ÞSjár Róðdr 1^I

Átti Egða dróttinn
Ôleifr þrimu stála
við ágætan Jóta
ǫðling, þanns klýfr hringa.
Skaut nær skarpt at móti
Skônunga gramr hônum;
Sveins vasa sonr at reyna
slær; þaut ulfr of hrævi.

Ôleifr, {dróttinn Egða}, átti {þrimu stála} við {ágætan ǫðling Jóta}, þanns klýfr hringa. {Gramr Skônunga} skaut nær skarpt at móti hônum; {sonr Sveins} vasa slær at reyna; ulfr þaut of hrævi.

Óláfr, {lord of the Egðir} [NORWEGIAN KING], had {a clash of swords} [BATTLE] with {the splendid ruler of the Jótar} [DANISH KING = Knútr], who cleaves rings. {The sovereign of the Skônungar} [DANISH KING = Knútr] shot rather sharply against him; {the son of Sveinn} [= Knútr] was not weak to test; the wolf howled over carrion.

Mss: K(1ra) (Hkr); Holm2(52v), 972ˣ(381va), J2ˣ(198r), Kˣ(411v-412r), 321ˣ(186), 73aˣ(161r), 68(50r), Holm4(46vb), 61(112rb), 75c(31v), 325V(59ra-b), 325VII(30r), Bb(182ra), Flat(115rb), Tóm(138v), 325IX 2(4vb), 325XI 1(4rb) (ÓH); DG8(92v) (ÓHLeg, ll. 5-8); FskAˣ(173-174) (Fsk)

Readings: [1] Egða: engla 68;    dróttinn: om. Tóm    [2] þrimu: þrumu Kˣ, Flat, Tóm, þrymu 73aˣ, 61, ‘hrimu’ Bb    [3] ágætan: ágæta Bb    [4] ǫðling: ǫðlingr 75c;    klýfr: klauf Holm2, 972ˣ, J2ˣ, 321ˣ, 73aˣ, 61, 75c, 325V, Bb, Tóm, 325IX 2, 325XI 1, FskAˣ, klauf corrected in the margin to klýfr Kˣ, gaf Flat    [5] Skaut nær: ‘scꜹ(r)t ner’(?) Holm2, skautat 75c, skaut at Bb, Flat, skaut náir Tóm;    skarpt: ‘skarft’ 321ˣ, 325VII, Flat, skart 61, ‘sk[...]t’ 325XI 1, skapt DG8, FskAˣ;    at: á 61, DG8, í 75c, ‘[...]’ 325XI 1    [6] Skônunga: ‘skanvga’ Bb    [7] vasa (‘vara’): varð 972ˣ, varat 73aˣ, 61, 325V, 325VII, Tóm, FskAˣ, var 75c, Flat, DG8, ‘[...]’ 325XI 1;    sonr: son Tóm, ‘s[…]nr’ 325XI 1    [8] slær: slægr Flat, ‘slæfr’ Tóm, ‘slækr’ DG8;    of: í 972ˣ, 325IX 2, DG8;    hrævi: ‘hręði’ 75c, ‘h[...]’ 325XI 1

Editions: Skj AI, 329, Skj BI, 303, Skald I, 154; Hkr 1893-1901, II, 366, ÍF 27, 281 (ÓHHkr ch. 150); ÓH 1941, I, 438 (ch. 140), Flat 1860-8, II, 281; ÓHLeg 1922, 61, ÓHLeg 1982, 146-7; Fsk 1902-3, 165 (ch. 27), ÍF 29, 187 (ch. 32).

Notes: [All]: This battle is also commemorated in Ótt Knútdr 11 and (probably) Sigv Knútdr 9; on the location, see Note to Ótt Knútdr 11/3. — [1] dróttinn Egða ‘lord of the Egðir [NORWEGIAN KING]’: The 68 variant dróttinn Engla ‘lord of the English’ must have been introduced because the scribe mistakenly thought that the poem was composed in honour of Knútr rather than Óláfr: Þoroddr scald Siarecsson orti drapo eptir knut konung ‘the poet Þóroddr [sic] Sjáreksson composed a drápa in memory of King Knútr’. — [4] klýfr (3rd pers. sg. pres. indic.) ‘cleaves’: The pres. tense of the verb has been retained because Knútr Sveinsson died on 12 November 1035, and was most likely alive when the poem was composed. The designation of Knútr as one who klýfr hringa ‘cleaves rings’ is a stereotypical reference to princely generosity. — [5] nær ‘rather’: The word is taken as an adv. modifying skarpt ‘sharply’ (so also Skj B, Skald and ÍF 27; see also Fritzner: nær 9). Bjarni Einarsson (ÍF 29) treats it as a prep. with hnum, hence ‘near him’ (l. 6). That reading is not possible, however, because monosyllabic proclitic prepositions are never separated from the nouns they modify.

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. 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.
6. ÓH 1941 = Johnsen, Oscar Albert and Jón Helgason, eds. 1941. Saga Óláfs konungs hins helga: Den store saga om Olav den hellige efter pergamenthåndskrift i Kungliga biblioteket i Stockholm nr. 2 4^to med varianter fra andre håndskrifter. 2 vols. Det norske historiske kildeskriftfond skrifter 53. Oslo: Dybwad.
7. ÓHLeg 1982 = Heinrichs, Anne et al., eds and trans. 1982. Olafs saga hins helga: Die ‘Legendarische Saga’ über Olaf den Heiligen (Hs. Delagard. saml. nr. 8^II). Heidelberg: Winter.
8. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
9. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
10. Fsk 1902-3 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1902-3. Fagrskinna: Nóregs kononga tal. SUGNL 30. Copenhagen: Møller.
11. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
12. ÓHLeg 1922 = Johnsen, Oscar Albert, ed. 1922. Olafs saga hins helga efter pergamenthåndskrift i Uppsala Universitetsbibliotek, Delagardieske samling nr. 8^II. Det norske historiske kildeskriftfond skrifter 47. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad.
13. Internal references
14. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Óláfs saga helga (in Heimskringla)’ 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=152> (accessed 19 April 2024)
15. Matthew Townend (ed.) 2012, ‘Óttarr svarti, Knútsdrápa 11’ 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. 781.
16. Matthew Townend (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Knútsdrápa 9’ 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. 660.