halland with the support of Jarl Birgir Magnússon, who later acted as a mediator and made the Dan. king agree to pay restitution the following year. Sturla stresses Hákon’s right to avenge the Norw. ships, both in the prose and in this st., but he does not give the real reason for the warfare: the king wanted to add Halland to his kingdom to gain control over the route across the Baltic and took the opportunity to do so when internal conflict had weakened the Dan. crown (Helle 1974, 128-32). — [6] hegna ‘punish’: Finnur Jónsson and Kock chose the reading of 8 and Flat, hegnir, taking it as the base-word in a man-kenning hegnir rána ‘punisher of plunder’ (Skj B; Skald). Konráð Gíslason (1895-7, I, 71) preferred the reading hegna ‘punish’. — [8] fyrir víðri grundu ‘off the wide land’: Skj B and Skald take this prepositional phrase with the first cl. of the helmingr, which is also possible.

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. 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. Helle, Knut. 1974. Norge blir en stat 1130-1319. Handbok i Norges historie 3. Bergen, Oslo, Tromsø: Universitetsforlaget.
9. Konráð Gíslason. 1895-7. Efterladte skrifter. 2 vols. I: Forelæsninger over oldnordiske skjaldekvad. II: Forelæsninger og videnskablige afhandlinger. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
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, Hákonarflokkr 8’ 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. 752-3.