Anon Liðs 3I/1 — Þollr ‘pine-tree’
Þollr mun glaums of grímu
gjarn síðarla arna
randar skóð at rjóða
rœðinn, sás mey fœðir.
Berr eigi sá sveigir
sára lauks í ári
reiðr til Rínar glóða
rǫnd upp á Englandi.
Rœðinn þollr glaums, sás fœðir mey, mun gjarn síðarla arna at rjóða skóð randar of grímu. Sá sveigir lauks sára berr eigi rǫnd, reiðr, upp á Englandi í ári til glóða Rínar.
The talkative pine-tree of revelry [MAN] who brings up the maiden will gladly [lit. glad] rush tardily to redden the harm of the shield [SWORD] in darkness. That brandisher of the leek of wounds [SWORD > WARRIOR] does not carry the shield, enraged, up into England in a hurry, for the embers of the Rhine [GOLD].
notes
[1] þollr glaums ‘the pine-tree of revelry [MAN]’: Several interpretations are possible, depending on how other nouns in the helmingr are construed. (a) This is tentatively taken as an irregular, derogatory kenning that evokes pleasures of the hall instead of military activities, characterising the stay-at-home who is the target of the stanza. The remaining analyses produce standard warrior-kennings. (b) Kock (Skald and NN §596) also construes these two words as a kenning, but takes glaumr ‘revelry’ to be a heiti for ‘battle’. (c) A more regular kenning is obtained if randar ‘of the shield’ (l. 3) is read as part of the determinant, hence þollr glaums randar ‘pine-tree of the revelry of the shield [BATTLE > WARRIOR]’ (so Skj B; ÓHLeg 1982). This leaves skóð ‘harm(s)’ (l. 3) as a heiti for a weapon, which is unproblematic in itself (LP: skóð) but entails a contorted word order (as pointed out in NN §596). (d) Another potential determinant is obtained if of grímu (l. 1) is read as the expletive particle of plus f. gen. sg. grímu in the sense ‘mask, helmet’; but in context a prepositional use of of seems more likely, hence of grímu ‘in darkness’. This is compatible with the surprise attack depicted in st. 1.
kennings
- Rœðinn þollr glaums, — The talkative pine-tree of revelry [MAN]
grammar
case: nom.