Anon Liðs 4I
Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Anonymous Poems, Liðsmannaflokkr 4’ 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. 1020.
text and translation
Þóttut mér, es þáttak,
Þorkels liðar dvelja
— sôusk eigi þeir sverða
sǫng — í folk at ganga,
áðr an †hauðr† á heiði
hríð víkingar kníðu
— vér hlutum vápna skúrir —
— varð fylkt liði — harða.
Liðar Þorkels þóttut mér dvelja at ganga í folk, es þáttak — þeir sôusk eigi {sǫng sverða} —, áðr an víkingar kníðu harða hríð á †hauðr† heiði; vér hlutum skúrir vápna; liði varð fylkt.
‘Þorkell’s followers did not seem to me to delay in going into the engagement, when I saw [them] — they did not fear the song of swords [BATTLE] —, before the vikings pressed a hard onslaught on … heath; we came in for showers of weapons; the company was formed into battle order.’
notes and context
As for st. 1.
This stanza appears to contain a description of a battle which, to judge from the later stanzas, must be in the vicinity of London. The battle fought at Brentford, Essex in 1016 and reported in the ASC (s. a.) is a possible candidate, since in that case the heiði ‘heath’ (l. 5) could be identified as the large heath at Hounslow near Brentford. But the actions of 1015 and 1016 appear from the ASC (s. a.) to have been so numerous that firm identification is precluded.
readings
- [5] áðr an: so DG8, áðan er Flat
- [5] hauðr: so DG8, ‘haurd’ Flat
- [6] kníðu: ‘knyðu’ DG8
- [7] skúrir: ‘sku’ DG8
- [8] fylkt: so DG8, ‘fylgr’ Flat
sources
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.
-
GKS 1005 fol (Flat) — 186vb/31 - 186vb/31
Þóttut mér, es þáttak,
images
Þorkels liðar dvelja
— sôusk eigi þeir sverða
sǫng — í folk at ganga,
áðan er ††haurd†† á heiði
hríð víkingar kníðu
— vér hlutum vápna skúrir —
— varð †fylgr† liði — harða. -
DG 8 (DG8) — 73r/16 - 73r/19
imagesÞóttut mér, es þáttak,
Þorkels liðar dvelja
— sôusk eigi þeir sverða
sǫng — í folk at ganga,
áðr an †hauðr† á heiði
hríð víkingar †knyðu†
— vér hlutum vápna †sku† —
— varð fylkt liði — harða.Þottoð | mer mer er ec þatta, þorkiæls liðar dvælia, sꜷz æigi þæir sværða, sóng ifolc | at ganga, aðr en hauðr a hæiði, rið vikingar knyðu, ver lutum vapna sku | varð fylct liði harða.
(DW)
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