Ótt Hfl 3^I

Ungr hratt á vit vengis,
vígrakkr konungr, blakki
(þú hefr dýrum þrek) dreyra
Danmarkar (þik vanðan).
Varð nýtligust norðan
— núst ríkr af hvǫt slíkri —
(frák til þess, es fóruð,)
fǫr þín, konungr (gǫrva).

Vígrakkr konungr, hratt ungr {blakki {dreyra vengis}} á vit Danmarkar; þú hefr vanðan þik dýrum þrek. Konungr, fǫr þín norðan varð nýtligust; frák gǫrva til þess, es fóruð; núst ríkr af slíkri hvǫt.

Battle-bold king, you launched [when] young {the steed {of the blood of the land}} [SEA > SHIP] towards Denmark; you have accustomed yourself to splendid valour. King, your journey from the north became most successful; I heard clearly about this, that you travelled; now you are powerful on account of such boldness.

Mss: Kˣ(220r) (Hkr); Holm2(5v), J1ˣ(136v), J2ˣ(119r), 325VI(5rb), 73aˣ(16r), 78aˣ(14v), 68(5r), 61(79ra), 325V(6vb), Bb(125rb), Flat(79va-b), Tóm(95r), 325XI 2 i(1vb) (ll. 1-3) (ÓH)

Readings: [1] hratt (‘hraztu’): bart J1ˣ, J2ˣ, helt 325VI, 73aˣ, 78aˣ, ‘hreztv’ Bb;    vengis: ‘væ[…]gis’ 325VI    [2] konungr: á vit 68, konungi Bb, konungr konungr Flat    [3] dreyra: so Holm2, J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 73aˣ, 78aˣ, 68, 61, 325V, Bb, Flat, Tóm, 325XI 2 i, ‘drøra’ Kˣ, ‘dreyr[…]’ 325VI    [4] ‑markar: ‑marka 325V    [5] Varð: yðr J1ˣ, J2ˣ    [6] núst (‘nu ert’): nú er 78aˣ, Tóm;    hvǫt: corrected from ‘for’ in a later hand 61, ‘hnod’ Tóm    [7] frák (‘fra ec’): frá J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 78aˣ;    es (‘er’): at 325V

Editions: Skj AI, 290, Skj BI, 268, Skald I, 137-8, NN §§724, 2486A; Hkr 1893-1901, II, 6, IV, 105, ÍF 27, 5 (ÓHHkr ch. 4); ÓH 1941, I, 35 (ch. 21), Flat 1860-8, II, 15.

Context: When the twelve-year-old Óláfr first goes to sea as a viking, he and his men sail east along the coast and to Denmark.

Notes: [1, 3] dreyra vengis ‘of the blood of the land [SEA]’: This pattern of kenning is usually explained by reference to the myth of the giant Ymir, whose blood formed the seas (see SnE 2005, 11-12, Meissner 99-100). — [5] norðan ‘from the north’: The construal here, with fǫr þín ‘your journey’, follows Kock (NN §724) and ÍF 27. The adv. is taken instead with the verb fóruð ‘you travelled’ in Skj B. — [7] þess ‘this’: As Kock points out (NN §2486A), this line lacks skothending. His suggested emendation of þess to þar ‘there’, however, is not satisfactory since til and not þar would then receive full stress, and þar could not carry the skothending. 

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. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. Meissner = Meissner, Rudolf. 1921. Die Kenningar der Skalden: Ein Beitrag zur skaldischen Poetik. Rheinische Beiträge und Hülfsbücher zur germanischen Philologie und Volkskunde 1. Bonn and Leipzig: Schroeder. Rpt. 1984. Hildesheim etc.: Olms.
6. 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.
7. ÓH 1941 = Johnsen, Oscar Albert and Jón Helgason, eds. 1941. Saga Óláfs konungs hins helga: Den store saga om Olav den hellige efter pergamenthåndskrift i Kungliga biblioteket i Stockholm nr. 2 4^to med varianter fra andre håndskrifter. 2 vols. Det norske historiske kildeskriftfond skrifter 53. Oslo: Dybwad.
8. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
9. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
10. SnE 2005 = Snorri Sturluson. 2005. Edda: Prologue and Gylfaginning. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
11. Internal references
12. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Óláfs saga helga (in Heimskringla)’ 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=152> (accessed 24 April 2024)