SnSt Ht 81^III

Fluttak frœði
of frama grœði
— tunga tœði —
með tǫlu rœði.
Stef skal stœra
stilli Mœra
— hróðr dugir hrœra —
ok honum fœra.

Fluttak frœði of {grœði frama} með {rœði tǫlu}; tunga tœði. Skal stœra stef {stilli Mœra} ok fœra honum; dugir hrœra hróðr.

I have presented accounts of {the promoter of fame} [RULER = Skúli] with {the oar of speech} [TONGUE]; the tongue helped. I shall augment the poem {about the lord of the Mœrir} [NORWEGIAN RULER = Skúli] and bring [it] to him; it is fitting to compose praise.

Mss: R(52r), W(150) (SnE)

Readings: [2] of (‘vm’): so W, ok R

Editions: Skj AII, 73, Skj BII, 83, Skald II, 46; SnE 1848-87, I, 698-9, III, 131, SnE 1879-81, I, 13, 83, II, 30, SnE 1931, 248, SnE 2007, 33-4; Konráð Gíslason 1895-7, I, 52-3.

Context: This runhent variant is called in minni runhenda ‘the lesser end-rhyme’, because each helmingr has a different set of end-rhymes (as opposed to st. 80 above). The metre is similar to tetrasyllabic fornyrðislag (Type A: ll. 1, 3, 5, 6, 7; Type C2: ll. 2, 4, 8).

Notes: [All]: The rubric in R is lxxiiii. — [2] of ‘about’: So W (‘vm’). Ok ‘and’ in R makes no sense syntactically and has been altered to um (R*). — [5] stef ‘the poem’: Lit. ‘refrain’. Fidjestøl (1982, 248) suggests that the refrain (stef) that Snorri appears to be referring to here is the repetition in sts 82/7-8 and 94/7-8. Stef can also mean ‘poem’, however (see Konráð Gíslason 1895-7 and Þstf Lv 2/2^II), and it is taken in that meaning in the present edn. — [7] hrœra ‘to compose’: Lit. ‘to stir, set in motion’. — [8] ok fœra honum ‘and bring [it] to him’: This can equally well mean ‘and recite [it] to him’, since in the context of poetic performance fœra e-m kvæði means ‘recite a poem to sby’ (see Heggstad et al. 2008: fœra 3). The phrase með rœði tǫlu ‘with the oar of speech [TONGUE]’ (l. 4) also seems to imply oral recitation, perhaps indicating that Snorri had intended to present the poem himself before Hákon and Skúli.

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. Fidjestøl, Bjarne. 1982. Det norrøne fyrstediktet. Universitet i Bergen Nordisk institutts skriftserie 11. Øvre Ervik: Alvheim & Eide.
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. SnE 2007 = Snorri Sturluson. 2007. Edda: Háttatal. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
8. SnE 1879-81 = Möbius, Theodor, ed. 1879-81. Hattatal Snorra Sturlusonar. 2 vols. Halle an de Saale: Verlag der Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses.
9. Internal references
10. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Þórarinn stuttfeldr, Lausavísur 2’ 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. 480.