Hallvarðr háreksblesi, Knútsdrápa 1

Matthew Townend

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Hallv Knútdr 1^III

Matthew Townend (ed.) 2017, ‘Hallvarðr háreksblesi, Knútsdrápa 1’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 231.

Hallvarðr háreksblesi Knútsdrápa

1 2

Súðlǫngum ‘the long-planked’

(not checked:)
súðlangr (adj.): long-planked

kennings

súðlǫngum hreinum bekkjar Sǫlsa
‘the long-planked reindeer of the bench of Sǫlsi ’
= SHIPS
the bench of Sǫlsi → SEA
the long-planked reindeer of the SEA → SHIPS

komt ‘you brought’

(not checked:)
koma (verb; kem, kom/kvam, kominn): come

[1] komt: kom A

Sveiða ‘of Sveiði’

(not checked:)
Sveiði (noun m.): Sveiði

[1] Sveiða: so all others, sveita R

kennings

trǫð Sveiða;
‘the path of Sveiði; ’
= SEA
the path of Sveiði; → SEA

notes

[1] Sveiða ‘of Sveiði <sea-king>’: Sveiði is listed as a sea-king heiti in Þul Sækonunga 1/8 (see Note there), and the name also occurs in the kenning vangr Sveiða ‘Sveiði’s plain [SEA]’ in ÞKolb Eirdr 1/5, 7^I. In fact, Þórðr’s l. 5 súðlǫngum frá Sveiða bears an obvious resemblance to l. 1 of the present stanza. Eirdr was composed in honour jointly of Knútr and his Norwegian jarl Eiríkr Hákonarson, probably in England c. 1016-23 (Poole 1987, 270-1); Hallvarðr’s echoes suggest that Þórðr’s poem continued to be known among the poets at Knútr’s court.

sunds ‘of the sound’

(not checked:)
sund (noun n.; °-s; -): sound, strait; swimming

[2] sunds liðu dýr: ‘s[…]dz[…]yr’ W

kennings

dýr sunds
‘the animals of the sound ’
= SHIPS
the animals of the sound → SHIPS

liðu ‘glided’

(not checked:)
1. líða (verb): move, glide

[2] sunds liðu dýr: ‘s[…]dz[…]yr’ W

notes

[2] liðu ‘glided’: On the meaning of this verb (occurring also in st. 3/2), see further Jesch (2001a, 175).

dýr ‘the animals’

(not checked:)
1. dýr (noun n.; °-s (spec.: dyʀiɴs KonrA 66⁴, etc., cf. Seip 1955 188-189); -): animal

[2] sunds liðu dýr: ‘s[…]dz[…]yr’ W

kennings

dýr sunds
‘the animals of the sound ’
= SHIPS
the animals of the sound → SHIPS

[3] sigrakkr: so W, A, sigrakr R, Tˣ

kennings

Sigrakkr mǫgr Sveins,
‘Battle-bold son of Sveinn, ’
= Knútr
Battle-bold son of Sveinn, → Knútr

Sǫlsa ‘of Sǫlsi’

(not checked:)
Sǫlsi (noun m.): Sǫlsi

kennings

súðlǫngum hreinum bekkjar Sǫlsa
‘the long-planked reindeer of the bench of Sǫlsi ’
= SHIPS
the bench of Sǫlsi → SEA
the long-planked reindeer of the SEA → SHIPS

notes

[3] Sǫlsa ‘of Sǫlsi <sea-king>’: Like Sveiði (l. 1), Sǫlsi is listed as a heiti for ‘sea-king’ in the þulur (Þul Sea-kings l. 6; Þul Sækonunga 5/2).

Sǫlsa ‘of Sǫlsi’

(not checked:)
Sǫlsi (noun m.): Sǫlsi

kennings

súðlǫngum hreinum bekkjar Sǫlsa
‘the long-planked reindeer of the bench of Sǫlsi ’
= SHIPS
the bench of Sǫlsi → SEA
the long-planked reindeer of the SEA → SHIPS

notes

[3] Sǫlsa ‘of Sǫlsi <sea-king>’: Like Sveiði (l. 1), Sǫlsi is listed as a heiti for ‘sea-king’ in the þulur (Þul Sea-kings l. 6; Þul Sækonunga 5/2).

bekkjar ‘of the bench’

(not checked:)
1. bekkr (noun m.; °-jar/-s, dat. -/-i; -ir): bench

kennings

súðlǫngum hreinum bekkjar Sǫlsa
‘the long-planked reindeer of the bench of Sǫlsi ’
= SHIPS
the bench of Sǫlsi → SEA
the long-planked reindeer of the SEA → SHIPS

bekkjar ‘of the bench’

(not checked:)
1. bekkr (noun m.; °-jar/-s, dat. -/-i; -ir): bench

kennings

súðlǫngum hreinum bekkjar Sǫlsa
‘the long-planked reindeer of the bench of Sǫlsi ’
= SHIPS
the bench of Sǫlsi → SEA
the long-planked reindeer of the SEA → SHIPS

Sveins ‘of Sveinn’

(not checked:)
2. Sveinn (noun m.): Sveinn

kennings

Sigrakkr mǫgr Sveins,
‘Battle-bold son of Sveinn, ’
= Knútr
Battle-bold son of Sveinn, → Knútr

notes

[4] mǫgr Sveins ‘son of Sveinn [= Knútr]’: As Frank (1994b, 112) points out, Knútr’s poets frequently characterise him as the son of his father, Sveinn tjúguskegg ‘Fork-beard’ Haraldsson. The same phrase is also found, in identical position, in Ótt Knútdr 6/8^I.

mǫgr ‘son’

(not checked:)
mǫgr (noun m.; °; megir, acc. mǫgu): son, boy

[4] mǫgr: rakkr W

kennings

Sigrakkr mǫgr Sveins,
‘Battle-bold son of Sveinn, ’
= Knútr
Battle-bold son of Sveinn, → Knútr

notes

á ‘onto’

(not checked:)
3. á (prep.): on, at

trǫð ‘the path’

(not checked:)
trǫð (noun f.; °traðar; traðir): path

kennings

trǫð Sveiða;
‘the path of Sveiði; ’
= SEA
the path of Sveiði; → SEA

hreinum ‘reindeer’

(not checked:)
1. hreinn (noun m.; °; hreinar): reindeer

kennings

súðlǫngum hreinum bekkjar Sǫlsa
‘the long-planked reindeer of the bench of Sǫlsi ’
= SHIPS
the bench of Sǫlsi → SEA
the long-planked reindeer of the SEA → SHIPS

Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses

This stanza is quoted in Skm to illustrate the ship-kenning hreinar Sveiða ‘the reindeer of Sveiði’. After quoting the stanza Snorri comments (SnE 1998, I, 74): Svá kvað Hallvarðr. Hér er ok kǫlluð sunds dýr ok særinn Sǫlsa bekkr ‘So said Hallvarðr. Here it [i.e. a ship] is also called the animal of the sound and the sea the bench of Sǫlsi’.

The two kennings involving sea-kings in this helmingr can be interpreted in different ways (see Faulkes in SnE 1998, I, 199 and Jesch 2000, 251). As seen from the Context above, Snorri gives the kennings as hreinar Sveiða ‘the reindeer of Sveiði <sea-king> [SHIPS]’ and bekkr Sǫlsa ‘the bench of Sǫlsi <sea-king> [SEA]’. However, this might be disputed, not least because it leaves trǫð ‘path’ (l. 4) unattached. Alternative configurations would be: (a) hreinar Sveiða ‘reindeer of Sveiði [SHIPS]’ and trǫð bekkjar Sǫlsa ‘the path of the bench of Sǫlsi [SHIP > SEA]’ (so Skj B, Frank 1994b, and Faulkes in SnE 1998, I, 199); (b) hreinar bekkjar Sǫlsa ‘reindeer of the bench of Sǫlsi [SEA > SHIPS]’ and trǫð Sveiða ‘the path of Sveiði [SEA]’ (so Jesch 2000). The second of these alternatives is preferred here, as it forms a closer parallel to ÞKolb Eirdr 1/5, 7^I vangr Sveiða ‘the field of Sveiði [SEA]’ (see Note to l. 1 below).

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Hallv Knútdr 1III

Súðlǫngum ‘the long-planked’

kennings

komt ‘you brought’

Sveiða ‘of Sveiði’

kennings

notes

sunds ‘of the sound’

kennings

liðu ‘glided’

notes

dýr ‘the animals’

kennings

frá ‘from’

grundu ‘land’

sigrakkr ‘Battle-bold’

kennings

Sǫlsa ‘of Sǫlsi’

kennings

notes

Sǫlsa ‘of Sǫlsi’

kennings

notes

bekkjar ‘of the bench’

kennings

bekkjar ‘of the bench’

kennings

Sveins ‘of Sveinn’

kennings

notes

mǫgr ‘son’

kennings

notes

á ‘onto’

trǫð ‘the path’

kennings

hreinum ‘reindeer’

kennings

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Hallv Knútdr 1^III