Kali Lv 1^II

Hvé launa þér þínir
þingmæltir dýrlingar
— vestr bifask rengr í rǫstum —
— reyn oss jǫfurr! — hnossir?

Hvé launa þingmæltir dýrlingar þínir þér hnossir? Vestr bifask rengr í rǫstum; reyn oss, jǫfurr!

How do your assembly-eloquent darlings repay you for your treasures? In the west, ship-frames tremble in the currents; test us, prince!

Mss: Mork(24r) (Mork); H(89v), Hr(61vb-62ra) (H-Hr); Bb(195v) (ÓH); Flat(134ra), 325III α(2v), R702ˣ(40v) (Orkn)

Readings: [1] Hvé: so all others, Hví Mork;    þér: om. Hr    [2] þingmæltir dýrlingar: þingríkir hǫfðingjar H, Hr, Flat, 325III α, R702ˣ, þingdjarfir hǫfðingjar Bb    [3] vestr: austr Bb;    rengr: rangir Hr, regn 325III α, R702ˣ;    rǫstum: rǫstu Bb, 325III α, R702ˣ    [4] jǫfurr: konungr Bb, Flat, 325III α, R702ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 434, Skj BI, 404, Skald I, 199; Mork 1867, 152, Mork 1928-32, 331, Andersson and Gade 2000, 309, 487-8 (Mberf); Fms 7, 49 (Mberf ch. 24); Flat 1860-8, II, 429, Orkn 1913-16, 106, ÍF 34, 99 (ch. 41).

Context: In Orkn and H-Hr the helmingr is attributed to Kali and recited as a question to Magnús berfœttr Óláfsson (see Mberf Lv 1) when Magnús’s army winters in the Hebrides (1098-9). In Mork it is anonymous but part of a verbal exchange with Magnús which takes place before Magnús embarks on his second expedition to the west in 1102.

Notes: [2] þingmæltir dýrlingar ‘assembly-eloquent darlings’: Þingríkir hǫfðingjar ‘law-mighty chieftains’ (lit. ‘assembly-mighty chieftains’; so Orkn and H-Hr) is metrically and syntactically possible and preferred by Skj B and Skald. Also possible is þingdjarfir hǫfðingjar ‘assembly-daring chieftains’ (so Bb). Þingmæltr ‘assembly-eloquent’ is a hap. leg., and dýrlingr ‘darling’ is cognate with OE dēorling ‘favourite, minion, darling’. — [3] rengr ‘ship-frames’: Rǫng (pl. rengr) was a cross-piece that held together the bottom-boards in a ship (see Note to Hharð Lv 11/7-8). Skj B gives the sg. form rǫng (not supported by any ms.), although LP: rǫng lists the pl. form for this st. — [4] jǫfurr ‘lord’: The variant konungr ‘king’ (so Orkn; Bb) is an equally plausible reading.

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. LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
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. 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. Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
9. ÍF 34 = Orkneyinga saga. Ed. Finnbogi Guðmundsson. 1965.
10. 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.
11. Orkn 1913-16 = Sigurður Nordal, ed. 1913-16. Orkneyinga saga. SUGNL 40. Copenhagen: Møller.
12. Internal references
13. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Orkneyinga 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=47> (accessed 19 April 2024)
14. (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 19 April 2024)
15. (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)
16. Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘(Biography of) Magnús berfœttr Óláfsson’ 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. 385-90.
17. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Magnúss saga berfœtts’ 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=144> (accessed 19 April 2024)
18. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Haraldr harðráði Sigurðarson, Lausavísur 11’ 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. 52-3.
19. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Magnús berfœttr Óláfsson, 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. 385-6.