Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Guthormr sindri, Hákonardrápa 8’ 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. 168.
Hræddr fór hjǫrva raddar
herr fyr malma þverri;
rógeisu gekk ræsir
ráðsterkr framar merkjum.
Gerra gramr í snerru
geirvífa sér hlífa,
hinns yfrinn gat, jǫfra,
óls kvánar byr mána.
Herr fór hræddr {raddar hjǫrva} fyr {þverri malma}; {ræsir {rógeisu}} gekk ráðsterkr framar merkjum. {Gramr jǫfra} gerra hlífa sér í {snerru {geirvífa}}, hinns gat {yfrinn byr {kvánar {óls mána}}}.
The army went in dread {of the voice of swords} [BATTLE] before {the diminisher of metal weapons} [WARRIOR = Hákon]; {the impeller {of the strife-fire}} [SWORD > WARRIOR = Hákon] advanced, strong in counsel, ahead of the standards. {The king of princes} [= Hákon] does not protect himself in {the onslaught {of spear-women}} [VALKYRIES > BATTLE], he who attained {an outstanding fair wind {of the wife {of the affliction of the moon}}} [GIANT > GIANTESS > MIND].
Mss: Kˣ(99v), 39(2vb), F(17va), J1ˣ(60r-v), J2ˣ(56r-v) (Hkr); 61(5va-b), 53(4vb), 325IX 1 a(2rb), Bb(7rb), Flat(8ra) (ÓT)
Readings: [1] hjǫrva: so J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 61, 53, 325IX 1 a, Bb, Flat, hjarta Kˣ, F, ‘[...]arta’ 39; raddar: ‘[...]ddar’ 325IX 1 a [2] herr: hverr J2ˣ; þverri: þverrði 53, ‘[...]’ 325IX 1 a [3] róg‑: ‘[...]g‑’ 325IX 1 a; ‑eisu: ‘[...]isa’ 39; gekk: om. 325IX 1 a [4] ráð‑: ‘[...]’ 53; merkjum: merkin 325IX 1 a [5] Gerra: geira 53, Bb, ‘gei[...]’ 325IX 1 a, ‘geyrra’ Flat; í: ‘[...]’ 325IX 1 a; snerru: ‘[...]erru’ 325IX 1 a, snæru Bb [6] ‑vífa: ‑fífa J1ˣ, ‑íma Flat; hlífa: ‘[...]ifa’ 39 [7] yfrinn: ‘vfirrinn’ 39, yfir Flat [8] óls kvánar: so J1ˣ, J2ˣ, oskvánar Kˣ, ‘os kvanar’ 39, ósk kvánar F, óðs kvánar 61, 53, 325IX 1 a, Bb, óskvænan Flat
Editions: Skj AI, 63, Skj BI, 56, Skald I, 35, NN §252; Hkr 1893-1901, I, 206, IV, 51-2, ÍF 26, 180-1, Hkr 1991, I, 115-16 (HákGóð ch. 26), F 1871, 79; Fms 1, 40, Fms 12, 28, ÓT 1958-2000, I, 39 (ch. 25), Flat 1860-8, I, 59 .
Context: Hákon engages forces led by Gamli and the other surviving sons of Eiríkr in a land-battle at Rastarkálfr on the island of Fræði (Frei, Møre og Romsdal), and has the victory.
Notes: [All]: For the battle of Rastarkálfr (c. 955), see also Eyv Lv 6 and ÞSjár Þórdr 2 . — [1] raddar hjǫrva ‘of the voice of swords [BATTLE]’: This gen.-case phrase can be construed in various ways, each with merits and demerits. (a) In this edn it is treated as governed by hræddr, hence ‘afraid of battle’. Although hræddr is not normally followed by a gen. phrase, cf. gen. constructions meaning ‘brave in battle’ (Anon Óldr 1/1-2 and Note) and other adj. + gen. constructions in NS §§136-7; this is an appropriate description for Hákon’s opponents. (b) Finnur Jónsson (1884, 92-3; Hkr 1893-1901, IV; Skj B; followed in Hkr 1991) reads the phrase as part of a kenning þverrir malma raddar hjǫrva ‘diminisher of metals of the voice of swords [BATTLE > WEAPONS > WARRIOR]’. Finnur (1884, 93) notes that while malma can stand alone with an agentive noun such overladen kennings appear to be within Guthormr’s style. (c) Kock (NN §252, followed by ÍF 26) links the phrase to herr ‘army’, thus ‘army of battle’, citing analogues in OE poetry. Such a locution would be uncharacteristic of skaldic style, though the possibility of OE influence cannot be excluded (see Note to l. 8), and comparable circumlocutions are attested in later skaldic poetry, e.g. Mark Eirdr 19/1II heiðinn herr hǫmlu vígs ‘heathen host of the staff of battle [SPEAR]’, and cf. Introduction to Sturl HrafnII. — [5, 6] gerra hlífa sér ‘does not protect himself’: The pres. tense here most probably has habitual or frequentative aspect, referring to Hákon’s ongoing fearlessness (and indicating that Hákdr was composed during the king’s lifetime: see Introduction). Lines such as these, as also ll. 7-8, could have made up whole or part of a stef ‘refrain’ for the drápa. Less likely, though not excluded, is a pres. historic tense, referring to the king’s courage in these specific raids. — [5, 7] gramr jǫfra ‘the king of princes [= Hákon]’: Cf. Arn Þorfdr 15/2II konungr jarla ‘king among jarls’, and Note. The placing of jǫfra ‘of princes’ produces a complicated word order, and an awkward caesura in the Type B-line (l. 7). Jǫfra is taken instead with hinns, hence hinn jǫfra, es ‘the one among princes, who’, in Skj B and ÍF 26, but this is no less problematic. — [8] byr kvánar óls mána ‘fair wind of the wife of the affliction of the moon [GIANT > GIANTESS > MIND]’: This kenning is clearly of the well-known type ‘wind of the giantess [MIND/THOUGHT]’, but it has caused difficulty because of the significant variance in ms. readings. (a) The explanation adopted in this edn is due to Björn Magnússon Ólsen (1886, 195-203, followed by ÍF 26). The reading óls (found only in J1ˣ, J2ˣ) is adopted. This is gen. sg. of the rare ól n., whose etymological sense is ‘pestilence, affliction’ (see AEW: ól 2 and Note to ÞSkall Valfl 1/8II, where it appears to have the meaning ‘troll-woman’). The kenning apparently alludes to the Mánagarmr ‘hound of the moon’, a giant in the likeness of a wolf who will swallow the sun (and/or moon) according to Gylf (SnE 2005, 14; cf. ÍF 26), although the evidence for this figure prior to SnE is equivocal (SnE 2005, 172). (b) Finnur Jónsson (1884, 93; Hkr 1893-1901, IV; LP: óskkvôn, máni; Skj B, followed by Skald; Hkr 1991) instead selects ósk ‘wish’, the reading of F, and reads byr óskkvánar mána ‘fair wind of the desired/desiring woman of Máni/the moon [GIANTESS > MIND]’, but corruption of this easily interpreted reading to óls or óðs would be unlikely, and there is no direct evidence that Máni ‘moon’ had giant status (SnE 2005, 13; Björn Magnússon Ólsen 1886, 196-200; ÍF 26). See Egill St 13/2V (Eg 84) for a similar, also problematic, context containing the words byr and mána .
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