Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Lausavísur, Stanzas from the Fourth Grammatical Treatise 47’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 625.
Hverr fell? Hörða stillir.
Hvar? Þar er karlfólk barðiz.
Hvienær? Hneig að nóni.
Hver* var sök? Öfund vöknuð.
Hverr vá? Kálfr hielt darri.
Hverir bændu slíks? Þrændir.
Hvað nýtr? Heilsa bötnuð.
Hvað sýtir? Fira lýti.
Hverr fell? {Stillir Hörða}. Hvar? Þar er karlfólk barðiz. Hvienær? Hneig að nóni. Hver* var sök? Vöknuð öfund. Hverr vá? Kálfr hielt darri. Hverir bændu slíks? Þrændir. Hvað nýtr? Bötnuð heilsa. Hvað sýtir? Lýti fira.
Who fell? {The ruler of the Hǫrðar} [NORWEGIAN KING = Óláfr Haraldsson]. Where? Where men were fighting. When? He fell at the ninth hour. What was the cause? Awakened ill-will. Who struck? Kálfr held the spear. Who requested such a thing? The Þrœndir. What benefit is there? Health restored. What laments? Men’s sin.
Mss: W(119) (FoGT)
Readings: [4] Hver*: hverr W [6] bændu: bendu W
Editions: Skj AII, 218-19, Skj BII, 236, Skald II, 122, NN §2983; SnE 1848-87, II, 248-9, FoGT 1884, 151, 296, FoGT 2004, 57-8, 81, 164-5, FoGT 2014, 48-9, 144.
Notes: [All]: The two stanzas, 46 and 47, are closely parallel, thus emphasising the sanctity of S. Óláfr Haraldsson, the subject of st. 47. His death at the battle of Stiklestad is implicitly compared to Christ’s crucifixion, and his opponents to the Jews. The effect of Óláfr’s death is to restore mankind to health and to curb the spread of sin. — [4] vöknuð öfund ‘awakened ill-will’: Probably a reference to the various personal scores that the magnates who opposed Óláfr at Stiklestad wished to settle; possibly directed especially at the motivation of Kálfr Árnason (see following Note), whose stepsons had been killed by Óláfr (ÍF 27, 300-3) — [5] Kálfr: It is generally assumed that this is a reference to Kálfr Árnason, a Norwegian magnate who dealt Óláfr one of his fatal wounds at Stiklestad, although there is some doubt about whether this assailant was Kálfr Árnason or Kálfr Arnfinnsson (ÍF 27, 385 and n. 2). — [6] bændu ‘requested’: From bæna (earlier bœna) ‘request, entreat’. Ms. W reads bendu ‘indicated [by means of a sign]’, from benda (cf. LP: 2. benda). — [8]: Finnur Jónsson is surely right in his gloss to this line in Skj B, that it refers to the expectation that Óláfr’s death and sainthood will make it more difficult for sin to flourish.
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