RvHbreiðm Hl 57^III

Styrbjǫrn réð til styrjar
styrfimr meginsnimma;
hildingr gekk at hjaldri
hildarfúss und skildi.
Eggþinga skar eggjum
eggjandi fjǫr seggja;
vargfœðir rauð vargi
varghollr granar mǫrgum.

Styrfimr Styrbjǫrn réð meginsnimma til styrjar; hildingr gekk hildarfúss und skildi at hjaldri. {Eggjandi {eggþinga}} skar fjǫr seggja eggjum; {varghollr vargfœðir} rauð granar mǫrgum vargi.

Battle-swift Styrbjǫrn engaged in battle extremely early; the warrior went war-eager beneath the shield to war. {The egger-on {of edge-assemblies}} [BATTLES > WARRIOR] severed men’s lives with edges; {the wolf-devoted wolf-feeder} [WARRIOR] reddened the whiskers of many a wolf.

Mss: papp25ˣ(37r), R683ˣ(131r)

Readings: [4] ‑fúss: fús papp25ˣ, R683ˣ;    und: so R683ˣ, unz papp25ˣ    [7] vargi: víða papp25ˣ, R683ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 522, Skj BI, 501, Skald I, 246; Hl 1941, 28, 81.

Context: The heading is iðurmælt (‘idur mælt’) ‘repeatedly spoken’ (cf. SnSt Ht 47). It is a dróttkvætt variant in which the internal rhymes from the odd lines are repeated in the even lines.

Notes: [All]: Holtsmark (Hl 1941, 131) suggests that the name of this variant could be modelled on Lat. repetitio. — [All]: Styrbjǫrn is Styrbjǫrn inn sterki ‘the Strong’ Óláfsson, the nephew of Eiríkr inn sigrsæli (see sts 51-2 above). He fell at the battle of Fýrisvellir against his uncle (see ÍF 26, 130, 215; ÍF 35, 94-5; Flat 1860-8, II, 70-3; Saxo 2005, I, 10, 2-3, pp. 626-9; Anon (Styrb) 1-3^I; ÞHjalt Lv 1-2^I). Originally named Bjǫrn, he gained the nickname Styr- ‘battle, uproar’, while the name Bjǫrn etymologically means ‘bear’ (cf. the rhyme-word styr- ‘battle-’ in ll. 1-2). — [3] hildingr ‘the warrior’: Hildingr is a heiti for ‘ruler’ (see SnE 1998, I, 103 and Þul Konunga 2/1), but it is derived from hildr ‘battle, war’ and must originally have meant ‘warrior’ (see SnE 1998, II, 309). The present translation preserves the play on words in this stanza. — [3] hjaldri ‘war’: Skj B and Skald emend to hildi ‘battle’ to retain the aðalhending. — [4] -fúss (m. nom. sg.) ‘-eager’: The m. nom. sg. form of the adj. is required here (see Note to st. 56/6). — [7] vargi (m. dat. sg.) ‘wolf’: In keeping with most earlier eds, víða (adv.) ‘far and wide’ has been emended to vargi ‘wolf’ to retain the internal rhyme and to provide a noun for the adjectival qualifier mǫrgum (m. dat. sg. or pl.) ‘many’ (l. 8). Vǫrgum (m. dat. pl.) ‘wolves’ is also a possible reading (so SnE 1848, 245).

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. 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.
6. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
7. ÍF 35 = Danakonunga sǫgur. Ed. Bjarni Guðnason. 1982.
8. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
9. 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.
10. Hl 1941 = Jón Helgason and Anne Holtsmark, eds. 1941. Háttalykill enn forni. BA 1. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
11. Internal references
12. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Konunga heiti 2’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 689.
13. Matthew Townend (ed.) 2012, ‘Anonymous Lausavísur, Lausavísur from Styrbjarnar þáttr Svíakappa 1’ 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. 1076.
14. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 47’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1156.
15. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2012, ‘Þorvaldr Hjaltason, Lausavísur 1’ 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. 271.