Mberf Lv 1II
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.
This helmingr (Mberf Lv 1) is preserved in Mberf in Mork (Mork), H, Hr (H-Hr) and mss Flat, 325III α and R702ˣ of Orkn. Mork is the main ms. The prose of H-Hr follows Orkn at this point, but it is difficult to establish a stemma for the poetry. Skj A includes readings from AM 762 4°ˣ (762ˣ), a copy of R702ˣ, which has no independent value and has not been consulted for the present edn.
Auð hefk minn, þanns mǫnnum
margteitum réðk veita,
— húf létk kløkkvan klífa
kolgur — illa folginn.
Hefk folginn auð minn, þanns réðk veita margteitum mǫnnum, illa; létk kløkkvan húf klífa kolgur.
I have invested my wealth, which I gave to my most cheerful men, unwisely; I let the flexible hull climb the breakers.
Mss: Mork(24r) (Mork); H(89v), Hr(62ra) (H-Hr); Flat(134ra), 325III α(2v), R702ˣ(40v) (Orkn)
Readings: [2] réðk (‘réþ ec’): réð Hr [3] húf: kjǫl 325III α, R702ˣ; létk (‘let ec’): læt ek H; kløkkvan: kaldan 325III α, R702ˣ; klífa: kljúfa Hr
Editions: Skj AI, 432, Skj BI, 402, Skald I, 199; Mork 1867, 152, Mork 1928-32, 332, Andersson and Gade 2000, 309, 488 (Mberf); Fms 7, 49 (Mberf ch. 24); Flat 1860-8, II, 429, Orkn 1913-16, 106, ÍF 34, 100 (ch. 41).
Context: In Mork the helmingr is recited by Magnús in response to an anonymous helmingr as he is getting ready to embark on his second expedition to the west in 1102. In Orkn and H-Hr this exchange occurs in the Hebrides in 1098-9 and the first half-st., the question eliciting Magnús’s response, is spoken by Kali Sæbjarnarson (see Kali Lv).
Notes: [1, 4] hefk folginn auð minn … illa ‘I have invested my wealth … unwisely’: This is Magnús’s response to Kali’s question (Kali Lv) about how Magnús’s men reward him for his lavish gifts. Mork provides no motivation for this verbal exchange, but in Orkn and in H-Hr it is prompted by the desertion of many of Magnús’s men during their stay in the Hebrides. Magnús allows some men to return to Norway, but many leave without permission. — [3] húf ‘hull’: Denotes the middle planks between the stem and the stern (see Falk 1912, 51, 53; Jesch 2001a, 143-4). Kjǫl ‘keel’ (so 325III α, R702ˣ) leaves the l. with three alliterating staves. — [3] létk (3rd pers. sg. pret. indic.) ‘I let’: Skj B and Skald adopt the H variant lætk (3rd pers. sg. pres. indic.) ‘I let’, a form that is not supported by the majority of ms. witnesses. — [4] illa ‘unwisely’: Lit. ‘badly’.
References
- Bibliography
- Skj A = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15a. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. A: Tekst efter håndskrifterne. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1967. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
- Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
- Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
- Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
- 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.
- Jesch, Judith. 2001a. Ships and Men in the Late Viking Age: The Vocabulary of Runic Inscriptions and Skaldic Verse. Woodbridge: Boydell.
- Falk, Hjalmar. 1912. Altnordisches Seewesen. Wörter und Sachen 4. Heidelberg: Winter.
- 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.
- Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
- ÍF 34 = Orkneyinga saga. Ed. Finnbogi Guðmundsson. 1965.
- 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.
- Orkn 1913-16 = Sigurður Nordal, ed. 1913-16. Orkneyinga saga. SUGNL 40. Copenhagen: Møller.
- Internal references
- (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 28 March 2024)
- (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 28 March 2024)
- (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 28 March 2024)
- Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘(Biography of) Kali Sæbjarnarson’ 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. 393-4.
- (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 28 March 2024)
- Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘ Kali Sæbjarnarson, Lausavísa’ 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. 393-4. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1287> (accessed 28 March 2024)
- 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.
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