Þstf Lv 3^II

Fullvíða hefr frœðum
Fjǫruskeifr of her veifat
lystr ok leiri kastat
lastsamr ara ins gamla.
Ok vannt eina krôku
orðvandr á Serklandi
— Skeifr, bart Hǫgna húfu
hræddr! — varliga brædda.

Fullvíða hefr Fjǫruskeifr veifat frœðum lystr of her ok lastsamr kastat {leiri ara ins gamla}. Ok orðvandr vannt varliga brædda eina krôku á Serklandi; Skeifr, bart {húfu Hǫgna} hræddr!

Far and wide Fjǫruskeifr (‘Shore-skewed’) has dispersed his poetry, gleeful, among people, and, eager to blame, he distributed {the dung of the ancient eagle} [BAD POETRY]. And, word-wary, you barely managed to feed one crow in the land of the Saracens; Skeifr (‘Skewed’), you wore {Hǫgni’s <legendary king’s> cap} [HELMET] fearfully!

Mss: H(109r), Hr(72rb) (H-Hr); Mork(30r) (Mork); F(64vb), E(43r), J2ˣ(328v-329r), 42ˣ(26r)

Readings: [2] of: om. Hr, á F    [3] leiri: ‘læri’ E;    kastat: ‘keistr’ 42ˣ    [5] Ok vannt eina krôku: ‘[...]co’ Mork    [6] ‑vandr: om. F    [8] brædda: bræddar E, bjarta 42ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 491-2, Skj BI, 464, Skald I, 228, NN §967; Fms 7, 154 (Msona ch. 39); Mork 1867, 189, Mork 1928-32, 386-7, Andersson and Gade 2000, 348-9, 489 (Msona); F 1871, 299, E 1916, 150 (Msona).

Context: King Sigurðr declares that he never asked Þórarinn to compose a st. about Hákon (see Lv 2 above) and leaves it to Hákon to mete out a suitable punishment for the insult. Hákon stipulates that Þórarinn must compose a st. about Árni.

Notes: [2] Fjǫruskeifr ‘(“Shore-skewed”)’: For Árni fjǫruskeifr, see SnE 1848-87, III, 633. The meaning of this nickname cannot be established with certainty (see Finnur Jónsson 1907, 323). Fjara (gen. fjǫru) is the part of the beach left dry at ebb tide, and skeifr means ‘skewed, crooked, lopsided, slanting’. Lind (1920-1, 82) suggests that skeifr could be used in the sense ‘clumsy person’ (cf. New Norw. skeiv), and that fjǫru could refer to Árni’s birth-place or dwelling. — [3, 4] leiri ara ins gamla ‘the dung of the ancient eagle [BAD POETRY]’: This refers to the amusing myth about Óðinn who, in the shape of an eagle, brought the mead of poetry from the giants back to the gods in Ásgarðr. When he came over that stronghold and was spitting the mead into containers, Suttungr, the giant who pursued him (also in the shape of an eagle), was so close that Óðinn inadvertedly excreted some of the mead from his rear end, and that became the bad poets’ share of the mead (see SnE 1998, I, 3-5). According to Skáldatal (SnE 1848-87, III, 254, 263, 276, 633), Árni composed a praise poem about Sigurðr jórsalafari, and Þórarinn is thus delivering a scathing insult to Árni’s poetic prowess. — [6] orðvandr ‘word-wary’: For the meaning of this word, see Fritzner: orðvandr and NN §967. See also Note to Rv Lv 14/8. — [6] á Serklandi ‘in the land of the Saracens’: See Note to Hharð Lv 10/7. — [8] hræddr ‘fearfully’: Lit. ‘fearful’.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
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. 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. Lind, Eric Henrik. 1920-1. Norsk-isländska personbinamn från medeltiden: samlade ock utgivna med forkläringar. Uppsala: Lundequist.
9. Mork 1928-32 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1928-32. Morkinskinna. SUGNL 53. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
10. F 1871 = Unger, C. R., ed. 1871. Fríssbók: Codex Frisianus. En samling af norske konge-sagaer. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
11. E 1916 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1916. Eirspennill: AM 47 fol. Nóregs konunga sǫgur: Magnús góði – Hákon gamli. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske historiske kildeskriftskommission.
12. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
13. Finnur Jónsson. 1907. ‘Tilnavne i den islandske oldlitteratur’. ÅNOH, 161-381.
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), ‘ Heimskringla, Magnússona 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=149> (accessed 24 April 2024)
17. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Haraldr harðráði Sigurðarson, Lausavísur 10’ 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. 51-2.
18. Judith Jesch (ed.) 2009, ‘Rǫgnvaldr jarl Kali Kolsson, Lausavísur 14’ 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. 591-2.
19. Not published: do not cite ()