Þham Magndr 3^II

Dunði broddr á brynju;
bragningr skaut af magni;
sveigði allvaldr Egða
alm; stǫkk blóð á hjalma.
Strengs fló hagl í hringa;
hné ferð, en lét verða
Hǫrða gramr í harðri
hjarlsókn banat jarli.

Broddr dunði á brynju; bragningr skaut af magni; {allvaldr Egða} sveigði alm; blóð stǫkk á hjalma. {Hagl strengs} fló í hringa; ferð hné, en {gramr Hǫrða} lét verða banat jarli í harðri hjarlsókn.

The arrow-point resounded against the byrnie; the sovereign shot with strength; {the mighty ruler of the Egðir} [NORWEGIAN KING = Magnús] bent the elm-bow; blood spurted onto helmets. {The hail of the bow-string} [ARROWS] flew into chain-mail; the company fell, and {the lord of the Hǫrðar} [NORWEGIAN KING = Magnús] caused the earl to be killed in the hard battle for land.

Mss: Mork(23r) (Mork); H(89r), Hr(61va-b) (H-Hr); F(58va); Kˣ(598v), 39(34vb), E(34r), J2ˣ(311r), 42ˣ(11v) (Hkr); FskBˣ(85v-86r), FskAˣ(338) (Fsk); 325III α(2r), R702ˣ(40v) (Orkn)

Readings: [1] brynju: brynjur H, Hr, J2ˣ, 325III α, R702ˣ    [3] sveigði: ‘suegðe’ E, ‘svegði’ J2ˣ, ‘svæghde’ FskAˣ;    ‑valdr: ‑vald H    [5] Strengs: so all others, ‘stengs’ Mork;    fló: flaug FskBˣ;    í: so F, Kˣ, 39, E, FskBˣ, FskAˣ, 325III α, R702ˣ, á Mork, H, Hr, í corrected from á J2ˣ, 42ˣ    [6] hné: ‘hve’ 42ˣ    [7] Hǫrða: hǫrð þá er 42ˣ    [8] hjarl‑: hjarls H, hjǫrs FskBˣ;    ‑sókn: ‘skaull’ Hr

Editions: Skj AI, 438, Skj BI, 408, Skald I, 201, NN §2908; Mork 1867, 145, Mork 1928-32, 319, Andersson and Gade 2000, 300, 485 (Mberf); Fms 7, 46 (Mberf ch. 22); F 1871, 271 (Mberf); ÍF 28, 223 (Mberf ch. 10), E 1916, 119; ÍF 29, 308 (ch. 81); Orkn 1913-16, 102, ÍF 34, 96-7 (ch. 39).

Context: Magnús killed Earl Hugh of Shrewsbury (Hugi inn prúði ‘the Proud’) at the battle of the Menai Strait, between northern Wales and Anglesey, in 1098.

Notes: [All]: For this battle, see Bkrepp Magndr 11 and Gísl Magnkv 10-13. See also Power 1986, 109-11 and the literature cited there. — [8] hjarlsókn ‘battle for land’: Lit. ‘land-battle’ (hap. leg.). All sources agree that Magnús shot from his ship, hence the word is taken here to mean that Magnús fought to expand his dominions in the west. Alternatively, it could also be construed as ‘attack on the land’. Skj B separates the two elements of the cpd and takes hjarl ‘land’ with hringa ‘chain-mail’ (lit. ‘rings’) (l. 5): í hjarl hringa ‘into the land of rings’, i.e. ‘into the chain-mail’. That reading creates a very convoluted w. o. (see NN § 2908) and it is unnecessary because hringar ‘rings’ can denote ‘chain-mail, ring-byrnie’. See Note to SnH Lv 1/3 and LP: hringr 2.

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. Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
6. 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.
7. Andersson, Theodore M. and Kari Ellen Gade, trans. 2000. Morkinskinna: The Earliest Icelandic Chronicle of the Norwegian Kings (1030-1157). Islandica 51. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.
8. Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
9. ÍF 34 = Orkneyinga saga. Ed. Finnbogi Guðmundsson. 1965.
10. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
11. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
12. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
13. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
14. Mork 1867 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1867. Morkinskinna: Pergamentsbog fra første halvdel af det trettende aarhundrede. Indeholdende en af de ældste optegnelser af norske kongesagaer. Oslo: Bentzen.
15. Orkn 1913-16 = Sigurður Nordal, ed. 1913-16. Orkneyinga saga. SUGNL 40. Copenhagen: Møller.
16. Power, Rosemary. 1986. ‘Magnus Bareleg’s Expeditions to the West’. Scottish Historical Review 65, 107-32.
17. Internal references
18. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Magnúss saga berfœtts’ 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=144> (accessed 20 April 2024)
19. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Bjǫrn krepphendi, Magnússdrápa 11’ 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. 404-5.
20. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Gísl Illugason, Erfikvæði about Magnús berfœttr 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. 423-4.
21. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Sneglu-Halli, Lausavísur 1’ 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. 324-5.