Þhorn Harkv 4^I

Hreyfðisk inn hǫsfjaðri,         ok of hyrnu þerrði,
arnar eiðbróðir,         ok at andsvǫrum hugði:
‘Haraldi vér fylgðum         syni Halfdanar
ungum ynglingi         síðan ór eggi kvômum.

{Inn hǫsfjaðri eiðbróðir arnar} hreyfðisk ok þerrði of hyrnu, ok hugði at andsvǫrum: ‘Vér fylgðum Haraldi syni Halfdanar, ungum ynglingi, síðan kvômum ór eggi.

{The grey-feathered sworn-brother of the eagle} [RAVEN] gloated and wiped its bill, and gave thought to an answer: ‘We have followed Haraldr son of Hálfdan, the young king, since we emerged from the egg.

Mss: 51ˣ(2r), FskBˣ(2v), 302ˣ(3r), FskAˣ(7), 52ˣ(3v), 301ˣ(3r-v) (Fsk)

Readings: [1] hǫs‑: ‘hous’ 301ˣ    [3] arnar: so FskAˣ, 52ˣ, 301ˣ, annar 51ˣ, FskBˣ, 302ˣ    [6] Half‑: ‘Hælf‑’ 301ˣ;    ‑danar: so FskBˣ, 52ˣ, ‘‑ðanar’ 51ˣ, 302ˣ, FskAˣ, 301ˣ    [7] ynglingi: ‘eðlinge’ 301ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 25, Skj BI, 22, Skald I, 14; Fsk 1902-3, 7-8, ÍF 29, 60 (ch. 2); Möbius 1860, 228, Jón Helgason 1946, 135-6, Jón Helgason 1968, 16.

Context: As for st. 1.

Notes: [1] hreyfðisk ‘gloated’: Although hreyfa can have the sense ‘move, stir’, the same verb describes ravens exulting over carrion in RvHbreiðm Hl 38/7^III and Sturl Hrafn 10/5^II, and Falk (1928a, 315-17) argues that it is better understood in the sense ‘puffed itself up, showed pride’, which he identifies as the original meaning of the verb; cf. also Harris (1985, 97). Sveinbjörn Egilsson (LP (1860): reifa) earlier read Reifðisk ‘was gladdened’, since the initial <h> is not found in any ms., but the word is consistently spelt with <y>. — [1] inn hǫsfjaðri ‘the grey-feathered’: As in OE (cf. hasu ‘grey’ and compounds), it is usually the eagle rather then the raven that is described this way. The def. art. is justified by the reference to the raven in st. 1. — [7] ynglingi ‘king’: The word originally designated a member of the Swedish royal house at Uppsala (from whom Haraldr was descended; see Introduction to Þjóð Yt and Note to Yt 27 [All]). It came to serve as a heiti for a powerful monarch of any dynasty; cf. also Note to Eyv Hák 1/4. The reading ǫðlingi ‘prince’ in the FskA transcripts is also possible, and is preferred by Möbius (1860).

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. LP (1860) = Sveinbjörn Egilsson, ed. 1860. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis. Copenhagen: Societas Regia antiquariorum septentrionalium.
4. Fsk 1902-3 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1902-3. Fagrskinna: Nóregs kononga tal. SUGNL 30. Copenhagen: Møller.
5. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
6. Möbius, Theodor. 1860. Edda Sæmundar hins fróða. Mit einem Anhang bisher ungedruckter Gedichte. Leipzig: Hinrichs.
7. Jón Helgason, ed. 1968. Skjaldevers. 3rd edn. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
8. Falk, Hjalmar. 1928a. ‘Ordstudier I’. ANF 44, 315-24.
9. Harris, Joseph. 1985. ‘Haraldskvæði’. In Strayer 1982-9, VI, 97-8.
10. Jón Helgason. 1946. ‘Haraldskvæði’. Tímarit Máls og menningar, 131-46.
11. Internal references
12. Edith Marold with the assistance of Vivian Busch, Jana Krüger, Ann-Dörte Kyas and Katharina Seidel, translated from German by John Foulks 2012, ‘ Þjóðólfr ór Hvini, Ynglingatal’ 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. 3. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1440> (accessed 18 April 2024)
13. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson, Hákonarmál 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. 174.
14. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Rǫgnvaldr jarl and Hallr Þórarinsson, Háttalykill 38’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1046.
15. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Sturla Þórðarson, Hrafnsmál 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. 735-6.
16. Edith Marold (ed.) 2012, ‘Þjóðólfr ór Hvini, Ynglingatal 27’ 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. 58.