Anon (Mberf) 2^II

Anon (Mberf) 2 is recorded in Mork (Mork) and in mss Kˣ, 39, F, E, J2ˣ and 42ˣ of MberfHkr, as well as in H-Hr (H-Hr) and FskBˣ and FskAˣ (Fsk). The ms. variants show that H, Hr and F are Mork mss and not Hkr mss here, and the critical apparatus has been arranged accordingly. Mork offers the best reading and it is the main ms. The st. is anonymous in all mss, but the poet appears to be a member of Jón Árnason’s household.

Breðr í Bjarkey miðri
ból, þats ek veit gólast;
téra þarft af Þóri
— þýtr vandar bǫl — standa.
Jóan mun eigi frýja
elds né ráns, es kveldar;
svíðr bjartr logi breiðan
bý; leggr reyk til skýja.

Ból, þats ek veit gólast, breðr í miðri Bjarkey; téra þarft standa af Þóri; {bǫl vandar} þýtr. Jóan mun eigi frýja elds né ráns, es kveldar; bjartr logi svíðr breiðan bý; reyk leggr til skýja.

The farm, which I find the best, burns in the middle of Bjarkøy; nothing good will be gained from Þórir; {the destruction of the stick} [FIRE] roars. Jón will not have to complain about a lack of fire or plunder when evening comes; the bright flame scorches the broad farmstead; smoke swirls toward the clouds.

Mss: Mork(21v) (Mork); H(82v), Hr(57vb) (H-Hr); F(57rb); FskBˣ(84v), FskAˣ(333) (Fsk); Kˣ(595r), 39(33vb), E(31v), J2ˣ(306v), 42ˣ(7v) (Hkr)

Readings: [1] Breðr: Brennr FskBˣ, FskAˣ, 39, J2ˣ, 42ˣ, brennt E;    Bjarkey: ‘bærkrey’ FskBˣ    [2] þats (‘þat er’): þat Hr;    gólast: ‘golegst’ FskBˣ, ‘goleghst’ FskAˣ    [3] téra: ‘sera’ F, erat þat FskBˣ, ‘ter eigi’ Kˣ, ‘tǽr eigi’ 39, tér era E, J2ˣ, tér erat 42ˣ;    þarft: þarfir E, J2ˣ;    af: at FskAˣ    [4] þýtr vandar: ‘þvanda’ 42ˣ;    þýtr: þeys H, þrek Hr    [5] Jóan: Jón H, Hr, F, Kˣ, 39, E, J2ˣ, 42ˣ;    frýja: flýja FskBˣ    [6] ráns: ‘rams’ F    [7] svíðr: ‘siðr’ F, sníðr FskBˣ, 42ˣ;    breiðan: brenndan FskBˣ    [8] reyk: reykr E, ‘reik’ J2ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 427-8, Skj BI, 397-8, Skald I, 197; Mork 1867, 135, Mork 1928-32, 304, Andersson and Gade 2000, 290, 484 (Mberf); Fms 7, 10 (Mberf ch. 6); F 1871, 264 (Mberf); ÍF 29, 305 (ch. 80); ÍF 28, 215 (Mberf ch. 5), E 1916, 112.

Context: The st. is recited in 1094 when Steigar-Þórir Þórðarson burns the farmstead in Bjarkøy which belongs to Jón Árnason and his son, Víðkunnr. In Mork and Fsk it is introduced in retrospect after Þórir has been captured by Magnús berfœttr. In Hkr (and H-Hr, which combines the prose of Mork with that of Hkr), the burning takes place when Þórir flees north and before he is captured by Magnús, and the st. is recited on that occasion, as part of the prose narrative.

Notes: [1] í Bjarkey ‘in Bjarkøy’: Island in Troms, Norway, north of Harstad. — [2] ból, þats ek veit gólast ‘the farm, which I find the best’: The anonymous poet must have been present on the occasion when the farm was scorched, and the phrase ‘which I find the best’ (þats ek veit gólast) indicates that he was a member of Jón’s household (see Introduction above). — [3, 4] téra þarft standa af Þóri ‘nothing good will be gained from Þórir’: The verb téa (later tjá) is used as an auxiliary with inf. in an impersonal construction (standa af e-m ‘be gained from, come from sby’). The -a in téra is the negative suffix and þarft n. nom. sg. of the adj. þarfr ‘good, useful’. For Þórir, see SteigÞ Biography. See also SteigÞ Kv, Bkrepp Magndr 2-3, Þham Magndr 1 and Lv 1, Gísl Magnkv 1-8 and Anon (Mberf) 3. — [5] Jóan ‘Jón’: For the disyllabic, early form of this name, see ANG §359.2. Jón Árnason was the father of Víðkunnr Jónsson. See ‘Biographies of Other Dignitaries’ in Introduction to this vol. and Genealogy IX in ÍF 28.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. Andersson, Theodore M. and Kari Ellen Gade, trans. 2000. Morkinskinna: The Earliest Icelandic Chronicle of the Norwegian Kings (1030-1157). Islandica 51. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.
5. ANG = Noreen, Adolf. 1923. Altnordische Grammatik I: Altisländische und altnorwegische Grammatik (Laut- und Flexionslehre) unter Berücksichtigung des Urnordischen. 4th edn. Halle: Niemeyer. 1st edn. 1884. 5th unrev. edn. 1970. Tübingen: Niemeyer.
6. Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
7. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
8. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
9. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
10. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
11. Mork 1867 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1867. Morkinskinna: Pergamentsbog fra første halvdel af det trettende aarhundrede. Indeholdende en af de ældste optegnelser af norske kongesagaer. Oslo: Bentzen.
12. Internal references
13. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Heimskringla’ 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=4> (accessed 24 April 2024)
14. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Fagrskinna’ 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=56> (accessed 24 April 2024)
15. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Hulda-Hrokkinskinna’ 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=84> (accessed 24 April 2024)
16. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Morkinskinna’ 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=87> (accessed 24 April 2024)
17. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Magnúss saga berfœtts’ 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=144> (accessed 24 April 2024)
18. Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘(Biography of) Steigar-Þórir Þórðarson’ 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. 391-2.
19. Kari Ellen Gade and Diana Whaley (eds) 2009, ‘Anonymous Lausavísur, Lausavísur from Magnúss saga berfœtts 2’ 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. 829-30.
20. Kari Ellen Gade and Diana Whaley (eds) 2009, ‘Anonymous Lausavísur, Lausavísur from Magnúss saga berfœtts 3’ 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. 830-1.
21. Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘ Steigar-Þórir Þórðarson, Kviðlingr’ 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. 391-2. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1386> (accessed 24 April 2024)
22. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Bjǫrn krepphendi, Magnússdrápa 2’ 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. 397-8.
23. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Gísl Illugason, Erfikvæði about Magnús berfœttr 1’ 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. 417.
24. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Þorkell hamarskáld, Magnússdrápa 1’ 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. 410-11.