SnSt Ht 28^III

Vandbaugs veitti sendir
vígrakkr, en gjǫf þakkak
skjaldbraks skylja mildum,
skipreiðu mér, heiða.
Fann næst fylkir unna
fǫl dýr at gjǫf stýri
stálhreins; styrjar deilis
stórlæti sák mæta.

{Vígrakkr sendir {vandbaugs}} veitti mér skipreiðu, en þakkak skylja, mildum {skjaldbraks}, heiða gjǫf. Næst fann fylkir {fǫl dýr unna} at gjǫf {stýri {stálhreins}}; sák mæta stórlæti {deilis styrjar}.

{The battle-brave sender {of the rod of the shield-boss}} [SWORD > WARRIOR = Hákon] provided me with a levy district, and I thank the lord, liberal {with shield-crash} [BATTLE], for the glorious gift. Next the leader selected {pale animals of the waves} [SHIPS] as a gift {for the steerer {of the stem-reindeer}} [SHIP > SEAFARER]; I saw the noble munificence {of the controller of strife} [WARRIOR].

Mss: R(48r), Tˣ(50r), W(143), U(47r) (l. 1), U(52r) (SnE); W(104), A(5r) (TGT, ll. 3-4)

Readings: [1] Vand‑: so W(143), Van‑ R, U(47r), Vann‑ Tˣ, U(52r);    veitti: veiti W(143), U(47r), U(52r)    [2] víg‑: veg‑ W(143)    [3] skjald‑: skjal Tˣ;    ‑braks: so Tˣ, W(143), W(104), A, ‑brags R, U(52r)    [4] ‑reiðu: so Tˣ, W(143), W(104), A, reiðum R, ‘‑reþi’ U(52r);    mér: menn U(52r)    [5] unna: vinna Tˣ    [6] fǫl dýr: so Tˣ, ‘favl dyrr’ R, fjǫldýr W(143), ‘falldvr’ U(52r);    at: af W(143);    stýri: stýris W(143), stýra U(52r)    [7] stál‑: so all others, ‘stol‑’ R;    styrjar: styrja W(143);    deilis: deili U(52r)    [8] sák (‘sa ec’): ‘faer’ U(52r)

Editions: Skj AII, 59-60, Skj BII, 68, Skald II, 39; SnE 1848-87, I, 638-9, II, 371, 386, III, 117, SnE 1879-81, I, 4, 77, II, 14, SnE 1931, 228, SnE 2007, 16; Konráð Gíslason 1895-7, I, 18-19; SnE 1848-87, II, 122-3, 412, TGT 1884, 19, 79, 190, TGT 1927, 55, 97.

Context: The stanza illustrates tvískelft ‘twice-trembled’ (or ‘double-shaken’, SnE 2007, 156). This is a variant of dróttkvætt in which the odd lines have alliteration in positions 1 and 3 (Type A-lines) and position 2 is occupied by a long, heavy syllable (Type A2l) rather than by a short enclitic derivational or inflectional ending or by a proclitic formword. In Snorri’s variant the first internal rhyme in the odd lines falls in metrical position 1. In TGT ll. 3-4 are given as an example of Cacenphaton (ON þreskǫld ‘threshold’), when the final sound in one word is the same as the onset of the next word, here -braks skylja.

Notes: [All]: The headings are tvískelft .xxi. ‘twice-trembled, the twenty-first’ (Tˣ) and tvískelft (U(47r)). The term must refer to the metrically heavy onset of the odd lines (Sievers’s Type A2l), directly followed by the second alliterative stave in metrical position 3. See also RvHbreiðm Hl 81-2, as well as Hallv Knútdr and HSt Rst^I. This is the first stanza in the second category of dróttkvætt (sts 28-67), in which Snorri exemplifies variants of dróttkvætt in terms of alliteration, variations of hendingar and length of lines (see Introduction above). — [All]: Lines 3-4 are attributed to Snorri in TGT. — [1] vandbaugs ‘of the rod of the shield-boss [SWORD]’: So W. Van- has been altered in R to Vann- (R*), but neither word can be construed to make any sense. — [2] en ‘and’: In R ek ‘I’ has been added after this conj. (R*). — [4] skipreiðu (f. acc. sg.) ‘a levy district’: So W(143), W(104), Tˣ. Skipreiðum (f. dat. pl.) ‘levy districts’ (R) is ungrammatical (the acc. case is required by the syntax). This refers to a coastal district whose population was responsible for equipping a warship. The district was likely the one given to Snorri by Hákon, which was mentioned in st. 27 above (see Note to st. 27/5, 7). — [6] fǫl (n. acc. pl.) ‘pale’: This adj. can also be the n. acc. pl. of falr ‘marketable, available’, but the meaning ‘pale’ has been adopted here in keeping with in bleika súð ‘the pale ship’ in st. 27/2 above. Hákon must have offered the ships to Snorri, but the ship on which he sailed back to Iceland in 1220 he had received from Skúli (Stu 1878, I, 244). — [6] at gjǫf ‘as a gift’: For this meaning of the prep. at, see Heggstad et al. 2008: at 11. See also sts 49/2 and 86/2. — [7] stálhreins ‘of the stem-reindeer [SHIP]’: So all other mss. In R ‘stolhreins’ has been altered to ‘stalhrein’ (R*). — [8] mæta (f. acc. sg.) ‘noble’: This adj. is grammatically difficult. Earlier eds connect it with stórlæti ‘generosity’; stórlæti is n., not f., however. Following Konráð Gíslason (1895-7), Faulkes (SnE 2007, 151) does indeed give it as a f. noun, and we would then have to assume an unattested f. in-stem variant. Mæta could also be a weak n. acc. sg., but that is unlikely from a grammatical point of view (see NS §50).

References

1. Bibliography
2. TGT 1884 = Björn Magnússon Ólsen, ed. 1884. Den tredje og fjærde grammatiske afhandling i Snorres Edda tilligemed de grammatiske afhandlingers prolog og to andre tillæg. SUGNL 12. Copenhagen: Knudtzon.
3. SnE 1848-87 = Snorri Sturluson. 1848-87. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar: Edda Snorronis Sturlaei. Ed. Jón Sigurðsson et al. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Legatum Arnamagnaeanum. Rpt. Osnabrück: Zeller, 1966.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. NS = Nygaard, Marius. 1906. Norrøn syntax. Kristiania (Oslo): Aschehoug. Rpt. 1966.
6. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
7. Konráð Gíslason. 1895-7. Efterladte skrifter. 2 vols. I: Forelæsninger over oldnordiske skjaldekvad. II: Forelæsninger og videnskablige afhandlinger. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
8. Stu 1878 = Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon], ed. 1878. Sturlunga Saga including the Islendinga Saga of Lawman Sturla Thordsson and Other Works Edited with Prolegomena, Appendices, Tables, Indices, and Maps. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon.
9. TGT 1927 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1927b. Óláfr Þórðarson: Málhljóða- og málskrúðsrit. Grammatisk-retorisk afhandling. Det kgl. Danske Videnskabernes Selskab. Historisk-filologiske meddelelser 13, 2. Copenhagen: Høst.
10. SnE 2007 = Snorri Sturluson. 2007. Edda: Háttatal. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
11. SnE 1879-81 = Möbius, Theodor, ed. 1879-81. Hattatal Snorra Sturlusonar. 2 vols. Halle an de Saale: Verlag der Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses.
12. Internal references
13. (forthcoming), ‘ Óláfr hvítaskáld Þórðarson, The Third Grammatical Treatise’ in Tarrin Wills (ed.), The Third Grammatical Treatise. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=32> (accessed 20 April 2024)
14. Rolf Stavnem 2012, ‘ Hallar-Steinn, Rekstefja’ 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. 893. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1237> (accessed 20 April 2024)
15. Matthew Townend 2017, ‘ Hallvarðr háreksblesi, Knútsdrápa’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 230. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1246> (accessed 20 April 2024)
16. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Rǫgnvaldr jarl and Hallr Þórarinsson, Háttalykill 81’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1092.