Þhorn Gldr 5^I

Háði gramr, þars gnúðu,
geira hregg við seggi,
— rauð fnýsti ben blóði —
bryngǫgl í dyn Skǫglar,
þás á rausn fyr ræsi
(réð egglituðr) seggir
— æfr gall hjǫrr við hlífar —
hnigu fjǫrvanir (sigri).

Gramr háði {hregg geira} við seggi, þars {bryngǫgl} gnúðu í {dyn Skǫglar}; rauð ben fnýsti blóði, þás seggir hnigu fjǫrvanir fyr ræsi á rausn; æfr hjǫrr gall við hlífar; {egglituðr} réð sigri.

The king fought {a storm of spears} [BATTLE] against men where {mail-shirt-goslings} [ARROWS] roared in {the din of Skǫgul <valkyrie>} [BATTLE]; the red wound spurted blood as men sank down lifeless before the ruler on the forecastle; the furious sword resounded against shields; {the blade-stainer} [WARRIOR = Haraldr] gained victory.

Mss: Kˣ(56v), F(9vb), J1ˣ(31r), J2ˣ(32r) (Hkr); FskBˣ(6r), FskAˣ(18) (Fsk); Flat(76vb) (Flat); R(33v), Tˣ(35r), W(77), U(32v), A(10v-11r), C(5r) (SnE, ll. 1-4); 761aˣ(20v)

Readings: [1] Háði: hafði Flat;    þars (‘þar er’): þá er Flat, ‘þ[…]’ U;    gnúðu: gniðu F, C, gnúði FskBˣ, FskAˣ, Flat, gunnar Tˣ, ‘[…]vþi’ U, gnýði A    [2] geira: geirs Flat, ‘[…]ra’ U;    við: viðar Flat    [3] fnýsti: fnýstu F, FskBˣ, FskAˣ, Tˣ, U, A, C, fýstu Flat, ‘fnvstv’ R;    blóði: ‘bloþ[…]’ U    [4] bryn‑: ben‑ F, Flat, R, Tˣ, W, A, C, ‘[…]en’ U;    ‑gǫgl: ‘‑gaul’ J1ˣ;    í dyn: ‘ara’ Flat;    í: at R, Tˣ, W, U, A, við C;    dyn: ‘[…]’ U;    Skǫglar: ‘[…]lar’ U    [5] rausn: ‘raunsn’ J1ˣ, ‘roustn’ FskAˣ, ‘raustn’ 761aˣ    [6] ‑lituðr: ‑litaðr F, FskAˣ, 761aˣ, ‑hróðr Flat;    seggir: seggja FskBˣ, FskAˣ, 761aˣ, leggja Flat    [7] æfr: ‘æfþr’ FskAˣ;    hjǫrr: so F, FskBˣ, FskAˣ, Flat, 761aˣ, hér Kˣ, J1ˣ, J2ˣ;    hlífar: lifðir FskAˣ, hlífar corrected from hlífir 761aˣ    [8] hnigu: ‘hingu’ J1ˣ, ‘nigri’ FskBˣ;    fjǫr‑: fór‑ FskBˣ;    sigri: sigri corrected from seggir FskAˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 23, Skj BI, 21, Skald I, 13; Hkr 1893-1901, I, 112-13, IV, 31, ÍF 26, 105-6, Hkr 1991, I, 64 (HHárf ch. 11), F 1871, 44; Fsk 1902-3, 18 (ch. 2), ÍF 29, 70 (ch. 3); Fms 10, 187, Fms 12, 225, Flat 1860-8, I, 572 (HarHárf); SnE 1848-87, I, 418-19, II, 326, 437, 586, SnE 1931, 148, SnE 1998, I, 66.

Context: Fsk cites this stanza in connection with the battle of Hafrsfjǫrðr (Hafrsfjorden; see Context to st. 3). In Hkr, it follows a narrative about a further sea-battle near Sólskel (Solskjel), against a force led by the kinsmen Arnviðr and Sǫlvi and their ally King Auðbjǫrn. Arnviðr and Auðbjǫrn fall, and Sǫlvi flees. In SnE, the first helmingr is among citations illustrating terms for ‘battle’.

Notes: [All]: Several commentators note this stanza’s artfully convoluted sentence structure. It is composed of a main clause in the first helmingr and a subordinate clause in the second, each of which contains an intercalary clause located in the third line of the helmingr (ll. 3 and 7 respectively). Further, each helmingr contains an additional syntactic unit: another subordinate clause in ll. 1 and 4, and a separate main clause in ll. 6 and 8 (Engster 1983, 189-90; Kuhn 1969b, 68). Reichardt (1928, 226) sees in this the poet’s attempt to convey the turmoil of battle, and Holtsmark (1927, 34-5) perceives a representation of the battle in the rhythm of the short sentences. These trace the battle’s development from engagement to victory, with sigri ‘victory’ as the last word of the stanza. — [4] bryngǫgl ‘mail-shirt-goslings [ARROWS]’: Bryn-, the reading of Fsk and most Hkr mss, produces an ornamental double aðalhending in l. 4, of bryn : dyn and gǫgl : Skǫglar (see Kuhn 1983, 282; Naumann 1998, 239). The variant ben- ‘wound’ in some mss would give bengǫgl ‘wound-goslings [RAVEN/EAGLE]’, but bryn is preferable since it is the reading of the main ms Kˣ.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
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. Engster, Hermann. 1983. Poesie einer Achsenzeit: Der Ursprung der Skaldik im gesellschaftlichen Systemwandel der Wikingerzeit. Europäische Hochschulschriften 667. Frankfurt am Main: Lang.
6. 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.
7. Kuhn, Hans (1899). 1983. Das Dróttkvætt. 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. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
11. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
12. Fsk 1902-3 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1902-3. Fagrskinna: Nóregs kononga tal. SUGNL 30. Copenhagen: Møller.
13. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
14. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
15. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
16. Reichardt, Konstantin. 1928. Studien zu den Skalden des 9. und 10. Jahrhunderts. Palaestra 159. Leipzig: Mayer & Müller.
17. Kuhn, Hans (1899). 1969b. ‘Die Dróttkvættstrophe als Kunstwerk’. In Gellinek 1969, 63-72. Rpt. in Kuhn (1899) 1969-78, IV, 95-104.
18. Holtsmark, Anne. 1927. Þórbjørn Hornklofes Glymdrápa. Oslo: Aschehoug & Co.
19. Naumann, Hans-Peter. 1998. ‘Glymdrápa’. In RGA, 12, 238-40.
20. Internal references
21. 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].
22. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Heimskringla’ 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=4> (accessed 25 April 2024)
23. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Fagrskinna’ 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=56> (accessed 25 April 2024)
24. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Haralds þáttr hárfagra’ 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=137> (accessed 25 April 2024)
25. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Haralds saga hárfagra’ 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=140> (accessed 25 April 2024)