Bǫlv Hardr 1^II

Mildingr, straukt of mækis
munn, es lézt af gunni;
holds vannt hrafn of fylldan
hrás; þaut vargr í ási.
En, gramr — né frák fremra
friðskerði þér verða —
austr vast ár it næsta,
ǫrðuglyndr, í Gǫrðum.

Mildingr, straukt of munn mækis, es lézt af gunni; vannt of fylldan hrafn hrás holds; vargr þaut í ási. En, ǫrðuglyndr gramr, it næsta ár vast austr í Gǫrðum; né frák {friðskerði} verða fremra þér.

Generous one, you wiped the sword’s mouth when you had finished the fight; you filled the raven with raw flesh; the wolf howled on the hill. And, resolute ruler, the following year you were east in Russia; I never heard of {a peace-diminisher} [WARRIOR] becoming more distinguished than you.

Mss: Kˣ(521v), 39(18vb), F(42ra), E(10r), J2ˣ(257r-v) (Hkr); Holm2(69r), 972ˣ(538va), 972ˣ(538vb), 321ˣ(260), 73aˣ(203v), Holm4(64vb), 325VII(39r) (l. 1), 325V(82rb), 61(126rb), Tóm(156v), Bb(199vb) (ÓH); FskBˣ(60r), FskAˣ(226) (Fsk); H(21r), Hr(16ra) (H-Hr); Flat(192rb) (Flat)

Readings: [1] Mildingr: Mildr Tóm, Bb, Mildingar FskBˣ;    straukt: strauk 321ˣ, Flat, ‘streytu’ FskBˣ;    of mækis: ‘[…]’ 325VII    [2] lézt: hann lét 321ˣ, ‘bort’ 73aˣ    [3] holds: ‘hollz’ 39, J2ˣ, Holm2, 325V, FskBˣ, FskAˣ, Hr, Flat, ‘helldz’ 321ˣ, ‘hellzt’ 73aˣ, hollr 61, Tóm, Bb;    vannt: vann E, J2ˣ, FskAˣ;    fylldan: ‘főlldan’ 972ˣ(538vb), fallinn Tóm    [4] hrás: ‘hrass’ 321ˣ, ‘hars’ 73aˣ, 325V, hræs Tóm, ‘ræss’ FskBˣ;    þaut: þraut 321ˣ;    vargr: ‘isings’ 73aˣ, ulfr 61, Tóm, Bb;    í ási: vargi 73aˣ    [5] En: om. 73aˣ, ‘eingan’ Hr;    gramr: gram Holm4, mann Hr;    né: en 61;    frák (‘ec fra’): ‘ek freg’ Flat;    fremra: ‘fremro’ 73aˣ, fremri 325V    [6] friðskerði: friðskerðir 39, 61, Tóm, Bb, H, Hr, folkherði E, folkherðir J2ˣ, Flat;    þér: þar 972ˣ(538vb), 321ˣ, þeir 73aˣ, 325V    [7] vast (‘vartu’): komtu E, J2ˣ, Holm2, 972ˣ(538va), 972ˣ(538vb), 321ˣ, 73aˣ, Holm4, 325V, 61, Tóm, Bb, vanntu Hr;    ár it næsta: r in næstu H, Hr    [8] ǫrðuglyndr: ǫrðiglyndr F, E, J2ˣ, Holm4, 325V, FskAˣ, Hr, ǫrðiglundr Holm2, 61, Tóm, ‘aurdiglindr’ 972ˣ(538va), 321ˣ, 73aˣ, ‘aurdiglunder’ 972ˣ(538vb), ‘ordvnlundr’ Bb, ‘orðuglindr’ FskBˣ, ‘auro᷎glyndr’ Flat;    í: á 972ˣ(538va);    Gǫrðum: garða 73aˣ, Holm4, 325V, 61, Bb, garði Tóm

Editions: Skj AI, 385, Skj BI, 355, Skald I, 178; ÍF 28, 69-70 (HSig ch. 2), F 1871, 193, E 1916, 34; ÓH 1941, I, 581 (ch. 232); ÍF 29, 227 (ch. 51); Fms 6, 131-2 (HSig ch. 2); Flat 1860-8, III, 289, Mork 1928-32, 58, Andersson and Gade 2000, 131, 471 (MH).

Context: After the battle of Stiklestad in 1030, Haraldr escaped to Sweden. The next summer (1031) he sought refuge with Jaroslav of Novgorod in Russia, where he spent some years in Jaroslav’s army.

Notes: [All]: For Haraldr’s escape from Stiklestad and the ensuing events, see also Hharð Gamv 1, Hharð Lv 1-2a, 2b and ÞjóðA Sex 1. His stay with Jaroslav is documented in ÞjóðA Run 1, 3. See also Sigfús Blöndal 1978, 54-5. — [1-2] munn mækis ‘the sword’s mouth’: A fairly common image referring to the blade of the sword (see LP: munnr; Falk 1914, 17). It is not quite clear what type of sword was meant by mækir (see Falk 1914, 14-16). — [4] vargr ‘the wolf’: The variant ulfr ‘wolf’ (so 61, Tóm, Bb) renders the l. unmetrical (two alliterating staves in an even l.). — [6] friðskerði ‘peace-diminisher [WARRIOR]’: The variant folkherði ‘battle-increaser’ (so E, J2ˣ, Flat) is possible but lower on the stemma. — [7] it næsta ár ‘the following year’: Most of the Hkr mss and Fsk give the reading it næsta ár vast austr í Gǫrðum ‘the following year you were east in Russia’. That information is, however, somewhat at odds with the prose, because Haraldr spent several years with Jaroslav. Some of the ÓH mss (and E, J2ˣ) try to remedy that by replacing vast ‘were’ with komt ‘came’: it næsta ár komt austr í Garða ‘the following year you came east to Russia’. The H-Hr variant r in næstu ‘the following years’ is in keeping with the prose. — [8] ǫrðuglyndr ‘resolute’: Lit. ‘upright-minded’. The suffixes -ug and -ig (ǫrðiglyndr) represent two different grades of ablaut, and both forms are acceptable. — [8] í Gǫrðum ‘in Russia’: See Note to Hharð Gamv 1/7.

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. 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.
5. 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.
6. Falk, Hjalmar, ed. 1914a. Sólarljóð. Videnskapsselskapets skrifter II. Hist.-filos. kl. 7. 2 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad.
7. 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.
8. ÓH 1941 = Johnsen, Oscar Albert and Jón Helgason, eds. 1941. Saga Óláfs konungs hins helga: Den store saga om Olav den hellige efter pergamenthåndskrift i Kungliga biblioteket i Stockholm nr. 2 4^to med varianter fra andre håndskrifter. 2 vols. Det norske historiske kildeskriftfond skrifter 53. Oslo: Dybwad.
9. Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
10. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
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. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
14. Sigfús Blöndal. 1978. The Varangians of Byzantium: An Aspect of Byzantine Military History. Trans. and rev. Benedikt S. Benedikz. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. First published 1954 as Væringja saga. Reykjavík: Ísafoldarprentsmiðja.
15. Internal references
16. (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 23 April 2024)
17. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Óláfs saga helga’ 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=53> (accessed 23 April 2024)
18. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Fagrskinna’ 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=56> (accessed 23 April 2024)
19. (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)
20. (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 23 April 2024)
21. (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)
22. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Haraldr harðráði Sigurðarson, Lausavísur 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, pp. 42-3.
23. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Haraldr harðráði Sigurðarson, Gamanvísur 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. 36.
24. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Þjóðólfr Arnórsson, Runhent poem about Haraldr 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, pp. 103-5.
25. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Þjóðólfr Arnórsson, Sexstefja 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, pp. 112-13.