Þfagr Sveinn 6II/6 — þarflaust ‘without due cause’
Hvé hefr til Heiðabœjar
heiptgjarn konungr arnat,
folk-Rǫgnir getr fregna
fylkis sveit, hinns veitat,
þás til þengils bœjar
þarflaust Haraldr austan
ár, þats ôn of væri,
endr byrskíðum renndi.
Folk-Rǫgnir, hinns veitat, getr fregna sveit fylkis, hvé heiptgjarn konungr hefr arnat til Heiðabœjar, þás Haraldr renndi endr byrskíðum þarflaust austan til bœjar þengils ár, þats of væri ôn.
That battle-Rǫgnir <= Óðinn> [WARRIOR] who does not know can ask the ruler’s troop how the war-eager king travelled to Hedeby, when Haraldr once sent the skis of fair wind [SHIPS] without due cause from the east to the lord’s town that year, which never should have been.
readings
[6] þarflaust: þarflaustr H, þarf Kˣ, þar flaust E
notes
[6] þarflaust ‘without due cause’: So Skj B (uden skellig grund), whereas Kock (NN §2039) gives the translations till skada för sig själv, olyckligt, i en olycklig stund ‘to his own harm, haplessly, at an ill-fated time’. Because the sacking of Hedeby caused harm to the Danes but not to Haraldr, Kock’s interpretation seems unmotivated. Þarflaust ‘without due cause, without need, unnecessarily’ (see Fritzner: þarflauss) implies that the attack on the town was unprovoked. The very same l. (þarflaust Haraldr austan lit. ‘without due cause Haraldr from the east’) is also found in ÞjóðA Lv 11/4, which he recites at the battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066. Þjóðólfr then uses the same expression to describe Haraldr’s expedition to and attack on England.