RvHbreiðm Hl 67^III

Sveinn framði gný grimman
— guðr heitir svá — peitu;
hagl brast skóðs á Skǫglar
— skjǫld nefnik svá — tjaldi.
Sóknbjartar skar snyrtir
— sverð nefnik svá — ferðir;
hringr brá horskra drengja
— hjǫr nefnik svá — fjǫrvi.

Sveinn framði {grimman gný peitu}; guðr heitir svá; {hagl skóðs} brast á {tjaldi Skǫglar}; svá nefnik skjǫld. Snyrtir – svá nefnik sverð – skar sóknbjartar ferðir; hringr – svá nefnik hjǫr – brá fjǫrvi horskra drengja.

Sveinn performed {a grim clamour of the spear} [BATTLE]; battle is called thus; {hail of the weapon} [ARROWS] crashed against {the tent of Skǫgul <valkyrie>} [SHIELD]; thus I name the shield. The polished one – thus I name the sword – cut battle-cheerful companies; the ringed one – thus I name the sword – ended the life of wise warriors.

Mss: papp25ˣ(38v), R683ˣ(132v)

Readings: [2] peitu: ‘væitu’ papp25ˣ, R683ˣ    [3] hagl: so R683ˣ, ‘Halg’ papp25ˣ;    skóðs: ‘scọ\ḳ/g̣s’ papp25ˣ, ‘scogs’ R683ˣ;    á: í R683ˣ    [4] skjǫld: skjald R683ˣ    [5] Sókn‑: so R683ˣ, ‘Soon‑’ papp25ˣ    [6] sverð: so R683ˣ, sverðs papp25ˣ    [7] horskra: ‘hærscra’ papp25ˣ, R683ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 525, Skj BI, 504, Skald I, 247; Hl 1941, 30, 87-8.

Context: The heading is tilsegjandi (‘Til sægiande’) ‘annotating’ (cf. SnSt Ht 25 tilsagt ‘annotated’). It is a dróttkvætt variant characterised by parenthetic clauses in positions 1-4 in the even lines (st. 68/8 is an exception).

Notes: [All]: Although parenthetic clauses are a staple of dróttkvætt poetry, the particular systematised use of such annotations is found only here and in Ht. The annotations are interesting with their explicit self-reflective comments on the use of skaldic diction. — [All]: Sveinn is Sveinn tjúguskegg ‘Fork-beard’ Haraldsson, king of Denmark and England (d. 1014). See ÍF 35, 96-8. It is interesting that Sveinn is considered king of Norway after the death of Haraldr gráfeldr (d. c. 970). The effective ruler of Norway was Hákon, jarl of Lade (d. 995; see Anon Nkt 17-18^II and his Biography in SkP I). — [2] peitu ‘of the spear’: Rugman again mistook <p> in peitu ‘spear’ for insular <v>. See Note to st. 18/6. — [3] skóðs ‘of the weapon’: The readings of both mss can be normalised as skógs (m. gen. sg.) ‘of the forest’ (for that gen. form, see Finnur Jónsson 1901, 9-10), but the form of the word in papp25ˣ (‘scọ\ḳ/g̣s’) shows that Rugman was uncertain of the transcription. Skj B and Skald retain skógs and take it to mean ‘bow’ (see LP: 2. skógr). However, the word is otherwise not attested in that meaning (see the discussion in Hl 1941), and retention of the word also causes the line to have three internal rhymes. Holtsmark (Hl 1941) suggests a tentative emendation to skass ‘troll-woman’ (hagl skass ‘the hail of the troll-woman’, i.e. ‘arrows’), while Jón Helgason (ibid.) supplies skóðs ‘dangerous weapon’ i.e. ‘bow’, which is closer to the ms. reading and preferred in the present edn. — [5] snyrtir ‘the polished one’: This is a heiti for ‘sword’ (Þul Sverða 1/7). — [7] hringr ‘the ringed one’: Another heiti for ‘sword’, see Note to st. 41/1.

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. LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
5. Finnur Jónsson. 1901. Det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog omtr. 800-1300. SUGNL 28. Copenhagen: Møller.
6. ÍF 35 = Danakonunga sǫgur. Ed. Bjarni Guðnason. 1982.
7. Hl 1941 = Jón Helgason and Anne Holtsmark, eds. 1941. Háttalykill enn forni. BA 1. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
8. SkP I = Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Ed. Diana Whaley. 2012.
9. Internal references
10. (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 20 April 2024)
11. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Anonymous Poems, Nóregs konungatal 17’ 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. 773.
12. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Sverða heiti 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. 790.
13. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 25’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1131.