[7, 8] af haukum stafns stillis ‘from the hawks of the leader’s prow’: I.e. from the champions of the leader’s prow, from the leader’s forecastle-men (stafnbúar). Haukr ‘hawk’ was a term for a brave young man (see LP: 1. haukr 2 and Anon (MErl) l. 7) Skj B takes it as a base-word in a kenning for ‘ship’ (so also ÍF 28), which is also possible: af stillis haukum stafns ‘from the leader’s hawks of the prow’, i.e. ‘from the leader’s ships’. The variant in Hb and E, af stóði stafns Gjúka ‘from the stud-horses of the prow of Gjúki <sea-king>’, is hyperdetermined (stóð Gjúka ‘stud-horses of Gjúki’ and stóð stafns ‘stud-horses of the prow’ both mean ‘ship’) and is of little help.
References
- Bibliography
- Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
- LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
- ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
- Internal references
- Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘ Anonymous, Lausavísa from Magnúss saga Erlingssonar’ 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. 840-1. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=3091> (accessed 2 May 2024)
- Not published: do not cite ()