ÞGísl Búdr 1^I

Bôru á vali víka
— vel frák þeim líka
seggjum snarræði —
sverð ok herklæði.

Bôru sverð ok {herklæði} á {vali víka}; frák snarræði líka þeim seggjum vel.

They carried swords and {war-garments} [ARMOUR] aboard {the stallions of bays} [SHIPS]; I have heard that bold action pleased those men well.

Mss: 61(19ra), 54(15ra), Bb(25rb) (ÓT)

Readings: [3] snarræði: so 54, Bb, ‘snerreiði’ 61

Editions: Skj AI, 553, Skj BI, 536, Skald I, 260; Fms 1, 164, Fms 12, 40, ÓT 1958-2000, I, 180-1 (ch. 86), Ólafur Halldórsson 2000, 23, 76.

Context: King Sveinn tjúguskegg ‘Fork-beard’ of Denmark invites his allies the Jómsvíkingar to a joint memorial feast for their recently-deceased fathers, during which he makes a formal vow to kill or dethrone King Aðalráðr (Æthelred) of England within three years. His guest Sigvaldi jarl Strút-Haraldsson makes a matching vow about Hákon inn ríki ‘the Mighty’ Sigurðarson, jarl of Hlaðir (Lade), and his brother Þorkell inn hávi ‘the Tall’ follows suit, joined, with variations, by other Jómsvíking heroes: Búi digri ‘the Stout’ Vésetason, his brother Sigurðr kápa ‘Cloak’, and Vagn Ákason. Next day, now sober, the Jómsvíkingar take counsel about the expedition and decide to make ready immediately.

Notes: [1] vali ‘the stallions’: Valr m. ‘hawk, falcon’ was used as the name of a horse, and hence as a general heiti for ‘horse’ commonly featuring in ship-kennings (see LP: 2. Valr; Note to Þloft Tøgdr 5/6). — [4] herklæði ‘war-garments [ARMOUR]’: This cpd, occurring in skaldic poetry only here and in st. 5/2, is here treated as a kenning, albeit a marginal one. It is listed as a kenning in Meissner 166, and is comparable with, e.g., herváðir/hervæðr ‘war-garments’ (Eyv Hák 4/1), but it also occurs in prose (see Fritzner: herváðir), including SnE (1998, I, 67), where a section is dedicated to kennings for vápn ok herklæði ‘weapons and armour’.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. Meissner = Meissner, Rudolf. 1921. Die Kenningar der Skalden: Ein Beitrag zur skaldischen Poetik. Rheinische Beiträge und Hülfsbücher zur germanischen Philologie und Volkskunde 1. Bonn and Leipzig: Schroeder. Rpt. 1984. Hildesheim etc.: Olms.
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. 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.
7. ÓT 1958-2000 = Ólafur Halldórsson, ed. 1958-2000. Saga Óláfs Tryggvasonar en mesta. 3 vols. EA A 1-3. Copenhagen: Munksgaard (Reitzel).
8. Ólafur Halldórsson. 2000a. Danish Kings and the Jomsvikings in the Greatest Saga of Óláfr Tryggvason. London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
9. Internal references
10. Edith Marold 2017, ‘Snorra Edda (Prologue, Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál)’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols [check printed volume for citation].
11. Matthew Townend 2012, ‘(Biography of) Vagn Ákason’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 365.
12. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson, Hákonarmál 4’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 178.
13. Matthew Townend (ed.) 2012, ‘Þórarinn loftunga, Tøgdrápa 5’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 858.