Hskv Útdr 1^II

Ok fádýrir fóru
Fjǫlnis hróts at móti
— vígôsum hlóð vísi —
víkingar gram ríkjum.
Náði herr at hrjóða
— hlaut drengja vinr fengi
fyrðum hollr, þars fellat
fátt lið — galeiðr átta.

Ok fádýrir víkingar fóru at {móti {Fjǫlnis hróts}} ríkjum gram; vísi hlóð vígôsum. Herr náði at hrjóða átta galeiðr; {vinr drengja}, hollr fyrðum, hlaut fengi, þars fátt lið fellat.

And the ignoble vikings went to {the meeting {of Fjǫlnir’s <= Óðinn’s> roof}} [SHIELD > BATTLE] with the mighty monarch; the prince set up the protective plankings. The army was able to clear eight galleys; {the friend of the warriors} [= Sigurðr], devoted to the people, seized loot where not a few troops fell.

Mss: Kˣ(608v), 39(36vb), F(60vb), E(37r-v), J2ˣ(317v), 42ˣ(17r) (Hkr); H(94v), Hr(64va) (H-Hr); Mork(25r) (Mork, ll. 5-8)

Readings: [2] hróts: so E, 42ˣ, H, Hr, ‘rótz’ Kˣ, F, ‘rotz’ 39, ‘hrozc’ J2ˣ;    at: á Hr    [4] gram: gramr 39, E, J2ˣ, 42ˣ;    ríkjum: so E, J2ˣ, 42ˣ, ríkum Kˣ, 39, F, H, Hr    [6] vinr fengi: vinfengi 39, vinr í fengi Hr    [7] þars (‘þar er’): en 39, F, E, J2ˣ, 42ˣ, þar Hr;    fellat: so all others, fella Kˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 486, Skj BI, 458, Skald I, 225, NN §§964, 2990C; ÍF 28, 241 (Msona ch. 4), F 1871, 282, E 1916, 131; Fms 7, 79 (Msona ch. 4); Mork 1867, 159, Mork 1928-32, 342, Andersson and Gade 2000, 316, 488 (Msona).

Context: While sailing past the Iberian Peninsula, Sigurðr encountered a fleet of galleys. He engaged in battle and captured eight ships.

Notes: [1, 4] fádýrir víkingar ‘the ignoble vikings’: This refers to Sigurðr’s enemies, most likely the Moors. In C11th-12th encomiastic poetry, the term víkingr could have both positive and negative connotations. Bkrepp Magndr 4 (c. 1100) and Þskakk Erldr 3 (c. 1164) use the term negatively to designate the opponents of Magnús berfœttr and Erlingr skakki respectively. In Steinn Óldr 3, however, ‘vikings’ denote the Norw. troops at the battle of Fulford (1066), in Valg Har 3 (before 1066) the term refers to the troops of Haraldr harðráði and in Ív Sig 42 (c. 1140), King Sigurðr slembidjákn is referred to as a ‘viking’. — [3] vígôsum ‘protective plankings’: Vígáss was a plank on board the ship that was used to support the víggyrðill, the protecting board-wall which was fastened on the inner side of the gunwale to increase its height during enemy attacks at sea (see Falk 1912, 13, 116). Skj B separates the two elements of the cpd and takes the first element with ríkjum ‘mighty’ (l. 4) (at móti vígríkjum gram ‘to the meeting with the battle-mighty monarch’), whereas the second element is construed as part of a kenning for ‘warriors’ (vísi hlóð sum Fjǫlnis hróts ‘the lord stacked the gods of Fjǫlnir’s roof’ (ll. 3-4)). That reading causes a very convoluted w. o. Kock (NN §§964, 2990C) construes the warrior-kenning vígsum Fjǫlnis hróts ‘the battle-gods of Fjǫlnir’s roof’ (i.e. ‘the battle-gods of the shield’) as an object of the verb hlaða ‘set up, stack, kill’ (so also ÍF 28), but that kenning is hyperdetermined since sum Fjǫlnis hróts ‘the gods of Fjǫlnir’s roof’ is a kenning for ‘warriors’. — [7-8] þars fátt lið fellat ‘where not a few troops fell’: Lit. ‘where few troops did not fall’. — [8] galeiðr ‘galleys’: Other than in a þula (Þul Skipa 4/5^III) this word is attested only here in poetry. For Mediterranean galleys, see Pryor and Jeffreys 2006, 422-44.

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. Falk, Hjalmar. 1912. Altnordisches Seewesen. Wörter und Sachen 4. Heidelberg: Winter.
8. Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
9. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
10. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
11. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
12. 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.
13. Pryor, John H. and Elizabeth M. Jeffreys. 2006. The Age of the Dromon: The Byzantine Navy ca 500-1204. The Medieval Mediterranean People, Economies and Cultures, 400-1500. Leiden and Boston: Brill.
14. Internal references
15. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Magnússona saga’ 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=149> (accessed 25 April 2024)
16. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Skipa heiti 4’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 867.
17. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Bjǫrn krepphendi, Magnússdrápa 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, p. 399.
18. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Ívarr Ingimundarson, Sigurðarbálkr 42’ 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. 525-6.
19. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Steinn Herdísarson, Óláfsdrápa 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. 370.
20. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Þorbjǫrn skakkaskáld, Erlingsdrápa 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. 635.
21. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Valgarðr á Velli, Poem about Haraldr harðráði 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. 302-3.