FriðÞ Lv 5^VIII (Frið 5)

Eigi sér til Alda
— erum út á brim komnir
frægir fylkis drengir —
fyr gerningaveðri.
Ok standa nú allir
— eru Sólundir horfnar —
átján menn í austri,
er Elliða verja.

Sér eigi til Alda fyr gerningaveðri; erum komnir út á brim, frægir drengir fylkis. Ok allir átján menn, er verja Elliða, standa nú í austri; Sólundir eru horfnar.

Alden cannot be seen because of a sorcery-induced storm; we have come out on a rough sea, renowned warriors of a king. And all eighteen men, who defend Elliði, are now engaged in baling out; the Sula islands are out of sight.

Mss: papp17ˣ(358v), 109a IIˣ(146v-147r), 1006ˣ(583), 173ˣ(84v) (Frið)

Readings: [3] frægir: frægðar 1006ˣ, 173ˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 270, Skj BII, 293, Skald II, 154, NN §1471; Falk 1890, 72, Frið 1893, 12, Frið 1901, 17.

Context: As for Frið 4. Further out in the ocean, another enormous storm with great snow-drifts hits the ship and the men have to bale out furiously.

Notes: [All]: This stanza is not in the A redaction mss, though Frið 7, which is very similar to it in content, is present there. Frið 5 in the B mss may have been modelled on the pre-existing Frið 7. Friðþjófs rímur III, 14-15 present similar material. The metre is háttlausa ‘lack of form’, a variant of dróttkvætt lacking internal rhyme. — [1] Alda ‘Alden’: Aldi (ModNorw. Alden) is the name of an island in Sunnfjord, Sogn og Fjordane, west of Atløy; cf. Þul Eyja 2/8^III and Note. This interpretation of all mss’ ‘allda’ follows Skj B and Skald; previous eds (Falk 1890; Frið 1901) have understood the word as gen. pl. of ǫld, pl. aldir ‘men, people’, giving a sense ‘One could not see people because of a sorcery-induced storm’. However, this interpretation is at odds with the sense of the second helmingr of this stanza. — [8] verja ‘defend’: The men ‘defend’ Elliði by continuing to bale out the water it has taken on; otherwise it might sink.

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. Frið 1893 = Larsson, Ludvig, ed. 1893b. Sagan ock rimorna om Friðþiófr hinn frækni. SUGNL 22. Copenhagen: Malmström.
6. Frið 1901 = Larsson, Ludvig, ed. 1901. Friðþjófs saga ins frœkna. ASB 9. Halle: Niemeyer.
7. Falk, Hjalmar. 1890. ‘Om Friðþjófs saga’. ANF 6, 60-102.
8. Internal references
9. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Eyja heiti 2’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 975.
10. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Friðþjófs saga ins frœkna 4 (Friðþjófr Þorsteinsson, Lausavísur 4)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 198.
11. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Friðþjófs saga ins frœkna 5 (Friðþjófr Þorsteinsson, Lausavísur 5)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 200.
12. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Friðþjófs saga ins frœkna 7 (Friðþjófr Þorsteinsson, Lausavísur 7)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 202.