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Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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ÞKolb Eirdr 10I

Jayne Carroll (ed.) 2012, ‘Þórðr Kolbeinsson, Eiríksdrápa 10’ 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. 503.

Þórðr KolbeinssonEiríksdrápa
91011

Allvalds nutu aldir;
una líkar vel slíku;
skyldr lézk hendi at halda
hann of Nóregs mǫnnum.
En Sveinn konungr sunnan
sagðr es dauðr, en auðir
— fátt bilar flestra ýta
fár — hans býir vôru.

Aldir nutu allvalds; vel líkar una slíku; hann lézk skyldr at halda hendi of mǫnnum Nóregs. En Sveinn konungr es sagðr dauðr sunnan, en býir hans vôru auðir; fár flestra ýta bilar fátt.

Men benefited from the mighty ruler; it is most pleasing to be content with such a situation; he declared himself obliged to hold a hand over the people of Norway. But King Sveinn is reported from the south to be dead, and his dwellings to have been desolate; misfortune scarcely spares most men.

Mss: (217v-218r), F(37ra), J1ˣ(135v), J2ˣ(118r), 325XI 2 i(1va-b) (Hkr); 61(70rb), 53(66vb), 54(68rb), 325VIII 2 g(2rb), Bb(103vb-104ra), Flat(71rb) (ÓT); FskBˣ(38r), FskAˣ(146) (Fsk, ll. 5-8)

Readings: [1] Allvalds: allvaldr J1ˣ, J2ˣ, ‘Alldr valldr’ Bb;    nutu: lutu Flat;    aldir: allir 325XI 2 i, aldri 54, 325VIII 2 g, Bb    [2] líkar: líkar mér 53    [4] of: so F, 53, 54, 325VIII 2 g, Bb, yfir Kˣ, af J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 325XI 2 i, 61, ok Flat;    mǫnnum: manna Flat    [5] konungr: kóngr 54    [6] es (‘er’): var 325XI 2 i;    en: so J1ˣ, 61, 53, Bb, hinn Kˣ, F, Flat, FskBˣ, enn J2ˣ, 54, 325VIII 2 g, með 325XI 2 i, hinn er FskAˣ;    auðir: so F, auði Kˣ, J2ˣ, 325XI 2 i, 61, 53, 54, 325VIII 2 g, Bb, Flat, FskAˣ, æði J1ˣ, auðgi FskBˣ    [7] fátt: ‘[…]’ FskBˣ;    flestra: flesta 54, 325VIII 2 g, Bb    [8] fár: fáir 325XI 2 i, Flat, FskBˣ;    býir: bœir J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 61, 53, 54, 325VIII 2 g, Bb, Flat, ‘bœ[…]’ 325XI 2 i, bœjar FskBˣ, bœr FskAˣ;    vôru: ‘[…]’ 325XI 2 i

Editions: Skj AI, 215, Skj BI, 205, Skald I, 107, NN §§38B, 6604; Hkr 1893-1901, I, 459, IV, 104, ÍF 26, 371, Hkr 1991, I, 252 (ÓTHkr ch. 113), F 1871, 167; ÓT 1958-2000, II, 300 (ch. 260), Flat I, 533; Fsk 1902-3, 135 (ch. 23), ÍF 29, 163-4 (ch. 25).

Context: See st. 9. Fsk does not contain the first helmingr of this stanza.

Notes: [All]: On the arrangement of helmingar in the stanza, see Introduction. — [1] allvalds ‘the mighty ruler’: Probably King Sveinn tjúguskegg ‘Fork-beard’ (d. 1014), who held part of Norway after the battle of Svǫlðr (c. 1000; so also ÍF 26). This is suggested by the statement in ll. 3-4 of a perceived duty to defend Norway, by the fact that the second helmingr is concerned with King Sveinn, and perhaps by the use of the word allvaldr itself. However, this remains uncertain, especially since the sources differ as to which helmingar constitute the stanza. Finnur Jónsson (Hkr 1893-1901, IV) suggested a reference to Eiríkr jarl, on his departure from Norway. — [6, 8] en býir hans vôru auðir ‘and his dwellings to have been desolate’: Vôru appears to be the past inf. of vesa ‘to be’, forming an acc. with past inf. construction following a verb of reporting which is extrapolated from es sagðr ‘is reported’ (rather than depending directly on it). Vôru is less likely to be 3rd pers. pl. pret. indic. ‘were’, since this would entail a change of tense from pres. es sagðr to pret., and a switch from report to direct assertion. — [6] en … auðir ‘and … desolate’: Auðir ‘desolate’, the reading of F, is required as the complement of býir vôru ‘dwellings to be’ and is generally adopted by eds. The report that settlements are auðir ‘desolate’ is presumably meant figuratively, though a more literal sense is possible, given the traditional connection between good rule and prosperity in the land, or bad rule and desolation (e.g. Eyv Lv 12-14, Eskál Vell 17). As noted in Hkr 1893-1901, IV, the statement here recalls Hfr ErfÓl 28/1-2, where the skald laments that lǫnd eru orðin auð ‘lands have been desolated’ by the death of Óláfr Tryggvason (cf. also Eyv Hák 20/5). Ms. , and other mss across the stemmata, read hinn/enn auði ‘the wealthy’, which can be regarded as a lectio facilior. — [7-8] fár flestra ýta bilar fátt ‘misfortune scarcely spares most men’: I.e. human sorrow is all but unavoidable. Bila ‘to fail, fail to appear’, is applied here to fár ‘misfortune, harm’ and hence in this context means ‘to spare’. Fátt ‘few’ may be taken as adverbial, ‘little, scarcely’, hence ‘the misfortune of most men scarcely fails’ (as in Translation above), or as an adj. qualifying fár, hence ‘little misfortune of most men fails’.

References

  1. Bibliography
  2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
  3. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
  4. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
  5. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
  6. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
  7. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
  8. Fsk 1902-3 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1902-3. Fagrskinna: Nóregs kononga tal. SUGNL 30. Copenhagen: Møller.
  9. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
  10. ÓT 1958-2000 = Ólafur Halldórsson, ed. 1958-2000. Saga Óláfs Tryggvasonar en mesta. 3 vols. EA A 1-3. Copenhagen: Munksgaard (Reitzel).
  11. Internal references
  12. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Flateyjarbók’ 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. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=44> (accessed 29 March 2024)
  13. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Fagrskinna’ 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. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=56> (accessed 29 March 2024)
  14. Diana Whaley 2012, ‘(Biography of) Óláfr Tryggvason’ 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. 383.
  15. Edith Marold (ed.) 2012, ‘Einarr skálaglamm Helgason, Vellekla 17’ 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. 305.
  16. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson, Hákonarmál 20’ 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. 192.
  17. Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson, Lausavísur 12’ 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. 231.
  18. Kate Heslop (ed.) 2012, ‘Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld Óttarsson, Erfidrápa Óláfs Tryggvasonar 28’ 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. 440.
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