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Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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SnSt Ht 36III

Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 36’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1143.

Snorri SturlusonHáttatal
353637

Hristi hvatt, þás reistisk,
herfǫng, mjǫk lǫng véstǫng;
samði fólk, en frǫmðusk,
fullsterk, hringserk, grams verk.
Hǫnd lék (herjum reyndisk)
hjǫrr kaldr (allvaldr mannbaldr);
egg frák breiða bjoggu
bragning fylking; stóð þing.

Hristi hvatt {herfǫng}, þás mjǫk lǫng véstǫng reistisk; fólk samði {hringserk}, en fullsterk verk grams frǫmðusk. Kaldr hjǫrr lék hǫnd; allvaldr reyndisk herjum mannbaldr; frák bragning bjoggu breiða fylking egg; þing stóð.

{Army-tunics} [BYRNIES] were shaken violently when the very long standard-pole was raised; people fastened {the ring-shirt} [BYRNIE], and the mightily strong deeds of the lord were furthered. The cold sword played with the hand; the mighty ruler proved to the men to be a true hero; I heard that the prince equipped the broad battle-array with the blade; the assembly commenced.

Mss: R(48v), Tˣ(51r), W(144), U(47r) (l. 1), U(53r) (SnE)

Readings: [1] Hristi: Hristiz U(47r), U(53r)    [2] her‑: ‘[…]’ W    [3] frǫmðusk: framðiz W, framði U(53r)    [4] grams verk: corrected from ‘grꜳn serk’ W    [5] herjum: so Tˣ, U(53r), hverjum R, W    [6] kaldr: kald W    [7] bjoggu: so all others, ‘bioggiv’ R    [8] fylking: so all others, ‘fylkink’ R

Editions: Skj AII, 62, Skj BII, 71, Skald II, 40, NN §1310; SnE 1848-87, I, 648-9, II, 371, 389, III, 120, SnE 1879-81, I, 6, 78, II, 16, SnE 1931, 232, SnE 2007, 18-19; Konráð Gíslason 1895-7, I, 23.

Context: This dróttkvætt variant is called þríhent ‘triple-rhymed’ because each even line contains three aðalhendingar rather than two. The hendingar all occur in syllables with secondary stress in positions 2, 4, and 6, which means that the last hending falls on the ultimate rather than on the penultimate syllable.

Notes: [All]: The headings are 29 () and þríhent (U(47r)). This is the last heading (and first line) recorded in the index in U (U(47r)). The metre is similar to that of RvHbreiðm Hl 11-12, but it is not attested elsewhere in the extant corpus of skaldic poetry. — [All]: For this event, see Note to st. 34 [All]. — [1] hristi (3rd pers. sg. pret. indic.) ‘were shaken’: Lit. ‘was shaken’. The verb is used impersonally with herfǫng ‘troop-tunics’ as the acc. object. — [2] vé- ‘standard-’: Originally written ‘ve-’ in R, but later altered to ‘vé-’ (R*). — [4] fullsterk (n. acc. pl.) ‘mightily strong’: Skj B takes this with herfǫng (n. acc. pl.) ‘army-tunics’ (l. 2). From the point of view of word order, it is preferable to connect it with verk (n. acc. pl.) ‘deeds’ (l. 4) (so NN §1310; SnE 2007, 111). — [5] herjum ‘to the men’: So , U. Hverjum ‘everyone’ has been altered in R to herjum (R*). — [6] mannbaldr ‘a true hero’: Lit. ‘human hero’. Baldr is taken here in the meaning ‘hero, chieftain’ (cf. OE bealdor ‘hero’; AEW: baldr 2). See also Note to Þloft Tøgdr 7/8I. — [7] egg (f. dat. sg.) ‘with the blade’: For the dat. without an ending, see ANG §383 Anm. 2. — [8] þing stóð ‘the assembly commenced’: The legal assembly must be the assembly mentioned in Bǫglunga saga and Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar (see Note to st. 34 [All]). Faulkes (SnE 2007, 163) suggests that the word þing here and in st. 33/3 means ‘battle’. That half-kenning is extremely rare, however (see LP: þing 3). It is more likely that the stanzas describe actual incidents that occurred during the legal assemblies in 1213 and 1214 when Ingi Bárðarson forced the unruly farmers of Trøndelag to swear allegiance to him, and both Bǫglunga saga (Bǫgl 1988, II, 125, 127) and Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar (E 1916, 480) specifically mention two separate legal assemblies. During the first assembly (the Raumaþing in 1213) described in st. 33 above, fighting ensued, but on the second occasion (at Vágsbrú in 1214) the farmers appear to have submitted peacefully.

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 1848-87 = 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. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
  6. AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. Bǫgl 1988 = Magerøy, Hallvard, ed. 1988. Soga om Birkibeinar og Baglar: Boglunga sǫgur. Norsk historisk kjeldeskrift-institutt norrøne tekster 5. Oslo: Solum forlag and Kjeldeskriftfondet.
  10. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
  11. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
  12. Konráð Gíslason. 1895-7. Efterladte skrifter. 2 vols. I: Forelæsninger over oldnordiske skjaldekvad. II: Forelæsninger og videnskablige afhandlinger. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
  13. SnE 2007 = Snorri Sturluson. 2007. Edda: Háttatal. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
  14. SnE 1879-81 = Möbius, Theodor, ed. 1879-81. Hattatal Snorra Sturlusonar. 2 vols. Halle an de Saale: Verlag der Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses.
  15. Internal references
  16. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar’ 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. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=33> (accessed 25 April 2024)
  17. Not published: do not cite ()
  18. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Rǫgnvaldr jarl and Hallr Þórarinsson, Háttalykill 11’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1019.
  19. Matthew Townend (ed.) 2012, ‘Þórarinn loftunga, Tøgdrápa 7’ 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. 861.
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