Sturl Hryn 4^II

Framla dreif til hverrar hömlu
hilmis þjóð ins mærðarfróða;
síðan helduð suðr með láði,
seima stiklir, flota miklum.
Hræddar urðu Hallands ferðir,
hringa Baldr, af þínu valdi;
engi maðr var Jóta þengils
óttalauss við Nóregs dróttin.

Þjóð ins mærðarfróða hilmis dreif framla til hverrar hömlu; síðan helduð miklum flota suðr með láði, {stiklir seima}. Ferðir Hallands urðu hræddar af valdi þínu, {Baldr hringa}; engi maðr {þengils Jóta} var óttalauss við {dróttin Nóregs}.

The men of the renowned ruler rushed boldly to every rowlock; then you brought a great fleet southwards along the coast, {thrower of gold} [GENEROUS RULER]. The people of Halland became frightened by your power, {Baldr <god> of rings} [MAN]; not one man {of the ruler of the Jótar} [DANISH KING = Kristófór] was not without fear of {the lord of Norway} [= Hákon].

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

Readings: [1] hömlu: ‘homlu’ 81a    [3] helduð: heldu E, 81a, Flat;    með: unni E;    láði: landi 81a, 8    [4] stiklir: stillir E    [5] ferðir: lyddur 8    [7] var: so E, 81a, 8, om. F, varð Flat

Editions: Skj AII, 103, Skj BII, 114, Skald II, 60; F 1871, 545, E 1916, 640, Hák 1910-86, 635, Hák 1977-82, 157-8, Flat 1860-8, III, 187.

Context: This st. follows right after st. 3, describing the voyage to Halland and the reactions of the inhabitants.

Notes: [All]: The st. contains verbal echoes of Arn Hryn 9, which describes Magnús inn góði Óláfsson’s fleet setting out from Norway on his expedition to Denmark in 1042. — [1] framla ‘boldly’: Skj B takes this adv. with the second cl., which complicates the w. o. unnecessarily. — [5] ferðir Hallands ‘the people of Halland’: The reading of 8 is lyddur (f. nom. pl.) ‘cowards’, which gives the l. a new meaning, mocking the people of Halland and at the same time diminishing the heroic aspects of the king’s troops, since cowards will fear anything, whereas the more neutral word ferðir ‘people’ indicates that the inhabitants fear only when given good reason to. The word lyddur could be a scribal innovation of the scribe of 8 or it could have originated with his exemplar(s).

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. 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.
9. Internal references
10. Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘(Biography of) Magnús inn góði Óláfsson’ 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. 5-7.
11. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Hrynhenda, Magnússdrápa 9’ 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. 193-4.