Útsteinn Útkv 4^VIII (Hálf 44)

Þótti ekki Hrókum         né Hálfdani
raun at berjaz         við ragmenni,
þá er vér fjórir         falla létum
átta jarla         fyrir Ann*snesi.

Þótti ekki Hrókum né Hálfdani raun at berjaz við ragmenni, þá er vér fjórir létum átta jarla falla fyrir Ann*snesi.

It did not seem a trial to either the Hrókar or Hálfdan to fight against cowardly wretches, when we four slew eight jarls off Annsnes.

Mss: 2845(37v) (Hálf)

Readings: [8] Ann*snesi: ‘annis nesi’ 2845

Editions: Skj AII, 263-4, Skj BII, 285, Skald II, 149; Hálf 1864, 28-9, Hálf 1909, 116, FSGJ 2, 121, Hálf 1981, 128, 188; Edd. Min. 72.

Notes: [All]: This stanza follows a format frequently found in the mannjafnaðr; the speaker refers to his own or his companions’ bravery, implying that it is much greater than that of their cowardly opponents. Frequently a place, often legendary, is mentioned as the site of the battle.  The information that the four Hálfsrekkar slew eight jarls implies that Úlfr’s eight sons do not stand a chance either. — [1] Hrókum ‘the Hrókar’: Two brothers, members of the Hálfsrekkar, Hrókr inn svarti ‘Rook the Black’ and Hrókr inn hvíti ‘Rook the White’. Cf. Hálf 26/1 and Note there. — [2] Hálfdani ‘Hálfdan’: The name of another of the Hálfsrekkar (cf. Hálf 1981, 177). — [4] ragmenni ‘cowardly wretches’: Like dritmenni in l. 7 of the previous stanza, ragmenni is a hap. leg., but is self-evidently formed from the adj. ragr ‘cowardly, unmanly’ plus the n. noun menni ‘people, men’. — [8] fyrir Ann*snesi ‘off Annsnes’: The ms. has ‘annis nesi’, which cannot be accommodated into a metrical line without resorting to tmesis. It is uncertain whether this word is a common noun andnes, annes ‘headland, promontory’ (cf. LP: andnes, and as in Anon Vǫls 1/3^I) or a p. n., though the context suggests the latter.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. 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.
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. Hálf 1981 = Seelow, Hubert, ed. 1981. Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka. RSÁM 20. Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar.
7. Hálf 1864 = Bugge, Sophus, ed. 1864. Saga af Hálfi ok Hálfsrekkum. Norrøne Skrifter af sagnhistorisk Indhold 1. Christiania (Oslo): Det Nordiske Oldskriftselskab.
8. Hálf 1909 = Andrews, A. Le Roy, ed. 1909. Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka. ASB 14. Halle: Niemeyer.
9. Internal references
10. Not published: do not cite (Hróksv^VIII)
11. Hubert Seelow (ed.) 2017, ‘Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka 26 (Innsteinn Gunnlaðarson, Innsteinskviða 7)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 325.
12. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Vǫlsunga saga 1 (Anonymous Lausavísur, Lausavísur from Vǫlsunga saga 1)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 792.