Hubert Seelow (ed.) 2017, ‘Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka 44 (Útsteinn Gunnlaðarson, Útsteinskviða 4)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 339.
Þótti ekki Hrókum né Hálfdani
raun at berjaz við ragmenni,
þá er vér fjórir falla létum
átta jarla fyrir Ann*snesi.
Þótti ekki Hrókum né Hálfdani raun at berjaz við ragmenni, þá er vér fjórir létum átta jarla falla fyrir Ann*snesi.
It did not seem a trial to either the Hrókar or Hálfdan to fight against cowardly wretches, when we four slew eight jarls off Annsnes.
Mss: 2845(37v) (Hálf)
Readings: [8] Ann*snesi: ‘annis nesi’ 2845
Editions: Skj AII, 263-4, Skj BII, 285, Skald II, 149; Hálf 1864, 28-9, Hálf 1909, 116, FSGJ 2, 121, Hálf 1981, 128, 188; Edd. Min. 72.
Notes: [All]: This stanza follows a format frequently found in the mannjafnaðr; the speaker refers to his own or his companions’ bravery, implying that it is much greater than that of their cowardly opponents. Frequently a place, often legendary, is mentioned as the site of the battle. The information that the four Hálfsrekkar slew eight jarls implies that Úlfr’s eight sons do not stand a chance either. — [1] Hrókum ‘the Hrókar’: Two brothers, members of the Hálfsrekkar, Hrókr inn svarti ‘Rook the Black’ and Hrókr inn hvíti ‘Rook the White’. Cf. Hálf 26/1 and Note there. — [2] Hálfdani ‘Hálfdan’: The name of another of the Hálfsrekkar (cf. Hálf 1981, 177). — [4] ragmenni ‘cowardly wretches’: Like dritmenni in l. 7 of the previous stanza, ragmenni is a hap. leg., but is self-evidently formed from the adj. ragr ‘cowardly, unmanly’ plus the n. noun menni ‘people, men’. — [8] fyrir Ann*snesi ‘off Annsnes’: The ms. has ‘annis nesi’, which cannot be accommodated into a metrical line without resorting to tmesis. It is uncertain whether this word is a common noun andnes, annes ‘headland, promontory’ (cf. LP: andnes, and as in Anon Vǫls 1/3I) or a p. n., though the context suggests the latter.
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