Innsteinn Innkv 15^VIII (Hálf 35)

Hrókr er fallinn         með hertoga,
frækn at fótum         fólks oddvita.
Eigum Óðni         ilt at gjalda,
er hann slíkan konung         sigri rænti.

Hrókr er fallinn með hertoga, frækn at fótum {oddvita fólks}. Eigum at gjalda Óðni ilt, er hann rænti slíkan konung sigri.

Hrókr has fallen with the army-commander, valiant at the feet {of the leader of the army} [KING = Hálfr]. We have to repay Óðinn for evil, as he deprived such a king of victory.

Mss: 2845(36v) (Hálf)

Readings: [3] at: ‘a’ 2845    [4] oddvita: ‘odd uíttá’ with ‘uíttá’ probably corrected from ‘uíttí’ 2845

Editions: Skj AII, 262, Skj BII, 283, Skald II, 148; Hálf 1864, 25, Hálf 1909, 110, FSGJ 2, 117, Hálf 1981, 126, 185; Edd. Min. 37.

Context: This stanza is preceded by a prose paragraph, describing how those of the Hálfsrekkar, who had stayed behind, come up from the ships. Many of them are killed. The battle continues until dark, before Innsteinn is slain. The stanza is introduced by the words: Innsteinn kvað ‘Innsteinn said’.

Notes: [1] Hrókr: This must be Hrókr inn hvíti ‘Rook the White’, as the prose text later indicates that Rook the Black, though seriously wounded in the fight, escapes and is looked after by a poor peasant (Hálf 1981, 186). — [2] hertoga ‘the army-commander’: Here the reference of this cpd is to Hálfr. See the use of the same term in Hálf 31/8 to refer to Ásmundr. — [4] oddvita fólks ‘of the leader of the army [KING = Hálfr]’: Here oddviti fólks is interpreted as a single kenning denoting ‘king, prince’, although oddviti itself (lit. ‘point-director’) might be looked upon as a kenning, albeit very much faded. See Meissner 358-9, LP: oddviti and Note to Ket 3[b]/3. — [5-6] eigum at gjalda Óðni illt ‘we have to repay Óðinn for evil’: A similar sentiment is expressed much more aggressively in Hrólf, when Bǫðvarr bjarki rails against Óðinn after Hrólfr has been killed, saying that he would squeeze him like the tiniest mouse if he could find him (cf. Hrólf 1960, 122). A similar threat is recorded by Saxo (Saxo 2015, I, ii. 7. 27, pp. 138-9). Cf. Bjarkamál 7^III and Note to [All] there. — [7] hann ‘he’: Omitted in Skj B, Skald and Hálf 1909, though this does not produce a metrically regular line, nor does the restoration of konung for the ms.’s kóng in the same line.

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. Meissner = Meissner, Rudolf. 1921. Die Kenningar der Skalden: Ein Beitrag zur skaldischen Poetik. Rheinische Beiträge und Hülfsbücher zur germanischen Philologie und Volkskunde 1. Bonn and Leipzig: Schroeder. Rpt. 1984. Hildesheim etc.: Olms.
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. 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. Hrólf 1960 = Slay, Desmond, ed. 1960a. Hrólfs saga kráka. EA B 1. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
9. Hálf 1981 = Seelow, Hubert, ed. 1981. Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka. RSÁM 20. Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar.
10. Hálf 1864 = Bugge, Sophus, ed. 1864. Saga af Hálfi ok Hálfsrekkum. Norrøne Skrifter af sagnhistorisk Indhold 1. Christiania (Oslo): Det Nordiske Oldskriftselskab.
11. Hálf 1909 = Andrews, A. Le Roy, ed. 1909. Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka. ASB 14. Halle: Niemeyer.
12. Saxo 2015 = Friis-Jensen, Karsten, ed. 2015. Saxo Grammaticus: Gesta Danorum: The History of the Danes. Trans. Peter Fisher. Oxford Medieval Texts. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon.
13. Internal references
14. 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Ketils saga hœngs’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 548. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=71> (accessed 25 April 2024)
15. 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Hrólfs saga kraka’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 539. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=73> (accessed 25 April 2024)
16. Hubert Seelow (ed.) 2017, ‘Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka 31 (Innsteinn Gunnlaðarson, Innsteinskviða 11)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 329.