Rory McTurk (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Poems, Krákumál 22’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 762.
This second part of Krm is more reflective in character than the first. The speaker advocates courage and heroism in battle (sts 22-3); says that he had not expected that King Ælle would be the cause of his death, and speaks of having fought extensively in Scotland’s firths (st. 24); rejoices in the knowledge that he will soon (after death) be feasting with the god Óðinn (st. 25); claims that his sons by Áslaug would take up arms if they knew how many poisonous snakes were tearing at him (st. 26); says that his end is near, that a snake has entered his heart, and that he expects his sons, in their anger at his death, to take vengeance on Ælle (st. 27); claims to have engaged in fifty-one battles during his lifetime, after beginning his martial career at an early age, and to have expected least of all that another king would defeat him, though he declares that the gods will invite him to join them, and that death gives no cause for anxiety (st. 28). Finally, he says that he wishes to end his recital, since the handmaids of Óðinn, the dísir, are inviting him to Óðinn’s hall; that he will be happy to drink ale in the high seat with the gods; that all hope of life is gone; and that he will die laughing (st. 29).
Hjuggu vér með hjörvi.
Hví sé drengr at feigri,
at hann í odda éli
öndurðr látinn verði?
Opt sýtir sá ævi,
er aldrigi nistir
— ilt kveða argan eggja —
örn at sverða leiki.
Hugblauðum kemr hvergi
hjarta sitt at gagni.
Hjuggu vér með hjörvi. Hví sé drengr at feigri, at hann verði látinn öndurðr í {éli odda}? Sá, er aldrigi nistir örn at {leiki sverða}, sýtir opt ævi; kveða ilt eggja argan. Hugblauðum kemr hjarta sitt hvergi at gagni.
‘We hewed with the sword. Why should a fellow be any the more likely to die, because he is placed in the front line in the shower of spear-points [BATTLE]? He who never feeds the eagle in the game of swords [BATTLE] often regrets his life; they say it’s a troublesome business egging on a coward. The heart of a cowardly man is never of any use to him. ’
Ms. 1824b concludes with the first part of l. 5 of st. 22; thereafter R702ˣ is taken as base ms. for this edn. — [2-4]: The sentiment expressed here may at first sight seem at variance with the ready, even cheerful acceptance of death that is so much a characteristic of heroes in the face of death as portrayed in Germanic literature, witness for example st. 29/8 below and the cases of Hǫgni Gjúkason and his brother Gunnarr (the latter another snake-pit victim) in Akv 24-7. The lines may however be read as an ironic exhortation to people of cowardly disposition of the type described in ll. 5-10 of the present stanza, meaning: ‘you are no more likely to die in the front line than in other situations into which the fortunes of war might lead you, so you may as well pluck up your courage and join the fray’. In other words, death is altogether likely in any case, so why not meet that likelihood with courage rather than cowardice? — [3]: The line is unmetrical, with hann being extrametrical, but, if hann were deleted, at is unlikely to be able to carry full stress and there would be three alliterating staves. — [7-8]: Line 7, treated as an intercalary clause by the present ed. and by previous eds from Finnur Jónsson (1893b) onwards (i.e. Finnur Jónsson and Kock), contains an acc. and inf. construction with the subject acc. (qualified by ilt ‘troublesome’) and the inf. vera ‘be’ omitted, meaning literally ‘they declare it (subject acc., omitted) (to be) troublesome (ilt n. acc. sg.) to egg on a coward’. Previous eds, while recognising this construction, had read l. 7 as running on syntactically to l. 8, understanding the two lines to mean: ‘they say it’s a troublesome business egging on a coward to the brisk game of battle’. For the sense ‘brisk’, see Note to l. 8. — [9-10]: The lit. sense of these lines is ‘to a cowardly man his heart is never of any use’.
Text is based on reconstruction from the base text and variant apparatus and may contain alternative spellings and other normalisations not visible in the manuscript text. Transcriptions may not have been checked and should not be cited.
.
Hví sé †dr[…]ng[…] […]† feigri,
at †[...]† í odda †elium†
†a[...]d[...]dr [...]erdi† ?
†vpt [...]t[...]† ,
er aldrigi nistir
— ilt kveða argan eggja —
örn at sverða leiki.
Hugblauðum kemr hvergi
hjarta sitt at gagni.
.
†[…]† sé †dreng (at) f[...]gri†,
at †[...] (j) [...](dda)†
†[...] (latinn ver)di† ?
Opt sýtir sá ævi,
er aldrigi nistir
— ilt kveða —
†a(u)rn† at sverða leiki.
†h+†
†hiar(ta)d† sitt at gagni.
Hjuggum vér með hjörvi .
hvé sé drengr at feigri,
at hann í odda éli
öndurðr látinn verði?
Opt sýtir sá ævi,
er aldrigi nistir
— ilt kveða argan eggja —
†aurum† at sverða leiki.
Hugblauðum kemr hvergi
hjarta sitt at gagni.
.
hvat sé drengr at feigri,
at hann í odda éli
öndurðr látinn verði?
Opt sýtir sá ævi,
er aldrigi nistir
— ilt kveða argan eggja —
örn at sverða leiki.
Hugblauðum kemr hvergi
hjarta sitt at gagni.
Hjuggum vér með hjörvi .
hvat er drengr at feigri,
at †hun† í odda éli
öndurðr látinn verði?
Opt sýtir sá ævi,
er aldrigi †nester†
— ilt kveða argan eggja —
†auru† at sverða leiki.
Hugblauðum kemr †hvorge†
†hiarte† sitt at gagni.
Hjuggum vér með hjörvi .
hvat er drengr at feigri,
at †han† í odda éli
öndurðr látinn verði?
Opt sýtir sá ævi,
er aldrigi
— ilt kveða argan eggja —
örn at sverða leiki.
†hugblaudum† kemr †hvorge†
hjarta sitt at gagni.
Skj: Anonyme digte og vers [XII], H. Krákumál 22: AI, 647, BI, 654, Skald I, 320; Rafn 1826, 18-19, 139-42, Pfeiffer 1860, 126, CPB II, 343-4, Wisén 1886-9, I, 65, Krm 1891, 227-8, Finnur Jónsson 1893b, 89-90, Finnur Jónsson 1905, 156; Ragn 1906-8, 188.
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