Þstf Lv 2^II

Þú vændir mér, Þrœnda
þengill, ef stef fengak
frænda Serks at fundi,
folkrakkr, gefa nakkvat.
Lézt, at Hôkon héti,
hildingr inn fémildi,
(nú samir mér at minnask)
mǫrstrútr (á þat gǫrva).

{Folkrakkr þengill Þrœnda}, þú vændir gefa mér nakkvat, ef fengak stef at fundi {frænda Serks}. Inn fémildi hildingr, lézt, at Hôkon héti mǫrstrútr; nú samir mér at minnask gǫrva á þat.

{Battle-brave lord of the Þrœndir} [NORWEGIAN KING = Sigurðr], you promised to give me something if I could produce a stanza at the meeting with {Serkr’s kinsman} [= Hákon]. Generous monarch, you said that Hákon was called mǫrstrútr (‘Lump of Lard’); now it’s only fitting for me to recall that perfectly.

Mss: Mork(30r) (Mork); H(108v-109r), Hr(72rb) (H-Hr); F(64va), E(43r), J2ˣ(328v), 42ˣ(26r)

Readings: [1] mér: mik E, J2ˣ, 42ˣ    [3] at: af F    [4] folkrakkr: ‘albrackr’ Hr, folkráðr E;    nakkvat: nǫkkut H, E    [7] nú: enn F;    mér: so all others, om. Mork

Editions: Skj AI, 491, Skj BI, 463-4, Skald I, 228; Mork 1867, 188, Mork 1928-32, 386, Andersson and Gade 2000, 348, 489 (Msona); Fms 7, 153 (Msona ch. 39); F 1871, 299, E 1916, 150 (Msona).

Context: King Sigurðr’s retainer, Árni fjǫruskeifr ‘Shore-skewed’, tricks Þórarinn into believing that the king wishes him to compose a st. about another retainer, Hákon mǫrstrútr ‘Lump of Lard’ Serksson, and to mention Hákon’s name in the st.

Notes: [2] ef fengak stef ‘if I could produce a stanza’: Lit. ‘if I could obtain a refrain’. For the meaning ‘stanza’ of stef, see LP: stef 2. — [7] nú ‘now’: Enn ‘in addition, again, further’ (so F) restores the missing internal rhyme, but the other mss show that it must be a secondary reading.

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. 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.
5. Andersson, Theodore M. and Kari Ellen Gade, trans. 2000. Morkinskinna: The Earliest Icelandic Chronicle of the Norwegian Kings (1030-1157). Islandica 51. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.
6. Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
7. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
8. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
9. Mork 1867 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1867. Morkinskinna: Pergamentsbog fra første halvdel af det trettende aarhundrede. Indeholdende en af de ældste optegnelser af norske kongesagaer. Oslo: Bentzen.
10. Internal references
11. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Magnússona saga’ 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=149> (accessed 20 April 2024)