Hharð Lv 10^II

Lv 10-11 (Hharð Lv 10-11) are recorded in Mork (Mork), H, Hr (H-Hr) and Flat (Flat) as part of an episode in which Haraldr and his court poet, the Icelander Þjóðólfr Arnórsson (ÞjóðA), engage in a poetic exchange with a Norw. fisherman called Þorgils (see ÞjóðA Lv 4; Þfisk Lv 1-3). The episode is also recorded at the very end of HSig in F with two additional sts allegedly composed by two of Þorgils’ sons, a young man and a saltburner. See Anon (HSig) 3-4. In F, Lv 11/5-8 are given as the second helmingr of a st. spoken by the saltburner. The first helmingr of that st. is recorded in F only. The differences in prose and poetry between the Mork and F redactions suggest that we are dealing with two oral variants of the same story (see Louis-Jensen 1977, 85-7; Fidjestøl 1971).

Hjoggu harða dyggvir
hirðmenn Dani stirða;
sótti ferð á flótta
framm; en þat vas skǫmmu.
Hitt vas fyrr, es fjarri
fóstrlandi rauðk branda;
sverð í Serkja garði
sǫng; en þat vas lǫngu.

Harða dyggvir hirðmenn hjoggu stirða Dani; ferð sótti framm á flótta; en þat vas skǫmmu. Hitt vas fyrr, es rauðk branda fjarri fóstrlandi; sverð sǫng í garði Serkja; en þat vas lǫngu.

The most loyal retainers cut down relentless Danes; the troop rushed forth in flight; and that was recently. It was earlier when I reddened the blades far from my native land; the sword sang in the stronghold of the Saracens; but that was long ago.

Mss: Mork(17r) (Mork); Flat(202ra) (Flat); H(69v-70r), Hr(50va) (H-Hr); F(54va)

Readings: [1] Hjoggu: Hjǫggu Mork, Hjuggu Flat, H, Hr, Hjogga F;    harða: harðla Flat, F;    dyggvir: so Flat, F, dyggir Mork, H, Hr    [5] Hitt vas fyrr (‘hitt var fyrr’): hitt er fyrr Flat, fyrr var hitt F;    es (‘er’): at Hr, F    [6] ‑landi: ‑land Hr;    branda: brandi Hr

Editions: Skj AI, 359, Skj BI, 331, Skald I, 167, NN §§806, 847A, 1902, 2026; Mork 1867, 101, Mork 1928-32, 248, Andersson and Gade 2000, 253, 479 (MH); Flat 1860-8, III, 377 (MH); Fms 6, 385 (HSig ch. 108); F 1871, 255 (HSig).

Context: See Introduction to Lv 10-11 above.

Notes: [All]: Haraldr alludes to his ongoing state of war with Sveinn Úlfsson of Denmark and to his earlier service in the Varangian army fighting the Saracens. — [7] í garði Serkja ‘in the stronghold of the Saracens’: Skj B connects this prepositional phrase with the previous cl. (‘when I reddened the blades far from my native land in the stronghold of the Saracens’), which creates a very convoluted w. o. (see NN §847A). For Serkland ‘land of the Saracens’, i.e. North Africa, the Arab sector of Asia Minor, Syria, see Jesch 2001a, 104-7 and Sigfús Blöndal 1978, 60-3. See also Þfisk Lv 3/5-8, Þstf Lv 3/6, ÞjóðA Sex 2 and ÞjóðA Lv 4/5-8.

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. Andersson, Theodore M. and Kari Ellen Gade, trans. 2000. Morkinskinna: The Earliest Icelandic Chronicle of the Norwegian Kings (1030-1157). Islandica 51. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.
7. Jesch, Judith. 2001a. Ships and Men in the Late Viking Age: The Vocabulary of Runic Inscriptions and Skaldic Verse. Woodbridge: Boydell.
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. Louis-Jensen, Jonna. 1977. Kongesagastudier: Kompilationen Hulda-Hrokkinskinna. BA 32. Copenhagen: Reitzel.
10. Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
11. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
12. Fidjestøl, Bjarne. 1971. ‘Tåtten om Harald Hardråde og fiskaren Þorgils’. MM, 34-49. Rpt. as ‘The Tale of Haraldr harðráði and Þorgils the Fisherman’ in Fidjestøl 1997a, 277-93.
13. Mork 1867 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1867. Morkinskinna: Pergamentsbog fra første halvdel af det trettende aarhundrede. Indeholdende en af de ældste optegnelser af norske kongesagaer. Oslo: Bentzen.
14. Sigfús Blöndal. 1978. The Varangians of Byzantium: An Aspect of Byzantine Military History. Trans. and rev. Benedikt S. Benedikz. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. First published 1954 as Væringja saga. Reykjavík: Ísafoldarprentsmiðja.
15. Internal references
16. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Flateyjarbók’ 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=44> (accessed 20 April 2024)
17. (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 20 April 2024)
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 20 April 2024)
19. (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 20 April 2024)
20. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Magnúss saga góða ok Haralds harðráða’ 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=147> (accessed 20 April 2024)
21. Diana Whaley 2009, ‘(Biography of) Þjóðólfr Arnórsson’ 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. 57-176.
22. Kari Ellen Gade and Diana Whaley (eds) 2009, ‘Anonymous Lausavísur, Lausavísur from Haralds saga Sigurðarsonar 3’ 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. 817.
23. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Haraldr harðráði Sigurðarson, Lausavísur 10’ 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. 51-2.
24. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Þorgils fiskimaðr, 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. 333-4.
25. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Þorgils fiskimaðr, Lausavísur 3’ 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. 335-6.
26. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Þjóðólfr Arnórsson, Sexstefja 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. 113-14.
27. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Þjóðólfr Arnórsson, Lausavísur 4’ 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. 168-9.
28. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Þórarinn stuttfeldr, Lausavísur 3’ 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. 481.