FriðÞ Lv 3^VIII (Frið 3)

Mjök tekr sjór at svella;
svá er nú drepit skýjum;
því ráða galdrar gamlir,
er gjálfr ór stað færiz.
Ei skal ek við ægi
í ofviðri berjaz;
látum Sólundir seggjum
svellvífaðar hlífa.

Sjór tekr mjök at svella; svá er nú drepit skýjum; gamlir galdrar ráða því, er gjálfr færiz ór stað. Ek skal ei berjaz við ægi í ofviðri; látum svellvífaðar Sólundir hlífa seggjum.

The sea begins to swell greatly; thus clouds are now louring; old spells cause the surge to be moved from its place. I will not fight against the ocean in the violent storm; let us make the ice-covered Sula islands protect the men.

Mss: papp17ˣ(358v), 109a IIˣ(146v), 1006ˣ(582), 173ˣ(84r), ÍB65ˣ(47r) (Frið)

Readings: [4] færiz: so ÍB65ˣ, færir papp17ˣ, 109a IIˣ, 1006ˣ, 173ˣ    [7] Sólundir: so 173ˣ, ‘sal vnder’ all others    [8] svell‑: ‘sioll‑’ 109a IIˣ, ‘sverll‑’ 1006ˣ, ‘sverl‑’ 173ˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 269, Skj BII, 292, Skald II, 154, NN §§2338 Fb; Falk 1890, 71-2, Frið 1893, 11, Frið 1901, 16.

Context: In the B recension text Friðþjófr and his men steer their ship to the islands called Sólundir (ModNorw. Sulen), seeking protection from the storm. This incident is not mentioned in the A redaction.

Notes: [All]: This stanza is not in the A text. Its general sense is paralleled in Friðþjófs rímur III, 7-8 (Frið 1893, 108). The metre is an irregular form of dróttkvætt, comprising four couplets and virtually no hendingar, except in l. 8, where aðalhending occurs. Earlier eds (Falk 1890, 72; Skj B; Skald) have attempted to regularise ll. 3 and 7, where long and short vowels in open syllables (e.g. ráða, l. 3, látum, l. 7) appear to have begun to be confused. Finnur Jónsson (followed by Skald) also deletes all mss’ initial því ‘that’ in l. 3 to regularise the metre. — [2] svá er nú drepit skýjum ‘thus clouds are now louring’: The expression is impersonal. The construction skýjum er drepit means that clouds hang low and heavily over the earth (cf. LP: drepa 3), lit. ‘are knocked down’. — [4] færiz ‘is moved’: The expression færa (older fœra) ór stað ‘to move (sth.) from its place’ requires a direct object if in active voice, and gjálfr ‘the surge’ may be either acc. or nom. Most mss read færir ‘moves’ 3rd pers. sg. pres. tense, but sense requires a passive construction, hence the preference here (so also Frið 1901, 16) for m. v. færiz. At least one younger ms., ÍB65ˣ, has the m. v. form. Finnur Jónsson (Skj B; so also Skald) keeps færir, but translates with a passive construction: gamle galdre volder nu det, at havet bevæges stærkt ‘old spells now cause the sea to be strongly moved’. There is, however, no evidence of færa used impersonally with an acc. object. — [7] Sólundir ‘the Sula islands’: These islands, Indre and Ytre Sula, at the mouth of Sognefjorden, are currently in the municipality of Solund. The word is based on 173ˣ’s reading, where ‘ol’ has been added above the line; this may be a scribal correction rather than a variant reading, seeing that 173ˣ is a copy of 1006ˣ. Sólund is listed among island names in Þul Eyja 5/3^III and mentioned in KormǪ Lv 38/7^V (Korm 57) and Bjhít Lv 9/4^V (BjH 11). — [8] svellvífaðar ‘ice-covered’: This cpd adj. is a hap. leg. The first element svell ‘ice, sheet of ice’ (especially over land) is unproblematic, even though the scribes had difficulty with it. The second element appears to be the p. p. –vífaðr ‘covered, wrapped’ from the verb vífa ‘come upon suddenly or by accident’ (cf. ÍO: 1132). Exactly how the meaning of the p. p. derives from the inf. vífa is unclear; ONP: vífa gives five examples of this verb, all exemplifying the pres. part.

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. 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.
6. ONP = Degnbol, Helle et al., eds. 1989-. A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose / Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog. 1-. Copenhagen: The Arnamagnæan Commission.
7. ÍO = Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon. 1989. Íslensk orðsifjabók. Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans.
8. Frið 1893 = Larsson, Ludvig, ed. 1893b. Sagan ock rimorna om Friðþiófr hinn frækni. SUGNL 22. Copenhagen: Malmström.
9. Frið 1901 = Larsson, Ludvig, ed. 1901. Friðþjófs saga ins frœkna. ASB 9. Halle: Niemeyer.
10. Falk, Hjalmar. 1890. ‘Om Friðþjófs saga’. ANF 6, 60-102.
11. Internal references
12. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Eyja heiti 5’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 979.
13. Alison Finlay (ed.) 2022, ‘Bjarnar saga Hítdœlakappa 11 (Bjǫrn Hítdœlakappi Arngeirsson, Lausavísur 9)’ 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. 72.
14. Edith Marold (ed.) 2022, ‘Kormáks saga 57 (Kormákr Ǫgmundarson, Lausavísur 38)’ 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. 1125.