Innsteinn Innkv 7^VIII (Hálf 26)

Hlýði Hrókar         í her konungs
orðum mínum,         Útsteinn þriði.
Göngum allir         upp frá ströndu;
kunnum ekki         konungs mál um þat.

Hrókar hlýði orðum mínum í her konungs, Útsteinn þriði. Göngum allir upp frá ströndu; kunnum ekki mál konungs um þat.

May the Hrókar in the king’s host listen to my words, Útsteinn as the third one. Let us all go up from the shore; let us not hold the king’s words at fault for that.

Mss: 2845(36r) (Hálf)

Readings: [2] í her konungs: ok her kóngr 2845

Editions: Skj AII, 260-1, Skj BII, 281, Skald II, 147; Hálf 1864, 20, Hálf 1909, 105-6, FSGJ 2, 113, Hálf 1981, 118-19, 182; Edd. Min. 35.

Context: This stanza is introduced by the words: Innsteinn kvað ‘Innsteinn said’.

Notes: [1-4]: Innsteinn addresses the two Hrókar ‘Rooks’ (the brothers Hrókr inn svarti ‘Rook the Black’ and Hrókr inn hvíti ‘Rook the White’) and his own brother Útsteinn, referring to him as þriði ‘the third one’. As the reading ok her kóngr in 2845 would suggest that Innsteinn addresses four persons, eds emend l. 2 to ok herr konungs (Skj B; Skald) or í her konungs (Hálf 1909; FSGJ; Edd. Min.). — [4] Útsteinn: Brother of Innsteinn. According to Hálf (Hálf 1981, 177) both brothers were called Steinn. The saga explains that Innsteinn, the older of the two, got his name from an incident that took place on the first expedition of the Hálfsrekkar, when, on a rainy night, he asked for a tent to shelter in. Hálfr rejected his request as inappropriate for tough warriors like the Hálfsrekkar, and from then on he was called Innsteinn ‘Inside Steinn’. The younger Steinn was too young to go with the Hálfsrekkar on their first expedition, but turned up anyway and asked for passage on board ship; he was taken on and called Útsteinn ‘Outside Steinn’.

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. FSGJ = Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1954. Fornaldar sögur norðurlanda. 4 vols. [Reykjavík]: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan.
5. 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.
6. Hálf 1981 = Seelow, Hubert, ed. 1981. Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka. RSÁM 20. Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar.
7. Hálf 1864 = Bugge, Sophus, ed. 1864. Saga af Hálfi ok Hálfsrekkum. Norrøne Skrifter af sagnhistorisk Indhold 1. Christiania (Oslo): Det Nordiske Oldskriftselskab.
8. Hálf 1909 = Andrews, A. Le Roy, ed. 1909. Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka. ASB 14. Halle: Niemeyer.
9. Internal references
10. 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 303. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=75> (accessed 20 April 2024)
11. Not published: do not cite (Hróksv^VIII)