Hharð Lv 8^II

This st. (Hharð Lv 8) is recorded only in Hkr (Kˣ, 39, F, E J2ˣ) and H-Hr (H, Hr). It is not found in Mork, Fsk or Flat, and was likely not part of the ‘Oldest Mork’ (*ÆMork); rather, it was an independent addition to Hkr. Kˣ is the main ms.

Nú emk ellifu allra
— eggjumk vígs — ok tveggja
— þau ’ro enn, svát mank, manna
morð — ráðbani orðinn.
Ginn en gráleik inna,
(golls) es ferr með skolli,
(lýtendr kveða lítit
lauki gæft til auka).

Nú emk orðinn ráðbani allra ellifu ok tveggja; eggjumk vígs; þau morð manna ’ro, svát mank enn. En ginn inna gráleik, es ferr með skolli; {lýtendr golls} kveða lauki lítit gæft til auka.

Now I have become the death-instigator of altogether eleven and two; I am stirred to strife; those slayings of men are such that I still remember. But deceits yield ill will, which is accompanied by trickery; {spoilers of gold} [MEN] say that the leek needs little to grow strong.

Mss: Kˣ(553v-554r), 39(26vb), F(48ra), E(19v), J2ˣ(278r-v) (Hkr); H(52r), Hr(38ra) (H-Hr)

Readings: [3] svát (‘sva at’): svá Hr;    mank (‘ec man’): man 39;    manna: inna H, Hr    [4] orðinn: orðit F    [5] Ginn en: ginnir Hr    [6] es (‘er’): enn J2ˣ, ok H, Hr    [7] kveða: kveði 39    [8] til: at H, Hr

Editions: Skj AI, 359, Skj BI, 330-1, Skald I, 167, NN §2025; ÍF 28, 134 (HSig ch. 53), F 1871, 224, E 1916, 69; Fms 6, 295 (HSig ch. 70).

Context: After the death of Haraldr’s former enemy Kálfr Árnason, Kálfr’s brother, Finnr, accuses Haraldr of having plotted his brother’s death because he had sent him into battle without sufficient backup. Haraldr neither denies nor confirms the allegation, and people feel that, on earlier occasions, he had been eager to avenge smaller transgressions than those which Kálfr had been guilty of.

Notes: [All]: For Kálfr’s death, see also Arn Hardr 1. — [5-8]: The present edn follows Kock in taking lýtendr golls ‘spoilers of gold’ (ll. 6, 7) as the subject of kveða ‘say’ (l. 7), and ginn ‘deceits’ (l. 5) as the subject (pl.) of inna ‘yield’ (l. 5). Skj B construes lýtendr golls ‘spoilers of gold’ as the subject of inna ‘yield, pay, repay’, ginn (n. acc. sg./pl.) ‘deceit(s)’ as the acc. object, and gráleik ‘enmity’ as a dat. instr.: men mænd gengælder det sind, der farer frem med svig, med fjendskab ‘but men repay that disposition which is engaged in deceit with enmity’. Inna is not otherwise attested with an acc. and a dat. instr. Furthermore, -leikr is a m. a-stem, and the regular dat. ending is -i (-leiki), unless it is either an a-stem without a dat. ending (ANG §358.3), or an earlier i-stem (cf. Goth. laikins m. acc. pl., i-stem). Kock (NN §2025) also points out that ginn ‘deceit(s)’ cannot mean ‘disposition’. — [5, 6] ginn inna gráleik, es ferr með skolli ‘deceits yield ill will, which is accompanied by trickery’: Recalls Hávm 45/6 (NK 24): oc gialda lausung við lygi ‘and repay a lie with falsehood’ (see also ÍF 28, 134 n.). — [5] en ‘but’: ÍF 28 renders this as the adv. enn ‘still’, which violates the w. o. in an independent cl. (the verb needs to come in syntactic position 1 or 2). — [7, 8] lauki lítit gæft til auka ‘the leek needs little to grow strong’: Lit. ‘to the leek little needs to be given to increase’. This must refer to Haraldr’s enemies (as paraphrased in the preceding prose); i.e. unless nipped in the bud, small transgressions will increase and become a real threat.

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. Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
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. ANG = Noreen, Adolf. 1923. Altnordische Grammatik I: Altisländische und altnorwegische Grammatik (Laut- und Flexionslehre) unter Berücksichtigung des Urnordischen. 4th edn. Halle: Niemeyer. 1st edn. 1884. 5th unrev. edn. 1970. Tübingen: Niemeyer.
7. NK = Neckel, Gustav and Hans Kuhn (1899), eds. 1983. Edda: Die Lieder des Codex Regius nebst verwandten Denkmälern. 2 vols. I: Text. 5th edn. Heidelberg: Winter.
8. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
9. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
10. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
11. Internal references
12. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Heimskringla’ 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=4> (accessed 23 April 2024)
13. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Hulda-Hrokkinskinna’ 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=84> (accessed 23 April 2024)
14. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Haralds saga Sigurðssonar’ 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=142> (accessed 23 April 2024)
15. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Haraldsdrápa 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. 261-2.
16. Not published: do not cite ()
17. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Haraldr harðráði Sigurðarson, Lausavísur 8’ 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. 49-50.