Gísl Magnkv 15^II

Vágr þrútnaði,        en vefi keyrði
steinóðr á stag        storðar galli.
Braut dýrr dreki        und Dana skelfi
hrygg í hverri        hafs glymbrúði.

Vágr þrútnaði, en {steinóðr galli storðar} keyrði vefi á stag. Dýrr dreki und {skelfi Dana} braut hrygg í {hverri glymbrúði hafs}.

The sea swelled, and {the raging destruction of the sapling} [STORM] drove the sails against the stays. The precious dragon beneath {the terrifier of the Danes} [= Magnús] broke the back in {every roaring-bride of the ocean} [WAVE].

Mss: Mork(23v) (Mork); H(90r), Hr(62ra) (H-Hr); F(58vb)

Readings: [8] glym‑: glaum‑ F

Editions: Skj AI, 443, Skj BI, 412, Skald I, 203; Mork 1867, 146, Mork 1928-32, 322, Andersson and Gade 2000, 302, 486 (Mberf); Fms 7, 51 (Mberf ch. 25); F 1871, 272 (Mberf).

Context: As st. 14 above.

Notes: [2-3] keyrði vefi á stag ‘drove the sails against the stays’: See Note to Valg Har 6/6. — [5] dreki ‘dragon’: A Viking longship with a carved head on the prow (and sometimes on the stern as well; see Falk 1912, 39-42, 105-7 and Jesch 2001a, 127-8). See also st. 16/7 below. — [6] skelfi Dana ‘the terrifier of the Danes [= Magnús]’: This kenning could allude to Magnús’s early campaign against the Danes (see Bkrepp Magndr 1 and Note to Bkrepp Magndr 11/5). — [8] glymbrúði hafs ‘roaring-bride of the ocean [WAVE]’: In ON mythology Ægir was a personification of the sea. His bride was the goddess Rán (see SnE 1998, I, 36 and Note to SnH Lv 6/3), who also personified the destructive powers of the ocean. The sense of this cl. is that the dragon-ship cut through the crest of every wave (broke their backs). For similar imagery portraying vigorous sailing as fights between ships and waves (depicted as destructive female powers), see HHund I 28-30 and HHj 18-23 (NK 134, 144-5).

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. 1912. Altnordisches Seewesen. Wörter und Sachen 4. Heidelberg: Winter.
7. NK = Neckel, Gustav and Hans Kuhn (1899), eds. 1983. Edda: Die Lieder des Codex Regius nebst verwandten Denkmälern. 2 vols. I: Text. 5th edn. Heidelberg: Winter.
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. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
11. 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.
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 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. 396-7.
15. 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.
16. Not published: do not cite ()
17. Not published: do not cite ()
18. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Sneglu-Halli, Lausavísur 6’ 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. 327-8.
19. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Valgarðr á Velli, Poem about Haraldr harðráði 6’ 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. 305-6.