Note to Arn Þorfdr 10II
[8] ok tók brenna ‘and began burning’: (a) The cl. follows frændi Hlǫðvis hendi hermenn ‘Hlǫðvir’s kinsman captured warriors’ so that hermenn may be the understood object of brenna inf. ‘burning’, hence ‘Þorfinnr captured [the surviving] warriors and burned [the slain]’, although burning seems usually to be reserved for evil-doers, heathens and insurrectionists (cf. the reference to the burning of the Wendish dead in Arn Magndr 8, also Fidjestøl 1982, 206). Brenna could alternatively refer to the burning of dwellings, and hence anticipate st. 11. (b) The variant enn tóksk senna (R702ˣ) could mean ‘yet again battle began’ (cf. tóksk morð af því ‘killing started up from that’ in Sigv Tryggfl 1/2I), since senna ‘verbal contest’ can stand alone to mean ‘battle’ (see LP). However, a statement that battle began would be inappropriate here.
References
- Bibliography
- 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.
- Fidjestøl, Bjarne. 1982. Det norrøne fyrstediktet. Universitet i Bergen Nordisk institutts skriftserie 11. Øvre Ervik: Alvheim & Eide.
- Internal references
- Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Magnússdrápa 8’ 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, p. 217.
- Judith Jesch (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Tryggvaflokkr 1’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 644.