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Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Þjsk Hák 2I

Kate Heslop (ed.) 2012, ‘Þorleifr jarlsskáld Rauðfeldarson, Poem about Hákon 2’ 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. 371.

Þorleifr jarlsskáld RauðfeldarsonPoem about Hákon
12

Hǫfðum í þér, Hôkun,
es at hjǫrrógi drógumk,
— þú rautt Skǫglar skýja
skóð — forvistu góða.

Hǫfðum góða forvistu í þér, Hôkun, es drógumk at {hjǫrrógi}; þú rautt {skóð {skýja Skǫglar}}.

We had a fine leader in you, Hákon, when we advanced to {the sword-strife} [BATTLE]; you reddened {the harmer {of the clouds of Skǫgul <valkyrie>}} [SHIELDS > SWORD].

Mss: A(4v), W(103) (TGT); W(111) (FoGT)

Readings: [1] í þér: þá er W(103)    [2] ‑rógi: ‑þingi W(111);    drógumk: drógum W(103), gengum W(111)

Editions: Skj AI, 141, Skj BI, 132, Skald I, 73, NN §§2443A, D, 3396K; SnE 1848-87, II, 114-15, 410, TGT 1884, 17, 75, 182-3, TGT 1927, 51, 95, TGT 1998, 132-3; SnE 1848-87, II, 190, FoGT 1884, 120; ÞorlJ 1883, 160.

Context: The helmingr is cited to exemplify a sub-class of the rhetorical figure solecismus (TGT; it is an example of the similar figure protheseos paralange according to FoGT). This type of solecismus, according to TGT, involves the replacement of a word by another which belongs to the same part of speech but is inappropriate in context (þá er hinn sami partr er óviðrkæmiliga settr); FoGT gives the same explanation but limits the figure to the class of prepositions. In the present stanza the authors of the Grammatical Treatises regard í þér ‘in you’ in l. 1 as a solecism for af þér ‘from you’ (though see Notes to ll. 1 and 4 below).

Notes: [All]: The stanza is attributed to Þorleifr in all mss, though FoGT has only ‘Þorleifr’ and W (TGT) only ‘jarlsskáld’. — [1] hǫfðum í þér, Hôkun ‘we had ... in you, Hákon’: Hǫfðum is normalised here from ‘hǫfðv(m) ver’ in the mss, but the line is metrically defective in both its diplomatic and normalised forms. It both lacks hending and, more seriously, does not scan unless the stress is borne by the prep. í ‘in’, precisely the word which attracted the interest of the grammarians (see Context). Kock in NN §2443 suggested Hǫfðum vér þá, Hôkon ‘We had then, Hákon’, adapting the W(103) reading Hǫfðum vér þá er (in NN §3396K he instead proposes the reading presented in the Text above). The unemended W(103) reading þá er improves the metre by providing a stressed vér ‘we’, but it makes no sense, and eliminates the solecismus and therefore the point of the citation in TGT. Finnur Jónsson (TGT 1927, 51 n. 7) questions whether í þér is truly a solecism, insisting that it is ‘completely normal’ (fuldkommen normal). — [2] drógumk ‘we advanced’: The m. v. form of draga is taken here as meaning ‘move (oneself)’, as often in skaldic poetry (LP: draga 12). The variants are inferior. Drógum ‘we dragged, pulled’ (W(103)) is unlikely as draga is usually transitive (TGT 1884, 183). FoGT has for l. 2 es at hjǫrþingi gengum ‘when we went to the sword-meeting [BATTLE]’, but gengum is probably, like drógum, a scribal attempt at simplification (Nj 1875-8, II, 1005). — [4] forvistu ‘leader’: Usually an abstract noun, ‘leadership’, but sometimes, as here, forvista/forysta refers to the person who embodies these attributes (Fritzner: forysta). The grammarians’ citation of this stanza as an example of solecismus suggests they understood forvista as the abstract noun (as in GSvert Hrafndr 5/8IV) and hence considered í þér ‘(we had good leadership) in you’ a solecism for af þér ‘from you’. The ms. forms are forystu (A) and forustu (W, both texts), but normalised forvista, with long first syllable, is required in this metrical position.

References

  1. Bibliography
  2. TGT 1884 = Björn Magnússon Ólsen, ed. 1884. Den tredje og fjærde grammatiske afhandling i Snorres Edda tilligemed de grammatiske afhandlingers prolog og to andre tillæg. SUGNL 12. Copenhagen: Knudtzon.
  3. 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.
  4. Nj 1875-89 = Konráð Gíslason and Eiríkur Jónsson. 1875-89. Njála: Udgivet efter gamle håndskrifter. Íslendingasögur udgivne efter gamle haandskrifter af Det Kongelige Nordiske Oldskrift-selskab 4. Copenhagen: Thiele.
  5. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
  6. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
  7. LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
  8. 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.
  9. TGT 1927 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1927b. Óláfr Þórðarson: Málhljóða- og málskrúðsrit. Grammatisk-retorisk afhandling. Det kgl. Danske Videnskabernes Selskab. Historisk-filologiske meddelelser 13, 2. Copenhagen: Høst.
  10. TGT 1998 = Krömmelbein, Thomas, ed. and trans. 1998. Dritte grammatische Abhandlung. Studia nordica 3. Oslo: Novus.
  11. FoGT 1884 = Björn Magnússon Ólsen, ed. 1884. Den tredje og fjærde grammatiske afhandling i Snorres Edda tilligemed de grammatiske afhandlingers prolog og to andre tillæg. SUGNL 12. Copenhagen: Knudtzon.
  12. ÞorlJ 1883 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1883. ‘Þáttr Þorleifs’. In Guðmundur Þorláksson et al. 1880-3, III, 117-63.
  13. Internal references
  14. (forthcoming), ‘ Óláfr hvítaskáld Þórðarson, The Third Grammatical Treatise’ in Tarrin Wills (ed.), The Third Grammatical Treatise. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=32> (accessed 29 March 2024)
  15. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, The Fourth Grammatical Treatise’ 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=34> (accessed 29 March 2024)
  16. Not published: do not cite (GSvert Hrafndr 5IV)
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