RvHbreiðm Hl 35^III

Þjóð hefr frétt til Fróða;
ferð leyfir menskerði;
hróðr hefk hugt at smíða
hringmiklum dǫglingi.
Hôtt bar hodda veitir
hjalmstall inn margsnjalli;
alkostigr gekk œstu
ǫðlingr at brynþingi.

Þjóð hefr frétt til Fróða; ferð leyfir {menskerði}; hefk hugt at smíða hringmiklum dǫglingi hróðr. {Inn margsnjalli veitir hodda} bar {hjalmstall} hôtt; alkostigr ǫðlingr gekk at {œstu brynþingi}.

People have heard of Fróði; the company commends {the necklace-diminisher} [GENEROUS MAN]; I have intended to forge praise for the ring-powerful ruler. {The very capable bestower of treasures} [GENEROUS MAN] carried {the helmet-support} [HEAD] high; the thoroughly splendid lord went to {the raging byrnie-assembly} [BATTLE].

Mss: papp25ˣ(34r), R683ˣ(129r)

Readings: [1] frétt: so R683ˣ, fret papp25ˣ    [4] ‑miklum: ‑mildum R683ˣ    [5] hodda: hadda R683ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 518-19, Skj BI, 495, Skald I, 243; Hl 1941, 25, 66.

Context: The heading is detthent (‘Detthent’) ‘falling-’ or ‘stumbling-rhymed’ (cf. SnSt Ht 29). The metre is a variant of dróttkvætt in which all even lines end in a trisyllabic compound with internal rhyme on the second syllable (metrical position 5).

Notes: [All]: Lines containing this metrical feature occur regularly in dróttkvætt poetry, but it is never systematically carried through as in this stanza and in Ht 29. Holtsmark (Hl 1941, 131) compares the name of the verse-form to Lat. cadentes. — [All]: Fróði Friðleifsson was the brother of Áli (sts 33-4; see ÍF 26, 51-5, ÍF 35, 17-22 and Saxo 2005, I, 6, 4, 13-5, 1, pp. 378-81, 6, 5, 18-19, pp. 390-1). — [2] menskerði ‘the necklace-diminisher [GENEROUS MAN]’: For this cpd, see also Ill Har 1/2^II. — [4] hringmiklum ‘for the ring-powerful’: Hringmildum ‘ring-generous’ (so R683ˣ) is also a plausible reading but is likely to be a lectio facilior. — [5, 6] bar hjalmstall hôtt ‘carried the helmet-support [HEAD] high’: Recalls Hharð Lv 14/5, 6, 8^II. — [6] inn margsnjalli ‘the very capable’: See the closely similar phrase in st. 36/2.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
4. ÍF 35 = Danakonunga sǫgur. Ed. Bjarni Guðnason. 1982.
5. Saxo 2005 = Friis-Jensen, Karsten, ed. 2005. Saxo Grammaticus: Gesta Danorum / Danmarkshistorien. Trans. Peter Zeeberg. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Det danske sprog- og litteraturselskab & Gads forlag.
6. Hl 1941 = Jón Helgason and Anne Holtsmark, eds. 1941. Háttalykill enn forni. BA 1. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
7. Internal references
8. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Haraldr harðráði Sigurðarson, Lausavísur 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, pp. 55-6.
9. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Illugi bryndœlaskáld, Poem about Haraldr harðráði 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. 282-3.
10. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 27’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1133.
11. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 29’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1135.