Eyv Hál 2^I

Þann skjaldblœtr
skattfœri gat
Ása niðr
við járnviðju,
þás þau mær
í manheimum
skatna vinr
ok Skaði byggðu,
sævar beins,
ok sunu marga
ǫndurdís
við Óðni gat.

{Skjaldblœtr niðr Ása} gat {þann skattfœri} við járnviðju, þás þau mær, {vinr skatna} ok Skaði, byggðu í {{{sævar beins} man}heimum} ok {ǫndurdís} gat marga sunu við Óðni.

{The shield-worshipped kinsman of the Æsir <gods>} [= Óðinn] begat {that tribute-bringer} [JARL = Sæmingr] with the female from Járnviðr, when those renowned ones, {the friend of warriors} [= Óðinn] and Skaði [giantess], lived in {the lands {of the maiden {of the bone of the sea}}} [(lit. ‘maiden-lands of the bone of the sea’) ROCK > GIANTESS > = Jǫtunheimar ‘Giant-lands’], and {the ski-goddess} [= Skaði] bore many sons with Óðinn.

Mss: Kˣ(13r), F(2va), J2ˣ(6r-v) (Hkr)

Readings: [1] skjald‑: skald‑ F    [4] við: í J2ˣ;    ‑viðju: ‑viði J2ˣ    [5] mær: so J2ˣ, mærr Kˣ, meirr F    [6] man‑: mann‑ J2ˣ    [8] byggðu: bjoggu J2ˣ    [11] ‑dís: Gnô J2ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 68, Skj BI, 60, Skald I, 37; Hkr 1893-1901, I, 21, IV, 2-3, ÍF 26, 21-2, Hkr 1991, I, 12 (Yng ch. 8), F 1871, 7; Krause 1990, 146-55.

Context: After Skaði’s failed marriage to Njǫrðr, she marries Óðinn and they have many sons, one of whom is called Sæmingr. The stanza is followed by the comment that Hákon jarl reckoned his lineage back to Sæmingr.

Notes: [All]: Earlier eds assume that ll. 9-12 belong to a separate stanza from ll. 1-8 (Skj; ÍF 26; Davidson 1983, 96-7) but in this edn they are treated as a single stanza (see Note to st. 2/9 below and Poole 2007b, 162-5). — [1] skjaldblœtr ‘shield-worshipped’: The element -blœtr appears to be etymologically related to blót, blóta ‘sacrifice, worship’; on its morphology, see Hkr 1893-1901, IV. The description ‘shield-worshipped’ may allude to a practice of incantation by warriors from under their shields as a prelude to battle (Hávm 156; possibly also Egill Lv 30^V (Eg 59)); Tacitus reports a similar practice among Germanic warriors as a form of divination before battle (Björn Magnússon Ólsen 1902, 196-8; Anderson 1938, 1, 3, 1; Mattingly 1970, 103; Marold 2001b, 96 and n. 38). Another explanation of skjaldblœtr might be that shields were sacrificed to Óðinn, although clear archaeological or literary evidence for such a practice in the Viking Age is lacking. The reading of F, skaldblœtr ‘worshipped by skalds’, is preferred by Finnur Jónsson (Hkr 1893-1901; Skj B) but is probably a lectio facilior (Björn Magnússon Ólsen 1902, 196). — [2] skattfœri ‘tribute-bringer [JARL = Sæmingr]’: An unusual kenning seemingly based on the idea that a jarl acknowledges a king as his overlord by bringing tribute (ÍF 26). This son of Óðinn and Skaði is not identified in the stanza but Torfaeus agrees with SnE in identifying Sæmingr as Hákon’s founding ancestor (see Context and Introduction).  — [3] niðr Ása ‘the kinsman of the Æsir <gods> [= Óðinn]’: The god who fathers Sæmingr jarl is identified as Óðinn later in the stanza, as also in Yng (ÍF 26, 21) and the Prologue to SnE (2005, 6, where Hál is mentioned but not quoted), but his paternity is assigned to Yngvi-Freyr in the Prologue to Hkr (ÍF 26, 4). — [4] járnviðju ‘the female from Járnviðr’: This is to be identified as Skaði, as the poem presently explains (cf. Hkr 1893-1901, IV). Vsp 40/2 represents Járnviðr as a forest in the east where a troll-woman gives birth to giants in the form of wolves (cf. Gylf, SnE 2005, 14; Simek 1993, 179). The p. n. means ‘Iron-wood’. — [5] mær ‘renowned ones’: This adj. appears to be n. pl. of mærr, agreeing with þau, the mixed-gender pron. referring to Óðinn and Skaði (so ÍF 26), though the ms. evidence is equivocal. Finnur Jónsson preferred the reading meir, which he took in the sense ‘subsequently’ (Hkr 1893-1901, IV; Skj B). — [6] manheimum ‘the lands of the maiden (lit. “maiden-lands”)’: This cpd is tentatively taken here as forming an inverted kenning with l. 9, sævar beins ‘of the bone of the sea [ROCK]’: see Note. A form Mannheimar ‘lands/worlds of men’ is used to refer to part of Sweden in the prose that immediately follows st. 2 in Yng (ÍF 26, 22; mss Kˣ and J2ˣ have mann-, while F has man). For attempts to harmonise mann- with Eyvindr’s man-, see e.g. Eggert Ó. Brím (1895, 5), who takes man- to mean ‘love’; Hkr 1893-1901, IV; Krause (1990, 149); Steinsland (1991, 216). — [9] sævar beins ‘of the bone of the sea [ROCK]’: This belongs to a kenning type also found in Þjóð Yt (e.g. 23/6). Its application within the stanza has proved difficult to determine. (a) Beins sævar is construed here with manheimum ‘maiden-lands’ in l. 6 to form an inverted kenning for Jǫtunheimar (‘Giant-lands’) (Poole 2007b, 165). In Gylf (SnE 2005, 23) Skaði is said to have her home in the mountains, in contrast to her first husband Njǫrðr, who is at home by the sea, and this allows the giantess-kenning to be equated with jǫtunn, normally ‘giant’ rather than ‘giantess’. The elements of the extended kenning cross the boundary between helmingar, as also, e.g., in st. 9/2, 5. (b) Björn Magnússon Ólsen (1902, 198) treats ll. 1-8 and 9-12 as a unity, as in this edn, but posits that beins sævar joins with ǫndurdís ‘ski-goddess’ to form a kenning for Skaði as giantess. However, such use of a double determinant (ǫndur- and beins sævar) would be hard to parallel. (c) Other eds supposed that beins sævar referred back to a lost part of the stanza (Hkr 1893-1901, IV; Skj B; Noreen 1921, 59-62; ÍF 26, 22 n.; Krause 1990; Hkr 1991), but there is no reason to postulate such a loss. — [11] ǫndurdís ‘the ski-goddess [= Skaði]’: Skaði was celebrated for her skiing and hunting (SnE 2005, 24; cf. Simek 1993, 286).

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. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
5. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
6. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
7. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
8. Davidson, Daphne L. 1983. ‘Earl Hákon and his Poets’. D. Phil. thesis. Oxford.
9. SnE 2005 = Snorri Sturluson. 2005. Edda: Prologue and Gylfaginning. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
10. Eggert Ó. Brím. 1895. ‘Bemærkninger angående en del vers i “Noregs konungasögur” (Reykjavík 1892)’. ANF 11, 1-32.
11. Krause, Arnulf, ed. 1990. Die Dichtung des Eyvindr skáldaspillir: Edition-Kommentar-Untersuchungen. Altnordische Bibliothek 10. Leverkusen: Literaturverlag Norden Mark Reinhardt.
12. Björn Magnússon Ólsen. 1902. ‘Strøbemærkninger til norske og islandske skjaldedigte’. ANF 18, 195-210.
13. Noreen, Erik. 1921. Studier i fornvästnordisk diktning. Uppsala: Akademiska bokhandeln.
14. Anderson, J. G. C., ed. 1938. Cornelii Taciti De origine et situ Germanorum. Oxford: Clarendon.
15. Marold, Edith. 2001b. ‘The Relationship between Verses and Prose in Bjarnar saga Hítdœlakappa’. In Poole 2001a, 75-124.
16. Mattingly, H., trans. 1970. Tacitus. The Agricola and the Germania. Rev. edn by S. A. Handford. London: Penguin.
17. Poole, Russell. 2007b. ‘Myth and Ritual in Eyvindr skáldaspillir’s Háleygjatal’. In Quinn et al. 2007, 153-76.
18. Simek, Rudolf. 1993. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. Trans. Angela Hall. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer.
19. Steinsland, Gro. 1991. Det hellige bryllup og norrøn kongeideologi. En analyse av hierogami-myten i Skírnismál, Ynglingatal, Háleygjatal og Hyndluljóð. Oslo: Solum.
20. Internal references
21. 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].
22. (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 19 April 2024)
23. (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Gylfaginning’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=113> (accessed 19 April 2024)
24. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Ynglinga saga’ 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=158> (accessed 19 April 2024)
25. Not published: do not cite (Run^VI)
26. Russell Poole 2012, ‘ Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson, Háleygjatal’ 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. 195. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1186> (accessed 19 April 2024)
27. Edith Marold with the assistance of Vivian Busch, Jana Krüger, Ann-Dörte Kyas and Katharina Seidel, translated from German by John Foulks 2012, ‘ Þjóðólfr ór Hvini, Ynglingatal’ 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. 3. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1440> (accessed 19 April 2024)
28. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2022, ‘Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar 59 (Egill Skallagrímsson, Lausavísur 30)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 272.
29. Not published: do not cite ()
30. Not published: do not cite ()