Anon Óldr 12^I

Hraustr vann Hjaltland kristnat
hlífar þeys sem Eyjar
stýrir støkkvifúra
stalls sem Nóreg allan.
Lét á Grœnland gætir
gunnblíðr komit síðan
vengis vallar hringa
vegsamr trúu ramri.

{Hraustr stýrir {stalls {støkkvifúra {þeys hlífar}}}} vann Hjaltland kristnat sem Eyjar, sem allan Nóreg. {Vegsamr, gunnblíðr gætir {vengis {hringa vallar}}} lét síðan komit ramri trúu á Grœnland.

{The bold controller {of the stand {of scattering flames {of the breeze of the shield}}}} [BATTLE > SWORDS > SHIELD > WARRIOR] made Shetland Christian, and the Isles [Orkney], as well as all of Norway. {The glorious, battle-joyful guardian {of the field {of the rings of the plain}}} [SERPENTS > GOLD > GENEROUS MAN] then had the powerful faith brought to Greenland.

Mss: Bb(112vb)

Readings: [3] støkkvifúra: ‘steckví fyra’ Bb    [4] stalls: ‘stvllz’ or ‘stvllr’ Bb    [5] Grœn‑: ‘gręn‑’ corrected from ‘gręl‑’ Bb    [7] vengis: ‘vęngivm’ Bb

Editions: Skj AI, 575-6, Skj BI, 570, Skald I, 276, NN §2547; Munch and Unger 1847, 122, 141, Gullberg 1875, 14-15, 30.

Notes: [All]: In HN (MHN 115-16) and Ágr (ÍF 29, 22) King Óláfr is said to have Christianized five countries: Norway, Iceland, Shetland, Orkney and the Faroes. HSt Rst and Anon Óldr also list five lands, but replace the Faroes with Greenland, and ÓTOdd (ÍF 25, 271) increases the tally to six by including both these countries. The basis for including Greenland is probably the tradition that Óláfr sent Leifr Eiríksson there on a missionary voyage (Hkr, ÍF 26, 347; see also ÓT 1958-2000, II, 200). But this is almost certainly a fiction, perhaps stemming from Gunnlaugr Leifsson’s lost biography of Óláfr (Jón Jóhannesson 1962-5; Ólafur Halldórsson 1978, 379-89). — [2]: The same rhyming words appear in HSt Rst 11/4. — [4] stalls ‘of the stand’: The ms. reading ‘stvllz’ is unmetrical and does not appear to be an ON word. It is therefore almost certainly corrupt. Emendation to stalls m. gen. sg. ‘stand, stall, crib, altar’ is suggested by the aðalhending with allan ‘all’. This is an unusual base-word to a weapon-kenning, but cf. setr m. ‘home, resting-place’ (Meissner 169). — [7] vengis ‘of the field’: Finnur Jónsson in Skj B made the emendation to vengis, gen. sg. of vengi n.; the ms. appears to have the dat. pl. of the same word. There are three possible interpretations of vengi n.: (a) ‘land, plain, field’ (LP: 2. vengi; AEW: vengi 2), only otherwise attested in kennings; (b) ‘pillow’, in Guðr I 13/3 and in a Lat. gloss (Fritzner IV: vengi; LP: 1. vengi; AEW: vengi 1; all but one of the citations of vengi ‘field’ in LP could equally well be examples of this sense); and (c) ‘poop-deck, cabin(-roof)’ (LP: 3. vengi). This occurs as determinant of a ship-kenning in Hharð Gamv 2/4^II (see Note there for further discussion of this sense). The present helmingr could conceivably be construed without emendation by taking vengi/vængi in sense (c) as a curious pars pro toto for ‘ship’: [Óláfr] lét síðan komit vengjum ramri trúu á Grœnland ‘[Óláfr] then had the powerful faith brought to Greenland on ships’; see Note above on the Christianization of Greenland. — [8] trúu ‘faith’: See Note to st. 9/8.

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. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. 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.
6. AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
7. 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.
8. Ágr = [Anonymous] Ágrip af Nóregs konunga sögum.
9. MHN = Storm, Gustav, ed. 1880. Monumenta historica Norvegiæ: Latinske kildeskrifter til Norges historie i middelalderen. Kristiania (Oslo): Brøgger. Rpt. 1973. Oslo: Aas & Wahl.
10. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
11. Fritzner IV = Hødnebø, Finn. 1972. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog af Dr. Johan Fritzner: Rettelser og tillegg. Oslo, Bergen, Tromsø: Universitetsforlaget.
12. HN = Historia Norwegiæ. In MHN 69-124.
13. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
14. ÓT 1958-2000 = Ólafur Halldórsson, ed. 1958-2000. Saga Óláfs Tryggvasonar en mesta. 3 vols. EA A 1-3. Copenhagen: Munksgaard (Reitzel).
15. Munch, P. A. and C. R. Unger, eds. 1847. Oldnorsk læsebog med tilhörende glossarium. Christiania (Oslo): Dahl.
16. ÍF 25 = Færeyinga saga; Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar eptir Odd munk Snorrason. Ed. Ólafur Halldórsson. 2006.
17. Gullberg, H., ed. 1875. Óláfs drápa Tryggvasonar: fragment ur “Bergsboken”. Lund: Berling.
18. Jón Jóhannesson. 1962-5. ‘The Date of the Composition of the Saga of the Greenlanders’. SBVS 16, 54-66.
19. Ólafur Halldórsson. 1978. Grænland í miðaldaritum. Reykjavík: Sögufélag.
20. Internal references
21. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Heimskringla’ 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=4> (accessed 24 April 2024)
22. (forthcoming), ‘ Oddr Snorrason, Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar by Oddr Snorrason’ 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. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=66> (accessed 24 April 2024)
23. Russell Poole 2017, ‘(Biography of) Gunnlaugr Leifsson’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 38.
24. Kate Heslop 2012, ‘ Anonymous, Óláfs drápa Tryggvasonar’ 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. 1031. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1036> (accessed 24 April 2024)
25. Rolf Stavnem 2012, ‘ Hallar-Steinn, Rekstefja’ 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. 893. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1237> (accessed 24 April 2024)
26. Rolf Stavnem (ed.) 2012, ‘Hallar-Steinn, Rekstefja 11’ 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. 909.
27. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Haraldr harðráði Sigurðarson, Gamanvísur 2’ 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. 36-7.