Anon Liðs 9^I

Hvern morgin sér horna
Hlǫkk á Tempsar bakka
— skalat Hanga má hungra —
hjalmskóð roðin blóði.
Rýðr eigi sá sveigir
sára lauk í ári,
hinns Grjótvarar gætir,
gunnborðs, fyr Stað norðan.

Hvern morgin sér {Hlǫkk horna} {hjalmskóð} roðin blóði á bakka Tempsar; {má Hanga} skalat hungra. {Sá sveigir {gunnborðs}}, hinns gætir Grjótvarar fyr norðan Stað, rýðr eigi {lauk sára} í ári.

Every morning {the Hlǫkk <valkyrie> of drinking horns} [WOMAN] sees {the helmet-destroyers} [SWORDS] reddened with blood on the bank of the Thames; {the seagull of Hangi <= Óðinn>} [RAVEN/EAGLE] must not go hungry. {That brandisher {of the battle-plank}} [SHIELD > WARRIOR] who watches over Grjótvǫr [Steinvǫr] to the north of Stad does not redden {the leek of wounds} [SWORD] in a hurry.

Mss: Flat(186vb) (Flat); DG8(73r) (ÓHLeg); JÓ(24), 20dˣ(9v), 873ˣ(11v), 41ˣ(9r) (Knýtl, ll. 1-4)

Readings: [1] Hvern: hver 20dˣ    [2] Tempsar: ‘Tempár’ 20dˣ    [3] skalat: skal DG8;    má: ‘mæy’ DG8    [4] hjalm‑: hræ JÓ, 20dˣ, 873ˣ, 41ˣ;    roðin: lituð JÓ, 20dˣ, 873ˣ, 41ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 423 (ll. 1-4), 221 (ll. 5-8), Skj BI, 392 (ll. 1-4), 211 (ll. 5-8), Skald I, 194 (ll. 1-4), 110 (ll. 5-8), NN §1992; Flat 1860-8, III, 238, ÓH 1941, II, 684; ÓHLeg 1922, 11, ÓHLeg 1982, 52-3; Knýtl 1919-25, 46, ÍF 35, 116 (ch. 14).

Context: In the Óláfr sagas, as for st. 1; in Knýtl, as for st. 2.

Notes: [All]: In Knýtl, sts 9/1-4 and 8/5-8 form a single stanza. — [3] má Hanga skalat hungra ‘the seagull of Hangi <= Óðinn> [RAVEN/EAGLE] must not go hungry’: Má is in the acc. case since the verb hungra ‘hunger, go hungry’ is impersonal. — [5-8]: This is the second occurrence of the refrain-like helmingr (see Note to st. 3/5-8), and this stanza also recapitulates other material used earlier in the flokkr. As explained in the Note to st. 3/5-8, Finnur Jónsson in Skj treats st. 9/5-8 as a variant of 3/5-8, and hence prints only ll. 1-4 of st. 9, except that ll. 7-8 are printed in a note to Skj AI, 221. — [7] Grjótvarar ‘Grjótvǫr [Steinvǫr]’: The (presumed) girlfriend under the protection of her unnamed father or guardian is named as Grjótvǫr, which appears to be ofljóst for Steinvǫr since grjót and steinn both mean ‘stone’ and the name Steinvǫr is attested while Grjótvǫr is not. The ‘stone’ element in the name, emphasised by ofljóst, chimes in with those in sts 6/7-8 and 8/4, but for what rhetorical purpose is unclear. This woman is mentioned nowhere else and may have been no more than the stereotypical ‘girl back home’. In an excerpt from Styrmir’s saga of Óláfr helgi in Flat, Óláfr composes a lausavísa (Ólhelg Lv 4) about the loss of a girlfriend, and there too there is mention of Staðr and a play on the idea of stones. — [8] Stað ‘Stad’: This is presumably the peninsula Stad or Stadlandet, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj A = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15a. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. A: Tekst efter håndskrifterne. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1967. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
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. 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.
6. ÓH 1941 = Johnsen, Oscar Albert and Jón Helgason, eds. 1941. Saga Óláfs konungs hins helga: Den store saga om Olav den hellige efter pergamenthåndskrift i Kungliga biblioteket i Stockholm nr. 2 4^to med varianter fra andre håndskrifter. 2 vols. Det norske historiske kildeskriftfond skrifter 53. Oslo: Dybwad.
7. ÓHLeg 1982 = Heinrichs, Anne et al., eds and trans. 1982. Olafs saga hins helga: Die ‘Legendarische Saga’ über Olaf den Heiligen (Hs. Delagard. saml. nr. 8^II). Heidelberg: Winter.
8. ÍF 35 = Danakonunga sǫgur. Ed. Bjarni Guðnason. 1982.
9. ÓHLeg 1922 = Johnsen, Oscar Albert, ed. 1922. Olafs saga hins helga efter pergamenthåndskrift i Uppsala Universitetsbibliotek, Delagardieske samling nr. 8^II. Det norske historiske kildeskriftfond skrifter 47. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad.
10. Knýtl 1919-25 = Petersens, Carl af and Emil Olsen, eds. 1919-25. Sǫgur danakonunga. 1: Sǫgubrot af fornkonungum. 2: Knýtlinga saga. SUGNL 66. Copenhagen: SUGNL.
11. Internal references
12. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Knýtlinga saga’ 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. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=19> (accessed 27 April 2024)
13. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Flateyjarbók’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=44> (accessed 27 April 2024)
14. Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Óláfr inn helgi Haraldsson, Lausavísur 4’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 521.