SnSt Ht 95^III

Mundak mildingi,         þás Mœra hilmi
fluttak fjogur kvæði,         fimtán stórgjafar.
Hvar viti áðr orta         með œðra hætti
mærð of menglǫtuð         maðr und himins skautum?

Mundak mildingi fimtán stórgjafar, þás fluttak {hilmi Mœra} fjogur kvæði. Hvar und skautum himins viti maðr mærð með œðra hætti áðr orta of {menglǫtuð}?

I remembered the generous one for fifteen grand gifts when I presented four poems {to the lord of the Mœrir} [NORWEGIAN RULER = Skúli]. Where beneath the corners of heaven may a man know praise with a more distinguished verse-form previously composed about {a necklace-destroyer} [GENEROUS MAN]?

Mss: R(53r) (SnE)

Editions: Skj AII, 76, Skj BII, 86, Skald II, 47; SnE 1848-87, I, 710-11, III, 134, SnE 1879-81, I, 15, 85, II, 33, SnE 1931, 251, SnE 2007, 37; Konráð Gíslason 1895-7, I, 64.

Context: The metre is málaháttr ‘speeches’ form’ (heading added by R*).

Notes: [All]: For a more detailed discussion of this metre, see Section 4 of the General Introduction in SkP I. — [All]: For the four poems that Snorri composed about Skúli, see st. 69 and Note to st. 69 [All]. According to Sturlunga saga (Stu 1878, I, 244), Skúli presented Snorri with fifteen gifts during his stay at the jarl’s court in 1218-20: Jarlinn hafði gefit hónum skip þat, er hann hafði út, ok fimtán stór-gjafar ‘The jarl had given him the ship on which he sailed out [to Iceland], and fifteen grand gifts’. The wording of Stu betrays knowledge of Ht. — [1] mundak ‘I remembered’: For this verb, see Note to st. 29/1 above. — [8] skautum himins ‘the corners of heaven’: Cf. GunnLeif Merl I 27/8^VIII.

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. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
5. Konráð Gíslason. 1895-7. Efterladte skrifter. 2 vols. I: Forelæsninger over oldnordiske skjaldekvad. II: Forelæsninger og videnskablige afhandlinger. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
6. 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.
7. SkP I = Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Ed. Diana Whaley. 2012.
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 27 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 27 April 2024)
13. Russell Poole (ed.) 2017, ‘Breta saga 95 (Gunnlaugr Leifsson, Merlínusspá I 27)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 66.