Arn Hryn 14^II

Hefnir, fenguð yrkisefni,
Ôleifs; gervik slíkt at môlum;
Hlakkar lætr þú hrælǫg drekka
hauka; nú mun kvæði aukask.
Fjórar hefr þú, randa rýrir
reyrar setrs, á einum vetri
— allvaldr, estu ofvægr kallaðr —
ǫrva hríðir frœkn of gǫrvar.

{Hefnir Ôleifs}, fenguð yrkisefni; gervik slíkt at môlum; þú lætr {hauka Hlakkar} drekka {hrælǫg}; nú mun kvæði aukask. {Rýrir {setrs {reyrar randa}}}, þú hefr frœkn of gǫrvar {fjórar hríðir ǫrva} á einum vetri; allvaldr, estu kallaðr ofvægr.

{Avenger of Óláfr} [= Magnús], you furnished matter for the verse; I fashion such [deeds] into words; you allow {hawks of Hlǫkk <valkyrie>} [RAVENS/EAGLES] to drink {the corpse-sea} [BLOOD]; now the poem will swell. {Diminisher {of the home {of the reed of shields}}} [SWORD > SHIELD > WARRIOR], you have, daring, performed {four blizzards of arrows} [BATTLES] in one season; mighty ruler, you are called invincible.

Mss: Kˣ(519r), 39(18ra), F(41va), E(9v), J2ˣ(256r) (Hkr); H(13r), Hr(11rb) (H-Hr); 20dˣ(16v), 873ˣ(16v), 1005ˣ(3v), 19ˣ(1v) (Knýtl, ll. 5-8)

Readings: [3] þú: om. E, J2ˣ    [5] randa rýrir: rimmur reyrar 1005ˣ, ‘rumnur reyrar’ 19ˣ    [6] setrs: setr H, Hr;    vetri: ‘vettri’ F    [7] ofvægr: ‘ofueg’ 20dˣ    [8] ǫrva hríðir: ‘aurferd hirder’ 1005ˣ, 19ˣ;    frœkn of (‘frǫcn um’): frœkn ok E, ‘frækinn’ H, Hr, ‘frønk um’ 873ˣ, ‘frægn af’ 1005ˣ;    gǫrvar: gjǫrvan 1005ˣ, 19ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 336, Skj BI, 309, Skald I, 157; Hkr 1893-1901, III, 70, ÍF 28, 64, Hkr 1991, 598-9 (Mgóð ch. 35), F 1871, 191, E 1916, 32; Fms 6, 91 (Mgóð ch. 41), Fms 12, 140; ÍF 35, 131 (Knýtl ch. 22); Whaley 1998, 171-3.

Context: In Hkr and H-Hr, Magnús winters peacefully in Denmark after his victory off Helgenæs (Helganes) and the flight of Sveinn Úlfsson (see Note to st. 15/6), and two sts are quoted to summarise his achievements, first Okík Magn 1 and then st. 14. In Knýtl, Magnús, it is stated, fought four battles in Denmark against Sveinn Úlfsson—at Ærø (Erri), off Århus (Áróss), at Copenhagen (Hǫfn) and on Fyn (Fjón), and there were further, lesser, engagements.

Notes: [All]: The st. is ascribed in Knýtl to Arnórr jarlaskáld in Magnússdrápa; the title is not specified in Hkr or H-Hr. — [2] môlum ‘words’: Kreutzer (1977, 86) cites this context as a particularly clear case of ml being used specifically to refer to the poetry itself, as opposed to the yrkisefni ‘matter for verse, for composition’ (l. 1). The translation here preserves the broader, more basic sense of ml, ‘words, speech’. — [5, 8] fjórar hríðir ǫrva ‘four blizzards of arrows [BATTLES]’: The ‘four battles’ fought in a single season (lit. ‘winter’) are probably those of Wollin (Jóm), Rügen (Ré), Århus (Áróss) and Lyrskovshede (Hlýrskógsheiðr), all fought in 1043, and the st. seems to have been understood so by Snorri (Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson, ÍF 28). The author of Knýtl, as the context there suggests, thought otherwise. That the victory at Lyrskovshede followed the sacking of Wollin/Jóm is probable (so all but one version of the Icel. annals for 1043, Storm 1888, 17, 108, 317 and 469, with p. 58 as the exception; Schreiner 1930-3, 39 favoured dating Lyrskovshede before Wollin).

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. Kreutzer, Gert. 1977. Die Dichtungslehre der Skalden: Poetologische Terminologie und Autorenkommentare als Grundlage einer Gattungspoetik. 2nd edn. Hochschulschriften: Literaturwissenschaft 1. Meisenheim am Glan: Hain.
5. Storm, Gustav, ed. 1888. Islandske annaler indtil 1578. Christiania (Oslo): Det norske historiske kildeskriftfond. Rpt. 1977. Oslo: Norsk-historisk kjeldeskrift-institutt.
6. Whaley, Diana, ed. and trans. 1998. The Poetry of Arnórr jarlaskáld: An Edition and Study. Westfield Publications in Medieval Studies 8. Turnhout: Brepols.
7. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
8. ÍF 35 = Danakonunga sǫgur. Ed. Bjarni Guðnason. 1982.
9. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
10. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
11. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
12. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
13. Schreiner, Johan. 1930-3. ‘Magnus Olavsson og Danmark’. HT(N) 29, 37-42.
14. Internal references
15. (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 27 April 2024)
16. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Knýtlinga saga’ 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=19> (accessed 27 April 2024)
17. (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 27 April 2024)
18. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Oddr kíkinaskáld, Poem about Magnús góði 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. 32.