Anon Óldr 19^I

Frægs stillis varð falla
ferð, en beitt vas sverðum;
endr kom brúnt á branda
blóð; varð autt um góðan.
Auk und jǫfri frœknum
Ormr hrauzk, en felt rauðu
Eireks hirð, áðr yrði
jarls ráð fyrir hjarli.

Ferð frægs stillis varð falla, en beitt vas sverðum; brúnt blóð kom endr á branda; varð autt um góðan. Ormr hrauzk auk und frœknum jǫfri, en hirð Eireks felt rauðu, áðr ráð jarls yrði fyrir hjarli.

The troop of the famous ruler [Óláfr] had to fall, but swords were wielded; brown blood again came onto blades; it became empty around the good man [Óláfr]. Ormr (‘Serpent’) was also cleared under the bold prince, but Eiríkr’s retinue were hooded with red, before the jarl’s rule extended over the land.

Mss: Bb(113ra)

Editions: Skj AI, 577, Skj BI, 572, Skald I, 277; Munch and Unger 1847, 122, 141, Gullberg 1875, 17, 35.

Notes: [4] varð autt ‘it became empty’: I.e. a space was cleared as Óláfr’s warriors fell. — [6] Ormr ‘(“Serpent”)’: Óláfr’s famous warship Ormr inn langi ‘the Long Serpent’, frequently named in contemporary poetry, as well as being the subject of word-play in st. 21/4 below, for example; see also Notes to Hfr ErfÓl 10/1, Hókr Eirfl 3/4. — [6] hrauzk ‘was ... cleared’: On the placing of the verb, see Introduction. — [6] felt rauðu ‘were hooded with red’: Or ‘put on red headgear’ (verb falda ‘to clothe the head’), a conventional circumlocution meaning ‘died in battle’ (LP: 2. falda). The image is one of blood streaming down from a head-wound.

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. Munch, P. A. and C. R. Unger, eds. 1847. Oldnorsk læsebog med tilhörende glossarium. Christiania (Oslo): Dahl.
5. Gullberg, H., ed. 1875. Óláfs drápa Tryggvasonar: fragment ur “Bergsboken”. Lund: Berling.
6. Internal references
7. Kate Heslop (ed.) 2012, ‘Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld Óttarsson, Erfidrápa Óláfs Tryggvasonar 10’ 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. 415.
8. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2012, ‘Halldórr ókristni, Eiríksflokkr 3’ 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. 475.