RvHbreiðm Hl 9-10^III

Heldr vas Helgi mildr
hjǫrva … ok gegn;
háði hjalms við þjóð
†hin† …
gerðisk geira harðr
gnýr, en †ordo† …
… flaug
bǫðvar tungl á stǫð;
…
hvít klofnaði rít;
blóði …
… fekk gagn;
veitti vísi nýtr
…
… fúsliga fljótt
Fenris átti ben
…
egg sundraði legg
Gauts, en gerði …
… malms sakaðr hjalmr.

Helgi vas heldr mildr hjǫrva … ok gegn; háði hjalms †hin† … við þjóð; {harðr gnýr geira} gerðisk, en †ordo† … flaug {tungl bǫðvar} á stǫð; … hvít rít klofnaði … blóði … fekk gagn; nýtr vísi veitti … fúsliga fljótt; Fenris átti ben … egg sundraði legg; Gauts, en gerði … sakaðr hjalmr … malms …

Helgi was very generous with the swords’ … and honourable; he waged the helmet’s … … against people; {a hard crash of spears} [BATTLE] came about and … … flew {the moon of battle} [SHIELD] toward the landing place … the white shield was cloven … with blood … got victory; the bountiful ruler gave … eagerly quickly; Fenrir’s <wolf’s> got wound … the edge shattered the leg; of Gautr <= Óðinn>, and the damaged helmet made … metal’s …

Mss: papp25ˣ(42r-v), R683ˣ(125v-126r)

Readings: [2] gegn: regn corrected from gegn R683ˣ    [3] þjóð: þjóðir R683ˣ    [4] †hin† (‘hin’): om. R683ˣ    [5] geira: so R683ˣ, corrected from gera papp25ˣ    [8] tungl: ‘tung’ R683ˣ    [12] gagn: gegn R683ˣ    [13] vísi: vísir papp25ˣ, R683ˣ    [15] fljótt: so R683ˣ, fljót papp25ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 514, Skj BI, 489, Skald I, 240, NN §3114; Hl 1941, 34, 44-6.

Context: The variant is not named, but the metre is that of SnSt Ht 51 (inn mesti stúfr ‘the greatest apocopated’), which is not otherwise attested outside the two claves metricae. Each line contains five syllables (catalectic dróttkvætt).

Notes: [All]: The metre is not named (titulus deest ‘the heading is missing’), and the two stanzas cannot be reconstructed. Together they are made up of twenty lines, but it is unclear whether we are dealing with two ten-line stanzas or one eight-line plus a twelve-line stanza (so the reconstruction in Hl 1941, although Jón Helgason leaves open the possibility of two ten-line stanzas; the comparable stanza in SnSt Ht (st. 51) has 8 lines). Finnur Jónsson and Kock did not use papp25ˣ and Skj B and Skald are based only on R683ˣ. Both eds contain faulty line-divisions and give two eight-line stanzas in which the lines can contain 5-7 syllables. Because the text in the two mss is so fragmentary, the present edn makes no attempt to speculate about possible reconstructions. Earlier attempts at reconstruction are entirely conjectural and have little or no support in the ms. witnesses. — [All]: The hero eulogised is probably Helgi Hundingsbani ‘Slayer of Hundingr’ (see HHund I-II). According to Old Norse sources he was the son of Sigmundr and the half-brother of Sigurðr (see sts 3-4). In Danish tradition he was confused with Helgi Hálfdanarson, father of Hrólfr kraki ‘Pole-ladder’ (see sts 37-8). — [2] hjǫrva ‘the swords’’: This must be a determinant in a battle-kenning, and most eds supply regn ‘rain’ (‘swords’ rain’, i.e. ‘battle’). — [3] hjalms ‘the helmet’s’: This must also be a determinant in a kenning, but the base-word cannot be reconstructed. — [4] †hin† ‘…’: This word cannot be reconstructed. In R683ˣ, Rugman renders it as the inflectional ending of the last word in l. 3 (þjóðir (f. nom. or acc. pl.) ‘people’), but that is unlikely because that ending is unmetrical. — [6] †ordo† ‘…’: This could be construed as orðum (n. dat. pl.) ‘words’. Kock’s (NN §3114) suggestion urðu (3rd pers. pl. pret. indic. of verða ‘become’) is not supported by the orthography of the mss. Hl 1941 gives ǫrðugt, translated as fjentlig ‘enmious’, but that remains conjectural. — [7] flaug ‘flew’: This is most likely the 3rd pers. sg. pret. indic. of fljúga ‘fly’ but it could also be the noun ‘flight’ (so Hl 1941). — [13] vísi ‘ruler’: See Note to st. 19/3. — [15] fljótt ‘quickly’: So R683ˣ. It is unclear whether this is the adj. fljót (f. nom. sg. or n. nom. or acc. pl.) ‘quick’ (so papp25ˣ) or the adverb fljótt ‘quickly’. — [16]: The line could also be construed as Fenris átt í ben ‘Fenrir’s family [WOLVES] into the wound’. — [19] Gauts ‘of Gautr <= Óðinn>’: This gen. could belong either to the preceding or to the following clause. — [20] sakaðr hjalmr (m. nom. sg.) ‘the damaged helmet’: This has been taken here as the subject of gerði ‘made’ (l. 19).

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. Hl 1941 = Jón Helgason and Anne Holtsmark, eds. 1941. Háttalykill enn forni. BA 1. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
6. Internal references
7. Kari Ellen Gade 2017, ‘ Snorri Sturluson, 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. 1094. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1376> (accessed 19 April 2024)
8. Not published: do not cite ()
9. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 51’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1160.