ÞjóðA Magn 10^II

Nú taka Norðmenn knýja
— nær gǫngum vér stǫngum —
(berkak) Magnúss merki
(minn skjǫld á hlið sjaldan).
Skýtra skeifum fœti
Skáney yfir sláni
— fár vegr es mér fegri
fundinn — suðr til Lundar.

Nú taka Norðmenn knýja merki Magnúss; vér gǫngum nær stǫngum; berkak sjaldan skjǫld minn á hlið. Sláni skýtra skeifum fœti yfir Skáney suðr til Lundar; fár vegr es fundinn fegri mér.

Now the Norwegians start to press forward Magnús’s banners; we march close to the standard-poles; it’s not seldom that I carry my shield [lit. I don’t carry seldom my shield] at my side. The lanky fellow [I, the skald] does not dash with foot aslant across Skåne south to Lund; few routes have seemed lovelier to me.

Mss: Kˣ(517v), 39(17vb), F(41rb), E(9r), J2ˣ(254v-255r) (Hkr); H(12v), Hr(11ra) (H-Hr)

Readings: [2] gǫngum: gǫngu E, Hr;    stǫngum: stǫngu Hr    [4] skjǫld: ‘skialld’ H;    á: so all others, om. Kˣ    [5] Skýtra: ‘skytrað’ H, ‘skytrað ek’ Hr    [6] Skáney: Skáni E    [7] fár vegr: so 39, F, H, Hr, ‘farvegr’ Kˣ, fagr vegr E

Editions: Skj AI, 378, Skj BI, 347-8, Skald I, 175; Hkr 1893-1901, III, 66, IV, 204, ÍF 28, 59-60, Hkr 1991, 595-6 (Mgóð ch. 33), F 1871, 189, E 1916, 30-1; Fms 6, 87 (Mgóð ch. 40), Fms 12, 138.

Context: Pursuing Sveinn Úlfsson after the battle of Helgenæs (Helganes), Magnús harries Skåne (Skáney).

Notes: [5] skýtra skeifum fœti ‘does not dash with foot aslant’: I.e. he marches straight ahead. — [6] sláni ‘the lanky fellow [I, the skald]’: Given the reference to mér ‘me’ in l. 7, this may well denote the skald. Konráð Gíslason suggested the sense that in the rapid advance even the clumsy one among ‘us’ (the Norwegians) abandoned his meandering gait (Nj 1875-8, II, 97). These two assumptions seem more likely than a reference to the people of Skåne (Skáney), direct and swift in their flight, as suggested in ÍF 28 (also Hkr 1991).

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. Nj 1875-89 = Konráð Gíslason and Eiríkur Jónsson. 1875-89. Njála: Udgivet efter gamle håndskrifter. Íslendingasögur udgivne efter gamle haandskrifter af Det Kongelige Nordiske Oldskrift-selskab 4. Copenhagen: Thiele.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
6. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
7. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
8. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.