Sigv Nesv 14I/8 — rekks ‘with many warriors’
Sigv Nesv 14IAfli vex, þvít efla
Upplendingar sendi
— Sveinn, funduð þat — þenna
þilblakks konung vilja.
Raun es hins, at Heinir
(hrælinns) megu vinna
(þeir œxla frør) fleira
fjǫlrekks an ǫl drekka.
Afli vex, þvít Upplendingar vilja efla þenna sendi þilblakks konung; Sveinn, funduð þat. Raun es hins, at Heinir megu vinna fleira an drekka ǫl fjǫlrekks; þeir œxla frør hrælinns.
[His] strength increases, because the Upplendingar want to support this launcher of the plank-horse [SHIP > SEAFARER = Óláfr] as king; Sveinn, you discovered that. There is proof of this, that the Heinir can do more than drink the ale of the man with many warriors; they augment the frost of the corpse-snake [SWORD > BATTLE].
readings
[8] fjǫlrekks (‘fiolrecs’): so R686ˣ, J2ˣ, 68, Holm4, 325V, 325VII, Flat, ‘folcreks’ Kˣ, papp18ˣ, ‘folrecs’ Holm2, ‘fiolkræs’ J1ˣ, ‘fiallrecks’ 325VI, 75a, ‘folk hrekks’ 61, ‘fiolrek’ Bb, ‘fiolreck(a)’(?) Tóm
notes
[8] fjǫlrekks ‘of the man with many warriors’: Amongst the variant readings, this can be identified as the most likely original (cf. CPB), a cpd of fjǫl- ‘many’ and rekkr ‘man, warrior’. Although a hap. leg., it represents a natural extension from the familiar cpd fjǫlmennr ‘with many men, with a large following’, also fjǫlgestr ‘with many guests’. Its use here as a substantival adj. may have led to confusion in transmission. Fjǫlrekks is further supported by the fact that ÓHLeg (1982, 72) seems to draw upon st. 14 (though without citing it) in a version that contained this word when it mentions that Óláfr gained fiolmenne ‘a numerous following’ by distributing largesse to the Upplendingar. The first element folk in the reading of K (and 61) and adopted by Finnur Jónsson (Hkr 1893-1901; Skj B; LP: folkrekr ‘people’s ruler’) appears to be a secondary development from fjǫl (Poole 2005d, 180-1 and cf. the comments on K in the Note to ll. 6-7 above).