HSt Rst 3^I

Senn ǫll síðan runnu
snekkjubǫrð ór Gǫrðum
hermǫrg hôla tǫrguð
hildings und gram mildum.
Vestrlǫnd, virða kindir,
verfôkum lét herjat
aldyggr arfi Tryggva
Óláfr, ok klauf stôlum.

Síðan runnu hermǫrg snekkjubǫrð hildings, hôla tǫrguð, ǫll senn ór Gǫrðum und mildum gram. {Aldyggr arfi Tryggva}, Óláfr, lét herjat vestrlǫnd {verfôkum}, ok klauf kindir virða stôlum.

Then a great many ship-stems of the prince, splendidly equipped with shields, sped from Russia all at the same time, under the generous ruler. {The most excellent heir of Tryggvi} [= Óláfr], Óláfr, harried the western lands {with sea-steeds} [SHIPS] and slashed the sons of men with steel weapons.

Mss: Bb(111va); 61(16vb), 53(15ra), 54(12ra), Bb(22va), 62(9va), Flat(16ra) (ÓT)

Readings: [3] hermǫrg: ‘herding’ 62, ‘hergín’ Flat;    tǫrguð: so 61, 54, Bb(22va), ‘tiorgod’ Bb(111va), 53, 62, ‘urgut’ Flat    [4] und: um Flat    [6] lét: réð 61, 53, 54, Flat, reið 62    [8] ok: of 53, 54, Bb(22va), om. Flat;    stôlum: straumi 54, Bb(22va)

Editions: Skj AI, 544, Skj BI, 526, Skald I, 256, NN §§2093, 3396A; ÓT 1958-2000, I, 159 (ch. 77), Flat 1860-8, I, 119; SHI 3, 246-7, CPB II, 296, Wisén 1886-9, I, 46, Finnur Jónsson 1893b, 164, Konráð Gíslason 1895-7, I, 195-9.

Context: Óláfr sails from Russia to Denmark, then crosses the sea west to the British Isles.  

Notes: [All]: Printed as st. 4 in previous eds following the order in ÓT; see Introduction. — [All]: The action of the poem moves from Garðar to the British Isles, and, with the exception of the attack on the Wends in st. 5, raids in north-west Europe such as are specified in Hfr Óldr 1-4 are not narrated. Much the same is true of Anon Óldr: see Óldr 5 and Note to [All]. — [2] snekkjubǫrð ‘ship-stems’: This may be a pars pro toto expression for ships. It is taken as a cpd in Skald, as here, but as two words in Skj B. — [3] tǫrguð ‘equipped with shields’: This is n. nom. pl. of the adj. targaðr from targa ‘(round) shield’. The variant tjǫrguð would mean ‘tarred’. — [8] Óláfr: The form Óláfr, rather than the older Ôleifr, is attested as early as the end of the C11th (see Steinn Óldr 5/8^II Óláfr : sólu and Note) and is indicated in Rst by Óláfr : stóli in st. 2/8 and Óláfr : sólar in st. 10/8 (stef). It is used throughout the present edn. The rhymes of Óláf- on stôlum here and on dála in st. 8/6 are therefore slightly inexact. Rhymes involving ô : ó (cf. 8/2 hôtt : dróttir and 35/4 hóps : drôpu) may have arisen and been deemed permissable by Hallar-Steinn’s time since the development of Ôleifr into Óláfr would have made rhymes such as Ôleifr : stôlum in earlier poetry seem inexact. In the present stanza, Skj B (but not Skald) reads stólum as the form required to produce aðalhending on Óláfr.

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. 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.
6. Wisén, Theodor, ed. 1886-9. Carmina Norrœnæ: Ex reliquiis vetustioris norrœnæ poësis selecta, recognita, commentariis et glossario instructa. 2 vols. Lund: Ohlsson.
7. Finnur Jónsson. 1893b. Carmina Norrœna: Rettet Tekst. Copenhagen: Nielsen & Lydiche.
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. Konráð Gíslason. 1895-7. Efterladte skrifter. 2 vols. I: Forelæsninger over oldnordiske skjaldekvad. II: Forelæsninger og videnskablige afhandlinger. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
10. ÓT 1958-2000 = Ólafur Halldórsson, ed. 1958-2000. Saga Óláfs Tryggvasonar en mesta. 3 vols. EA A 1-3. Copenhagen: Munksgaard (Reitzel).
11. 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.
12. Internal references
13. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta’ 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=60> (accessed 26 April 2024)
14. Kate Heslop 2012, ‘ Anonymous, Óláfs drápa Tryggvasonar’ 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. 1031. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1036> (accessed 26 April 2024)
15. Rolf Stavnem 2012, ‘ Hallar-Steinn, Rekstefja’ 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. 893. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1237> (accessed 26 April 2024)
16. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Steinn Herdísarson, Óláfsdrápa 5’ 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. 371-2.
17. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2012, ‘Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld Óttarsson, Óláfsdrápa 1’ 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. 392.