Ólhv Hryn 10^II

Hallgeislat rauð hvatt í Ósló
hildar tungl með skata mildum
(ræstir þrungu jǫfrar œstum)
járnfaldit lið (saman hjaldri).
Brǫndum skýfðusk blóðgar randir;
bleikir fellu menn at velli;
hlífarlauss vá gramr með gæfu;
gyltar sungu hjalta tungur.

Járnfaldit lið rauð hvatt {hallgeislat tungl hildar} í Ósló með mildum skata; ræstir jǫfrar þrungu saman œstum hjaldri. Blóðgar randir skýfðusk brǫndum; bleikir menn fellu at velli; gramr vá hlífarlauss með gæfu; {gyltar tungur hjalta} sungu.

The iron-helmed retinue bravely reddened {brilliant-coloured moons of battle} [SHIELDS] in Oslo with the generous lord; the princes, incited, caused a fierce battle. Bloody shields were cut in two with swords; pale men fell to the field; the king fought successfully without a shield; {gilded tongues of hilts} [SWORDS] sang.

Mss: E(177r), F(110vb), 42ˣ(162v), 81a(109ra), 8(56v), Flat(178vb) (Hák)

Readings: [1] Hall‑: ‘Hatt‑’ 81a;    ‑geislat: ‑gíslat F, ‘‑gilsar’ 42ˣ, ‘‑geírstad’ 81a, ‑geisat 8;    rauð: fló Flat;    hvatt: so F, 81a, Flat, ‘buat’ E, hvatr 42ˣ, hart 8    [2] skata: skatna 81a    [3] ræstir: ‘rꜹstír’ F;    þrungu: ‘þrungðo’ F;    jǫfrar œstum: so F, 42ˣ, 8, Flat, jǫfra hæstum E, ‘lafrar æstum’ 81a    [4] járn‑: jafn‑ Flat;    ‑faldit: faldinn 81a;    saman: ‘samam’ 81a;    hjaldri: haldit Flat    [5] skýfðusk: so 81a, 8, Flat, ‘skipduz’ E, ‘skifðoz’ F, ‘sciptuz’ 42ˣ;    blóðgar: ‘sblogdgar’ 81a    [6] at: á F, 42ˣ, 8, Flat    [7] vá: var F, 42ˣ;    með: við 42ˣ    [8] gyltar: gyldar Flat

Editions: Skj AII, 96, Skj BII, 107, Skald II, 57, NN §2280; E 1916, 603, F 1871, 515, Hák 1910-86, 560, Hák 1977-82, 126, Flat 1860-8, III, 151.

Context: The battle of Oslo, fought between the forces of Hákon and Skúli, took place at the churchyard of Hallvardskirken on 21 April 1240. Hákon, at the head of his army, urged his men to advance.

Notes: [All]: For this event in the battle of Oslo, see also Sturl Hákkv 14. — [1, 2] hallgeislat tungl hildar ‘brilliant-coloured moons of battle [SHIELDS]’: The cpd hallgeislat is a hap. leg. consisting of hallr ‘stone, jewel, colour’ and geislat (adj., n. acc. sg., p. p. of geisla ‘beam, illuminate’) ‘illuminated’ (see LP: hallgeislaðr). Hallgeislat modifies tungl (n. acc. sg.), which is used here with a pl. meaning. For the custom of painting and ornamenting shields, see Falk 1914, 143-8. — [3, 4] þrungu saman ‘caused’: Lit. ‘forced together’. — [7] hlífarlauss ‘without a shield’: Hap. leg. Hlíf can mean ‘protection’ in general, or more specifically, as in this case, ‘shield’. — [7] með gæfu ‘successfully’: Lit. ‘with good fortune’ (see NN §2280). — [8] gyltar tungur hjalta ‘gilded tongues of hilts [SWORDS]’: Cf. Kári Lv 3/5-6^V hátungur hjalta ‘long tongues of hilts’ i.e. ‘swords’. The present kenning for ‘sword’, which contains the base-word ‘tongue’, is an artful reversal of the more common practice of referring to the tongue with the base-word ‘sword’ (see Guðrún Nordal 2001, 252). The latter is described in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 108): tunga er opt kǫlluð sverð máls eða munns ‘the tongue is often called sword of speech or mouth’.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. 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.
5. Guðrún Nordal. 2001. Tools of Literacy: The Role of Skaldic Verse in Icelandic Textual Culture of the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries. Toronto, Buffalo and London: University of Toronto Press.
6. Falk, Hjalmar, ed. 1914a. Sólarljóð. Videnskapsselskapets skrifter II. Hist.-filos. kl. 7. 2 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad.
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. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
9. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
10. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
11. Hák 1977-82 = Mundt, Marina, ed. 1977. Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar etter Sth. 8 fol., AM 325VIII, 4° og AM 304, 4°. Oslo: Forlagsentralen. Suppl. by James E. Knirk, Rettelser til Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar etter Sth. 8 fol., AM 325VIII, 4° og AM 304, 4°. Norrøne tekster 2. Oslo: Norsk historisk kjeldeskrift-institutt, 1982.
12. Hák 1910-86 = Kjær, Albert and Ludvig Holm-Olsen, eds. 1910-86. Det Arnamagnæanske haandskrift 81a fol. (Skálholtsbók yngsta) indeholdende Sverris saga, Bǫglungasǫgur, Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar. Oslo: Den norske historiske kildeskriftkommission and Kjeldeskriftfondet.
13. Internal references
14. (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Skáldskaparmál’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=112> (accessed 19 April 2024)
15. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2022, ‘Njáls saga 48 (Kári Sǫlmundarson, Lausavísur 3)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1288.
16. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Sturla Þórðarson, Hákonarkviða 14’ 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. 710.