Arn Lv 1^II

Drengrs í gegn at ganga
— gótts fylgja vel dróttni —
— ǫld leynik því aldri —
ófúss syni Brúsa.
Oss’s, ef jarlar þessir
ógnbráðir til ráðask,
— hǫrð mun vinraun verða —
vandligr kostr fyr hǫndum.

Drengrs ófúss at ganga í gegn {syni Brúsa}; leynik aldri því ǫld; gótts fylgja dróttni vel. Oss’s vandligr kostr fyr hǫndum, ef þessir ógnbráðir jarlar ráðask til; hǫrð vinraun mun verða.

[This] warrior is not keen to go against {the son of Brúsi} [= Rǫgnvaldr]; I shall never conceal that from men; it is good to support one’s lord well. I [lit. we] have a hard choice on my hands, if these battle-hasty jarls attack one another; a harsh ordeal of friendship will come about.

Mss: R702ˣ(39v), Flat(132rb) (Orkn)

Readings: [1] Drengrs (‘Drengr er’): Dreng er Flat    [2] gótts (‘gott er’): gott er at Flat;    vel: om. Flat    [3] ǫld: eld Flat

Editions: Skj AI, 354, Skj BI, 326-7, Skald I, 165; Flat 1860-8, II, 415, Orkn 1913-16, 69-70, ÍF 34, 66-7 (ch. 26); Whaley 1998, 301-2.

Context: Part-way through the sea-battle off Rauðabjǫrg between the jarls Þorfinnr and Rǫgnvaldr, Arnórr is put ashore along with the dead and wounded and speaks the st.

Notes: [All]: For this battle, see also Arn Þorfdr 19-22 (as mentioned above) and BjHall Kálffl 8^I. — [1] drengr ‘[this] warrior’: Arnórr, following a recognised skaldic convention, here uses drengr to refer to himself in the 3rd pers. The semantics of drengr and þegn are examined in Jesch 1993 and Goetting 2006. — [2] fylgja vel ‘support well’: The reading of Flat, (gótts) at fylgja (dróttni) ‘(it is good) to support (one’s lord)’, also makes good sense. — [3] leynik aldri því ǫld ‘I shall never conceal that from men’: The l. is identical with Sigv Lv 23/7^I. — [4] syni Brúsa ‘the son of Brúsi [= Rǫgnvaldr]’: Jarl Rǫgnvaldr Brúsason, nephew of Jarl Þorfinnr Sigurðarson, and dedicatee of Arnórr’s Rǫgndr.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. Whaley, Diana, ed. and trans. 1998. The Poetry of Arnórr jarlaskáld: An Edition and Study. Westfield Publications in Medieval Studies 8. Turnhout: Brepols.
4. 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.
5. ÍF 34 = Orkneyinga saga. Ed. Finnbogi Guðmundsson. 1965.
6. Jesch, Judith. 1993a. ‘Skaldic Verse and Viking Semantics’. In Faulkes et al. 1993, 160-71.
7. Goetting, Lauren. 2006. ‘Þegn and drengr in the Viking Age’. SS 78, 375-404.
8. Orkn 1913-16 = Sigurður Nordal, ed. 1913-16. Orkneyinga saga. SUGNL 40. Copenhagen: Møller.
9. Internal references
10. 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.
11. Alison Finlay (ed.) 2012, ‘Bjarni gullbrárskáld Hallbjarnarson, Kálfsflokkr 8’ 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. 889.
12. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Lausavísur 23’ 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. 728.