Þfagr Frag 1^III

Þfagr Frag 1 is recorded in mss R, Tˣ, A, B (and 744ˣ), C of Skm (SnE). The poet is named in all mss (Þorleikr fagri Tˣ, A, 744ˣ; Þorleifr fagri R, C).

Sær þýtr, en berr bára
bjart lauðr of við rauðan,
gránn, þars golli búnum
gínn hlunnvisundr munni.

Gránn sær þýtr, en bára berr bjart lauðr of rauðan við, þars {hlunnvisundr} gínn golli búnum munni.

The grey sea roars, and the wave carries bright foam around the red wood where {the roller-bison} [SHIP] gapes with its gold-adorned mouth.

Mss: R(38v), Tˣ(40r), A(13v), B(6r), 744ˣ(36r-v), C(7v) (SnE)

Readings: [1] Sær: ‘Siarr’ B, ‘Sea’ C    [2] bjart: ‘[…]’ B, ‘biart’ 744ˣ, brýtr C;    lauðr: so Tˣ, A, 744ˣ, lauð R, C, ‘[…]’ B;    of: á A, 744ˣ, ‘[…]’ B    [3] gránn: gráns R, Tˣ, A, C, ‘[…]’ B, ‘gra . s’ 744ˣ    [4] gínn: grunn C;    hlunn‑: hlunnr B

Editions: Skj AI, 399, Skj BI, 368, Skald I, 184; SnE 1848-87, I, 502-3, II, 452, 535, 601, III, 105, SnE 1931, 176, SnE 1998, I, 96.

Context: Bára ‘wave’ is listed in Skm among the heiti for ‘wave’.

Notes: [2]: This line closely resembles ESk Frag 17/8. — [3] gránn (m. nom. sg.) ‘grey’: All mss have gráns (m. gen. sg.) ‘of the grey’, which makes no sense syntactically. The adj. can qualify either sær m. nom. sg. ‘sea’ or hlunnvisundr m. nom. sg. ‘ship’. Since the wood of the ship is described as ‘red’ (rauðan við) (l. 2), the former is more likely. The adj. gránn can also mean ‘dangerous’, but in light of the colour imagery that pervades this stanza, the meaning ‘grey’ has been adopted. — [3-4] þars hlunnvisundr gínn golli búnum munni ‘where the roller-bison [SHIP] gapes with its gold-adorned mouth’: This refers to the golden ornamental animal head affixed to the prow of a ship (see Falk 1912, 105-7 and Jesch 2001a, 127-8). For similar imagery of the ocean playing with such golden heads on a royal vessel, see Valg Har 10^II, 11/1-4^II. — [4]: This line is unusual because it contains three internal rhymes in positions bearing primary stress (gínn : hlunn- : munn-). — [4] hlunnvisundr ‘the roller-bison [SHIP]’: Hlunnr was one of the post that supported a ship on the shore or was used as a roller in a slipway.

References

1. Bibliography
2. 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.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. Jesch, Judith. 2001a. Ships and Men in the Late Viking Age: The Vocabulary of Runic Inscriptions and Skaldic Verse. Woodbridge: Boydell.
5. Falk, Hjalmar. 1912. Altnordisches Seewesen. Wörter und Sachen 4. Heidelberg: Winter.
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. Internal references
9. 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].
10. (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 3 May 2024)
11. Kari Ellen Gade 2017, ‘(Biography of) Þorleikr fagri’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 484.
12. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Fragments 17’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 167.
13. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Þorleikr fagri, Fragments 1’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 484.
14. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Valgarðr á Velli, Poem about Haraldr harðráði 10’ 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, pp. 308-9.