Bjbp Jóms 7^I

Hvervetna frák heyja
Harald bardaga stóra;
þeir ruðu bitra branda
bǫðgjarnastir niðjar.
Sjá knáttu þar síðan
siðfornir glym járna;
þótti þeim at efla
þǫrf Véseta arfa.

Frák Harald heyja stóra bardaga hvervetna; þeir bǫðgjarnastir niðjar ruðu bitra branda. Síðan knáttu siðfornir sjá þar {glym járna}; þótti þeim þǫrf at efla {arfa Véseta}.

I have heard that Haraldr fought great battles everywhere; those extremely battle-eager kinsmen reddened sharp blades. Then heathens could see there {the crash of iron weapons} [BATTLE]; it seemed necessary to them to support {the heir of Véseti} [= Búi].

Mss: R(53v)

Editions: Skj AII, 2, Skj BII, 2, Skald II, 2, NN §2162 anm.; Fms 11, 164-5, Fms 12, 242, Jvs 1879, 106-7.

Notes: [All]: The verse-form fjórðungalok ‘couplets’ closure’ is used here; cf. Note to st. 2 [All]. — [2] Harald ‘Haraldr’: Two rulers named Haraldr belong to the previous generation to the one commemorated in the poem (see Context to st. 10). Skj B takes this as King Haraldr blátǫnn ‘Blue-tooth’ Gormsson, but Strút-Haraldr ‘Jutting-hood-Haraldr’ is more likely (so Fms 12), since like Búi, mentioned in l. 8, he is a Jómsvíkingr, and since the term siðfornir ‘heathens’ in l. 6 would be apt for him but not for Haraldr blátǫnn, who famously converted to Christianity. — [3, 4] þeir bǫðgjarnastir niðjar ‘those extremely battle-eager kinsmen’: Presumably, if the above identification of Haraldr as Strút-Haraldr is correct, these are Strút-Haraldr’s sons, Sigvaldi and Þorkell inn hávi ‘the Tall’. The adj. (bǫðgjarnastir ‘extremely battle-eager’) is in the strong form here, as also in st. 14/2, 3, 4 sá frœkn Hamðis faldruðr ‘that brave bush of the hood of Hamðir <legendary hero> [(lit. hood-bush of Hamðir) HELMET > WARRIOR]’ and st. 27/6, 7 þeir gunnrakkastir gumnar ‘those extremely battle-bold men’. In noun phrases of this structure (demonstrative sá/sú/þat + adj. + noun), there are skaldic examples of both weak and strong adjectives (see LP: sá 1). The strong form may have been favoured in the Jóms examples since in all three the demonstrative and adj. are not consecutive. — [5, 6] sjá þar glym járna ‘see there the crash of iron weapons [BATTLE]’: So also Fms 12. The inf. verb sjá ‘see’ is compatible with the referent of the kenning, battle, but not with the base-word glym ‘crash, tumult’. In Skj B and Skald, arfa Véseta ‘the heir of Véseti [= Búi]’ is taken as the object of sjá and glym járna ‘crash of iron weapons [BATTLE]’ as the object of efla ‘support’ in the intercalary clause. — [6] siðfornir ‘heathens’: Hap. leg.; more literally, ‘custom-old, of the old faith or custom’, designating the Jómsvíkingar fighting with Búi. The Christian faith was called nýr siðr ‘the new custom’ (see Fritzner: siðr 2, and cf. Note to Þloft Tøgdr 1/2). — [8] þǫrf ‘necessary’: Lit. ‘a necessity’. The vows that the Jómsvíkingar made to support Búi in his attack on Hákon jarl Sigurðarson became a major element in the legend (see sts 11-14 and Contexts). — [8] arfa Véseta ‘the heir of Véseti [= Búi]’: Véseti is said to have ruled Borgundarhólmr (Bornholm; e.g. Jóms 1879, 30), and to have had three children: Búi digri ‘the Stout’, Sigurðr hvíti ‘the White’ or kápa ‘Cloak’ and Þorgunna, wife of Áki Pálna-Tókason and mother of Vagn (ibid., 30-1).

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. Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
8. Jvs 1879 = Petersens, Carl af, ed. 1879. Jómsvíkinga saga (efter Cod. AM. 510, 4:to) samt Jómsvíkinga drápa. Lund: Gleerup.
9. Internal references
10. Emily Lethbridge 2012, ‘ Bjarni byskup Kolbeinsson, Jómsvíkingadrápa’ 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. 954. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1122> (accessed 20 April 2024)
11. Emily Lethbridge (ed.) 2012, ‘Bjarni byskup Kolbeinsson, Jómsvíkingadrápa 18’ 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. 974.
12. Matthew Townend (ed.) 2012, ‘Þórarinn loftunga, Tøgdrápa 1’ 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. 852.