Bjarkamál in fornu — Anon BjarkIII
Anonymous Poems
Margaret Clunies Ross 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Bjarkamál in fornu’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 495. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1006> (accessed 25 April 2024)
Dagrs upp kominn; dynja hana fjaðrar;
máls vílmǫgum at vinna erfiði.
Vaki æ ok vaki, vina hǫfuð,
allir inir œztu Aðils of sinnar.
‘Day has broken; the rooster’s feathers rustle; it is time for the sons of toil [SERVANTS] to get to work. Wake now and wake, friends, all the noblest companions of Aðils. ’
Hár inn harðgreipi, Hrólfr skjótandi,
ættum góðir menn, þeirs ekki flýja,
vekka yðr at víni né at vífs rúnum,
heldr vekk yðr at hǫrðum Hildar leiki.
‘Hár the Hard-gripper, Hrólfr the Shooter, men of good lineage, who do not flee, I do not wake you for wine nor for a woman’s private conversation, rather I wake you for the hard play of Hildr <valkyrie> [BATTLE]. ’
Hniginns í hadd jarðar Hrólfr inn stórláti.
‘Hrólfr the Munificent has sunk into the hair of the earth [GRASS]. ’
Gramr inn gjǫflasti gœddi hirð sína
Fenju forverki, Fáfnis miðgarði,
Glasis glóbarri, Grana fagrbyrði,
Draupnis dýrsveita, dúni Grafvitnis.
‘The most munificent prince enriched his retinue with Fenja’s <giantess’s> toil [GOLD], Fáfnir’s <dragon’s> land [GOLD], Glasir’s <grove’s> glowing foliage [GOLD], Grani’s <horse’s> fair burden [GOLD], Draupnir’s <mythical ring’s> precious sweat [GOLD], Grafvitnir’s <snake’s> feather-bed [GOLD]. ’
Ýtti ǫrr hilmir — aldir við tóku —
Sifjar svarðfestum, svelli dalnauðar,
tregum Otrs gjǫldum, tôrum Mardallar,
eldi Órunar, Iðja glysmôlum.
‘The generous prince distributed – the men received [it] – Sif’s <goddess’s> scalp-cords [HAIR > GOLD], ice of the bow-compulsion [ARM > SILVER], the reluctant payment for Otr [GOLD], the tears of Mardǫll <= Freyja> [GOLD], the fire of Órun <river> [GOLD], the shining speeches of Iði <giant> [GOLD]. ’
Gladdi gunnveitir — gengum fagrbúnir —
Þjaza þingskilum þjóðir hermargar,
Rínar rauðmalmi, rógi Niflunga,
vísi inn vígdjarfi; vakði hann Baldr þeygi.
‘The battle-granter [WARRIOR], the battle-bold prince, gladdened the very numerous troops – we went beautifully adorned – with Þjazi’s <giant’s> assembly declarations [GOLD], with the red metal of the Rhine <river> [GOLD], with the strife of the Niflungar <legendary heroes> [GOLD]; he did not wake Baldr at all. ’
Svá skalk hann kyrkja sem inn kámleita
véli viðbjarnar veggja aldinna.
‘Thus I shall throttle him like the dark betrayer of the wood-bear of old walls [MOUSE > CAT]. ’
CloseInformation about a text: poem, sequence of stanzas, or prose work
This page is used for different resources. For groups of stanzas such as poems, you will see the verse text and, where published, the translation of each stanza. These are also links to information about the individual stanzas.
For prose works you will see a list of the stanzas and fragments in that prose work, where relevant, providing links to the individual stanzas.
Where you have access to introduction(s) to the poem or prose work in the database, these will appear in the ‘introduction’ section.
The final section, ‘sources’ is a list of the manuscripts that contain the prose work, as well as manuscripts and prose works linked to stanzas and sections of a text.
