Þskakk Erldr 3^II

Urð dró austan fjarðar
Erlingr at víkingum,
— mein fekk margr af Kœnu
maðr — es hann fór þaðra.
Fœrðr vas fleinn meðal herða
Fríreks; ofarr nekkvi
skolldi óþarfr ǫldum
illgjarn við tré Bjarni.

Erlingr dró urð at víkingum austan fjarðar, es hann fór þaðra; margr maðr fekk mein af Kœnu. Fleinn vas fœrðr meðal herða Fríreks; nekkvi ofarr skolldi illgjarn Bjarni, óþarfr ǫldum, við tré.

Erlingr brought death to the vikings east of the fjord when he went there; many a man got grief from Kœna (‘Little-boat’). The anchor-fluke was placed between Frírekr’s shoulders; somewhat higher up, evil-eager Bjarni, harmful to people, swung from a tree.

Mss: Kˣ(708r), F(81ra), E(68r), J2ˣ(378r), 42ˣ(65v) (Hkr); H(137r), Hr(88vb) (H-Hr)

Readings: [1] dró: þar Hr    [2] at: af J2ˣ    [3] Kœnu: ‘kuænu’ Hr    [5] vas (‘var’): er F, om. Hr    [6] Frí‑: Frið‑ H, Hr;    nekkvi (‘necki’): nǫkkvi all others    [7] skolldi: skelldi F;    óþarfr: óþǫrf E, J2ˣ, 42ˣ, H, Hr;    ǫldum: ǫldu E, J2ˣ, 42ˣ, H, Hr

Editions: Skj AI, 535, Skj BI, 516, Skald I, 252; ÍF 28, 394-5 (MErl ch. 20), F 1871, 372, E 1916, 239; Fms 7, 303-4 (MErl ch. 12).

Context: After the execution of the royal pretender Sigurðr Markússfóstri (1163), some of his former adherents, among them Frírekr kœna and Bjarni inn illi, began to plunder in Viken. Erlingr skakki, who had spent the winter in Kungälv (Kunungahella), went north to Viken and captured the two of them. He bound Fríkekr to an anchor and plunged him into the sea, and he hanged Bjarni.

Notes: [2] Erlingr: For Erlingr, see ‘Biographies of Other Dignitaries’ in Introduction to this vol. — [2] at víkingum ‘to the vikings’: For this term, see Note to Hskv Útdr 1/1, 4. — [3] af Kœnu ‘from Kœna (“Little-boat”)’: Frírekr kœna came from a distinguished family in Trøndelag (see ÍF 28, 394 n. 1), and he had been a follower of Hákon herðibreiðr ‘Broad-shoulder’. After Hákon’s death (7 July 1162), Frírekr joined the forces of Sigurðr Markússfóstri (d. 1163), the son of Sigurðr munnr ‘Mouth’ Haraldsson. — [8] illgjarn Bjarni ‘evil-eager Bjarni’: Also called Bjarni inn illi ‘the Evil’. Bjarni is otherwise unknown, but he may have been identical with Strað-Bjarni ‘Fucked-Bjarni’ who was the companion of Frírekr on an earlier occasion (see ÍF 28, 378).

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. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
5. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
6. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
7. Internal references
8. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Magnúss saga Erlingssonar’ 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=146> (accessed 25 April 2024)
9. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Halldórr skvaldri, Útfarardrápa 1’ 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. 484-5.