Þorm Lv 16^I

Sex hefk alls, síz óxu
ónhjalta Tý fjónir,
— kenndr emk við styr stundum —
stálregns boða vegna.
Þó emk enn at mun manna
morðs varliga orðinn
(vér létum þó þeira)
þrítøgr (skarar bíta).

Hefk vegna alls {sex boða {stálregns}}, síz fjónir óxu {Tý ónhjalta}; emk stundum kenndr við styr. Þó emk enn varliga orðinn þrítøgr at mun {manna morðs}; vér létum þó bíta skarar þeira.

I have killed, in all, {six announcers {of steel-rain}} [BATTLE > WARRIORS] since hostilities grew {against the Týr <god> of sword-hilts} [WARRIOR = me]; I am at times known for fighting. Yet I am still barely turned thirty, to the satisfaction {of men of battle}; we [I] nonetheless caused their scalps to be cleaved.

Mss: Flat(105ra) (Flat); 142ˣ(69), 566aˣ(2v) (Fbr); DG8(99r) (ÓHLeg); 761bˣ(487v)

Readings: [1] síz óxu: síðan óxum 142ˣ, 566aˣ, 761bˣ, er ôru DG8    [2] ón‑: en 142ˣ, ór 566aˣ;    Tý: mér all others;    fjónir: fjórir 566aˣ    [3] emk (‘em ek’): so 142ˣ, 566aˣ, 761bˣ, er ek Flat, ‘er mek’ DG8    [4] ‑regns: ‘rengs’ DG8    [5] Þó: nú DG8;    enn at: ok 142ˣ, 566aˣ, 761bˣ, enn ok DG8;    mun: namk DG8    [6] morðs varliga orðinn: morð varlegra forðum DG8    [8] bíta: om. DG8

Editions: Skj AI, 285, Skj BI, 264, Skald I, 136, NN §§2483, 2484; Flat 1860-8, II, 203, Fbr 1925-7, 227, ÓH 1941, II, 802, ÍF 6, 286-7, ÍS III, 2279 (Þorm); Loth 1960a, 126 (Fbr ch. 14); ÍS III, 2281 (ÞormR); ÓHLeg 1849, 66, 117, ÓHLeg 1922, 80, ÓHLeg 1982, 184-5; Gaertner 1907, 310, 332-3, Finnur Jónsson 1932-3, 69-70.

Context: In Þorm, a conversation follows the preceding stanza, in which the king asks Þormóðr how many men he has killed, and the poet replies with Lv 16. In ÞormR, the context is similar, but Þorm Lv 3^V (Fbr 19) is also cited before this stanza. In ÓHLeg, the king asks the question for no apparent reason after Þormóðr has recited Bjarkamál on the way to Stiklestad (ON Stiklastaðir).

Notes: [1] sex ‘six’: Five men whom the poet has slain are named in Þorm Lv 13^V (Fbr 29), on which see the Notes in SkP V. In addition, Þormóðr killed King Óláfr’s forecastle-man, according to saga tradition (see the Context to Lv 15). — [2] Tý ónhjalta ‘the Týr <god> of sword-hilts [WARRIOR = Þormóðr]’: A hjalt is more strictly either a knob at the end of a hilt or the guard between hilt and blade (see Note to Anon Ól 1/5). The meaning of ónn has not been firmly established, though undoubtedly it refers either to a sword or to a part of a sword. It appears in Þul Sverða 11/5^III, and Faulkes (SnE 1998, II, 368) renders the word ‘patterning on sword-blade’. (a) The present reading, retaining ms. ón and assuming the sense ‘sword’, is that of Kock (NN §2483). (b) Finnur Jónsson in Skj B emended to Tý óns hjalta, taking ónn hjalta to be a kenning for ‘sword’, and in 1932-3 rejected the hypothesis of Falk (1914b, 19), that this is Ônn, comparable with Swed. dial. ån (m.) and MHG jān (m.) ‘row of mown grass or reaped grain’; Falk noted its appearance in Norwegian place names with the meaning ‘striated meadow’. — [5-6, 8] þó emk enn varliga orðinn þrítøgr at mun manna morðs ‘yet I am still barely turned thirty to the satisfaction of men of battle [WARRIORS]’: (a) The reading adopted here broadly follows Kock (NN §2484, followed by ÍF 6 and ÍS), except that þó is taken as an adv. within a main clause rather than a conj. introducing a subordinate clause. The interpretation of at mun manna (morðs) as ‘to the satisfaction of men (of battle)’ originates with Gaertner (1907, 333), who compares at mun banda ‘at the will/pleasure of the gods’ (Eskál Vell 8/2, Edáð Banddr 9/1); cf. also í mun manni ‘after the man’s wishes’ (KormǪ Lv 60/3^V (Korm 81)). Its precise meaning in context is not evident, and this seems to have led Finnur Jónsson to emend in Skj B. (b) Skj B reads nú ‘now’ for þó ‘though’ in l. 5 (with Flat, to avoid the repetition of þó in l. 7), ok ‘and’ for at ‘to’ (with all the mss except Flat), man ‘remember’ for mun ‘satisfaction’ (as suggested by Sveinbjörn Egilsson: a common scribal confusion or variation if it is a verb), and morð ‘killing, battle’ for morðs (with DG8), giving the sense ‘now I am hardly yet turned thirty, and I remember the fall of men’. This gives clearer meaning, but it demands the assumption of some scribal improbabilities. For example, it is difficult to see why the reading nú should have been altered to þó everywhere but in the otherwise rather unreliable DG8, while the reverse development is not hard to explain. Further, it creates full rhyme in the odd line (though this is paralleled, e.g. in Þorm Lv 3/1^V (Fbr 19), Lv 6/3^V (Fbr 24) and Lv 8/3^V (Fbr 26)). — [7, 8] bíta skarar þeira ‘their scalps to be cleaved’: Lit. ‘to bite their hair’; ‘sword(s)’ must be understood as the implied subject of bíta. 

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. 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 6 = Vestfirðinga sǫgur. Ed. Björn K. Þórólfsson and Guðni Jónsson. 1943.
9. Falk, Hjalmar. 1914b. Altnordische Waffenkunde. Videnskapsselskapets skrifter, II. Hist.-filos. kl. 1914, 6. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad.
10. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
11. 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.
12. SkP V = Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Ed. Tarrin Wills, Kari Ellen Gade and Margaret Clunies Ross. 2022.
13. Gaertner, K. H. 1907. ‘Zur Fóstbrœðra saga. I. Teil: Die vísur’. BGDSL 32, 299-446.
14. Loth, Agnete, ed. 1960a. Membrana regia deperdita. EA A 5. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
15. Fbr 1925-7 = Björn K. Þórólfsson, ed. 1925-7. Fóstbrœðra saga. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
16. Finnur Jónsson. 1932-3. ‘Þórmóðr Kolbrúnarskald’. APS 7, 31-82.
17. ÓHLeg 1849 = Keyser, R. and C. R. Unger. eds. 1849. Olafs saga hins helga: En kort saga om kong Olaf den Hellige fra anden halvdeel af det tolfte aarhundrede. Efter et gammelt pergaments-haandskrift i Universitets-bibliotheket i Upsala. Christiania (Oslo): Feilberg & Landmark.
18. ÍS = Bragi Halldórsson et al., eds. 1987. Íslendinga sögur og þættir. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Svart á hvítu.
19. Internal references
20. (forthcoming), ‘ Anonymous, Fóstbrœðra saga’ 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, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=7> (accessed 25 April 2024)
21. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Óláfs saga helga (Legendary)’ 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=31> (accessed 25 April 2024)
22. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Þormóðar þáttr Kolbrúnarskálds’ 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=160> (accessed 25 April 2024)
23. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Sverða heiti 11’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 809.
24. Kate Heslop (ed.) 2012, ‘Anonymous Poems, Poem about Óláfr Tryggvason 1’ 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. 1063.
25. Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Eyjólfr dáðaskáld, Bandadrápa 9’ 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. 468.
26. Edith Marold (ed.) 2012, ‘Einarr skálaglamm Helgason, Vellekla 8’ 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. 292.
27. Edith Marold (ed.) 2022, ‘Kormáks saga 81 (Kormákr Ǫgmundarson, Lausavísur 60)’ 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, p. 1173.
28. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2022, ‘Fóstbrœðra saga 29 (Þormóðr Kolbrúnarskáld, Lausavísur 13)’ 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, p. 529.
29. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2022, ‘Fóstbrœðra saga 19 (Þormóðr Kolbrúnarskáld, Lausavísur 3)’ 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, p. 515.
30. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2022, ‘Fóstbrœðra saga 24 (Þormóðr Kolbrúnarskáld, Lausavísur 6)’ 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, p. 521.
31. R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2022, ‘Fóstbrœðra saga 26 (Þormóðr Kolbrúnarskáld, Lausavísur 8)’ 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, p. 524.
32. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Þormóðar þáttr Kolbrúnarskálds R’ 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=10953> (accessed 25 April 2024)