ÞjóðA Run 1^II

Eitt hǫfðusk at,
Eilífr þars sat,
hǫfðingjar tveir;
hamalt fylkðu þeir.
Austr-Vinðum ók
í ǫngvan krók;
vasa Læsum léttr
liðsmanna réttr.

Tveir hǫfðingjar hǫfðusk at eitt, þars Eilífr sat; þeir fylkðu hamalt. Austr-Vinðum ók í ǫngvan krók; réttr liðsmanna vasa léttr Læsum.

Two chieftains engaged in a single action, where Eilífr held sway; they lined up their troops in wedge formation. The East Wends were driven into a tight corner; the terms of the liegemen were not easy on the Læsir.

Mss: Kˣ(521v), 39(18vb), F(42ra), E(10r) (Hkr); FskBˣ(60r), FskAˣ(227) (Fsk, ll. 1-4); H(21r), Hr(16ra-b) (H-Hr); Flat(192rb) (ll. 5-8, 1-4) (Flat)

Readings: [1] hǫfðusk: hǫfðu 39, ‘hafðez’ FskBˣ    [3] tveir: ‘teír’ Hr    [4] hamalt: ávallt FskBˣ, um allt Flat;    fylkðu: ‘fykðo’ E, fylgðu FskBˣ, ‘fylgtu’ Flat    [5] ók: ok Flat    [7] vasa (‘vara’): varað 39, ‘uorad’ Flat;    Læsum: om. Hr, lesum Flat    [8] liðs‑: lið Flat

Editions: Skj AI, 368, Skj BI, 338, Skald I, 170-1; Hkr 1893-1901, III, 76, IV, 209, ÍF 28, 70, Hkr 1991, 602 (HSig ch. 2), F 1871, 192, E 1916, 34; Fsk 1902-3, 218 (ch. 43), ÍF 29, 228 (ch. 51); Fms 6, 132 (HSig ch. 2), Fms 12, 140;  Flat 1860-8, III, 290, 289, Andersson and Gade 2000, 131, 471 (MH).

Context: After the battle of Stiklestad (Stiklastaðir, 1030), the young Haraldr Sigurðarson makes his way to north-west Russia (Garðaríki), where he is well received by King Jaroslav (Jarizleifr) and put in charge of his defence forces, together with Eilífr, son of Rǫgnvaldr jarl. Flat reports Haraldr’s arrival in Russia, cites Bǫlv Hardr 1 and the second helmingr of the present st., then mentions Haraldr’s position with Jaroslav, with the first helmingr in support.

Notes: [All]: The integrity of the st. is accepted here, as by previous scholars, and the contrast of two positional images, hamalt ‘wedge formation’ (l. 4) of the victors and í ǫngvan krók ‘into a narrow corner’ (l. 6) of their victims, seems felicitous. On the other hand the switch of focus from two leaders in ll. 1-4 to a sg. or impersonal ók ‘drove’ in l. 5 is slightly disconcerting, added to the fact that Fsk only cites the second helmingr, and that Flat (Flat) separates the two helmingar, with the second first. — [1] eitt ‘in a single action’: Lit. ‘a single thing’. The word is adverbial, and hence not governed by at (which would require dat. case); hǫfðusk at ‘engaged’ is intransitive. — [3] tveir hǫfðingjar ‘two chieftains’: Most prose sources seem to understand this as referring to Haraldr and Eilífr, but Flat precedes the first helmingr with a remark that both Jaroslav (Jarizleifr) and Haraldr went raiding with Eilífr for a time. In any event, Sigfús Blöndal suspects the ON sources of exaggerating Haraldr’s role in Jaroslav’s realm (1978, 54-5). — [4] fylkðu hamalt ‘lined up their troops in wedge formation’: The eds of ÍF 28 and 29 explain that this involves forming a shield-wall with shields touching. Hamalt is n. nom. sg. of the adj. hamall ‘mutilated’, used adverbially; there are different theories about the semantic development (e.g. see ÍF 28; AEW: Hamal, hamalt). See also Note to Gísl Magnkv 10/6 and Mark Eirdr 15/3. — [5] ók ‘were driven’: The use is impersonal, with dat. Austr-Vinðum ‘East Wends’. — [7] Læsum ‘Læsir’: LP cites only this instance of the ethnic name, and translates ‘Ljacherne’. ÍF 28 explains that this is a version of an ancient name of the Poles, and cites the Nestorian Chronicle, which records a punitive raid on the Læsir undertaken by Jaroslav and Mstislav in 1031. Hkr 1991 explains the Læsir as a Polish tribe by the Visla (Wisla) river, here standing for Poles in general. — [7, 8] réttr vasa ‘the terms were not’: The expression in the original is grammatically sg. — [8] réttr ‘terms’: The exact sense of réttr m. is difficult to determine. The present translation (that of Andersson and Gade 2000) assumes a sense somewhere between the usual ‘right, law’, and ‘situation, lot’, as in hann ... gǫrði harðan rétt landsmanna ‘he made the lot of the landsmen harsh’ (cited from Ágr, Fritzner: réttr m. 5). However, Finnur Jónsson in Skj takes it to mean ‘pursuit’ (forfølgelse), perhaps influenced by the fact that réttr can also apply to the motion of a ship (Fritzner: réttr m. 7), and in ModIcel. to the autumn round-up of sheep.

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. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
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. Ágr = [Anonymous] Ágrip af Nóregs konunga sögum.
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. 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.
9. Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
10. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
11. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
12. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
13. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
14. Fsk 1902-3 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1902-3. Fagrskinna: Nóregs kononga tal. SUGNL 30. Copenhagen: Møller.
15. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
16. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
17. Internal references
18. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Flateyjarbók’ 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. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=44> (accessed 24 April 2024)
19. (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 24 April 2024)
20. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Haralds saga Sigurðssonar’ 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=142> (accessed 24 April 2024)
21. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Magnúss saga góða ok Haralds harðráða’ 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=147> (accessed 24 April 2024)
22. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Bǫlverkr Arnórsson, Drápa about Haraldr harðráði 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. 286-8.
23. 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.
24. Jayne Carroll (ed.) 2009, ‘Markús Skeggjason, Eiríksdrápa 15’ 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. 445-6.