Arn Hryn 16^II

Ótti, kunnuð elgjum hætta
œðiveðrs á skelfðan grœði,
fengins golls, eða fœðið ella
flestan aldr und drifnu tjaldi.
Glíkan berr þik hvǫssum hauki,
hollvinr minn, í lypting innan
— aldri skríðr und fylki fríðra
farligt eiki — Visundr snarla.

{Ótti fengins golls}, kunnuð hætta {elgjum œðiveðrs} á skelfðan grœði, eða fœðið ella flestan aldr und drifnu tjaldi. Visundr berr þik snarla glíkan hvǫssum hauki, hollvinr minn, innan í lypting; farligt eiki skríðr aldri und fríðra fylki.

{Terror of seized gold} [GENEROUS MAN], you know how to risk {elks of the raging gale} [SHIPS] on the piled-up swell, or else you pass the most part of your life under the spray-drenched awnings. Visundr (‘Bison’) carries you swiftly, like a keen hawk, my true friend, inside the after-deck; a goodly oaken ship will never glide beneath a finer prince.

Mss: Mork(5v) (Mork); Flat(196ra) (Flat); H(33r), Hr(24ra) (H-Hr); W(168) (SnE, ll. 1-4); 2368ˣ(112), 743ˣ(86r) (LaufE)

Readings: [2] á: um W, 2368ˣ, 743ˣ;    skelfðan: skelfan Flat, skelfar Hr    [4] flestan: ‘fræmztan’ W, ‘fremz umm’ 2368ˣ, ‘fremz um’ 743ˣ;    drifnu: ‘drifu’ Flat    [7] fríðra: so H, Hr, frægra Mork, Flat    [8] far‑: fagr‑ Flat;    eiki Visundr: ‘eikiu sund’ Flat, ‘eiki vishundr’ Hr

Editions: Skj AI, 337, Skj BI, 310, Skald I, 157; Mork 1928-32, 117, Andersson and Gade 2000, 166, 474 (MH); Flat 1860-8, III, 322 (MH); Fms 6, 196 (HSig ch. 24), Fms 12, 147-8; SnE 1848-87, II, 498; LaufE 1979, 370; Whaley 1998, 1745-6.

Context: In Mork, Flat and H-Hr, the st. is embedded, like st. 3, in the story of Arnórr’s recitation at the court of Magnús and Haraldr. In SnE, the first helmingr is preceded by a list of agent nouns and other terms which can be used in man-kennings, including ótti ‘terror’ which is exemplified here.

Notes: [1, 3] ótti fengins golls ‘terror of seized gold [GENEROUS RULER]’: The fengit ‘seized’ gold could have been won as war-spoils or else inherited or received as taxation. — [4] drifnu tjaldi ‘the spray-drenched awnings’: The same phrase, in the pl. drifin tjǫld, is found in Þhorn Harkv 5/8^I (c. 900). The word tjald generally refers to a land-tent, or to awnings which protected seafarers and their cargo, especially in harbour. Jesch (2001a, 164-5) suggests that tjald here, as in Arn Þorfdr 19/6, could refer to a sail rather than awnings; she notes the use of sædrifinn ‘sea-drenched, foam-sprayed’ to describe a sail in Gísl Magnkv 14/7. — [5] glíkan hvǫssum hauki ‘like a keen hawk’: The hawk image is discussed in the Note to st. 3/5. — [7] fríðra ‘finer’: That fríðra (so H, Hr) rather than Mork and Flat’s frægra ‘more famous’ is the original reading is established by the aðalhending with skríðr ‘will glide’. — [8] Visundr ‘(“Bison”)’: See Note to ÞjóðA Magnfl 4/8.

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. SnE 1848-87 = Snorri Sturluson. 1848-87. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar: Edda Snorronis Sturlaei. Ed. Jón Sigurðsson et al. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Legatum Arnamagnaeanum. Rpt. Osnabrück: Zeller, 1966.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. LaufE 1979 = Faulkes, Anthony, ed. 1979. Edda Magnúsar Ólafssonar (Laufás Edda). RSÁM 13. Vol. I of Two Versions of Snorra Edda from the 17th Century. Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar, 1977-9.
6. 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.
7. Jesch, Judith. 2001a. Ships and Men in the Late Viking Age: The Vocabulary of Runic Inscriptions and Skaldic Verse. Woodbridge: Boydell.
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. 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.
10. Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
11. Internal references
12. Edith Marold 2017, ‘Snorra Edda (Prologue, Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál)’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols [check printed volume for citation].
13. (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 16 April 2024)
14. (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 16 April 2024)
15. (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 16 April 2024)
16. (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 16 April 2024)
17. (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 16 April 2024)
18. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Þorfinnsdrápa 19’ 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. 251-2.
19. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Gísl Illugason, Erfikvæði about Magnús berfœttr 14’ 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. 426.
20. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Þorbjǫrn hornklofi, Haraldskvæði (Hrafnsmál) 5’ 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. 98.
21. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Þjóðólfr Arnórsson, Magnússflokkr 4’ 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. 68-9.