Refr Giz 1^III

Einn háði gný Gunnar
— gall bál Hôars — stála
rimmu askr við rǫskva
regndjarfr tváa þegna.
Dalsteypir hjó Draupnis
dǫgg-Frey banahǫggvi,
— hann rauð járn — en annan
ôr strauma vann sáran.

{Askr rimmu}, {stála regn}djarfr, háði einn {gný Gunnar} við tváa rǫskva þegna; {bál Hôars} gall. {Dalsteypir} hjó {{Draupnis dǫgg}-Frey} banahǫggvi, en vann {annan ôr strauma} sáran; hann rauð járn.

{The ash-tree of battle} [WARRIOR], bold {in the rain of steel weapons} [(lit. ‘rain-bold of steel weapons’) BATTLE], engaged alone {in the din of Gunnr <valkyrie>} [BATTLE] against two brave men; {the fire of Hárr <= Óðinn>} [SWORD] resounded. {The bow-destroyer} [WARRIOR] dealt {the Freyr <god> {of the dew of Draupnir <ring>}} [(lit. ‘Draupnir’s dew-Freyr’) GOLD > MAN] his deathblow and inflicted a wound {upon another messenger of currents} [SEAFARER]; he reddened iron-blades.

Mss: Kˣ(470r) (Hkr); Holm2(68r), J2ˣ(226r-v), 321ˣ(255), 73aˣ(201r), Holm4(63va), 61(125va), 325VII(38r), 325V(80vb), Flat(124vb), Tóm(155v) (ÓH)

Readings: [1] háði: hafði Holm2, J2ˣ, 73aˣ, 325V, Flat, Tóm, ‘haf[…]’ 61, hafði í 325VII;    Gunnar: ‘g(u)nn[…]’ 61, gumnar Tóm    [2] gall: ‘(gu)ll’(?) 61, gull Flat, Tóm;    bál: báls 73aˣ, 325V, Flat, Tóm, ‘(b)als’(?) 61;    Hôars: hár 73aˣ, 325VII, 325V, hás 61;    stála: so Holm2, J2ˣ, 321ˣ, 73aˣ, Holm4, 325V, skála Kˣ, 61, 325VII, Flat, Tóm    [3] rimmu: runnu J2ˣ, 73aˣ, 61, 325VII, 325V, Tóm, ‘runu’ Flat;    við: ‘(við)’(?) 61;    rǫskva: rǫskvan Holm2, 61, rǫskum J2ˣ, ‘rauskna’ 321ˣ    [5] ‑steypir: ‑steypis 61, Flat, ‘stypis’ Tóm;    Draupnis: ‘dreyfnis’ 321ˣ, ‘draupins’ Holm4, Tóm, ‘[...]is’ 61, ‘draupnnis’ Flat    [6] dǫgg‑: draugs‑ 61, Tóm, ‘dęggs‑’ 325VII;    ‑hǫggvi: so Holm2, J2ˣ, 73aˣ, Holm4, 325VII, 325V, Flat, Tóm, ‘hoggv’ Kˣ, ‘hauggi’ 321ˣ, ‑hǫggvinn 61    [7] rauð járn: ‘[...]’ 61    [8] ôr: ‘a’ 73aˣ, 325V;    strauma: ‘struma’ J2ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 319, Skj BI, 295, Skald I, 150, NN §§784, 839; Hkr 1893-1901, II, 491, IV, 168-9, ÍF 27, 382 (ÓH ch. 227); ÓH 1941, I, 572 (ch. 225), Flat 1860-8, II, 355.

Context: In Ólafs saga helga (ÓHHkr), the stanza is inserted into a prose report on the death of Gizurr gullbrárskáld at the battle of Stiklestad (29 August 1030). Gizurr is said to have wounded one man and killed another before he fell himself.

Notes: [5-6] Draupnis dǫgg-Frey ‘the Freyr <god> of the dew of Draupnir <ring> [(lit. ‘Draupnir’s dew-Freyr’) GOLD > MAN]’: Draupnir (‘dripping one’) is Óðinn’s precious ring from which eight rings of a similar weight drip every nine nights (SnE 1998, I, 42). The name often appears in kennings for ‘gold’, which is referred to as drop, dew, rain, offspring etc. of Draupnir (Meissner 227). — [5, 8] dalsteypir; ôr strauma ‘the bow-destroyer [WARRIOR]; messenger of currents [SEAFARER]’: This edn follows Kock’s (NN §784) interpretation (so also ÍF 27 and Turville-Petre 1976, 91). Dalsteypir ‘bow-destroyer’ has parallels in such kennings as skerðir málma ‘diminisher of weapons’ (Sturl Hryn 2/6^II; see also Meissner 288). Kock (NN §839) himself lists several parallels of ôrr strauma ‘messenger of currents [SEAFARER]’. On the use of ôrr ‘messenger’ for ‘man’, see Meissner 272. The interpretation offered by Finnur Jónsson (Skj B; Hkr 1893-1901), by contrast, requires both rearranging the kenning as well as isolating ár in l. 8: strauma dalsteypir = steypir strauma dal(s) ‘pourer of the currents of the bow [ARROWS > WARRIOR]’; ár (l. 8) is rendered as an adv. (ár ‘quickly’; cf. LP: 2. ár 5) modifying hjó ‘hew, struck’ (l. 1).

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. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. Meissner = Meissner, Rudolf. 1921. Die Kenningar der Skalden: Ein Beitrag zur skaldischen Poetik. Rheinische Beiträge und Hülfsbücher zur germanischen Philologie und Volkskunde 1. Bonn and Leipzig: Schroeder. Rpt. 1984. Hildesheim etc.: Olms.
6. LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
7. Turville-Petre, Gabriel. 1976. Scaldic Poetry. Oxford: Clarendon.
8. Flat 1860-8 = Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and C. R. Unger, eds. 1860-8. Flateyjarbók. En samling af norske konge-sagaer med indskudte mindre fortællinger om begivenheder i og udenfor Norge samt annaler. 3 vols. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
9. ÓH 1941 = Johnsen, Oscar Albert and Jón Helgason, eds. 1941. Saga Óláfs konungs hins helga: Den store saga om Olav den hellige efter pergamenthåndskrift i Kungliga biblioteket i Stockholm nr. 2 4^to med varianter fra andre håndskrifter. 2 vols. Det norske historiske kildeskriftfond skrifter 53. Oslo: Dybwad.
10. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
11. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
12. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
13. Internal references
14. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Óláfs saga helga’ 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. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=53> (accessed 26 April 2024)
15. Valgerður Erna Þorvaldsdóttir (ed.) 2009, ‘Sturla Þórðarson, Hrynhenda 2’ 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. 679.