Hfr ErfÓl 27^I

Fyrr mun heimr ok himnar,
hugreifum Ôleifi,
— hann vas mennskra manna
mest gótt — í tvau bresta,
áðr an glíkr at góðu
gœðingr muni fœðask;
kœns hafi Kristr inn hreini
konungs ǫnd ofar lǫndum.

Heimr ok himnar mun fyrr bresta í tvau, áðr an gœðingr glíkr hugreifum Ôleifi at góðu muni fœðask; hann vas mest gótt mennskra manna; hafi Kristr inn hreini ǫnd kœns konungs ofar lǫndum.

Earth and heavens will sooner split in two before a chieftain equal to glad-hearted Óláfr in goodness might be born; he was the greatest good among human beings; may the pure Christ keep the soul of the wise king high above the lands.

Mss: 61(69vb), 53(66rb), 54(67vb), 325VIII 2 g(1vb), Bb(103rb), Flat(66ra) (ÓT)

Readings: [1] Fyrr: ‘Fvrr’ Bb    [3] hann: hans 54, 325VIII 2 g, Bb    [4] mest gótt: mestr fljótt Flat;    tvau: ‘tuo’ Flat    [5] áðr: at 325VIII 2 g, Bb;    at góðu: á góða 53    [7] kœns: ‘kíęnst’ 53, kœnn Flat

Editions: Skj AI, 166, Skj BI, 156-7, Skald I, 85, NN §515;  SHI 3, 13, ÓT 1958-2000, II, 296 (ch. 256), Flat 1860-8, I, 496.

Context: The people think no king like Óláfr will ever be born again, whether in Norway or anywhere else.

Notes: [All]: The syntax of this stanza breaks with convention in two significant ways, and has been much discussed. Firstly, it allows elements in the first helmingr (hugreifum Ôleifi ‘glad-hearted Óláfr’, l. 2) to depend syntactically on elements in the second (glíkr ‘equal ... to’, l. 5). This is unparalleled in the skaldic corpus before the C14th (Hollander 1947; Frank 1978, 88), though cf. Snorri Sturluson’s langlokum ‘with late conclusions or long enclosings’ (SnSt Ht 14^III). Combined with the self-contained, stef-like prayer in ll. 7-8, the crossing of the helmingr boundary also means the stanza breaks Kuhn’s rule (1969b, 67) that neither helmingr may contain a syntactic break sharper than the one between them. However, these innovations suit the hyperbolic content of the stanza. Kock in NN §515 offers an interpretation which avoids this syntactic arrangement, but it has not found favour (Reichardt 1928, 118; Hollander 1947, 301). For an alternative construal suggested by Jón Helgason (1975, 405), which involves emendation, see Note to ll. 3-4 below. — [1] mun ‘will’: As frequently, a sg. verb has a cpd subject (heimr ok himnar ‘earth and heavens’); cf., e.g., Þorm Lv 22/3, and see NS §70a. — [1, 4] heimr ok himnar mun fyrr bresta í tvau ‘earth and heavens will sooner split in two’: Further examples of adynaton or impossibilia appear both in skaldic poetry (e.g. Eyv Hák 20, 21; ÞKolb Eirdr 8/7-8; KormǪ Lv 18^V, 33^V, 42^V (Korm 19, 52, 61);  Arn Þorfdr 24^II; SnSt Ht 102^III) and in eddic poetry (Vsp 57), as well as on the C11th memorial runestone at Skarpåker (SRdb Sö 154): Iarð skal rifna ok upphiminn ‘the earth and sky shall be riven’; see Heusler (1923, 181), Einar Ól. Sveinsson (1966-9, 43-51), Lönnroth (1981, 319-21), and Fidjestøl (1982, 190-3) for discussion. Arn Þorfdr 24^II is clearly influenced by Hallfreðr. — [2] hugreifum Ôleifi ‘to glad-hearted Óláfr’: Cf. st. 11/4 folkreifum Ôleifi ‘than fight-joyful Óláfr’ and herreifum Ôleifi ‘to army-glad Óláfr’ in ÚlfrU Húsdr 1/2^III (here Óláfr pái, Húsdrápa’s dedicatee). — [3-4] hann vas mest gótt mennskra manna ‘he was the greatest good among human beings’: Jón Helgason (1975, 405) observes that this construction, with a predicate describing a human subject yet in the n. case (gótt ‘good’), lacks parallels in the skaldic corpus. Emendation to góðr (m. nom. sg.) is metrically possible but no ms. spelling hints at that reading. Jón suggests instead emending hann to a finite verb governing the dat. (e.g. lét ‘allowed’ or veitt ‘granted’), then construing ll. 2-4 as a unit: mest gótt mennskra manna vas hugreifum leifi veitt ‘the greatest good among human beings was granted [by God] to glad-hearted Óláfr’, possibly referring to martyrdom. However, the use of n. gótt to refer to a human finds some support in SnSt Ht 83/8^III slíkt má skǫrung kalla ‘such [a one] must be called an outstanding person’, where slíkt refers to Skúli jarl. — [6]: The same line occurs (as a variant reading) as Arn Þorfdr 24/8^II. — [7-8]: The diction of this closing prayer is very similar to that of the klofastef ‘split refrain’ of Stúfr’s memorial poem for Haraldr harðráði, especially in the version preserved in Morkinskinna (Stúfr Stúfdr 2/8^II, 3/8^II, 6/4^II). Its form, a closing couplet clearly set off from the rest of the helmingr, is paralleled in Snorri’s stanza for Eyjólfr Brúnason (SnSt Lv 6/7-8^III). Prayers for the soul of the dedicatee are a common feature of Christian memorial poetry (Fidjestøl 1982, 186-90; Fidjestøl 1993b, 105, 111-12).

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. Einar Ólafur Sveinsson. 1966-9. ‘Kormakr the Poet and his Verses’. SBVS 17, 18-60.
5. Fidjestøl, Bjarne. 1982. Det norrøne fyrstediktet. Universitet i Bergen Nordisk institutts skriftserie 11. Øvre Ervik: Alvheim & Eide.
6. Frank, Roberta. 1978. Old Norse Court Poetry: The Dróttkvætt Stanza. Islandica 42. Ithaca and London: 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. NS = Nygaard, Marius. 1906. Norrøn syntax. Kristiania (Oslo): Aschehoug. Rpt. 1966.
9. Heusler, Andreas. 1923. Die altgermanische Dichtung. Berlin-Neubabelsberg: Athenaion.
10. ÓT 1958-2000 = Ólafur Halldórsson, ed. 1958-2000. Saga Óláfs Tryggvasonar en mesta. 3 vols. EA A 1-3. Copenhagen: Munksgaard (Reitzel).
11. Fidjestøl, Bjarne. 1993b. ‘Pagan Beliefs and Christian Impact: The Contribution of Scaldic Studies’. In Faulkes et al. 1993, 100-20.
12. Hollander, Lee M. 1947. ‘Is the Skaldic Stanza a Unit?’. GR 22, 298-319.
13. Reichardt, Konstantin. 1928. Studien zu den Skalden des 9. und 10. Jahrhunderts. Palaestra 159. Leipzig: Mayer & Müller.
14. Jón Helgason. 1975a. ‘Småstykker 3. Hallfreðr, Erfidrápa 29’. Opuscula 5, 405-6.
15. Lönnroth, Lars. 1981. ‘Iǫrð fannz æva né upphiminn. A formula analysis’. In Dronke et al. 1981, 310-27. Rpt. with postscript in Lönnroth 2011, 219-41.
16. Internal references
18. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Morkinskinna’ 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. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=87> (accessed 19 April 2024)
20. Guðrún Nordal (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Lausavísur’ in Guðrún Nordal (ed.), Poetry on Icelandic History. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 4. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1378> (accessed 19 April 2024)
21. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Þorfinnsdrápa 24’ 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. 258-9.
22. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson, Hákonarmál 20’ 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. 192.
23. Not published: do not cite ()
24. Edith Marold (ed.) 2022, ‘Kormáks saga 19 (Kormákr Ǫgmundarson, Lausavísur 18)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1056.
25. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 102’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1209.
26. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 14’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1118.
27. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 83’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1194.
28. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Stúfr inn blindi Þórðarson kattar, Stúfsdrápa 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, pp. 352-3.
29. Jayne Carroll (ed.) 2012, ‘Þórðr Kolbeinsson, Eiríksdrápa 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. 500.
30. Edith Marold (ed.) 2017, ‘Úlfr Uggason, Húsdrápa 1’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 405.
31. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Þormóðr Kolbrúnarskáld, Lausavísur 22’ 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. 837.