RvHbreiðm Hl 65^III

Haraldr magnaði hildi;
hildr tíddisk gram mildum;
frák hann við gný Gunnar
Gunnhildar bur kunna.
Harðr rauð í svip sverða
sverðs egg konungr ferðar;
morðs lét hilmir Hǫrða
hǫrð reyr lituð dreyra.

Haraldr magnaði hildi; hildr tíddisk mildum gram; frák hann, {bur Gunnhildar}, kunna við {gný Gunnar}. Harðr konungr ferðar rauð egg sverðs í {svip sverða}; {hilmir Hǫrða} lét {hǫrð reyr morðs} lituð dreyra.

Haraldr strengthened battle; battle gave pleasure to the generous ruler; I heard that he, {Gunnhildr’s son} [= Haraldr], was knowledgeable about {the clamour of Gunnr <valkyrie>} [BATTLE]. The harsh king of the company reddened the edge of the sword in {the swinging of swords} [BATTLE]; {the lord of the Hǫrðar} [NORWEGIAN KING = Haraldr] let {hard reeds of battle} [SWORDS] be coloured with blood.

Mss: papp25ˣ(38r), R683ˣ(132v)

Readings: [2] mildum: so R683ˣ, ‑millum papp25ˣ    [4] ‑hildar: ‑ildar papp25ˣ, R683ˣ    [7] morðs: ‘morhz’ papp25ˣ, ‘mordh’ R683ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 524-5, Skj BI, 503, Skald I, 247, NN §§984, 1162; Hl 1941, 29-30, 85.

Context: The heading is dunhent (‘Dun hent’) ‘echoing-rhymed’ (cf. SnSt Ht 24). This is a dróttkvætt variant in which the fifth syllable of an odd line (carrying rhyme and alliteration) is repeated as the first syllable in the following even line (also carrying rhyme and alliteration).

Notes: [All]: For possible indigenous and Latin models for this rhyme scheme, see Hl 1941, 127-9. — [All]: Haraldr is Haraldr gráfeldr ‘Grey-cloak’ Eiríksson, king of Norway c. 961-70 (see ÍF 26, 198-224; ÍF 29, 95-109). See also Glúmr Gráf^I, Glúmr Lv^I, Eyv Lv 6-14^I, Anon Nkt 16^II and his Biography in SkP I. — [2] hildr tíddisk ‘battle gave pleasure’: See st. 48/7. — [4]: The line recalls HaukrV Ísldr 11/4^IV. — [4] bur Gunnhildar ‘Gunnhildr’s son [= Haraldr]’: Skj B emends to burr Gunnhildar (m. nom. sg.) and takes it as an apposition to Haraldr in l. 1, which complicates the syntax and is not supported by the ms. witnesses (see NN §1162). Gunnhildr was the wife of Eiríkr blóðøx (see sts 63-4 above). For the loss of medial -h- in the ms. transcriptions of this cpd name, see ANG §294 and Hl 1941, 113. — [4] kunna (inf.) ‘was knowledgeable’: Lit. ‘know, be knowledgeable’. Both Skj B and Skald emend to kunnu (past inf.). That emendation is unnecessary (see Hl 1941). — [6] ferðar (f. gen. sg.) ‘of the company’: Skj B takes this gen. with dreyra ‘blood’ (l. 8) which creates a more complex word order that is not in keeping with the usual practice of the two poets (see NN §984). — [7] morðs ‘of battle’: Holtsmark (Hl 1941, 102) suggests that the spelling of this word in papp25ˣ, ‘morhz’, reflects the spelling of Rugman’s exemplar with <z> representing <ðs> and <h> added as a reminiscence of <ðh> in nom. ‘morðh’. See also st. 62/5.

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. ANG = Noreen, Adolf. 1923. Altnordische Grammatik I: Altisländische und altnorwegische Grammatik (Laut- und Flexionslehre) unter Berücksichtigung des Urnordischen. 4th edn. Halle: Niemeyer. 1st edn. 1884. 5th unrev. edn. 1970. Tübingen: Niemeyer.
6. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
7. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
8. Hl 1941 = Jón Helgason and Anne Holtsmark, eds. 1941. Háttalykill enn forni. BA 1. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
9. SkP I = Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Ed. Diana Whaley. 2012.
10. Internal references
11. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Anonymous Poems, Nóregs konungatal 16’ 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, p. 772.
12. Alison Finlay 2012, ‘ Glúmr Geirason, Gráfeldardrápa’ 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. 245. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1209> (accessed 25 April 2024)
13. Diana Whaley 2012, ‘ Glúmr Geirason, Lausavísa’ 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. 266. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1210> (accessed 25 April 2024)
14. Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson, Lausavísur 6’ 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. 223.
15. Not published: do not cite (HaukrV Ísldr 11^IV)
16. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 24’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1130.