Þskúm Lv 1^I

Hefk í hendi         til hǫfuðs gerva
beinbrot Búa         bǫl Sigvalda
vô víkinga         vǫrn Hôkunar.
Sjá skal verða,         ef vér lifum,
eikikylfa         óþǫrf Dǫnum.

Hefk í hendi gerva til hǫfuðs beinbrot Búa, bǫl Sigvalda, vô víkinga, vǫrn Hôkunar. Sjá eikikylfa skal verða óþǫrf Dǫnum, ef vér lifum.

I have in my hand readied against heads [lit. to the head] the bone-breaker of Búi, the ruin of Sigvaldi, the woe of vikings, the defence of Hákon. This oaken club shall prove unhelpful to the Danes, if we [I] live.

Mss: 291(34v), 7(36v), Flat(25rb), 510(59r-v) (Jvs); FskBˣ(28v), FskAˣ(105-106) (Fsk, ll. 1-4, 7-10); W(114) (FoGT)

Readings: [1] Hefk (‘hefi ek’): hefir W    [7] verða: so 7, Flat, 510, W, vera 291, FskBˣ, FskAˣ    [8] ef: er FskBˣ    [9] eiki‑: ‘alre’ FskAˣ;    ‑kylfa: kylfan 510, W, klubba FskBˣ, FskAˣ    [10] ó‑: so all others, ‘ô’ 291

Editions: Skj AI, 117, Skj BI, 111-12, Skald I, 63; Fms 11, 130, Fms 12, 238, Flat 1860-8, I, 189, Jvs 1875, 28, Jvs 1879, 73-4, Jvs 1882, 111, Jvs 1962, 34, Jvs 1969, 180; Fsk 1902-3, 95 (ch. 20), ÍF 29, 132 (ch. 22); SnE 1848-87, II, 212, FoGT 1884, 131, 262-4, FoGT 2004, 112-13.

Context: Four Icelanders are named among the troops fighting for the Norwegian jarls against the Jómsvíkingar at Hjǫrungavágr (Liavågen), though there is some difference between Jvs and Fsk, and among the Jvs mss, as to the individuals named. Fsk remarks that the memory of the battle has been maintained in Iceland, partly through poetry, partly through other narratives. The stanza is attributed to one of the Icelanders before the fighting started: he is swinging a club, and answers in verse when the jarl asks what this signifies. In Jvs, this is (Þorleifr) skúma, responding to Eiríkr jarl Hákonarson, while in Fsk it is Vígfúss Víga-Glúmsson, responding to Hákon jarl Sigurðarson, and the stanza is followed by the words Þá kvað hann ok þetta ‘Then he also spoke this’ and Vígf Lv. In FoGT, the stanza is attributed to ‘Þorleifr’, and offered as an example of what some call emphasis, in which a weapon, here kylfa ‘club’, is referred to or distinguished by the work it does.

Notes: [All]: The stanza is followed in FoGT by a comment on its mixed imagery, which, it is said, Óláfr [Þórðarson] calls finngálknat ‘monstrous’, compared with the harmonized imagery which is preferable in extended poems and even individual verses. — [All]: The stanza consists of ten lines rather than the more conventional eight, and Fsk omits lines 5-6 (Finnur Jónsson in Skj B prints these in brackets). Meanwhile, doubt has been cast over ll. 3-4. Björn Magnússon Ólsen (FoGT 1884, 263-4) noted that omitting them obviates some problems in the stanza, especially in l. 2. Firstly, til hǫfuðs ‘against heads’ or lit. ‘to the head’ is obscure since nothing in ll. 1-4 specifies whose head, and secondly, in an otherwise straightforward stanza, it is awkward that gerva (f. acc. sg.) in l. 2 is immediately followed by beinbrot n. ‘bone-breaker, bone-breaking’ in l. 3. To the latter problem the main solutions Björn mentions are that gerva ‘readied’ qualifies an unspoken kylfu (f. acc. sg.) ‘club’; that it qualifies v (f. acc. sg.) ‘woe’ in l. 5; or (his favoured option), that ll. 3-4 should be omitted. He suggests that this would also allow for víkinga (gen. pl.) ‘of vikings’ to function both with vô ‘woe’ and with hǫfuðs ‘head’ (cf. FoGT 2004, where hǫfuðs víkinga ‘head(s) of the vikings’ is construed together, leaving vô ‘woe’ unqualified and referring to the club). — [3, 4] Búa ... Sigvalda ‘of Búi ... of Sigvaldi’: Búi digri ‘the Stout’ Vésetason and Sigvaldi jarl Strút-Haraldsson, two leaders of the Jómsvíkingar at Hjǫrungavágr; an early skaldic reference to these two is in Tindr Hákdr 2/2, 4.  — [6] Hôkunar ‘of Hákon’: Hákon jarl Sigurðarson, leader of the Norwegians at Hjǫrungavágr; for Hákon, the battle and skaldic poetry associated with it, see further ‘Ruler biographies’ in Introduction to this volume.

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. SnE 1848-87 = Snorri Sturluson. 1848-87. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar: Edda Snorronis Sturlaei. Ed. Jón Sigurðsson et al. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Legatum Arnamagnaeanum. Rpt. Osnabrück: Zeller, 1966.
5. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
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. Fsk 1902-3 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1902-3. Fagrskinna: Nóregs kononga tal. SUGNL 30. Copenhagen: Møller.
8. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
9. FoGT 1884 = Björn Magnússon Ólsen, ed. 1884. Den tredje og fjærde grammatiske afhandling i Snorres Edda tilligemed de grammatiske afhandlingers prolog og to andre tillæg. SUGNL 12. Copenhagen: Knudtzon.
10. FoGT 2004 = Longo, Michele, ed. [2004]. ‘Il Quarto Trattato Grammaticale Islandese: Testo, Traduzione e Commento’. Dottorato di Ricerca in ‘Linguistica Sincronica e Diacronica’ (XV Ciclo). Palermo: Università degli Studi di Palermo, Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia.
11. Jvs 1879 = Petersens, Carl af, ed. 1879. Jómsvíkinga saga (efter Cod. AM. 510, 4:to) samt Jómsvíkinga drápa. Lund: Gleerup.
12. Jvs 1882 = Petersens, Carl af, ed. 1882. Jómsvíkinga saga efter Arnamagnæanska handskriften No. 291 4:to i diplomatariskt aftryck. SUGNL 7. Copenhagen: Berling.
13. Jvs 1962 = Blake, N. F., ed. and trans. 1962. The Saga of the Jomsvikings. London etc.: Nelson.
14. Jvs 1969 = Ólafur Halldórsson, ed. 1969a. Jómsvíkinga saga. AM 291 4to. Reykjavík: Prentsmiðja Jóns Helgasonar HF.
15. Jvs 1875 = Cederschiöld, Gustaf J. Chr., ed. 1875. Jómsvíkinga saga: efter skinnboken no: 7, 4:to å Kungl. biblioteket i Stockholm. Lund: Berling.
16. Internal references
17. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, The Fourth Grammatical Treatise’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=34> (accessed 19 April 2024)
18. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Jómsvíkinga saga’ 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=51> (accessed 19 April 2024)
19. (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 19 April 2024)
20. Diana Whaley 2012, ‘(Biography of) Vígfúss Víga-Glúmsson’ 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. 361.
21. Diana Whaley 2012, ‘ Vígfúss Víga-Glúmsson, Lausavísa’ 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. 364. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1500> (accessed 19 April 2024)
22. Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Tindr Hallkelsson, Hákonardrápa 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. 341.