Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Þjóðólfr Arnórsson (ÞjóðA)

11th century; volume 2; ed. Diana Whaley;

7. Lausavísur (Lv) - 11


Skj poems:
1. Magnúsflokkr
2. Runhent digt om Harald hårdråde
3. Sexstefja
4. Lausavísur




Magnússflokkr (ÞjóðA Magnfl)
SkP Skj
15Náði jarl at eyða 19
16Rǫnn lézt, ræsir Þrœnda,20
17Hizig laut, es heitir 21
18Flýði jarl af auðu, 22
19Háðisk heilli góðu25
Stanzas about Magnús Óláfsson in Danaveldi (ÞjóðA Magn)
1Hrauð leifs mǫgr áðan Magnfl 15
2Misst hafa Sveins at sýnu, Magnfl 16
3Gær sák grjóti stóru Lv 1
4Spurði einu orði Magnfl 17
5Saurstokkinn bar svíra Magnfl 18
6Hrindr af hrókalandi Lv 2
7Menn eigu þess minnask, Lv 3
8Skjǫld bark heim frá hjaldri Magnfl 23
9Bauð leifs sonr áðan Magnfl 24
10Nú taka Norðmenn knýja,Lv 4
11Brum jǫrn at œrnuLv 5
12Svíðr of seggja búðirLv 6
13Fjǫrð lét fylkir verðaLv 7
14Ek hef ekki at drekkaLv 8
Runhent poem about Haraldr (ÞjóðA Run)
Sexstefja (ÞjóðA Sex)
6Þjóð veit, at hefr háðar7
7Stólþengils lét stinga6
8Ok hertoga hneykir25
9Reist eikikjǫlr austan8
10Vatn lézt, vísi, slitna,9
11Gegn skyli herr, sem hugnar10
12Frn hefr sveit við Sveini11
13Lét vingjafa veitir12
14Fast bað fylking hrausta13
15Alm dró upplenzkr hilmir14
16Flest vas hirð, sús hraustum15
17Sogns kvðu gram gegnan16
18Sveinn át sigr at launa17
19Nús of verk, þaus vísi,18
20Létu lystir sleitu19
21Tók Holmbúa hneykir20
22Gagn brann greypra þegna; 21
23Fœrði fylkir Hǫrða,22
24Áræðis naut eyðir23
25Refsir reyndan ofsa24
26Mǫrk lét veitt fyr verka26
27Ǫrð sær Yrsu burðar27
28Lét hræteina hveiti32
29Blóðorra lætr barri30a
30Geirs oddum lætr greddir30b
31Gera vas gisting byrjuð29
32Hár skyli hirðar stjóri35
Stanzas about Haraldr Sigurðarson’s leiðangr (ÞjóðA Har)
1Skeið sák framm at flœði, Lv 18
2Slyngr laugardag lǫngu Lv 19
3Rétt kann rœði slíta Lv 20
4Sorgar veit, áðr slíti Lv 21
5Eigu skjól und skógi Lv 22
6Hléseyjar lemr hvan Lv 23
7Haraldr þeysti nú hraustla Lv 24
Fragments (ÞjóðA Frag )
1 Nús valmeiðum víðisLv 9
2Jarl/Ǫrr lætr, odda skúrar Sex 28
3Ganga él of Yngva Sex 31
4Snart við sæþráð kyrtat Sex 33
5Útan bindr við enda Sex 34
Þjóðólfr Arnórsson, Lausavísur (ÞjóðA Lv)
1Leiða langar dauða Lv 10
2Sumar annat skal sunnar Lv 11
3[Logit hefr Baldr at Baldri]
brynþings fetilstingar
Lv 12
4Mildingr rauð í móðu Lv 13
5Varp ór þrætu þorpi Lv 14
6Sigurðr eggjaði sleggju Lv 15
7Haddan skall, en Halli Lv 16
8Út stendr undan báti Lv 17
9Ǫld es, sús jarli skyldi Lv 25
10Skalka frá, þótt fylkir Lv 26
11Ǫld hefr afráð goldit Lv 27




Lausavísur — ÞjóðA LvII

Diana Whaley 2009, ‘(Introduction to) Þjóðólfr Arnórsson, Lausavísur’ 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. 163-76.

 1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10   11 

Skj: Þjóðolfr Arnórsson: 4. Lausavísur (AI, 377-83, BI, 347-53); stanzas (if different): 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27

in texts: Flat, Fsk, Gramm, H-Hr, Hb, Hkr, HSig, MH, Mork, Skm, SnE, Snegl, TGT

SkP info: II, 163-76

old edition introduction edition manuscripts transcriptions concordance references search files


A small group of Þjóðólfr’s sts (ÞjóðA Lv 1-11) preserved mainly in Mork, Flat and H-Hr can be regarded with confidence as lvv. With the exception of Lv 5-6 and to some extent 7-8 they do not form distinct groupings, and are therefore introduced collectively here.

Lv 1 expresses grief at the death of Magnús (1047): the skald’s own, and that of the followers who carried the king to the grave; since Magnfl is clearly addressed to Magnús during his lifetime this st. cannot belong there. It is preserved only in TGT (W, A).

Lv 2-6 are preserved in H-Hr (H, Hr), Mork (Mork) and Flat (Flat). Lv 2-3 are additionally in Fsk (FskAˣ, FskBˣ), Lv 2 in Hkr (, 39, F, J2ˣ, E) and Lv 3 in F. Lv 5-6 are in Snegl (593bˣ), as are Lv 7 (Mork, Flat, 563aˣ) and Lv 8 (Flat, 563aˣ). Priority has been given in each case to the ms. which has the best text, supported by the other mss: , F, FskBˣ, Mork, Flat. These five lvv. are all presented in their prose sources as lvv., and specifically as extemporisations which Þjóðólfr produces on an order or a poetic cue from Haraldr Sigurðarson (see Contexts). Lv 2 has a strongly anticipatory feel, employing the verb skal ‘shall’ and the phrase segik eina sp ‘I speak a prophecy’. It is indeed a ‘genuine-seeming improvisatory verse’ (Poole 1991, 68). Lv 3, embedded in a conversation between king and poet and introduced with phrases such as svaraði ‘replied’, Þá segir ‘then says’ and Þjóðólfr tók þegar undir ok sagði ‘Þjóðólfr at once picked this up and said’, deplores a breach of trust by a ruler to the south, praising the one to the north—weighty enough matters to inhabit a formal encomium, but the perfect tense hefr logit ‘has betrayed’ and the demonstrative þós sjá ‘and yet this’ are compatible with a lv. The two helmingar of Lv 4 offer a pair of retrospective battle descriptions, but the contrastive þat vas skǫmmu and þat vas lǫngu ‘that was a short / long time ago’ establishes the speaker’s present as the standpoint, and echoes other contributions to a lively verse exchange (see Context); it clearly had the status of a lv. in the minds of the saga compilers. Lv 5-6, mock-heroic accounts of the quarrel between a tanner and smith are unequivocally treated as lvv. in Mork, Flat and H-Hr. They are introduced Þjóðólfr kvað vísu ‘Þjóðólfr spoke a verse’, and although the 3rd-pers. narration in pret. tense would be compatible with an extended poem, the witty and unusual content is more suggestive of lvv. Lv 5-6 clearly belong together, but whether there were more forming a larger group we cannot know. Lv 7-8, on Halli’s porridge-guzzling and womanising, are similarly given a graphic context in Snegl. Lv 7 is alternatively attributed to Sneglu-Halli, and Lv 8 acts as a delayed rejoinder to SnH Lv 8.

Lv 9-11 concern serious military matters, and are preserved in Hkr (, 39, F, J2ˣ, E, with 39 lacking 10), H-Hr (H, Hr), Mork (Mork), and Flat (Flat); there are also texts of Lv 10-11 in Fsk and of Lv 11 in Hb and SnE (see the ms. listing for the individual sts for details). Lv 9 is an account of an expedition which the prose sources plausibly identify as Haraldr’s expedition to Västergötland (Gautland), narrated in the 3rd pers. pret. (the perfect es gefin helju ‘has been handed over to death’s realm’ representing an enduring situation). As such it is conceivable that it had a place in an extended poem, and indeed it is included in Sex in CPB (II, 206). However, it does not seem that any other part of the poem as it survives relates to this episode, and the st. is introduced with the Þá kvað ‘Then spoke’ formula in all sources. It is therefore best treated as a lv., though the possibility that it is a fragment of an extended poem cannot be excluded.

Lv 10-11 name Haraldr and have a tremendous immediacy: skalka frá ‘I shall not desert’, gengr sem goð vill ‘it will go as God wills’ (10); vérróm allir í vǫndum stað ‘we are all in a difficult position’ (11). They are treated as lvv. in the sagas, embedded with rather elaborate introductions into accounts of the king’s fatal battle at Stamford Bridge (see Contexts). The exact circumstances of composition may be tradition rather than historical fact, but the status of the sts as lvv. can be safely maintained.
