Þblǫnd Sigdr 1^III

Konungr, heill ok svá snjallir,
sóknǫrr, (við lof gǫrvan
óð hafa menn í munni
mínn) húskarlar þínir.

Heill, sóknǫrr konungr, ok svá snjallir húskarlar þínir; menn hafa óð mínn í munni, gǫrvan við lof.

Good health to you, battle-eager king, and also to your valiant housecarls; men have my poem, replete with praise, in their mouths.

Mss: R(36r), Tˣ(37v), W(82), U(35v) (SnE)

Readings: [1] snjallir: so all others, snjallr R    [2] sóknǫrr við lof gǫrvan: ‘sokn ǫrr[…]of[…]van’ W

Editions: Skj AI, 492, Skj BI, 464,  Skald I, 228; SnE 1848-87, I, 456-7, II, 337, III, 92, SnE 1931, 162, SnE 1998, I, 80.

Context: The helmingr is cited in SnE (Skm) to exemplify the use of the term húskarlar ‘housecarls’ in skaldic poetry to refer to hirðmenn ‘retainers’.

Notes: [1] heill ‘good health to you’: The adj. heill, lit. ‘whole, healthy, well’, is also used as a salutation or to wish someone good health or fortune (see LP: 1. heill). — [3-4] menn hafa óð mínn … í munni ‘men have my poem … in their mouths’: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) thinks that the phrase might mean that men vil mindes og fremsige ‘will remember and recite’ the poem. It could be understood as the poet’s wish for his poem to achieve great prominence and thus spread praise for the king among people. — [3] í munni ‘in their mouths’: Lit. ‘in the mouth’ (m. dat. sg.). — [4] mínn ‘my’: For the quantity of the vowel in this word (rhyming with þínir), see the General Introduction, Section 3.2.2, p. xlix, in SkP I. — [4] húskarlar ‘housecarls’: On this term, see Note to Þul Manna 6/4.

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. SnE 1848-87 = Snorri Sturluson. 1848-87. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar: Edda Snorronis Sturlaei. Ed. Jón Sigurðsson et al. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Legatum Arnamagnaeanum. Rpt. Osnabrück: Zeller, 1966.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
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. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
7. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
8. SkP I = Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Ed. Diana Whaley. 2012.
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. (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Skáldskaparmál’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=112> (accessed 25 April 2024)
12. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Manna heiti 6’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 781.