HSt Rst 32^I

Hringskóðs herðimeiðar
hvar viti, þann es anni,
eldvellds annan stilli,
óð*ríkr frama slíkum,
gunnelds geymirunnum
(gǫndlar fýst*) sem lýstak
(hirð vas hans at morði
hrygg) arfþega Tryggva.

Hvar viti {herðimeiðar {eldvellds hringskóðs}} annan stilli, þann es óð*ríkr anni slíkum frama, sem lýstak {geymirunnum {gunnelds}} {arfþega Tryggva}; hirð fýst* gǫndlar vas hrygg at morði hans.

Where would {hardening trees {of the fire-forged mail-shirt-harmer}} [SWORD > WARRIORS] know of any other ruler, who, very mighty, is able to perform such splendid deeds as I have described {to the keeping trees {of the battle-fire}} [SWORD > WARRIORS] {concerning the heir of Tryggvi} [= Óláfr]; the retinue eager for battle was desolate at his killing.

Mss: Bb(112rb-va)

Readings: [1] Hring‑: þing‑ Bb;    ‑meiðar: ‑meiða Bb    [2] viti: vita Bb    [3] eld‑: ‘ell’ Bb    [4] óð*ríkr: óðr ríkr Bb    [6] gǫndlar: gǫndla Bb;    fýst*: fýstr Bb    [7] vas: ‘va’ Bb    [8] ‑þega: ‘degi’ Bb

Editions: Skj AI, 551, Skj BI, 533, Skald I, 259, NN §§1186, 3123; SHI 3, 264-7, CPB II, 300, Wisén 1886-9, I, 50, Finnur Jónsson 1893b, 164, Konráð Gíslason 1895-7, I, 281-3.

Notes: [All]: There may be influence from Steinn Óldr^II here; see Note to st. 12 [All]. It is also noticeable that, as in Hfr ErfÓl 27 (see Note to st. 27 [All]), the two helmingar are syntactically linked in order to convey the idea that Óláfr’s greatness is unmatched. — [1] hringskóðs ‘mail-shirt-harmer [SWORD]’: The alliteration in l. 1 is flawed and, as in previous eds, ms. þing is here emended to hring- since a word with the stave h is needed. Konráð Gíslason (1895-7) and LP: hringskóð explain that hringr must refer by metonymy to a mail-shirt of metal rings, as it does in SnH Lv 1/3^II and SnSt Ht 2/3^III (and see Notes ad loc.), although in these contexts hring- is in the pl. Sword-kennings with skóð ‘harm, harmer’ and similar as base-word are standard (see Meissner 156). — [3] eldvellds : stilli: The rhyme could be formed by eld- or -vellds with stilli, and cf. st. 33/3 tjalds : stilli. These could be rhymes involving first consonant only, i.e. of l and not ld (cf. Kuhn 1983, 77), or it could be that d has been assimilated in consonant clusters such as lds: see following Note. — [3] eldvellds ‘fire-forged’: A unique adj. containing the p. p. from vella ‘boil, cook’. The reading eld- may be deemed a normalisation rather than an emendation since <ll> in the ms. can be an assimilated form of <ld>; cf. ms. ‘siall’ for sjald- in st. 35/6. — [5-8]: The helmingr is apparently corrupt and emendations unavoidable. (a) The text and translation above adopt the minor emendations of ms. fýstr (m. nom. sg.) to fýst (f. nom. sg.) ‘eager’ and of arfþegi (m. nom. sg.) to arfþega (m. gen./dat. sg.) ‘heir’ as in Skj B. (b) A solution retaining the grammatical concord of fýstr arfþegi ‘eager heir’ and avoiding emendations to those two words is possible if it is assumed that vas ‘was’ (emended from ms. ‘va’ by all eds) in l. 7 functions in two clauses, hirð vas hrygg at morði hans ‘the retinue was desolate at his killing’ and arfþegi Tryggva vas fýstr gǫndlar ‘the heir of Tryggvi was eager for battle’. An understood vas ‘was’ would be paralleled in st. 17/7. (c) Kock (NN §1186) also retains fýstr, assuming that it qualifies the ek ‘I’ of lýstak ‘I described’, referring to the skald, but it would be exceptional for Hallar-Steinn to refer to his own valour in this way. — [6] gǫndlar ‘for battle’: The word is also a valkyrie-name, as in st. 18/5.

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. CPB = Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and F. York Powell, eds. 1883. Corpus poeticum boreale: The Poetry of the Old Northern Tongue from the Earliest Times to the Thirteenth Century. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon. Rpt. 1965, New York: Russell & Russell.
8. Wisén, Theodor, ed. 1886-9. Carmina Norrœnæ: Ex reliquiis vetustioris norrœnæ poësis selecta, recognita, commentariis et glossario instructa. 2 vols. Lund: Ohlsson.
9. Finnur Jónsson. 1893b. Carmina Norrœna: Rettet Tekst. Copenhagen: Nielsen & Lydiche.
10. Kuhn, Hans (1899). 1983. Das Dróttkvætt. Heidelberg: Winter.
11. Konráð Gíslason. 1895-7. Efterladte skrifter. 2 vols. I: Forelæsninger over oldnordiske skjaldekvad. II: Forelæsninger og videnskablige afhandlinger. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
12. SHI = Sveinbjörn Egilsson, ed. 1828-46. Scripta historica islandorum de rebus gestis veterum borealium, latine reddita et apparatu critico instructa, curante Societate regia antiquariorum septentrionalium. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp etc. and London: John & Arthur Arch.
13. Internal references
14. Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘ Steinn Herdísarson, Óláfsdrápa’ 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. 367-81. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1390> (accessed 18 April 2024)
15. Kate Heslop (ed.) 2012, ‘Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld Óttarsson, Erfidrápa Óláfs Tryggvasonar 27’ 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. 439.
16. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Sneglu-Halli, Lausavísur 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. 324-5.
17. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 2’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1106.