Anon Mhkv 30^III

Stjórnlausu hefk slungit saman,
svá vildak …

Hefk slungit saman stjórnlausu, svá vildak …

I have thrown together something rudderless, thus I wished …

Mss: R(55r)

Editions: Skj AII, 136, Skj BII, 145, Skald II, 78; Möbius 1874, 12, Wisén 1886-9, I, 76.

Notes: [All]: The poem ends here, at the bottom of fol. 55r, with six and a half lines of the final stanza missing. — [1] stjórnlausu ‘something rudderless’: The adj. stjǫrnlauss occurs in Hávm 90/8, where the love of false women is likened to steering a rudderless craft in a wild wind. In the present clause, stjǫrnlausu (n. dat. sg.) is used substantivelly as the object of slyngva ‘throw’ which takes the dat. — [1] slungit ‘thrown’: P. p. of slyngva ‘cast, twist’. ESk Geisl 45/3^VII acknowledges the assistance of an informant, Eindriði ungi ‘the Young’, who slǫng ‘flung’ the story into the poem (see Note to ESk Geisl 45/3^VII). Skj B translates the line with a suitably mixed metaphor: noget uden ror (styrelse; ordning) har jeg her slynget (vævet) sammen ‘something without rudder (management; organisation) have I here thrown (woven) together’.  — [2]: Skj B completes the line with mér hitta gaman ‘to find pleasure for myself’. Finnur, in inserting gaman as the last word of the line (rhyming with saman), may have been inspired by the earlier saman : gaman pairings in the poem (sts 1/5-6, 5/1-2 and 22/3-4). If his completion of the line is correct, the ending of Mhkv would recall that of Svart Skauf 42^VIII: Hefir bálk þennan | og barngælur | sett og samið | Svartr á Hofstöðum | mier til gamans | en meinþurðar | meingi ófróðu; | mun eg nú þagna ‘Svartr á Hofstöðum has composed and put together this poem and nursery rhyme for the pleasure of myself and [for] the entertainment of an ignorant multitude; now I shall be silent’.

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. Wisén, Theodor, ed. 1886-9. Carmina Norrœnæ: Ex reliquiis vetustioris norrœnæ poësis selecta, recognita, commentariis et glossario instructa. 2 vols. Lund: Ohlsson.
5. Möbius, Theodor. 1874. ‘Malshatta-kvædi’. ZDP Ergänzungsband, 3-73, 615-16.
6. Internal references
7. Kari Ellen Gade 2017, ‘(Biography of) Svartr á Hofstöðum’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 948.
8. Roberta Frank 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Málsháttakvæði’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1213. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1029> (accessed 6 May 2024)
9. Martin Chase (ed.) 2007, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Geisli 45’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 44.
10. Not published: do not cite ()
11. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Svartr á Hofstöðum, Skaufhala bálkr 42’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 984.