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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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RvHbreiðm Hl 37III

Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Rǫgnvaldr jarl and Hallr Þórarinsson, Háttalykill 37’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1045.

Rǫgnvaldr jarl and Hallr ÞórarinssonHáttalykill
363738

Hafði Helgi         í hjǫrva gný
geðstein glaðan,         gótt drengjaval,
hjalm harðsleginn,         hjól mundriða,
sverð snardregit         ok svala brynju.

Helgi hafði {glaðan geðstein} í {gný hjǫrva}, gótt drengjaval, harðsleginn hjalm, {hjól mundriða}, snardregit sverð ok svala brynju.

Helgi had {a cheerful mind-stone} [HEART] in {the clamour of swords} [BATTLE], a good choice of warriors, a hard-forged helmet, {a wheel of the sword} [SHIELD], a swift-drawn sword and a cold byrnie.

Mss: papp25ˣ(34r), R683ˣ(129r)

Readings: [2] hjǫrva: ‘horva’ R683ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 519, Skj BI, 496, Skald I, 243; Hl 1941, 25, 67.

Context: The heading is bálkarlag (‘Balkar lagr’) ‘section’s metre’ (cf. SnSt Ht 97, StarkSt Frag and TGT 1884, 68). In Ht, that metre is a regularised form of fornyrðislag with two alliterative staves in the odd lines. In Snorri’s variant, the main stave in the even lines falls on the initial syllable, and there is no anacrusis (so also in StarkSt Frag). In the present stanza, ll. 2 and 8 are Types B and C2 with anacrusis.

Notes: [All]: Helgi is Helgi Hálfdanarson Fróðasonar, another legendary king of the Danish Skjǫldung dynasty and the grandson of Fróði who is commemorated in sts 35-6. He was the father of Hrólfr kraki (sts 47-8). See ÍF 26, 56-7, ÍF 35, 21-6, 37 and Saxo 2005, I, 2, 5, 2-7, pp. 158-63 (the latter confuses him with Helgi Hundingsbani, see Note to sts 9-10 [All]). — [6] mundriða ‘of the sword’: Lit. ‘that which rides, swings in the hand’. Mundriði is a heiti for ‘sword’ (see Note to Þul Sverða 3/3).

References

  1. Bibliography
  2. TGT 1884 = Björn Magnússon Ólsen, ed. 1884. Den tredje og fjærde grammatiske afhandling i Snorres Edda tilligemed de grammatiske afhandlingers prolog og to andre tillæg. SUGNL 12. Copenhagen: Knudtzon.
  3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
  4. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
  5. ÍF 35 = Danakonunga sǫgur. Ed. Bjarni Guðnason. 1982.
  6. 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.
  7. Hl 1941 = Jón Helgason and Anne Holtsmark, eds. 1941. Háttalykill enn forni. BA 1. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
  8. Internal references
  9. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Háttatal’ 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=165> (accessed 28 March 2024)
  10. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Sverða heiti 3’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 794.
  11. Tarrin Wills 2017, ‘ Starkaðr gamli Stórvirksson, Fragment’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 382. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=3003> (accessed 28 March 2024)
  12. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 97’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1206.
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