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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Þham Magndr 1II

Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Þorkell hamarskáld, Magnússdrápa 1’ 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. 410-11.

Þorkell hamarskáldMagnússdrápa
12

Vítt dró sínar sveitir
saman stórhugaðr Þórir
— heldr vôrut þau hauldum
haglig rôð — með Agli.
Snǫrp frák á, þvís urpu,
endr Skjalgs vinum, lendir
menn við morðvals brynni,
mein, of afl sér steini.

Stórhugaðr Þórir dró vítt saman sveitir sínar með Agli; þau rôð vôrut heldr haglig hauldum. Frák snǫrp mein vinum Skjalgs endr á, þvís lendir menn urpu steini of afl sér við {brynni {morðvals}}.

Great-spirited Þórir gathered his companies far and wide with Egill; those ventures were not very convenient for the freeholders. I heard that great harm formerly befell Skjálgr’s friends because the district chieftains threw a stone beyond their strength against {the thirst-quencher {of the strife-falcon}} [RAVEN/EAGLE > WARRIOR].

Mss: Mork(21r) (Mork); H(81v), Hr(57rb-va) (H-Hr); F(56vb); Kˣ(594v), 39(33vb), E(31v), J2ˣ(306r), 42ˣ(7r-v) (Hkr); FskBˣ(83v), FskAˣ(330) (Fsk)

Readings: [1] Vítt: Vítr E;    sínar sveitir: sinnar sveitar FskBˣ    [3] vôrut: vru 39, E, J2ˣ, 42ˣ, FskBˣ, FskAˣ;    þau: þá Hr    [4] með: meðr FskAˣ;    Agli: ‘Egli’ FskBˣ, ‘æghle’ FskAˣ    [5] Snǫrp: ‘snavp’ H;    þvís (‘þvi er’): því 39;    urpu: uppi FskBˣ    [6] vinum: vinir E, J2ˣ, 42ˣ    [7] við: so H, Hr, F, Kˣ, 39, E, J2ˣ, 42ˣ, FskBˣ, ‘[...]’ Mork, viðr FskAˣ;    ‑vals: ‑hauks Kˣ, E, J2ˣ, 42ˣ, ‑haugs 39, hvals FskBˣ;    brynni: brynju 42ˣ    [8] afl: alf Hr, FskBˣ, afls 42ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 438, Skj BI, 407-8, Skald I, 201, NN §1150; Mork 1867, 132, Mork 1928-32, 299, Andersson and Gade 2000, 286-7, 484 (Mberf); Fms 7, 5 (Mberf ch. 4); F 1871, 262 (Mberf); ÍF 28, 214 (Mberf ch. 4), E 1916, 111; ÍF 29, 303-4 (ch. 80).

Context: The uprising against Magnús in 1094, spearheaded by the district chieftains Steigar-Þórir Þórðarson, Egill Áskelsson (or Ásláksson) and Skjálgr.

Notes: [All]: For Þórir and Egill, see SteigÞ Biography and Note to Kv 1/1. Skjálgr is identified as ‘Skjálgr af Jaðri’ (‘Skjálgr from Jæren’) in Mork and Fsk (see Mork 1928-32, 299; ÍF 29, 303), which suggests that he could have been a descendant of the powerful chieftain Erlingr Skjálgsson af Sóla (d. 1028) who had a son named Skjálgr. The present Skjálgr is otherwise unknown, however, and Hkr merely calls him ‘a powerful and wealthy man’ (maðr, ríkr ok auðigr; ÍF 28, 214). — [3] hauldum ‘for the freeholders’: See Note to Anon Nkt 15/2. — [5, 8] frák snǫrp mein … endr á ‘I heard that great harm … formerly befell’: Lit. ‘I heard that great harm … [was] present for’. Á lit. ‘on’ carries alliteration (and full stress) and is therefore used adverbially here, with the suppressed verb vera ‘be’. For the verb-adv. collocation vera á ‘be present’, see Fritzner: vera á. Skj B reads frák snǫrp mein á því (‘I heard that great harm [resulted] from it’) treating á as a prep. (á því ‘from it’; so also Skald; ÍF 28; ÍF 29). That reading is unlikely, because monosyllabic proclitic prepositions do not otherwise receive full stress. — [5, 8] urpu steini of afl sér ‘threw a stone beyond their strength’: The expression ‘to throw a stone beyond one’s strength’ (i.e. ‘to take on more than one can handle’) is also found in Eg (ÍF 2, 198): at þú, Egill, munir hafa kastat steini um megn þér í yðrum skiptum ‘that you, Egill, may have thrown a stone beyond your strength as far as your dealings are concerned’. — [6-7] lendir menn ‘the district chieftains’: Lit. ‘landed men’. These were men who had been appointed by the king to serve as judicial administrators over one or more districts, men who held land in fief from the king. See also BjKálfs Lv, Anon Nkt 29 and Ólhv Hryn 2. — [6] endr ‘formerly’: Skj B takes this adv. with the second cl., which creates an awkward tripartite l. (see NN §1150). — [7] brynni morðvals ‘the thirst-quencher of the strife-falcon [RAVEN/EAGLE > WARRIOR]’: The variant brynni morðhauks ‘the thirst-quencher of the strife-hawk’ (so Kˣ, E, J2ˣ, 42ˣ) is possible and has been adopted in Skj B and Skald. But it is less preferable from a metrical point of view (heavy dip in position 4), and the other ms. witnesses show that it is a Hkr innovation.

References

  1. Bibliography
  2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
  3. Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
  4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
  5. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
  6. Andersson, Theodore M. and Kari Ellen Gade, trans. 2000. Morkinskinna: The Earliest Icelandic Chronicle of the Norwegian Kings (1030-1157). Islandica 51. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.
  7. Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
  8. Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
  9. ÍF 2 = Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar. Ed. Sigurður Nordal. 1933.
  10. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
  11. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
  12. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
  13. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
  14. Mork 1867 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1867. Morkinskinna: Pergamentsbog fra første halvdel af det trettende aarhundrede. Indeholdende en af de ældste optegnelser af norske kongesagaer. Oslo: Bentzen.
  15. Internal references
  16. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Heimskringla’ 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=4> (accessed 18 April 2024)
  17. 2022, ‘ Anonymous, Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 162-389. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=14> (accessed 18 April 2024)
  18. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Fagrskinna’ 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=56> (accessed 18 April 2024)
  19. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Morkinskinna’ 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=87> (accessed 18 April 2024)
  20. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Magnúss saga berfœtts’ 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=144> (accessed 18 April 2024)
  21. Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘(Biography of) Steigar-Þórir Þórðarson’ 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. 391-2.
  22. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Anonymous Poems, Nóregs konungatal 15’ 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. 771.
  23. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Anonymous Poems, Nóregs konungatal 29’ 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. 779-80.
  24. Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘ Bjarni Kálfsson, Lausavísa’ 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. 639-40. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1120> (accessed 18 April 2024)
  25. Lauren Goetting (ed.) 2009, ‘Óláfr hvítaskáld Þórðarson, Hrynhenda 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, pp. 659-60.
  26. Not published: do not cite ()
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