ÞjóðA Sex 25^II

Refsir reyndan ofsa
ráðgegn Haraldr þegnum;
hykk, at hilmis rekkar
haldi upp, þvís valda.
Sverðs hafa slíkar byrðar
— sanns nýtr hverr við annan —
— Haraldr skiptir svá heiptum —
hljótendr, es sér brjóta.

Ráðgegn Haraldr refsir þegnum reyndan ofsa; hykk, at rekkar hilmis haldi upp, þvís valda. {Hljótendr sverðs} hafa slíkar byrðar, es brjóta sér; hverr nýtr sanns við annan; Haraldr skiptir svá heiptum.

The purposeful Haraldr punishes his retainers for their proven arrogance; I think the prince’s warriors are paying for what they start. {The possessors of the sword} [WARRIORS] have such burdens as they break off for themselves; each gains what is right from the other; Haraldr deals out hostility in this way.

Mss: Kˣ(586v-587r), papp18ˣ(277r), 39(32ra), F(54ra-b), E(29r), J2ˣ(300r-v) (Hkr); H(77v), Hr(55ra) (H-Hr)

Readings: [1] Refsir: Refsar H, Hr    [2] Haraldr: konungr H, Hr    [5] Sverðs: sverð J2ˣ    [6] nýtr: so 39, F, E, J2ˣ, H, Hr, lýtr Kˣ, papp18ˣ    [8] sér: svá 39

Editions: Skj AI, 375, Skj BI, 344-5, Skald I, 173, NN §1228; Hkr 1893-1901, III, 220, IV, 242, ÍF 28, 199, Hkr 1991, 690 (HSig ch. 99), F 1871, 253, E 1916, 102; Fms 6, 429 (HSig ch. 124), Fms 12, 168.

Context: Continuing the epitaph to Haraldr (see previous Context), the author describes his imposing appearance and his ruthlessness in quelling opposition.

Notes: [5, 8] hafa slíkar byrðar, es brjóta sér ‘have such burdens as they break off for themselves’: The sense seems to be that the rebels bring trouble on themselves and have to live with it; the specific reference of the idiom could be to gathering wood. — [6] sanns ‘what is right’: This is gen. sg. (governed by the verb njóta ‘gain’) of sannr m. ‘truth, rectitude, fairness’. The exact sense is disputed, most eds assuming some variant on ‘justice’, while Kock argued for ‘decency’ (anständighet, skick, höviskhet) here and in the five other contexts for the noun listed in LP (NN §1228).

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. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
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. 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), ‘ 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 2 May 2024)