ÞjóðA Har 1^II

Skeið sák framm at flœði,
fagrt sprund, ór ô hrundit;
kennd, hvar liggr fyr landi
lǫng súð dreka ins prúða.
Orms glóa fǫx of farmi
frôn, sízt ýtt vas hônum
— bôru búnir svírar
brunnit goll — af hlunni.

Sák skeið, fagrt sprund, hrundit ór ô framm at flœði; kennd, hvar lǫng súð ins prúða dreka liggr fyr landi. Frôn fǫx orms glóa of farmi, sízt ýtt vas hônum af hlunni; búnir svírar bôru brunnit goll.

I saw the warship, beautiful lady, propelled out of the river onto the ocean; look where the long side-planking of the splendid dragon-ship lies offshore. The gleaming manes of the serpent [dragon-ship] shine out above the cargo, since it was launched from the rollers; the decorated necks bore burnished gold.

Mss: Kˣ(558r), F(48rb-va), E(20v), J2ˣ(281r) (Hkr); 570a(24r) (HÍ); H(55r), Hr(40ra-b) (H-Hr)

Readings: [1] sák (‘sa ec’): sá 570a;    flœði: so F, 570a, H, Hr, ‘floðe’ Kˣ, E, ‘floðe’ or ‘flǫðe’ J2ˣ    [2] ór: í E, H, Hr    [3] kennd (‘kendu’): ‘kendo’ F, ‘kennþv’ H    [4] lǫng: logn 570a;    dreka ins (‘drekans’): ‘drekans’ F, J2ˣ, dreka hins E, H, ‘drecka hinn’ 570a, dreka ens Hr    [5] glóa: so E, 570a, H, Hr, glóar Kˣ, F, J2ˣ;    fǫx (‘faux’): so E, H, fax Kˣ, F, ‘fag’ J2ˣ, ‘fargur’ 570a, vox Hr;    of (‘um’): af E, á 570a, und H, Hr    [6] frôn (‘fran’): so F, E, H, Hr, fráns Kˣ, J2ˣ, fram 570a;    sízt: þvíat H, Hr;    ýtt: út E    [7] búnir svírar: búna svíra 570a    [8] brunnit goll af hlunni: brún veðr at Sigtúnum 570a

Editions: Skj AI, 381, Skj BI, 351, Skald I, 176, NN §3087; Hkr 1893-1901, III, 156, IV, 224, ÍF 28, 141-2, Hkr 1991, 651 (HSig ch. 60), F 1871, 226, E 1916, 72; HÍ 1952, 24; Fms 6, 308 (HSig ch. 76), Fms 12, 153-4. 

Context: In Hkr and H-Hr, Haraldr Sigurðarson builds a new dragon-ship and challenges Sveinn Úlfsson to a battle at the Götaälv (Elfr) to determine who shall rule both of Norway and Denmark. He has the ship launched on Nidelven (the river Nið) and the dragon-heads put in place. HÍ has a long lacuna followed by a passage including the building of the much-admired ship.

Notes: [All]: On the introductory words to the st. and their possible significance, see Introduction. — [3] kennd (imp. sg.) ‘look’: All mss have enclitic -du or similar, which can be removed by routine normalisation. Kock reads kenn, and proposes parallels to the resulting skothending of kenn : land- (NN §3087). Skj B has kend and ÍF 28 Kenndu. — [4] lǫng ‘long’: Poole (1991, 66) notes that the HÍ reading logn has generated the mention of logn ok sólskín ‘calm weather and sunshine’ in the preceding prose. — [5, 6] frôn fǫx orms glóa ‘the gleaming manes of the serpent [dragon-ship] shine’: The reference must be to gold decoration, but it is uncertain whether it applies to the prow and stern of the ship, or only to the prow. (a) The version adopted above, that of E, H and probably Hr, has pl. fǫx glóa ‘manes glow’, and n. nom. pl. frn (ms. ‘fran’) ‘gleaming’ qualifying fǫx. The fact that frn is also found in F although it does not fit grammatically may add support to this reading, as does the praise of the ship’s pl. svírar ‘necks, stems’ in ll. 7-8. (b) The sg. fax glóar is found in Kˣ and F (J2ˣ has ‘fag gloar’), and in Kˣ and J2ˣ the adj. fráns qualifies orms, hence fax fráns orms glóar ‘the mane of the gleaming serpent glows’. This reading has logic on its side insofar as the ship is conceived as a dragon or serpent, and is adopted by most eds. — [8]: In the 570a text, l. 8 has evidently been replaced by the last l. of Arn Magndr 2.

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. HÍ 1952 = Jón Helgason and Jakob Benediktsson, eds. 1952. Hákonar saga Ívarssonar. SUGNL 62. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
12. Poole, Russell. 1991. Viking Poems on War and Peace: A Study in Skaldic Narrative. Toronto Medieval Texts and Translations 8. Toronto, Buffalo and London: University of Toronto Press.
13. Internal references
14. (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 26 April 2024)
15. (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 26 April 2024)
16. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Hákonar saga Ívarssonar’ 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=141> (accessed 26 April 2024)
17. (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 26 April 2024)
18. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Magnússdrápa 2’ 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. 209-10.