ÞGísl Búdr 2^I

Knúði hvasst harða
(hljópu marir barða)
hregg (á hefils vǫllum)
á humra fjǫllum.
Blô þó hrǫnn hlýrum;
hraut af brimdýrum
— kili skaut œst alda —
unnr in sviðkalda.

Hregg knúði harða hvasst á {fjǫllum humra}; {marir barða} hljópu á {vǫllum hefils}. Blô hrǫnn þó hlýrum; in sviðkalda unnr hraut af {brimdýrum}; œst alda skaut kili.

The storm pelted very sharply on {the mountains of lobsters} [SEA]; {stallions of the stems} [SHIPS] bounded across {the plains of the clew-line} [SEA]. The dark breaker washed prows; the singeing-cold billow dashed off {the surf-animals} [SHIPS]; the raging wave impelled the keel.

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

Readings: [1] Knúði: knúðu Bb;    hvasst: so 54, Bb, ‘huast(r)’(?) 61    [2] hljópu: hlupu Bb;    marir: so 54, Bb, ‘níarir’ 61    [3] hregg á: hreggi 54, Bb;    hefils vǫllum: corrected from humrafjǫllum with hefils vellum in margin 61, ‘helfs vaullum’ 54, Bb    [8] unnr (‘uðr’): ‘yrd’ Bb;    in: í Bb;    svið‑: sjó‑ 54, Bb

Editions: Skj AI, 553, Skj BI, 536, Skald I, 260; Fms 1, 165, Fms 12, 41, ÓT 1958-2000, I, 182 (ch. 88), Ólafur Halldórsson 2000, 23, 76.

Context: Hearing of the vows and preparations of the Jómsvíkingar, Eiríkr jarl and his father Hákon jarl call up troops from several regions of western Norway. The Jómsvíkingar sail to Limafjǫrðr (Limfjorden) with a strong following wind.

Notes: [1] hvasst ‘sharply’: This is taken here as an adv. (as it must be in the 54, Bb text), but it could equally well be an adj. qualifying hregg ‘storm’, as assumed by Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) and Ólafur Halldórsson (2000, 76), in which case hregg could only be sg. (cf. Note to ll. 1, 3). — [1, 3] hregg knúði ‘the storm pelted’: The pl. knúðu (so 54, Bb) is also possible if hregg n. ‘storm’ is taken as nom. pl. rather than nom. sg. (cf. Note to l. 1 hvasst). — [3] vǫllum hefils ‘the plains of the clew-line [SEA]’: Hefill m., related to hefja ‘to lift’ (AEW: hefill), refers to tackle attached to the lower edge or clew of a sail and used in furling it (Falk 1912, 67-8). — [8] in sviðkalda unnr ‘the singeing-cold billow’: This is to be preferred to the blander sjókalda ‘sea-cold’ (so 54, Bb), which appears to be a lectio facilior.

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. Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
6. Falk, Hjalmar. 1912. Altnordisches Seewesen. Wörter und Sachen 4. Heidelberg: Winter.
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.