StarkSt Vík 22^VIII (Gautr 30)

Réð Óláfr         austr inn skygni,
sældargramr,         fyr Svíaríki.
Hann bauð út         almenningi;
mikill var hans         helmingr talinn.

Óláfr inn skygni réð austr, sældargramr, fyr Svíaríki. Hann bauð út almenningi; helmingr hans var mikill talinn.

Óláfr inn skygni (‘the Sharp-sighted’) ruled in the east, the prosperous ruler, over the kingdom of the Swedes. He ordered the conscripted army out; his division was reckoned great.

Mss: 590b-cˣ(5r) (Gautr)

Editions: Skj AII, 329, Skj BII, 350, Skald II, 188; FSN 3, 28, Gautr 1900, 24-5, FSGJ 4, 25; Edd. Min. 41-2.

Context: King Óláfr the Sharp-sighted of Nærríki (Närke) in Sweden swings his support behind King Víkarr, ordering a general levy of his kingdom to come out to fight. He draws up his forces in a wedge-shaped column. The stanza expresses Starkaðr’s version of the event.

Notes: [1-2] Óláfr inn skygni ‘Óláfr inn skygni (“the Sharp-sighted”)’: Named in Yng ch. 42 (ÍF 26, 73) as king of Närke. According to Yng his daughter Álof was the mother of Gauthildr, mother of the Ynglingr king Óláfr trételgja ‘Wood-cutter’ (cf. Þjóð Yt 21^I). — [3] sældargramr ‘the prosperous ruler’: Sældar- gen. sg. of sæld ‘bliss, prosperity’ often occurs as the first element in compounds in the adjectival sense ‘happy, blessed, prosperous’; cf. Fritzner: sældarlíf ‘fortunate life’, sældarstaðr ‘place to spend a happy life’. — [4] Svíaríki ‘the kingdom of the Swedes’: That is, the territory of the Svíar around Lake Mälaren in contrast to the southwestern territory of the Götar. — [6] almenningi ‘the conscripted army’: Cf. ONP: almenning 3) ‘men (and equipment) subject to military levy’ and ÞjóðA Har5/5^II.

References

1. Bibliography
2. FSN = Rafn, Carl Christian, ed. 1829-30. Fornaldar sögur nordrlanda. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. 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.
5. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
6. FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
7. Edd. Min. = Heusler, Andreas and Wilhelm Ranisch, eds. 1903. Eddica Minora: Dichtungen eddischer Art aus den Fornaldarsögur und anderen Prosawerken. Dortmund: Ruhfus. Rpt. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
8. Gautr 1900 = Ranisch, Wilhelm, ed. 1900. Die Gautrekssaga in zwei Fassungen. Palaestra 11. Berlin: Mayer & Müller.
9. Internal references
10. (forthcoming), ‘ Heimskringla, Ynglinga 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=158> (accessed 26 April 2024)
11. Diana Whaley 2009, ‘ Þjóðólfr Arnórsson, Stanzas about Haraldr Sigurðarson’s leiðangr’ 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. 147-58. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=3300> (accessed 26 April 2024)
12. Edith Marold (ed.) 2012, ‘Þjóðólfr ór Hvini, Ynglingatal 21’ 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. 46.