Hfr ErfÓl 18^I

Veitkat hitt, hvárt Heita
hungrdeyfi skalk leyfa
dynsæðinga dauðan
dýrbliks eða þó kvikvan,
alls sannliga segja
— sárr mun gramr at hvôru —
— hætts til hans at frétta —
hvárrtveggja mér seggir.

Veitkat hitt, hvárt skalk leyfa {{{{{Heita dýr}bliks} dyn}sæðinga} hungrdeyfi} dauðan eða þó kvikvan, alls seggir segja mér hvárrtveggja sannliga; gramr mun sárr at hvôru; hætts at frétta til hans.

I do not know whether I am to praise {the hunger-soother {of the gulls {of the din {of the gleam {of the beast of Heiti <sea-king>}}}}} [(lit. ‘hunger-soother of the din-gulls of the beast-gleam of Heiti’) SHIP > SHIELD > BATTLE > RAVENS/EAGLES > WARRIOR] dead or, after all, alive, since men tell me both as the truth; the lord must be wounded either way; it is risky to enquire about him.

Mss: FskAˣ(144) (Fsk); Holm18(54r), 310(92), 4-7(1vb) (ÓTOdd, ll. 1-4); Kˣ(216v), 22ˣ(102r marg), F(36vb), J1ˣ(134v), J2ˣ(117r) (Hkr); 61(69rb), 53(65vb), 54(67ra), 325VIII 2 g(1ra), Bb(102vb), Flat(66ra) (ÓT)

Readings: [1] Veitkat (‘Veit ec eighi’): ‘Væitat ec’ 310, ‘Vættkaþa ek’ 54, 325VIII 2 g, ‘Vattkada ek’ Bb;    hvárt: so 310, F, J2ˣ, 61, 53, hvar FskAˣ, hvé Holm18, Flat, þó at 4‑7, áðr Kˣ, hvert J1ˣ, Flat;    Heita: so Holm18, 4‑7, Kˣ, F, J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 61, 53, 325VIII 2 g, Bb, Flat, ‘hætta’ FskAˣ, ‘hreyti’ 310, ‘hetta’ 54    [4] dýrbliks: dagbliks 22ˣmarg, F, dýrðlíks 61, 53, dýrligs 54, 325VIII 2 g, Bb    [5] alls: all 22ˣmarg, 53;    segja: segjum Flat    [6] sárr: so all others, sárt FskAˣ    [7] frétta: ‘fratta’ F    [8] hvárr‑: hvart J1ˣ;    seggir: seggr J1ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 163-4, Skj BI, 154, Skj AI, 163, Skj BI, 154, Skald I, 84, NN §§1085, 1957, 1959; Fsk 1902-3, 132 (ch. 22), ÍF 29, 160 (ch. 24); ÓTOdd 1932, 233, 256, ÍF 25, 348-9; Hkr 1893-1901, I, 455, IV, 101-2, ÍF 26, 368, Hkr 1991, I, 250 (ÓTHkr ch. 112), F 1871, 166; SHI 3, 6, ÓT 1958-2000, II, 290 (ch. 256), Flat 1860-8, I, 494.

Context: Óláfr is defeated, but accounts of the battle’s last moments are contradictory: some people celebrate his underwater escape to the ship of his allies, the Wends, while some mourn his death.

Notes: [All]: On the configuration of helmingar in ms. 4-7, see Note to st. 19 [All]. — [1] hvárt ‘whether’: The extreme variation in the mss perhaps reflects the unexpectedness of the statement in the first helmingr, but only hvárt completes the syntax. It also has the strongest ms. support. — [1, 2, 3, 4] Heita dýrbliks dynsæðinga hungrdeyfi ‘the hunger-soother of the gulls of the din of the gleam of the beast of Heiti <sea-king> [(lit. ‘hunger-soother of the din-gulls of the beast-gleam of Heiti’) SHIP > SHIELD > BATTLE > RAVENS/EAGLES > WARRIOR]’: This splendid, complex rekit ‘extended’ kenning is all the more striking in contrast to the formal simplicity of much of ErfÓl. Although it is structurally complex, its components are clearly linked by alliteration, enjambment and vertical placement (see Gade 1995a, 202-8, 216-17) and it conforms to well-established patterns. For comment on the constituent parts and variant readings, see following Notes. — [1, 4] Heita dýrbliks ‘of the gleam of the beast of Heiti <sea-king> [(lit. ‘of the beast-gleam of Heiti’) SHIP > SHIELD]’: Alternatives (excluding FskAˣ’s ‘hætta’, which makes no sense in context) are the following. (a) Hreyti, dat. of hreytir ‘strewer’, could possibly form a man-kenning (hreyti dýrbliks ‘strewer of the precious gleam [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN]’), but the determinant, bliks, is only a half-kenning, and the other elements are left hanging. (b) Sveinbjörn Egilsson (SHI 3) and Kock (NN §1085) suggest dýr- is the intensifying adj. ‘precious, splendid’, so ‘the splendid gleam of Heiti [SWORD/SHIELD]’, but this kenning lacks parallels. — [3] -sæðinga ‘of the gulls’: Sæðingr m. is the Common Gull (Larus canus; so Fritzner). — [4] dýrbliks ‘of the gleam of the beast (lit. ‘of the beast-gleam’)’: The variants dýrðlíks/dýrligs ‘of the glorious’ attempt to simplify the main kenning by substituting an adj. for one of its elements. While both are syntactically possible, they are clearly secondary; dýrligs is also unmetrical. F’s dagbliks ‘of the day-gleam’ is difficult to make sense of. — [5]: The line lacks internal rhyme, and Kock (NN §1959; Skald) tentatively proposed that senna ‘allege’ might have been replaced by segja ‘say’, the reading of all mss, very early in the transmission. — [7] hætts at frétta til hans ‘it is risky to enquire about him’: A contrasting sentiment is expressed in st. 15/1. Skj B takes hætt as the p. p. of hætta ‘to cease’, rather than n. nom. sg. of hættr ‘risky, dangerous’ as in NN §1957 and the Text above, and construes the clause as meaning ‘[people] have ceased to hear anything of him’. This is a possible alternative but it has not found support (see ÍF 29; ÍF 26; Hkr 1991).

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj A = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15a. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. A: Tekst efter håndskrifterne. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1967. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
6. Gade, Kari Ellen. 1995a. The Structure of Old Norse dróttkvætt Poetry. Islandica 49. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
7. 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.
8. Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
9. ÓTOdd 1932 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1932. Saga Óláfs Tryggvasonar af Oddr Snorrason munk. Copenhagen: Gad.
10. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
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14. Fsk 1902-3 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1902-3. Fagrskinna: Nóregs kononga tal. SUGNL 30. Copenhagen: Møller.
15. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
16. ÓT 1958-2000 = Ólafur Halldórsson, ed. 1958-2000. Saga Óláfs Tryggvasonar en mesta. 3 vols. EA A 1-3. Copenhagen: Munksgaard (Reitzel).
17. 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.
18. ÍF 25 = Færeyinga saga; Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar eptir Odd munk Snorrason. Ed. Ólafur Halldórsson. 2006.