Þloft Tøgdr 1^I

Knútrs und sólar.
Siðnæmr með lið
fór mjǫk mikit
minn vinr þinig.
Fœrði ór -firði
fimr gramr Lima-
út ólítinn
otrheims flota.

Knútrs und sólar … Siðnæmr vinr minn fór þinig með mjǫk mikit lið. Fimr gramr fœrði ólítinn flota {otrheims} út ór Limafirði.

Knútr is under the sun’s … My custom-practised friend went there with a very great force. The skilful lord brought no small fleet {of the otter-world} [SEA] out from Limfjorden.

Mss: Kˣ(428r) (Hkr); Holm2(57r), J2ˣ(206r-v), Bæb(2va), 68(56v), Holm4(54va), 61(115va), 75c(38v), 325V(67va) (ll. 1-6), 325VII(31r), 325XI 2 g(3rb), Flat(118va), Tóm(145v) (ÓH); DG8(96r) (ÓHLeg); FskAˣ(179-180) (Fsk)

Readings: [1] Knútrs (‘Knutr er’): knútr var 61, Flat, Tóm, DG8, ‘Kn[…]’ 75c;    und: ‘[…]nd’ 75c;    sólar: himnum FskAˣ    [2] Sið‑: siðr DG8, hlið FskAˣ;    ‑næmr: nær Flat, ‘neme’ Tóm    [4] minn: ‘[…]’ 75c;    vinr: vin Holm2;    þinig: þannig Tóm    [5] Fœrði: ferði Bæb, fœrðr Flat;    ór: ok 68, ‘yr’ 75c;    ‑firði: ‘firþ̄’ 68    [6] fimr gramr Lima‑: flot heims gota 325V;    fimr: fira 61, 75c, 325VII, Flat, Tóm    [7] út ólítinn: ‘óólitin’ DG8    [8] otrheims: ‘otreims’ Holm2, ‘ortreins’ 325XI 2 g

Editions: Skj AI, 322, Skj BI, 298, Skald I, 151, NN §§2516, 2782, 3080; Hkr 1893-1901, II, 397, IV, 152, ÍF 27, 308 (ÓHHkr ch. 172); ÓH 1941, I, 474 (ch. 166), Flat 1860-8, II, 306; ÓHLeg 1922, 71, ÓHLeg 1982, 168-9; Fsk 1902-3, 171 (ch. 28), ÍF 29, 191-2 (ch. 33).

Context: Stanzas 1-6 are quoted continuously, with no intermediate prose, in ÓH-Hkr and ÓHLeg; Fsk only has sts 1-4, also continuously. In each case the citation follows, and authenticates, an account (of varying fullness) of King Knútr’s journey from Denmark north along the Norwegian coast, and in ÓH-Hkr it forms part of a chapter featuring Þórarinn.

Notes: [All]: In ÓHLeg the stanzas are cited from a drápa about Knútr, while Fsk designates the poem as a kvæði. ÓH-Hkr follows an account of Þórarinn’s earlier poem Hfl with Þórarinn orti aðra drápu um Knút konung, er kǫlluð er Tøgdrápa. Í þeiri drápu er sagt frá þessum ferðum Knúts konungs, er hann fór ór Danmǫrku sunnan til Nóregs, ok er þetta einn stefjabálkr ‘Þórarinn composed another drápa about King Knútr, which is called Tøgdrápa. In that drápa these journeys of King Knútr are told about, when he went from Denmark north to Norway, and this is one stefjabálkr’ (ÍF 27, 308). — [1] Knútrs und sólar ‘Knútr is under the sun’s’: This is the first half of the klofastef ‘split refrain’ for the poem, but the second half is not extant, nor does this line recur in the poem as preserved. The obvious comparison is with the klofastef of Sigv Knútdr: Knútrs und himnum | hǫfuðfremstr jǫfurr ‘Knútr is the most eminent king under the heavens’ (see Note to Sigv Knútdr 3/1). Sveinbjörn Egilsson (quoted in ÍF 27) proposed setri hveim betri as the completion of Þórarinn’s klofastef, but this is hypermetrical. — [2] siðnæmr ‘custom-practised’: ON siðr can mean ‘custom, manners’ or ‘religious faith’. The cpd is a hap. leg. in poetry, though it occurs in prose in Konungs skuggsjá (see Fritzner: siðnæmr), and suggests Knútr’s Christian courtliness. — [4] vinr minn ‘my friend’: Hofmann (1955, 94-5) suggests OE influence here, citing such parallels as wine mīn in Beowulf ll. 457 and 1704 (Beowulf 2008, 18, 57). — [4] þinig ‘there’: That is, to Norway (so ÍF 27 and 29). The use of this adv. suggests that the poem was not composed or recited in Norway itself, though it is possible that þinig can mean ‘(to) here’ as well as ‘(to) there’ (see Fritzner, LP: þinig). — [5, 6] Limafirði ‘Limfjorden’: For the use of tmesis to accommodate a p. n. in skaldic lines, see Note to Hfr Óldr 2/7, 8; for another probable play on the p. n. Limafjǫrðr, see Glúmr Gráf 11/4 and Note. Limfjorden is a major fjord in northern Jutland. This stanza would seem to add to the evidence that it was navigable to the west at this period; see Note to Sigv Knútdr 8/8. — [8] otrheims ‘of the otter-world [SEA]’: This it taken here with flota ‘fleet’, to refer to sea-going ships, and this interpretation is favoured by Kock (NN §2782, also ÍF 27 and 29). These eds also mention the alternative possibility (adopted in Skj B) that otrheims has the sense ‘to sea’, as an adverbial gen. of direction (on which, see NS §141; Poole 2004).

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. 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. Flat 1860-8 = Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and C. R. Unger, eds. 1860-8. Flateyjarbók. En samling af norske konge-sagaer med indskudte mindre fortællinger om begivenheder i og udenfor Norge samt annaler. 3 vols. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
7. Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
8. NS = Nygaard, Marius. 1906. Norrøn syntax. Kristiania (Oslo): Aschehoug. Rpt. 1966.
9. ÓH 1941 = Johnsen, Oscar Albert and Jón Helgason, eds. 1941. Saga Óláfs konungs hins helga: Den store saga om Olav den hellige efter pergamenthåndskrift i Kungliga biblioteket i Stockholm nr. 2 4^to med varianter fra andre håndskrifter. 2 vols. Det norske historiske kildeskriftfond skrifter 53. Oslo: Dybwad.
10. ÓHLeg 1982 = Heinrichs, Anne et al., eds and trans. 1982. Olafs saga hins helga: Die ‘Legendarische Saga’ über Olaf den Heiligen (Hs. Delagard. saml. nr. 8^II). Heidelberg: Winter.
11. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
12. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
13. Beowulf 2008 = Fulk, Robert D., Robert E. Bjork and John D. Niles, eds. 2008. Klaeber’s Beowulf and the Fight at Finnsburg. 4th rev. edn of Beowulf and the Fight at Finnsburg, ed. Fr. Klaeber. Toronto, Buffalo and London: University of Toronto Press.
14. Fsk 1902-3 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1902-3. Fagrskinna: Nóregs kononga tal. SUGNL 30. Copenhagen: Møller.
15. Hofmann, Dietrich. 1955. Nordisch-englische Lehnbeziehungen der Wikingerzeit. BA 14. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
16. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
17. ÓHLeg 1922 = Johnsen, Oscar Albert, ed. 1922. Olafs saga hins helga efter pergamenthåndskrift i Uppsala Universitetsbibliotek, Delagardieske samling nr. 8^II. Det norske historiske kildeskriftfond skrifter 47. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad.
18. Poole, Russell. 2004. ‘Adverbial Genitives in Skaldic Poetry’. MS 104, 115-31.
19. Internal references
20. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Óláfs saga helga (Legendary)’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=31> (accessed 20 April 2024)
21. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Fagrskinna’ 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=56> (accessed 20 April 2024)
22. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Óláfs saga helga (in Heimskringla)’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=152> (accessed 20 April 2024)
23. Matthew Townend 2012, ‘ Sigvatr Þórðarson, Knútsdrápa’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 649. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1356> (accessed 20 April 2024)
24. Alison Finlay (ed.) 2012, ‘Glúmr Geirason, Gráfeldardrápa 11’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 260.
25. Matthew Townend (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Knútsdrápa 3’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 653.
26. Matthew Townend (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Knútsdrápa 8’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 659.
27. Not published: do not cite ()
28. Not published: do not cite ()
29. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2012, ‘Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld Óttarsson, Óláfsdrápa 2’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 393.