SnSt Ht 44^III

Frama skotnar gram; gotnum
— gjǫf sannask — rǫf spannar
(menstiklir) vensk mikla;
(manndýrðir vann skýrðar).
Herfjǫlð (bera hǫlðar)
hagbáls lagar stála
friðask sjaldan við valdi
(vallands svala branda).

Skotnar gram frama; gjǫf sannask; {rǫf spannar} vensk mikla gotnum; {menstiklir} vann skýrðar manndýrðir. {Valdi stála} friðask sjaldan við herfjǫlð {hagbáls lagar}; hǫlðar bera {svala branda {vallands}}.

The lord is allotted honour; the gift is made good; {the amber of the grip} [GOLD] accustoms itself greatly to men; {the necklace-distributor} [GENEROUS MAN] caused manly virtues to be displayed. {The ruler of swords} [WARRIOR] seldom makes peace with the great quantity {of the elaborate pyre of the ocean} [GOLD]; freeholders wear {cool fires {of the falcon-land}} [ARM > GOLD].

Mss: R(49r), Tˣ(51v), W(145), U(53v) (SnE)

Readings: [1] gram: gramr U    [2] rǫf: ref U    [3] vensk: venr U;    mikla: miklar W, U    [4] vann: innan U    [8] vallands: ‘vanðz’ U

Editions: Skj AII, 64, Skj BII, 73, Skald II, 41, NN §3146; SnE 1848-87, I, 656-7, II, 391, III, 122, SnE 1879-81, I, 8, 79, II, 18, SnE 1931, 234, SnE 2007, 21; Konráð Gíslason 1895-7, I, 27.

Context: As st. 43 above, except that there are two pairs of aðalhendingar in the odd lines. The variant is called alhent ‘completely rhymed’.

Notes: [All]: This rhyme scheme is very rare, but attested in Klœ Lv, which Snorri uses to illustrate alhent (given in Ht after the present stanza; see also Refr Giz 3). According to Sturlunga saga (Stu 1878, I, 244), Snorri also composed his two earlier praise poems to Skúli in this metre, and ll. 2-3 of the stef of one of these poems (SnSt Skúldr^IV), transmitted in Stu, are in alhent. — [All]: The heading in Tˣ is 36. — [1] skotnar gram frama ‘the lord is allotted honour’: The verb skotna ‘allot, be allotted’ is construed impersonally with gram ‘the lord’ in the dat. and frama ‘honour’ in the acc. — [3] mikla ‘greatly’: This is taken as an adv. (from mikilliga; so also SnE 2007, 134). Most other eds adopt the W, U variant miklar and treat it as an adj. qualifying manndýrðir ‘manly virtues’ (l. 4) which creates an awkward tripartite third line. — [5] herfjǫlð ‘the great quantity’: Her- functions as an intensifier here (see Note to Sturl Hákfl 5/1-4^II). — [6] -báls ‘pyre’: In R -báls (n. gen. sg.) has been altered to -bál (R*). — [7] við; valdi ‘with; the ruler’: Valdi is a m. nom. sg. noun (the subject of friðask ‘makes peace’; see NN §3146). The prep. við ‘with’ that precedes this noun is not a part of the same phrase but rather part of the prepositional phrase við herfjǫlð hagbáls lagar ‘(makes peace) with the great quantity of the elaborate pyre of the ocean’. The enclitic prep. við carries alliteration and internal rhyme, and a monosyllabic proclitic prep. cannot receive full stress in dróttkvætt.

References

1. Bibliography
2. 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.
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. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
6. Konráð Gíslason. 1895-7. Efterladte skrifter. 2 vols. I: Forelæsninger over oldnordiske skjaldekvad. II: Forelæsninger og videnskablige afhandlinger. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
7. 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.
8. SnE 2007 = Snorri Sturluson. 2007. Edda: Háttatal. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
9. SnE 1879-81 = Möbius, Theodor, ed. 1879-81. Hattatal Snorra Sturlusonar. 2 vols. Halle an de Saale: Verlag der Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses.
10. Internal references
11. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Sturlunga saga’ in Guðrún Nordal (ed.), Poetry on Icelandic History. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 4. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=88> (accessed 28 April 2024)
12. (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 28 April 2024)
13. Kari Ellen Gade 2017, ‘ Klœingr Þorsteinsson, Lausavísa’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 268. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1288> (accessed 28 April 2024)
14. Guðrún Nordal (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Skúladrápa’ in Guðrún Nordal (ed.), Poetry on Icelandic History. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 4. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1377> (accessed 28 April 2024)
15. Edith Marold (ed.) 2017, ‘Hofgarða-Refr Gestsson, Poem about Gizurr gullbrárskáld 3’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 256.
16. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Sturla Þórðarson, Hákonarflokkr 5’ 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, pp. 749-50.