SnSt Ht 5^III

Óðharða spyrk eyða
egg fullhvǫtum seggjum;
dáðrǫkkum veldr dauða
dreng ofrhugaðr þengill.
Hamdøkkum fær Hlakkar
hauk munnroða aukinn
— veghrœsinn spyrk vísa —
valdr ógnþorinn skjaldar.

Spyrk óðharða egg eyða fullhvǫtum seggjum; ofrhugaðr þengill veldr dauða dáðrǫkkum dreng. {Ógnþorinn valdr skjaldar} fær aukinn munnroða {hamdøkkum hauk Hlakkar}; spyrk vísa veghrœsinn.

I hear that the terribly hard edge destroys very brave men; the high-mettled monarch causes the death of a deed-proud warrior. {The battle-daring ruler of the shield} [WARRIOR] increases the mouth-reddening {of the dark-coated hawk of Hlǫkk <valkyrie>} [RAVEN]; I hear that the leader is proud in glory.

Mss: R(45v), Tˣ(47v), U(47r) (l. 1), U(48v) (SnE); A(7r) (TGT, ll. 3-6)

Readings: [1] eyða: ‘heura’ Tˣ    [4] dreng: drengr U, A    [6] munnroða: mundriða U    [7] veghrœsinn: so Tˣ, ‘vighrosinn’ R, ‘veghrossin’ U    [8] valdr: so Tˣ, vald R, U

Editions: Skj AII, 53, Skj BII, 62, Skald II, 36; SnE 1848-87, I, 604-5, II, 370, 375, III, 112, SnE 1879-81, I, 1, 74, II, 4, SnE 1931, 216-17, SnE 2007, 6; Konráð Gíslason 1895-7, I, 4-5; SnE 1848-87, II, 168-9, 422,  TGT 1884, 107, 223, TGT 1927, 79, 106.

Context: According to the prose that follows this stanza, it contains examples of the construction stuðning ‘support’ (the addition of intensifying prefixes to adjectives in sannkenning-constructions). That construction appears to be exemplified only in the first half-stanza, however (see SnE 2007, 49 and Note to [All] below). In TGT, the four lines (ll. 3-6) are given as two separate couplets with a brief prose link, and the intensifying adjectives are examples of epithets (epitheton) from the spiritual (ll. 3-4) and corporeal (ll. 5-6) spheres.

Notes: [All]: The adjectives illustrating stuðning are óðharða ‘terribly hard’ (l. 1), fullhvǫtum ‘very brave’ (l. 2) and ofrhugaðr ‘high-mettled’ (l. 4). — [All]: In SnE the headings read as follows: studningar v. ‘supports, five’ (Tˣ), tvíriðit ‘twice-twisted’ (U(47r)). — [All]: In TGT both couplets are attributed to Snorri Sturluson. — [6] munnroða ‘the mouth-reddening’: The sense is that the beak of the raven will be coloured in red blood from those slain in battle. — [7] veghrœsinn ‘glory-boasting’: So Tˣ. The R and U readings cannot be construed to make any sense, and in R ‘vighrosinn’ has been altered to ‘veghrø̨sinn’ (R*).  — [8] valdr (m. nom. sg.) ‘ruler’: So Tˣ. The R, U variant vald (m. acc. sg.) could be the base-word in a kenning (vald skjaldar ‘ruler of the shield’ i.e. ‘warrior’) functioning as an apposition to vísa ‘leader’ (l. 7), but that would leave the first clause of the helmingr without a subject.

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. 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. 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.
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. Edith Marold 2017, ‘Snorra Edda (Prologue, Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál)’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols [check printed volume for citation].
12. (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 26 April 2024)