Marm Lv 5^VIII (Hálf 10)

Bresta mun baugröst,
brá mær augum
um heruð hingat
hegna til þegna.
Hafa skal hverr drengr
hjörnjóts mörg spjót,
áðr komi mikil fram
málmahríð síðan.

{Baugröst} mun bresta, mær brá augum um heruð hingat til þegna hegna. Hverr drengr {hjörnjóts} skal hafa mörg spjót, áðr {mikil málmahríð} komi fram síðan.

{The ring-path} [SHIELD] will break, the girl flashed her eyes around the district hither to the men of the defenders. Each brave fellow {of the sword-user} [WARRIOR] must have many spears, before {a great weapon-storm} [BATTLE] will then ensue.

Mss: 2845(34r) (Hálf)

Readings: [2] mær: mér 2845    [6] hjörnjóts: ‘híor níot ok’ 2845

Editions: Skj AII, 258, Skj BII, 278, Skald II, 145, NN §2381; Hálf 1864, 11, Hálf 1909, 85, FSGJ 2, 103, Hálf 1981, 114-15, 175; Edd. Min. 91.

Notes: [All]: This stanza is metrically highly irregular, with ll. 2-3 and 5 in fornyrðislag, and the remainder in various metres that Snorri Sturluson exemplified in SnSt Ht 74-8^III; l. 4 is tøglag. — [1] baugröst ‘the ring-path [SHIELD]’: This is the only instance in which the kenning baugröst occurs. However, it belongs to a common pattern of shield-kennings, which alludes to the flat form of the shield (see Meissner 169-70). — [2] mær ‘the girl’: The ms. reads mér ‘to me’, which most eds emend as here. Skj B retains mér and emends augum to fyr augu ‘before my eyes’. — [6] hjörnjóts ‘of the sword-user [WARRIOR]’: The ms. reads ‘híor níot ok’, where ok is represented by a Tironian nota resembling a <z>. This can easily be mistaken for a final <z> denoting the genitive ending <s> and vice versa. The kenning hjörnjótr means ‘sword-owner, sword-user’ or possibly ‘sword-god’, as Njótr is also one of Óðinn’s names (see Meissner 261, 331-2; Þul Óðins 6/6^III and Note). — [8] málmahríð ‘a weapon-storm [BATTLE]’: Skj B, Skald, Hálf 1909 and Edd. Min. emend to málmhríð with the same meaning but one fewer syllable to give a metrically regular line. In NN §2381 Kock expresses disapproval of the eds that needlessly change málmahríð to málmhríð, although málmhríð is printed in Skald. Málmahríð ‘weapon-storm’ is a kenning for ‘fight, battle’. Meissner 180 lists it as málmhríð with three examples. There is evidence that kennings for ‘man’ can also be formed with málm- as well as málma- (see Meissner 312).

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. 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.
6. FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
7. 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.
8. Hálf 1981 = Seelow, Hubert, ed. 1981. Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka. RSÁM 20. Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar.
9. Hálf 1864 = Bugge, Sophus, ed. 1864. Saga af Hálfi ok Hálfsrekkum. Norrøne Skrifter af sagnhistorisk Indhold 1. Christiania (Oslo): Det Nordiske Oldskriftselskab.
10. Hálf 1909 = Andrews, A. Le Roy, ed. 1909. Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka. ASB 14. Halle: Niemeyer.
11. Internal references
13. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Óðins nǫfn 6’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 746.
14. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 74’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1185.