Cookies on our website

We use cookies on this website, mainly to provide a secure browsing experience but also to collect statistics on how the website is used. You can find out more about the cookies we set, the information we store and how we use it on the cookies page.

Continue

skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

Menu Search

RvHbreiðm Hl 1III

Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Rǫgnvaldr jarl and Hallr Þórarinsson, Háttalykill 1’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1009.

Rǫgnvaldr jarl and Hallr ÞórarinssonHáttalykill
12

Skyldr at skemmta         þykkik skǫtnum vesa,
        þeims vilja nýtt mál nema.
Forn frœði         lætk framm of borin,
        ef þér vilið heyrt hafa.

Þykkik vesa skyldr at skemmta skǫtnum, þeims vilja nema nýtt mál. Lætk forn frœði of borin framm, ef þér vilið hafa heyrt.

I feel I am obliged to entertain men who wish to learn useful sayings. I shall let ancient wisdom be declaimed, if you want to listen.

Mss: papp25ˣ(33r), R683ˣ(125r)

Readings: [4] frœði: kvæði R683ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 512, Skj BI, 487, Skald I, 239, NN §2043B; Hl 1941, 24, 36.

Context: The heading is ljóðsháttr (‘Liődz Hattur’) ‘song’s form’ (cf. SnSt Ht 100, ljóðaháttr ‘songs’ form’).

Notes: [All]: The metre is attested in eddic poetry and elsewhere (see Section 4 of the General Introduction in SkP I). — [1-2] þykkik vesa skyldr at skemmta skǫtnum ‘I feel I am obliged to entertain men’: This recalls the opening of Anon NktII (st. 1/1-4). See also Anon Mhkv 1/6. — [3] nýtt mál ‘useful sayings’: Lit. ‘a useful saying’ (sg.). Rugman took nýtt as n. acc. sg. of the adj. nýr ‘new’ and translated the line as qvi de recentioribus sunt curiosi ‘who are curious about more recent things’ (R683ˣ). Skj B and Skald opt for the pl. form nýt môl ‘useful sayings’, and SnE 1848, 239 has mitt ‘my’. — [4] forn frœði ‘ancient wisdom’: The R683ˣ variant, forn kvæði ‘ancient poems’, is possible but appears to be a lectio facilior. See also Anon Mhkv 1/5 Fœra ætlum forn orð saman ‘I intend to bring old sayings together’. — [6] ef þér vilið hafa heyrt ‘if you want to listen’: Lit. ‘if you will want to listen’.

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. SnE 1848 = Sveinbjörn Egilsson, ed. 1848. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar, eða Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál og Háttatal. Reykjavík: Prentsmiðja landsins.
  4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
  5. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
  6. Hl 1941 = Jón Helgason and Anne Holtsmark, eds. 1941. Háttalykill enn forni. BA 1. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
  7. SkP I = Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Ed. Diana Whaley. 2012.
  8. Internal references
  9. Roberta Frank (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Poems, Málsháttakvæði 1’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1216.
  10. Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘ Anonymous, Nóregs konungatal’ 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. 761-806. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1035> (accessed 28 March 2024)
  11. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 100’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1208.
Close

Log in

This service is only available to members of the relevant projects, and to purchasers of the skaldic volumes published by Brepols.
This service uses cookies. By logging in you agree to the use of cookies on your browser.

Close

Stanza/chapter/text segment

Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.

Information tab

Interactive tab

The text and translation are given here, with buttons to toggle whether the text is shown in the verse order or prose word order. Clicking on indiviudal words gives dictionary links, variant readings, kennings and notes, where relevant.

Full text tab

This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.

Chapter/text segment

This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.