ÞjóðA Magnfl 13II/1 — Áðr ‘Before’
Áðr svanfoldar seldi
sólrýrandi inn dýri
— jarls lá ferð á ferli —
fjǫrgrið stǫfum hjǫrva.
Áðr inn dýri svanfoldar sólrýrandi seldi fjǫrgrið stǫfum hjǫrva; ferð jarls lá á ferli.
Before the excellent diminisher of the sun of the swan-land [(lit. ‘sun-diminisher of the swan-land’) SEA > GOLD > GENEROUS MAN] granted life-truce to the staves of swords [WARRIORS]; the jarl’s troop were on the move.
notes
[1] áðr ‘before’: The status of this innocuous-seeming conj. has consequences for the interpretation of the helmingr. (a) If áðr links this verse with a previous one, the main point is presumably that Magnús, previously depicted ferociously slaying his enemies, now shows magnanimity in sparing their lives, giving them safe conduct (grið). In this case l. 3, depicting their flight, is intercalated (as assumed in the punctuation above and in that of previous eds; Kock’s in Skald is the clearest). (b) Áðr could alternatively link the two clauses within this helmingr: one cl. in l. 3 and the other occupying the rest, so that ‘the jarl’s troop were on the move’ before he grants them safe conduct. Cf. the Prose Context, which enumerates the different outcomes for the Danes: flight, death, or receiving grið. ÍF 28 mentions this possibility, but prefers (a), citing Kuhn’s observation that it is rare in skaldic poetry for a subordinate cl. to be split by the main cl. that it relates to (Kuhn 1929b, 199-200).