Gísl Magnkv 10^II

Ættlǫndum vann        eyja dróttar
folkvǫrðr und sik        fjórum þrungit,
áðr an hitti,        sás hamalt fylkði,
veðrsmiðr Viðurs        valska jarla.

{Folkvǫrðr} vann fjórum ættlǫndum dróttar eyja þrungit und sik, áðr an {{Viðurs veðr}smiðr}, sás fylkði hamalt, hitti valska jarla.

{The people’s guardian} [RULER] subjugated four ancestral territories of the men of the isles, before {the smith {of Viðurr’s <= Óðinn’s> wind}} [(lit. ‘Viðurr’s wind-smith’) BATTLE > WARRIOR], who marshalled his troops in a wedge-shaped array, met the Norman earls.

Mss: Mork(23r) (Mork); H(89r), Hr(61va) (H-Hr); F(58va)

Readings: [2] eyja: eyjar Hr;    dróttar: so H, dróttinn Mork, Hr, F    [7] veðr‑: ‘veðurs’ Hr, val‑ F;    Viðurs: ‘vidus’ Hr

Editions: Skj AI, 442, Skj BI, 411, Skald I, 203; Mork 1867, 145, Mork 1928-32, 320, Andersson and Gade 2000, 301, 485-6 (Mberf); Fms 7, 44 (Mberf ch. 22); F 1871, 271 (Mberf).

Context: Stanzas 10-13 commemorate the battle of the Menai Strait (1098), when Magnús killed Hugh of Shrewsbury with an arrow. In Mork and F these sts are given in a block without intervening prose, whereas H and Hr incorporate them into the prose that recounts the battle.

Notes: [2] dróttar eyja ‘of the men of the isles’: So H. This is preferable to dróttinn eyja ‘lord of the isles’ (so Mork, Hr, F) because Magnús was not lord of the isles. — [6] sás fylkði hamalt ‘who marshalled his troops in a wedge-shaped array’: This was the so-called svínfylking ‘pig-array’ (Lat. porcinum caput; see Fritzner: svínfylking, Falk 1914, 151 and Jesch 2001a, 209). See also ÞjóðA Run 1/4 and Mark Eirdr 15/3. — [8] valska jarla ‘the Norman earls’: Hugh of Montgomery, Earl of Shrewsbury (Hugi inn prúði ‘the Proud’) and Hugh of Avranches, Earl of Chester (Hugi inn digri ‘the Stout’). See Bkrepp Magndr 11 and Power 1986, 109-10.

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. 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.
5. Jesch, Judith. 2001a. Ships and Men in the Late Viking Age: The Vocabulary of Runic Inscriptions and Skaldic Verse. Woodbridge: Boydell.
6. Falk, Hjalmar, ed. 1914a. Sólarljóð. Videnskapsselskapets skrifter II. Hist.-filos. kl. 7. 2 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad.
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. Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
9. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
10. Mork 1867 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1867. Morkinskinna: Pergamentsbog fra første halvdel af det trettende aarhundrede. Indeholdende en af de ældste optegnelser af norske kongesagaer. Oslo: Bentzen.
11. Power, Rosemary. 1986. ‘Magnus Bareleg’s Expeditions to the West’. Scottish Historical Review 65, 107-32.
12. Internal references
13. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Magnúss saga berfœtts’ 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=144> (accessed 19 April 2024)
14. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Bjǫrn krepphendi, Magnússdrápa 11’ 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. 404-5.
15. Jayne Carroll (ed.) 2009, ‘Markús Skeggjason, Eiríksdrápa 15’ 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. 445-6.
16. 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.