ÞjóðA Magnfl 16^II

Rǫnn lézt, ræsir Þrœnda,
— reiðr þorðir bú meiða —
(hús namt hvert ok eisu)
hyrfeld (gefa eldi).
Grôu vildir þú gjalda,
gœðinga vinr, skœðar
— ǫrt renndu þeir undan —
jarls fylgjurum dylgjur.

Lézt rǫnn hyrfeld, {ræsir Þrœnda}; reiðr þorðir meiða bú; namt gefa hvert hús eldi ok eisu. {Vinr gœðinga}, þú vildir gjalda fylgjurum jarls grôu skœðar dylgjur; þeir renndu ǫrt undan.

You made buildings fire-razed, {ruler of the Þrœndir} [NORWEGIAN KING = Magnús]; angry, you dared to damage homesteads; you proceeded to give every house to fire and embers. {Friend of nobles} [RULER], you wanted to pay back the followers of the jarl grimly for their noxious hostilities; they ran rapidly away.

Mss: Kˣ(515v-516r), 39(17va), F(41ra), E(8v), J2ˣ(253r-v) (Hkr); H(11v), Hr(10va-b) (H-Hr)

Readings: [1] Rǫnn: so E, J2ˣ, Rǫnd Kˣ, 39, F, H, Hr;    lézt (‘leztu’): ‘læz þu’ 39, ‘læztv’ F, lét Hr    [2] bú: bý 39, bæ E, J2ˣ, ‘(bv)’ or ‘(þv)’ (?) H, ‘þæ’ Hr    [3] ok: at Hr    [5] Grôu (‘gra’): ‘[…]ra’ 39, gjǫrr H, Hr;    vildir: ‘[…]illdir’ 39;    gjalda: ‘g[…]udn’(?) Hr    [6] gœðinga vinr skœðar: greiðlendinga skeiðum H, Hr;    vinr: so E, J2ˣ, vin Kˣ, 39, F;    skœðar: ‘skioðar’ J2ˣ    [7] ǫrt (‘ꜹrt’): austr H, Hr;    renndu: ‘[…]’ 39, ‘rænðo’ F;    undan: unda Hr    [8] jarls: ‘.J.’ 39, jarl F, jarl ok or of Hr;    fylgjurum: ‘fylgerum’ J2ˣ, fylgara H, ‘fylg[…]’ Hr;    dylgjur: ‘dylgat’ H, dylgju Hr

Editions: Skj AI, 366, Skj BI, 336-7, Skald I, 170, NN §853; Hkr 1893-1901, III, 60, IV, 200, Hkr ÍF 28, 54, Hkr 1991, 592 (Mgóð ch. 31), F 1871, 188, E 1916, 29; Fms 6, 81 (Mgóð ch. 38), Fms 12, 136.

Context: This follows st. 15, uninterruptedly in Hkr, and with a brief link in H-Hr.

Notes: [1] rǫnn ‘buildings’: (a) This reading matches bú ‘homesteads’ and hús ‘houses, buildings’ and allows the syntax of the helmingr to fall quite readily into place. It, and the arrangement set out above, is adopted in all the eds listed above (with Kock offering parallels in NN §853) except those by Finnur Jónsson in Hkr 1893-1901 and Skj B. (b) However, rǫnd ‘shield’ enjoys equally strong, if not stronger, ms. support, and Finnur retains this, taking it as the object of þorðir meiða ‘you dared to harm’ (l. 2) (and Fms naturally retains rǫnd since its text is based on H, Hr). The price is separating bú ‘homesteads’ in l. 2 from þorðir meiða, the verb phrase that surrounds it, and taking together lézt reiðr bú hyrfeld ‘you, angry, made homesteads fire-razed’, all widely spaced in the text. — [4] hyrfeld ‘fire-razed’: This must join rǫnn lézt ‘you made, caused (to be)’ in l. 1 to form ‘you made buildings fire-razed’. The adj. can hardly belong with the couplet in which it is embedded, since giving ‘fire-razed houses’ to the fire would be illogical. — [5] grôu ‘grimly’: Lit. ‘with grey’. The variant reading g(j)ǫrr (so H, Hr) could be either the adj. ‘made, prepared’ or the adv. ‘more completely’.

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. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
7. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
8. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
9. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
10. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
11. Internal references
12. (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 19 April 2024)
13. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Hulda-Hrokkinskinna’ 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=84> (accessed 19 April 2024)