Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2012, ‘Þórðr Særeksson (Sjáreksson), Róðudrápa 1’ 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. 243.
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 hnum, hence ‘near him’ (l. 6). That reading is not possible, however, because monosyllabic proclitic prepositions are never separated from the nouns they modify.
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