Arn Hardr 3^II

Hrauð, sás hvergi flýði,
heiðmærr Dana skeiðir
glaðr und golli roðnum,
geirjalm, konungr hjalmi.
Skjaldborg raufsk, en skúfar
— skaut hoddglǫtuðr oddum
bragna brynjur gǫgnum
buðlungr — of ná sungu.

Heiðmærr konungr, sás hvergi flýði {geirjalm}, hrauð glaðr und golli roðnum hjalmi skeiðir Dana. Skjaldborg raufsk, en skúfar sungu of ná; {hoddglǫtuðr}, buðlungr, skaut oddum gǫgnum brynjur bragna.

The bright-renowned king, who nowhere fled {spear-clangour} [BATTLE], cleared, glad under gold-reddened helmet, the warships of the Danes. The shield-wall shattered, and swords sang out over corpses; {the hoard-destroyer} [GENEROUS RULER], the monarch, shot spear-points through the mail-coats of warriors.

Mss: Mork(13r) (Mork); Flat(200va) (Flat); H(56v), Hr(41rb) (H-Hr)

Readings: [2] ‑mærr (‘mær’): so H, Hr, ‘mę́irr’ Mork, mildr Flat;    skeiðir: skeiðar Flat    [3] und: so H, Hr, und und Mork, með Flat;    golli: ‘glle’ Hr    [4] hjalmi: hjalm Flat, hjalma Hr    [5] Skjald‑: so H, Hr, skald‑ Mork, skjall‑ Flat;    raufsk: so H, Hr, rauzk Mork, Flat;    skúfar: skúfa Flat    [6] skaut: so all others, skautt Mork;    hoddglǫtuðr: ‘haudd glautundr’ Flat, hodd hrǫðuðr Hr;    oddum: broddum H, Hr    [7] brynjur: ‘brynir’ Flat    [8] buðlungr: buðlung Flat

Editions: Skj AI, 349, Skj BI, 322, Skald I, 163, NN §838; Mork 1928-32, 212, Andersson and Gade 2000, 230-1, 478 (MH); Flat 1860-8, III, 363 (MH); Fms 6, 318 (HSig ch. 78), Fms 12, 157; Whaley 1998, 272-3.

Context: In Mork and Flat, the st. follows immediately upon st. 2. In H-Hr, the brief statement is interjected, that Sveinn’s ship was so thoroughly cleared that all its crew were dead but for those who had leapt into the sea or onto smaller ships.

Notes: [2] heiðmærr ‘bright-renowned’: The spelling ‘mę́iʀ’ in Mork must be a corruption of mærr in H, Hr, while Flat’s mildr ‘mild, generous’ is probably secondary. Heið- is here equated with the adj. heiðr ‘clear, bright, radiant’ or the related noun heið f. ‘brightness of the sky’; cf. the figurative heiðr orðrómr ‘radiant reputation’ (SnSt Ht 14/1, 8^III). Heiðr m. ‘honour, glory’ is also possible, but would be tautological in this cpd. The first element could alternatively be heið f. ‘gift, reward, pay’ as in heiðmaðr, heiðþegi, of men in a ruler’s pay, hence heiðmærr ‘renowned for bounty’. — [5] skúfar ‘swords’: Skúfr, in the sense ‘sword’, otherwise only occurs in Þul Sverða 2/1^III (mss ‘stvfr’ and ‘skofr’), where the entry could well derive from Arnórr’s verse. Skúfr may originally have meant ‘sword with a tassel at the hilt’, since the same form is recorded in prose with the sense ‘tassel, tuft’ (Falk 1914, 60; Alexander Jóhannesson 1951-6, 821). — [8] buðlungr ‘the monarch’: (a) This nom. sg. form is taken above in apposition to hoddglǫtuðr ‘hoard-destroyer’, as subject to the verb skaut ‘shot’ (l. 7). (b) The Flat variant buðlung does not make sense in the context. (c) Finnur Jónsson in Skj B emended to gen. sg. buðlungs, which he took with skjaldborg (l. 5), hence ‘the prince’s shield-wall’; Kock (NN §838) preferred skúfar buðlungs ‘the prince’s swords’.

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. Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
6. Alexander Jóhannesson. 1951-6. Isländisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2 vols. Bern: Franke.
7. 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.
8. Whaley, Diana, ed. and trans. 1998. The Poetry of Arnórr jarlaskáld: An Edition and Study. Westfield Publications in Medieval Studies 8. Turnhout: Brepols.
9. Falk, Hjalmar, ed. 1914a. Sólarljóð. Videnskapsselskapets skrifter II. Hist.-filos. kl. 7. 2 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad.
10. 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.
11. Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
12. Internal references
13. 2022, ‘ Anonymous, Heiðarvíga saga’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 983-1009. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=6> (accessed 18 April 2024)
14. 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 367. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=23> (accessed 18 April 2024)
15. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Flateyjarbók’ 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. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=44> (accessed 18 April 2024)
16. (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 18 April 2024)
17. (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 18 April 2024)
18. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Haralds saga Sigurðssonar’ 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=142> (accessed 18 April 2024)
19. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Magnúss saga góða ok Haralds harðráða’ 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=147> (accessed 18 April 2024)
20. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Sverða heiti 2’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 791.
21. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 14’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1118.