Rory McTurk (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Poems, Krákumál 20’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 757.
Hjuggu vér með hjörvi.
Hárfagran sá ek røkkva
meyjar dreng at morni
ok málvini ekkju.
Varat, sem varmar laugar
vínkers Njörun bæri
oss í Álasundi,
áðr en Örn konungr felli.
Varat, sem unga ekkju
í öndvegi kyssa.
Hjuggu vér með hjörvi. Ek sá {hárfagran dreng meyjar} ok {málvini ekkju} røkkva at morni. Varat, sem {Njörun vínkers} bæri oss varmar laugar í Álasundi, áðr en Örn konungr felli. Varat, sem kyssa unga ekkju í öndvegi.
‘We hewed with the sword. I saw the fine-haired young knight of a maiden [LOVER] and the close friends of a widow [LOVERS] weaken in the morning. It was not as if a Njǫrun <goddess> of the wine-vessel [WOMAN] were carrying hot baths for us in Álasund, before King Ǫrn fell. It was not like kissing a young woman in the high seat. ’
In 147, R702ˣ, LR, R693ˣ and 6ˣ the present stanza and st. 19 appear in reverse order. — [2-7]: Lines 2-4, with their possible implication that dalliance with women leads to weakness in battle, prepare the way for the implied contrast in ll. 5-7 of fighting in battle with having hot baths prepared for one by women, a contrast which early translators of Krm failed to notice; see further the Note to l. 5 below. There is a similarity with Frið 6 and 9 (see Notes to [All] in both stanzas), which may be due to influence from Krm. — [3-4]: Whereas in l. 9 below, the word ekkja ‘widow’ probably means little more than ‘woman’, its use here with reference to a widow’s ‘close friends’ (málvinir), i.e. ‘speech-friends, lovers’, following the reference to ‘the young knight of a maiden’ (drengr meyjar) in l. 2, is probably intended to give the impression that warriors both young and old are in question. The kennings drengr meyjar ‘the young knight of a maiden’ and má́lvinr ekkju ‘close friend of a widow’ are two of the three cases, listed by Meissner 351, as unique in skaldic poetry, of kennings meaning ‘lover’ being used where warrior-kennings would be expected. The third is ástvinr meyja ‘dear friend of maidens [LOVER]’, at st. 23/7 below; see Note there. — [5-6]: For parallels to these lines in Krm and elsewhere in skaldic poetry, see the Introduction. — [7]: In 147 (108v, ll. 15-16) the ‘su’ of Álasundi appears in l. 15 and what can be read of the remainder of the word (‘[…]i’, see Readings, above) appears at the beginning of l. 16. Thus interrupted by a line break, the word is also interrupted by the words Stakk ek á storðar … ‘I thrust at the earth’s…’ (i.e. all but the final word of st. 1/9), which appear at the end of l. 15. See first Note to st. 1/9-10. — [9-10]: As the Readings above indicate, R702ˣ, LR and 6ˣ have, in place of these two lines as preserved in 1824b and 147, what are printed in the present edn (with some modification in l. 9) as ll. 9-10 of st. 14; see the Notes to those lines, above, and the Introduction.
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.
.
Hárfagran sá ek røkkva
†meyiar d[...] at mornj†
†o[…]† málvini ekkju.
Varat, sem varmar laugar
vínkers †níurn† bæri
oss í Álasundi,
áðr en Örn konungr felli.
Varat, sem unga ekkju
í öndvegi kyssa.
.
†[…] (sa eg)† †(hr)auckva†
†meyiar […]eíng at mo[…]i†
ok málvin †[…]kíu†.
Varat, †s(em v)ar(m)ar […]ugar†
†(vínk[…]rs) […]n† bæri
†os[…]† †[…]a††su[…]i†,
áðr en †[…] (konungur f)[…]lli† .
†vara[...] (s)em u(n)ga eckíu [...]g kyssa†,
.
Hjuggum vér með hjörvi .
Hárfagran sá ek røkkva
meyjar dreng enn at morni
ok málvin ekkju.
Varat, sem varmar laugar
vínkers †niurn† bæri
oss í Álasundi,
áðr Örn konungr felli.
†Baud ma̋na sa ek bresta Bra þad fi̋ra lide†,
.
.
Hárfagran sá ek †raukkva†
†Meyar dreing enn vm Morgin†
ok málvin ekkju.
vara, sem varmar laugar
vínkers Njörun bæri
oss í †ila-†sundi,
áðr Örn konungr felli.
†bꜽd mana sa ek bresta bra þad fira lifi†,
.
Hjuggum vér með hjörvi .
Hárfagran sá ek †rankva†
†meiardreng enn um morgum†
ok málvin ekkju.
Varat, †sem vormar laugur†
†vinkiors† Njörun bæri
oss í †ila-†sundi,
áðr †auru† konungr felli.
†bꜽd mana sa ek bresta bra þad fira lifi†,
.
Hjuggum vér með hjörvi .
Hárfagran sá ek †ranckua†
†Meÿar dreng enn vm Morgun†
ok málvin ekkju.
Varat, †sem vormar laugur†
vínkers Njörun bæri
oss í †Ila†sundi,
áðr Örn konungr felli.
†bꜽd mana sa ek bresta bra þad fira lifi†,
.
Skj: Anonyme digte og vers [XII], H. Krákumál 20: AI, 646-7, BI, 653-4, Skald I, 319, NN §1278; Rafn 1826, 16-19, 135-8, Pfeiffer 1860, 126, CPB II, 343, Wisén 1886-9, I, 65, Krm 1891, 227, Finnur Jónsson1893b, 89, Finnur Jónsson 1905, 155-6; Ragn 1906-8, 188.
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