ÞjóðA Magn 13^II

Fjǫrð lét fylkir verða
forntraddan mó spornat
(leynumk lítt) á Fjóni
(liðs skjǫldunga á miðli).
Muna fyr Magnús synja
menn Sveins, þeirs nú renna,
— upp fara mǫrg í morgin
merki — stórra verka.

Fjǫrð lét fylkir verða spornat forntraddan mó á Fjóni; leynumk lítt á miðli liðs skjǫldunga. Menn Sveins, þeirs nú renna, muna synja stórra verka fyr Magnús; mǫrg merki fara upp í morgin.

Last year the ruler had [men] tramp the anciently-trodden moor [lit. had the moor ancient-tramped] on Fyn; we [I] hardly hide in the midst of the princes’ troop. Sveinn’s men, who are now fleeing, will not deny great deeds on Magnús’s part; many banners mount aloft this morning.

Mss: Kˣ(518r), 39(17vb-18ra), F(41rb), E(9r), J2ˣ(255r) (Hkr); H(12v), Hr(11ra) (H-Hr)

Readings: [2] ‑traddan: ‘‑trodna’ Hr    [3] leynumk: leynisk H, Hr    [4] liðs: lið H, Hr;    á: om. H, í Hr    [7] fara: so 39, F, H, Hr, fyrir Kˣ, frá E, J2ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 378-9, Skj BI, 348, Skald I, 175; Hkr 1893-1901, III, 67, IV, 205, ÍF 28, 61, Hkr 1991, 596 (Mgóð ch. 33), F 1871, 190, E 1916, 31; Fms 6, 88 (Mgóð ch. 40), Fms 12, 139.

Context: This follows Magn 12 without interruption in most Hkr mss and with a brief link in J2ˣ and H-Hr.

Notes: [1] fjǫrð ‘last year’: So most eds. Fms 12 took fjǫrð/fjörð-fylkir ‘fjord-leader’ as a term for the king of Norway. — [4] liðs skjǫldunga ‘the princes’ troop’: There is no obvious reason for the plurality of princes here, for Magnús alone dominates poetry and prose, and modern eds seem to have been untroubled by the pl., translating it as sg. There is no sg. skjǫldungi of which this could be gen. sg., and a better explanation might be that skjǫldunga has a general, quasi-adjectival sense ‘fit to serve princes’, or else that the gen. pl. is used for metrical reasons. Fms 12 explains that the troops of the enemy kings are close together, but the sg. liðs tells against that. — [5] muna ‘will not’: A contraction of 3rd pers. pl. pres. indic. munu and the negative suffix -a. — [8] upp ‘aloft’: Some eds take this to mean ‘up onto the land’ (op på land, Hkr 1893-1901, IV and Skj B, cf. Hkr 1991, 596), which is entirely possible but has not been chosen here since sts 6 and 7 otherwise focus on the image of pursuit across the landscape.

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. 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. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
9. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
10. Internal references
11. (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 18 April 2024)
12. (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 18 April 2024)
13. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Þjóðólfr Arnórsson, Stanzas about Magnús Óláfsson in Danaveldi 12’ 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. 99-100.