{"collection":"Northern European Mythology","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/neu/onp/onp11.htm","path":"neu/onp/onp11.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/neu/onp/onp11.htm","text":"NORWAY enters into the full daylight of recorded history with King Harold, surnamed Fairhair1 (ca. 860-933), the son of Halvdan the Black, a petty king of Southeastern Norway. While still a youth, Harold after a bitter struggle with the independence-loving nobles brought the whole realm under his sway. The final victorious battle, against a coalition of chieftains of the West reinforced by auxiliaries from the British Isles, was a naval action fought in the Hafrs-firth (873), an inlet of southwest Norway. It is celebrated in this lay. After this battle, rather than submit and pay tribute to Harold, many nobles left the land with all their kin and possessions, settling in the Western Isles and, chiefly, in Iceland.\nAmong the engaging qualities of this masterful ruler must be reckoned his fondness for poetry. We are told in the reliable Egils saga that \u201cof all his followers, he valued most his skalds,\u201d2 thus probably initiating the tradition of court poets that lasted for centuries. In fact, he is said to have been a poet in his own right, like many of his successors. Several of his court poets are named in the sagas and represented by poems. Of Th\u00f3rbiorn hornklofi\u2019s3 personality we know little, except that he was of high birth and \u201can old friend of kings, who had always been attached to their courts.\u201d Two longer poems are attributed to him, the Glymdr\u00e1pa,4 a lay apparently descriptive of Harold\u2019s many battles before accomplishing the unification of Norway, thoroughly Skaldic in manner, which exists only in inconsiderable fragments; and the present poem, much simpler in style, which is given no name in the sources. This, the Haraldskv\u00e6thi p. 57 or Hrafnsm\u00f3l, as it has been called by some editors, is in a most deplorable condition.\nAs here given5 it is pieced together from fragments found mainly in the large historical work called Fagrskinna,6 which contains a history of the Norwegian kings. There is considerable difficulty about the authorship of these portions, some editors considering stanzas 7 to 11, in particular, as a separate poem dealing with the battle in the Hafrs-firth. The remainder, with descriptions of the life at Harold\u2019s court, is probably incomplete.\nThe structure of the poem is simple. After the usual admonition to the assembled court to lend their ears, the poet tells us what he heard a raven\u2014scavenger of the battle-field\u2014say to a valkyrie who questions him about Harold\u2019s deeds\u2014naturally all warlike ones. For once, the scenes of carnage here described are individualized. There is grim Viking humor, a dramatic tension, a zest in these descriptions which one inevitably associates with a contemporary and participant.7 Upon her further questioning we are given realistic, even coarse-grained, glimpses of Harold\u2019s youth, his many marriages, and his life at court with berserkers, skalds, and jugglers. In all this, the poem is likely to have set the fashion; possibly also in the alternation of meters. The greater part is in sonorous m\u00e1lah\u00e1ttr, smaller portions also in li\u00f3thah\u00e1ttr and fornyrthislag.\n| 1 | Hearken, ye ring-bearers,8\u2003while of Harold I tell you, the mightily wealthy, and his manful war-deeds; words I o\u2019erheard a maiden high-minded speaking, golden-haired, white-armed, with a glossy-beaked raven. | \n| 2 | Wise thought her the valkyrie;\u2003were welcome never men9 to the bright-eyed one, her who birds\u2019 speech knew well. p. 58 Greeted the light-lashed maiden, the lily-throated woman, the Hymir\u2019s-skull-cleaver10 as on cliff he was perching. | \n| 3 | \u201cHow is it, ye ravens\u2014\u2003whence are ye come now with beaks all gory, at break of morning? Carrion-reek ye carry, and your claws are bloody. Were ye near, at night-time, where ye knew of corpses?\u201d | \n| 4 | Shook himself the dun-hued one,\u2003and dried his beak, the eagle\u2019s oath-brother, and of answer bethought him: \u201cHarold we follow, Halfdan\u2019s first-born, I the young Yngling, since out of egg we crept. | \n| 5 | \u201cThat king thou knowest,\u2003him who at Kvinnar11 dwelleth, the hoard-warder of North men, who has hollow war-ships with reddish ribs12 and with reddened war-shields, with tarred oar-blades and with tents13 foam-besprinkled. | \n| 6 | \u201cFain outside14 would he\u2003drink the ale at Yule-tide,15 the fight-loving folk-warder, and Frey\u2019s16-game play there. Even half-grown, he hated the hearthfire cozy, the warm women\u2019s room, and the wadded down-mittens.17 | \n| 7 | \u201cHearken how the high-born one\u2003in the Hafrs-firth18 fought there, the keen-eyed king\u2019s son, against Kiotvi19 the wealthy: p. 59 came the fleet from the eastward,20 eager for fighting, with gaping figureheads and graven ship-prows.21 | \n| 8 | \u201cThey were laden with franklins\u2003and lindenshields gleaming, with Westland spearshafts and with Welsh broadswords. The berserkers22 bellowed as the battle opened, the wolf-coats22 shrieked loud and shook their weapons. | \n| 9 | \u201cTheir strength would they try,\u2003but he taught them to flee, the lord of the Eastmen23 who at \u00datstein24 dwelleth. The steeds-of-Nokkvi25 he steered out when started the battle. Then boomed the bucklers ere a blow felled Haklang.26 | \n| 10 | \u201cThe thick-necked atheling\u2003behind the isle took shelter: he grew loath, against L\u00fafa27 to hold the land of his fathers. Then hid under benches, and let their buttocks stick up, they who were wounded, but thrust their heads keelward. | \n| 11 | \u201cTheir shoulders shielded\u2003the shifty heroes28\u2014 were they showered with slung-shot\u2014 with the shingles-of-Gladhome.29 p. 60 Home from Hafrs-firth hastened they eastward, fled by way of Iathar,30 of ale-cups thinking.31 | \n| 12 | \u201cOn the gravel lay the fallen,\u2003given to the one-eyed husband of Fulla;32 were we33 fain of such doings. | \n| 13 | \u201cOf more and other things\u2003shall the maids of Ragnhild,34 the haughty women-folk, now have to gabble than of the heath-dwellers35 which Harold not ever feasted on the fallen, as their friends had done oft.36 | \n| 14 | \u201cThe high-born liege-lord\u2003took the lady from Denmark\u2014 broke with his Rogaland sweethearts and their sisters from Horthaland, with those from Heithmork and H\u00e1logaland eke.\u201d37 | \n| THE VALKYRIE | | \n| 15 | \u201cWhether is open-handed\u2003he-who-hastens-the-battle,38 to those who fend faithfully foemen from his homeland?\u201d | \n| THE RAVEN | | \n| 16 | \u201cWith much goods are gladdened\u2003the gallant warriors, who in the hall of Harold while the time with chess-play:39 with much wealth he rewards them, and with well-forged broadswords, p. 61 with gold from Hunland40 and with girls from the Eastfolks.40 | \n| 17 | \u201cMost happy are they\u2003when there is hope for battle, all ready to rouse them and to row strongly,41 so as to snap the thongs and to sunder the thole-pins, to churn the brine briskly at the beck of their liege-lord.\u201d | \n| THE VALKYRIE | | \n| 18 | \u201cOf the skalds\u2019 lot would I ask thee,\u2003since thou skill of that boastest: how the bards fare there thou full well knowest\u2014 they who are in Harold\u2019s hall.\u201d | \n| THE RAVEN | | \n| 19 | \u201cIs seen from their raiment\u2003and their red-gold finger-rings that a kind king they have. Red fur-cloaks own they, most fairly bordered, swords wound with silver,42 and sarks ring-woven,43 gilded baldricks and graven helmets, heavy gold bracelets which Harold bestowed on them.\u201d | \n| THE VALKYRIE | | \n| 20 | \u201cOf the berserkers\u2019 lot would I ask thee,\u2003thou who batten\u2019st on corpses: how fare the fighters who rush forth to battle, and stout-hearted stand \u2019gainst the foe?\u201d | \n| THE RAVEN | | \n| 21 | \u201cWolf-coats are they called,\u2003the warriors unfleeing, who bear bloody shields in battle; p. 62 the darts redden where they dash into battle and shoulder to shoulder stand. \u2019T is men tried and true only, who can targes shatter, whom the wise war-lord wants in battle.\u201d | \n| THE VALKYRIE | | \n| 22 | \u201cOf Andath and all his ilk, too,\u2003have I asked thee but little: how fare the fiddlers, how fare the jugglers in the halls of Harold?\u201d | \n| THE RAVEN | | \n| 23 | \u201cHis earless dog does\u2003your Andath fondle; the churl with his fool-tricks makes the folk-warder chuckle. Yet be there others who about the fire bowls of hot wine bear; their flapping fools\u2019-caps they tuck fast in their belts\u2014 fellows you\u2019re free to kick.\u201d44 | \n1 Concerning his name, cf. the note on stanza 10.\n2 Their gratitude finds typical expression in stanza 19.\n3 This surname probably means \u201craven\u201d\u2014given him with reference, it may be, to his most famous poem.\n4 \u201cWar-alarum dr\u00e1pa (song of praise).\u201d\n5 I follow Finnur J\u00f3nsson\u2019s arrangement.\n6 \u201cBeautiful skin (Parchment).\u201d\n7 To be sure, it has been observed that the king could not be said to reside on the estates of \u00datstein and Kvinnar until some time after the conquest of the districts in which they are located.\n8 Kenning for \u201cwarriors.\u201d\n9 As lovers or husbands. The line is difficult.\n10 According to Grimnism\u00f3l, st. 40, the sky was made of the giant Hymir\u2019s skull. The raven cleaves the sky in his flight.\n11 No such estate is known. Very likely, the famous royal farm on Ogvaldsnes, on the island of Karm (Rogaland), near the present town of Haugesund, is meant.\n12 Adopting Finnur J\u00f3nsson\u2019s emendation.\n13 The awnings under which the crew slept at night.\n14 I.e., at sea.\n15 The great banquet and reunion, called the \u201cYule-ale,\u201d was held at the winter solstice.\n16 Frey is the god of fertility and not associated with warfare. One should expect a valkyrie\u2019s name; but as it happens the text is clear, and no valkyrie\u2019s name begins with the alliterating F.\n17 Or \u201cpillows.\u201d\n18 \u201cGoat-firth,\u201d on the coast of the old district of Rogaland in southwestern Norway.\n19 \u201cThe Fat\u201d; which is supposed to be the nickname for King Guthr\u0153th of Agthir.\n20 That of the allies: owing to the lay of the land in Western Norway, \u201ceast\u201d came frequently to be used for \u201csouth.\u201d\n21 The warships of the Viking Age frequently had their stems and sterns carved in the likeness of a dragon\u2019s head and tail. Hence the term \u201cdragon-ship.\u201d\n22 Both designations for fierce warriors; cf. H\u00e1rbarthsli\u00f3th, 37, note.\n23 Harold, whose home dominions were in southeastern Norway.\n24 This estate, like those mentioned above, is situated in southwestern Norway.\n25 Nokkvi is the name of a mythical sea-king; his steed, therefore, is the \u201cship.\u201d\n26 \u201cLong-chin\u201d (or \u201cLong One with the Harelip\u201d); which is thought to be the nickname for \u00d3laf the White, famous Viking chief of Dublin.\n27 \u201cUntidy shock of hair,\u201d Harold\u2019s nickname. The legend tells that, when rejected by the fair Gytha, as not being the lord of all Norway, he made the vow neither to cut nor comb his hair till he had brought the whole land under his sway, or else died. But after he had fulfilled his vow, and had it cut and cleansed, he was called \u201cHairfair,\u201d from his long silky hair.\n28 I.e., in fleeing.\n29 Glathsheimr \u201cthe shining abode,\u201d the dwelling of \u00d3thin in Valholl (see Grimnism\u00f3l, stanza 8), is here substituted by the translator for Sv\u00e1fnis saln\u00e6frar \u201cthe-shingles-of-\u00d3thin\u2019s-hall,\u201d i.e., the shields with which (ibid., stanza 9) the roof of \u00d3thin\u2019s hall is covered.\n30 The present J\u00e6(de)ren, the southwesternmost district of Norway.\n31 I.e., to be home again at their ease; but the interpretation is doubtful.\n32 \u00d3thin. Fulla, a hypostasis of Frigg, his wife, is substituted here by the translator.\n33 I.e., the ravens. There is the suspicion that something is lacking after this line.\n34 The Danish princess who superseded Harold\u2019s many other wives.\n35 I.e., the wolves.\n36 The meaning of this difficult stanza is, that the Danish women can now no longer taunt Harold for not having fed the wolves on the carcasses of the slain, i.e., for not being warlike. It has been supposed that stanzas 13 and 14 may be fragments of another poem.\n37 In order, these districts lie in the southeast, the west, the east center, and the north, of Norway. The order has been changed here.\n38 The king.\n39 Or, perhaps, the game referred to in Heithrek\u2019s Riddles, 26.\n40 Here, probably generalized names.\n41 It was by no means below the dignity of warriors to ply the oars in warships; cf. the situation in Atlam\u00f3l hin gr\u0153nl\u00e6nzku, stanza 34. The oar moved against a tholepin and was secured by thongs.\n42 I.e., the hilts, which were wound with silver wire.\n43 I.e., the shirts of mail.\n44 The valkyrie rather falls out of her r\u00f4le in asking about Harold\u2019s jesters and jugglers. The raven voices the scorn generally felt, and expressed by the skalds, of the low buffoonery of these foreigners\u2014for such they were generally\u2014who competed with the skalds for the favors of their prince. The meaning of lines 3-5 is much debated. I follow S. Bl\u00f6ndal\u2019s recent suggestions.","title":"THE LAY OF HAROLD [HARALDSKV\u00c6THI OR HRAFNSM\u00d3...","type":"page"}