Anon (Orkn) 1^II

Heyrik hitt, en órir
hafa dolgar skap folgit,
þengill ríkr, af þingi
þann kvitt búandmanna,
at valdandar vildi,
vargseðjandi, margir,
at þú vigg á brim byggir
brands en Pál at landi.

Heyrik hitt, ríkr þengill, af þingi—en dolgar órir hafa folgit skap—, þann kvitt búandmanna, at margir valdandar vildi, {vargseðjandi}, at þú byggir {vigg brands} á brim en Pál at landi.

I hear this, mighty lord, from the assembly—and our enemies have concealed intent—, the rumour of the landowners that many powerful men wished, {wolf-sater} [WARRIOR], that you should occupy {the steed of the prow} [SHIP] on the sea and that Páll should be on the land.

Mss: Flat(137vb), R702ˣ(42r) (Orkn)

Readings: [1] en: so R702ˣ, at Flat;    órir: œrit R702ˣ    [5] vildi: so R702ˣ, veldi Flat    [7] vigg: vígs R702ˣ;    brim: ‘brun’ R702ˣ    [8] Pál: Páll R702ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 594, Skj BI, 595, Skald I, 290, NN §1231; Flat 1860-8, II, 459, Orkn 1887, 125, Orkn 1913-16, 184, ÍF 34, 166 (ch. 73), Bibire 1988, 227.

Context: On hearing that Rǫgnvaldr Kali Kolsson has come to Orkney and enjoys the support of many, his rival jarl, Páll Hákonarson, calls an assembly to take the advice of his followers. Rǫgnvaldr has several spies (njósnarmenn) at the meeting and one of them, a poet (skáld eitt), reports back to him in the words of this st.

Notes: [All]: Rǫgnvaldr returned to Orkney in the spring of 1137 (ÍF 34, lxxxvi). — [3] af þingi ‘from the assembly’: Kock (NN §1231) suggests that because the poet was present this should be translated as ‘at the assembly’ rather than ‘from the assembly’ but the sense seems rather to be that he is bringing the news from the assembly. — [4-8]: According to the saga prose, while some wanted Páll to divide the rule of Orkney with Rǫgnvaldr, most of the powerful men wanted to buy Rǫgnvaldr off. — [5] valdandar ‘powerful men’: Skj B puts this word in quotation marks and does not translate it. For Kock (NN §1231), its Gmc cognates suggest a meaning of ‘lord, ruler’ but this is not entirely appropriate for the context and other C12th-C13th occurrences refer to the Christian God (ESk Geisl 1/2^VII (in a variant), Anon Lil 4/8^VII). The saga prose refers to ríkismenn ‘men of power’ and this more general meaning is also appropriate for the st.

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. Flat 1860-8 = Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and C. R. Unger, eds. 1860-8. Flateyjarbók. En samling af norske konge-sagaer med indskudte mindre fortællinger om begivenheder i og udenfor Norge samt annaler. 3 vols. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
6. ÍF 34 = Orkneyinga saga. Ed. Finnbogi Guðmundsson. 1965.
7. Orkn 1913-16 = Sigurður Nordal, ed. 1913-16. Orkneyinga saga. SUGNL 40. Copenhagen: Møller.
8. Bibire, Paul. 1988. ‘The Poetry of Earl Rǫgnvaldr’s Court’. In Crawford 1988, 208-40.
9. Orkn 1887 = Gudbrand Vigfusson 1887-94, I.
10. Internal references
11. Martin Chase (ed.) 2007, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Geisli 1’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 7.
12. Martin Chase (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Lilja 4’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 566-7.