Sturl Hryn 21^II

Allvaldr, dýrkaz út með Serkjum
innanlands af mildi þinni
— þjóðum líka þínir haukar
þaðra — alt með Blálands jaðri.
Víða hrjóta veglig mæti
vægðarlaust af yðrum frægðum;
hollar prýða heiminn allan
hnossir þínar, mærðar tínir.

Allvaldr, dýrkaz af mildi þinni innanlands með Serkjum alt út með jaðri Blálands; þjóðum þaðra líka haukar þínir. Veglig mæti hrjóta víða vægðarlaust af frægðum yðrum; hollar hnossir þínar prýða allan heiminn, {tínir mærðar}.

Mighty ruler, you are worshipped for your generosity within the land among the Saracens all the way out along the coast of Africa; the people there like your hawks. Grand, precious things spread far and wide incessantly about your reputation; your valuable treasures adorn the whole world, {gatherer of glory} [KING].

Mss: F(121va), 8(76v), Flat(185ra) (Hák)

Readings: [1] út: vert 8    [2] þinni: sinni Flat    [3] þjóðum: þengill Flat    [6] ‑laust: ‑laus Flat    [7] prýða: prýði Flat

Editions: Skj AII, 108, Skj BII, 118, Skald II, 63, NN §3150; F 1871, 568, Hák 1977-82, 192, Flat 1860-8, III, 216.

Context: King Hákon sent two emissaries to the court of the emir in Tunis, bearing precious gifts and falcons. One of the envoys was Loðinn leppr ‘Patch’ who had accompanied Kristín on her journey to Spain a few years before, in 1257.

Notes: [All]: During his reign, King Hákon managed to expand the Norw. state further to the north and west than his predecessors had been able to. He was on friendly terms with King Henry III of England and maintained diplomatic relations with many other rulers in Europe, such as Frederick II of the Holy Roman Empire and king of Sicily, King Louis IX of France, Alexander, prince of Novgorod, Pope Innocent IV and King Alfonso X. His influence was felt from the northernmost parts of Greenland all the way south to the coast of North Africa, from Iceland and Scotland in the west to Novgorod in the east. — [1] allvaldr ‘mighty ruler’: This is the fourth time that Sturla uses this word in the poem. Here, as in st. 20, it is used deliberately to call attention to the fact that Hákon was a sovereign ruler, the most powerful king in the history of Norway, and recognised as such throughout Europe. — [1, 2] dýrkaz af mildi þinni ‘you are worshipped for your generosity’: Praising the king for his generosity at the very end of the poem was a clever way to remind him of the gift that the skald expected to receive for his efforts. Sturla goes on to marvel at the precious gifts the king spreads around in the second half of the st. This indicates that he intended to recite his poem to the king and fully expected not only to win his good grace, but hoped for a handsome reward as well. — [3-4] þjóðum þaðra líka haukar þínir ‘the people there like your hawks’: Hákon had previously sent falcons to King Henry III of England (Helle 1968, 106). Falcons were used for hunting and were exported from Greenland, Iceland and Norway at a high price or sent as presents to foreign monarchs. As Kock pointed out, this can be construed with alt með jaðri Blálands ‘all the way along the coast of Africa’ (l. 4) (NN §3150). — [4] með jaðri Blálands ‘along the coast of Africa’: For Bláland ‘Africa’, see Note to Bǫlv Hardr 5/4.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. Flat 1860-8 = Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and C. R. Unger, eds. 1860-8. Flateyjarbók. En samling af norske konge-sagaer med indskudte mindre fortællinger om begivenheder i og udenfor Norge samt annaler. 3 vols. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
5. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
6. Hák 1977-82 = Mundt, Marina, ed. 1977. Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar etter Sth. 8 fol., AM 325VIII, 4° og AM 304, 4°. Oslo: Forlagsentralen. Suppl. by James E. Knirk, Rettelser til Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar etter Sth. 8 fol., AM 325VIII, 4° og AM 304, 4°. Norrøne tekster 2. Oslo: Norsk historisk kjeldeskrift-institutt, 1982.
7. Helle, Knut. 1968. ‘Anglo-Norwegian Relations in the Reign of Håkon Håkonsson (1217-63)’. MS 1, 101-14.
8. Internal references
9. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Bǫlverkr Arnórsson, Drápa about Haraldr harðráði 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. 290-1.