Útsteinn Lv 1^VIII (Hálf 38)

This stanza stands outside the following sequence that constitutes Útsteinskviða ‘Poem of Útsteinn’ (Útkv). In it Útsteinn, who has survived the burning and hall fight described in his dead brother, Innsteinn’s, Innkv, expresses his pleasure that at least one man, himself, is still alive and, by implication, ready to take vengeance on Ásmundr. However, such a statement does not fit well with the following sequence of stanzas (Hálf 39-50) in which the superiority of the Hálfsrekkar is mentioned frequently, but not a final battle against Ásmundr. The content of this stanza provides no reason for its incorporation into Útkv, contrary to the practice of most eds, even though the prose text places it more or less as an introduction to that poem.

Hitt hlægir mik         helzt í máli:
mun ekki Ásmundi         öll vá sofa.
Þrír eru fallnir         af því liði
Eynefs synir,         en einn lifir.

Hitt hlægir mik helzt í máli: öll vá mun ekki sofa Ásmundi. {Þrír synir Eynefs} eru fallnir af því liði, en einn lifir.

This makes me laugh especially about the matter: not all danger will be dormant for Ásmundr. {Three sons of Eynefr <sea-king>} [SEAFARERS] have fallen of this host, yet one lives.

Mss: 2845(37r) (Hálf)

Editions: Skj AII, 262-3, Skj BII, 283-4, Skald II, 149; Hálf 1864, 26, Hálf 1909, 113-14, FSGJ 2, 119, Hálf 1981, 127-8, 186; Edd. Min. 71.

Context: This stanza is preceded by a prose paragraph: Útsteinn was staying with King Eysteinn of Denmark, whose counsellor Úlfr inn rauði ‘the Red’ had eight boisterous sons. They envied Útsteinn and treated him badly, so a dispute arose. First, though, Útsteinn told of King Hálfr’s death. The stanza is introduced by the words: Hann kvað þá ‘He then said’.

Notes: [3, 4] mun … sofa ‘will … be dormant’: Lit. ‘will sleep’. The threat expressed in these lines suggests that Útsteinn is plotting vengeance against Ásmundr, though no known poetic account of this action exists. — [7] þrír synir Eynefs ‘three sons of Eynefr <sea-king> [SEAFARERS]’: A sea-king name, taking the various forms Eynefr, Eynæfir or Eynefir occurs in Þul Sækonunga 2/1^III and as the determinant in kennings for ‘ship’, like Bragi Þórr 2/3^III; see Meissner 220 and Finnur Jónsson (1934-5, 292). It is not clear which three seafarers (i.e. warriors) are referred to here, but the most likely are Útsteinn’s brother Innsteinn, King Hálfr himself and Hrókr inn hvíti, the only ones of the Hálfsrekkar mentioned by name in Innkv.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. Meissner = Meissner, Rudolf. 1921. Die Kenningar der Skalden: Ein Beitrag zur skaldischen Poetik. Rheinische Beiträge und Hülfsbücher zur germanischen Philologie und Volkskunde 1. Bonn and Leipzig: Schroeder. Rpt. 1984. Hildesheim etc.: Olms.
4. FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
5. Edd. Min. = Heusler, Andreas and Wilhelm Ranisch, eds. 1903. Eddica Minora: Dichtungen eddischer Art aus den Fornaldarsögur und anderen Prosawerken. Dortmund: Ruhfus. Rpt. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
6. Finnur Jónsson. 1934-5. ‘Þulur: Søkonge- og jættenavneremserne’. APS 9, 289-308.
7. Hálf 1981 = Seelow, Hubert, ed. 1981. Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka. RSÁM 20. Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar.
8. Hálf 1864 = Bugge, Sophus, ed. 1864. Saga af Hálfi ok Hálfsrekkum. Norrøne Skrifter af sagnhistorisk Indhold 1. Christiania (Oslo): Det Nordiske Oldskriftselskab.
9. Hálf 1909 = Andrews, A. Le Roy, ed. 1909. Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka. ASB 14. Halle: Niemeyer.
10. Internal references
11. Not published: do not cite (Úlfrauð^VIII)
12. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Sækonunga 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. 680.
13. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Bragi inn gamli Boddason, Þórr’s fishing 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. 48.
14. Hubert Seelow (ed.) 2017, ‘Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka 39 (Útsteinn Gunnlaðarson, Útsteinskviða 1)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 336.