Eyv Hák 16^I

‘Einherja grið         skalt þú allra hafa;
        þigg þú at Ôsum ǫl.
Jarla bági,         þú átt inni hér
        átta brœðr,’ kvað Bragi.

‘Þú skalt hafa grið allra einherja; þigg þú ǫl at Ôsum. {Bági jarla}, þú átt hér inni átta brœðr,’ kvað Bragi.

‘You shall have quarter from all the einherjar; take ale among the Æsir. {Adversary of jarls} [RULER = Hákon], you have eight brothers in this place,’ said Bragi.

Mss: Kˣ(106v), F(18va), J1ˣ(64r), J2ˣ(61r) (Hkr); FskAˣ(58), 52ˣ(23r), 301ˣ(20v) (Fsk, ll. 4-6); 761bˣ(100v)

Readings: [1] Einherja: en hverja J1ˣ    [4] bági: bægi 52ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 67, Skj BI, 59, Skald I, 36-7; Hkr 1893-1901, I, 221, IV, 60, ÍF 26, 196, Hkr 1991, I, 128 (HákGóð ch. 31/32), F 1871, 84; Fsk 1902-3, 49 (ch. 12), ÍF 29, 95 (ch. 13); Möbius 1860, 234, Jón Helgason 1968, 28, Krause 1990, 114-20.

Context: In Hkr, as for st. 1. In Fsk, the prose preceding ll. 4-6 records that eight sons of Haraldr hárfagri had been killed with weapons before Hákon fell. Fsk introduces the second helmingr, sem Eyvindr segir skáldaspillir ok kvað svá sem konungrinn kœmi til Valhallar, fyrir því at sá var átrúnaðr heiðinna manna, at allir þeir er af sárum ǫnduðusk skyldu fara til Valhallar ‘as Eyvindr skáldaspillir says, and composed thus, as if the king were coming to Valhǫll, because it was the belief of heathens that all those who died of wounds should go to Valhǫll’.

Notes: [1] einherja ‘the einherjar’: See Note to Anon Eirm 1/5. — [1] grið ‘quarter’: A truce or safe-conduct granted to warrriors in specific situations, as opposed to more general frið ‘peace’. On grið(r) and frið in OE and ON, see Fell (1982-3). — [6] átta brœðr ‘eight brothers’: On the eight brothers of Hákon, see Context above, and Krause (1990, 117). Bragi’s point is that Hákon has nothing to fear (see Olsen 1916a, 5-6), though cf. Note to st. 17 [All].

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
4. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
5. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
6. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
7. Fsk 1902-3 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1902-3. Fagrskinna: Nóregs kononga tal. SUGNL 30. Copenhagen: Møller.
8. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
9. Möbius, Theodor. 1860. Edda Sæmundar hins fróða. Mit einem Anhang bisher ungedruckter Gedichte. Leipzig: Hinrichs.
10. Jón Helgason, ed. 1968. Skjaldevers. 3rd edn. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
11. Krause, Arnulf, ed. 1990. Die Dichtung des Eyvindr skáldaspillir: Edition-Kommentar-Untersuchungen. Altnordische Bibliothek 10. Leverkusen: Literaturverlag Norden Mark Reinhardt.
12. Olsen, Magnus. 1916a. ‘Fortjener Hákonarmáls digter tilnavnet “skáldaspillir”?’. In Til Gerhard Gran, 9. December 1916, fra venner og elever. Kristiania (Oslo): Aschehoug (Nygaard), 1-9. Rpt. in Olsen 1938a, 204-12.
13. Fell, Christine E. 1982-3. ‘Unfrið: An Approach to a Definition’. SBVS 21, 85-100.
14. Internal references
15. (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 25 April 2024)
16. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Anonymous Poems, Eiríksmál 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. 1006.
17. (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 25 April 2024)
18. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Hákonar saga góða’ 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=130> (accessed 25 April 2024)