Arn Magndr 13^II

Dǫrr lét drengja harri
drjúgspakr af þrek fljúga
— glœddi eldr af oddum —
almi skept á hjalma.
Létat hilmir hneiti
Hǫgna veðr í gǫgnum
— jôrn flugu þykkt sem þyrnir —
þél harðara sparðan.

Drjúgspakr harri drengja lét dǫrr, skept almi, fljúga af þrek á hjalma; eldr glœddi af oddum. Hilmir létat hneiti, harðara þél, sparðan í gǫgnum {veðr Hǫgna}; jôrn flugu þykkt sem þyrnir.

The ever-wise lord of warriors made spears, hafted with elm, fly powerfully at helmets; flame sparked from spear-points. The ruler did not allow his sword, harder than a file, to be spared throughout {the wind-storm of Hǫgni <legendary hero>} [BATTLE]; iron missiles flew thick as thorns.

Mss: H(12r), Hr(10vb) (H-Hr); Flat(191vb) (Flat)

Readings: [3] glœddi: ‘glæde’ Flat    [4] skept: skeptr Hr, skreyttr Flat    [5] hilmir: hilmi Flat    [6] Hǫgna: hugnar Flat;    gǫgnum: ‘gegvm’ Hr    [7] þykkt: þykk Flat    [8] harðara: ‘ard adra’ Flat

Editions: Skj AI, 342, Skj BI, 314, Skald I, 159, NN §823; Fms 6, 84 (Mgóð ch. 40), Fms 12, 137; Flat 1860-8, III, 283, Andersson and Gade 2000, 123-4, 470 (MH); Whaley 1998, 208-9.

Context: Magnús fights a great battle off Helgenæs (Helganes). In H-Hr the st. is cited as evidence that Magnús shot hand-missiles all night long.

Notes: [2] drjúgspakr ‘ever-wise’: The cpd is not recorded elsewhere in ON, but drjúg- as an intensive occurs, e.g. in drjúghvast ‘very sharply’ (see LP). — [5] hneiti ‘sword’: See Note to ÞjóðA Magnfl 18/6. — [6] veðr Hǫgna ‘the wind-storm of Hǫgni <legendary hero> [BATTLE]’: The name Hǫgni denotes three legendary figures in ON poetry, but if the reference is at all specific here, it might be to Hǫgni Gjúkason, the Burgundian hero, brother of Gunnarr, since Gjúki’s descendants are also mentioned in klæði ættar Gjúka ‘raiment of the offspring of Gjúki [ARMOUR]’ in Arn Hryn 9/6-7. Perhaps influenced by this clothing metaphor, Finnur Jónsson in Skj B printed Hǫgna væðr ‘Hǫgni’s garb [ARMOUR]’ in this st., but the graph <e> in the orthography of Hr and Flat does not usually stand for normalised <æ>; the form væðr is rejected by Kock in NN §823.

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. LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
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. 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. Internal references
11. (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 23 April 2024)
12. (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 23 April 2024)
13. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Hrynhenda, Magnússdrápa 9’ 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. 193-4.
14. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Þjóðólfr Arnórsson, Magnússflokkr 18’ 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. 85-6.