Anon Mhkv 13^III

Afli of deilir sízt við sjá;
Sǫrli sprakk af gildri þrá;
stundum þýtr í logni lá;
litlu verr, at ráðak fá.
Mǫrgum þykkir fullgótt fé;
frænuskammr er inn deigi lé;
kvæðit skal með kynjum alt;
konungs morginn er langr á valt.

Afli of deilir sízt við sjá; Sǫrli sprakk af gildri þrá; stundum þýtr lá í logni; litlu verr, at ráðak fá. Mǫrgum þykkir fé fullgótt; frænuskammr er inn deigi lé; alt kvæðit skal með kynjum; morginn konungs er á valt langr.

One contends least in strength with the sea; Sǫrli burst from great longing; at times the surf resounds in a calm; it hardly matters that I prevail but little. To many a man wealth seems good enough; of short sharpness is the soft scythe; the whole poem shall be really strange; a king’s morning is always long.

Mss: R(54v)

Readings: [8] er: ‘e[...]’ R, er RFJ;    langr: ‘l[...]ngr’ R, langr RFJ

Editions: Skj AII, 133, Skj BII, 141, Skald II, 75; Möbius 1874, 7, Wisén 1886-9, I, 74.

Notes: [1] of: Correct use of the expletive particle (see Note to st. 10/5). — [2] Sǫrli: Unidentified hero (not the brother of Hamðir, cf. Bragi Rdr 5/5). Christiansen (1931, 413-16) suggests Seurlus, son of the king of Bergen in a Gaelic ballad, whose heart and ribs broke when he swam out to sea after his mermaid-lover. — [3]: Cf. the portent in Orkneyinga saga (Orkn ch. 47, ÍF 34, 106): boði fell í logni ‘a breaker fell from a calm sea’. — [7] með kynjum ‘really strange’: Lit. ‘with portents, wonders’, i.e. ‘remarkable, odd, peculiar’. This phrase must refer to the non-traditional content of the poem. — [8]: Cf. Sigv Lv 11/3-4^I langrs morginn konungs ‘long is the king’s morning’. — [8] á valt ‘always’: Usually spelled as one word ávalt. The adv. alliterates on v- in Gamlkan Has 59/5^VII, Anon Leið 34/5^VII and Anon Nkt 14/5^II, suggesting that whatever its true etymology (AEW: ávalt), by C12th it had been reinterpreted as á + valt. See also Note to st. 26/1.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. Wisén, Theodor, ed. 1886-9. Carmina Norrœnæ: Ex reliquiis vetustioris norrœnæ poësis selecta, recognita, commentariis et glossario instructa. 2 vols. Lund: Ohlsson.
4. ÍF 34 = Orkneyinga saga. Ed. Finnbogi Guðmundsson. 1965.
5. Christiansen, Reidar Thoralf. 1931. The Vikings and the Viking Wars in Irish and Gaelic Tradition. Oslo: Dybwad.
6. Möbius, Theodor. 1874. ‘Malshatta-kvædi’. ZDP Ergänzungsband, 3-73, 615-16.
7. Internal references
8. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Orkneyinga 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=47> (accessed 25 April 2024)
9. Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Leiðarvísan 34’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 170-1.
10. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Anonymous Poems, Nóregs konungatal 14’ 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, pp. 770-1.
11. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Bragi inn gamli Boddason, Ragnarsdrápa 5’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 35.
12. Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Gamli kanóki, Harmsól 59’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 126.
13. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Lausavísur 11’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 712.