Rǫgnvaldr jarl and Hallr Þórarinsson, Háttalykill 39

Kari Ellen Gade

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

Menu Search

RvHbreiðm Hl 39^III

Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Rǫgnvaldr jarl and Hallr Þórarinsson, Háttalykill 39’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1047.

Rǫgnvaldr jarl and Hallr Þórarinsson Háttalykill

38 39 40

notes

[2] Geri ‘Geri <wolf>’: See Note to st. 31/7.

varð ‘became’

(not checked:)
1. verða (verb): become, be

þars ‘where’

(not checked:)
þars (conj.): where

lið ‘the troop’

(not checked:)
lið (noun n.; °-s; -): retinue, troop

barðisk ‘fought’

(not checked:)
2. berja (verb; °barði; barðr/bariðr/barinn): fight

môr ‘seagull’

(not checked:)
már (noun m.): gull

kennings

svangr môr sigrs
‘the hungry seagull of battle ’
= RAVEN/EAGLE
the hungry seagull of battle → RAVEN/EAGLE

kom ‘came’

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

sigrs ‘of battle’

(not checked:)
sigr (noun m.; °sigrs/sigrar, dat. sigri; sigrar): victory

kennings

svangr môr sigrs
‘the hungry seagull of battle ’
= RAVEN/EAGLE
the hungry seagull of battle → RAVEN/EAGLE

notes

[3] sigrs (m. gen. sg.) ‘of battle’: Lit. ‘of victory’. Skj B and Skald emend sigrs to sigs (n. gen. sg.) ‘of battle’. Sigr (m.) usually means ‘victory’, but it is also attested frequently (in compounds) in the meaning ‘battle’ (see Hl 1941 and examples in LP: sigr-).

til ‘to’

(not checked:)
til (prep.): to

sára ‘wounds’

(not checked:)
2. sár (noun n.; °-s; -): wound

svangr ‘the hungry’

(not checked:)
2. svangr (adj.): hungry

kennings

svangr môr sigrs
‘the hungry seagull of battle ’
= RAVEN/EAGLE
the hungry seagull of battle → RAVEN/EAGLE

fullr ‘sated’

(not checked:)
2. fullr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): full, complete

þars ‘where’

(not checked:)
þars (conj.): where

spjǫr ‘spears’

(not checked:)
spjǫr (noun n.): spear

gullu ‘resounded’

(not checked:)
gjalla (verb): to scream, shriek; to repay, return, pay for

þvít ‘because’

(not checked:)
þvít (conj.): because, since

notes

[5] þvít ‘because’: Skj B and Skald emend to þegn ‘warrior’ as the subject of brá ‘ended’ in l. 6. However, a noun cannot occur in anacrusis before the first alliterative stave in Type C-lines.

grástóði ‘for the grey stud-horses’

(not checked:)
grástóð (noun n.): grey stud-horse

kennings

grástóði gríða
‘for the grey stud-horses of troll-women ’
= WOLVES
for the grey stud-horses of troll-women → WOLVES

gríða ‘of troll-women’

(not checked:)
gríða (noun f.): [troll-women]

kennings

grástóði gríða
‘for the grey stud-horses of troll-women ’
= WOLVES
for the grey stud-horses of troll-women → WOLVES

notes

[5] gríða (f. gen. pl.) ‘of troll-women’: With Sveinbjörn Egilsson (SnE 1848, 242), Skj B and Skald read gríðar (f. gen. sg.) ‘of the troll-woman’, but the emendation is unnecessary (see Hl 1941). Gríðr is the name of a giantess and a heiti for ‘troll-woman’ (Þul Trollkvenna 1/3) and it could be used in the pl. as well as in the sg.

gnast ‘cracked’

(not checked:)
gnesta (verb): emit crashing sound

hlífð ‘shield’

(not checked:)
hlífð (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): shield

notes

[6] hlífð (f. nom. sg.) ‘shield’: The form is peculiar, and Holtsmark (Hl 1941, 135) suggests that hlífð (rather than the expected hlíf) might be a Norwegian variant. The word also occurs in sts 42/6, 69/2, 74/2 and 76/5.

en ‘and’

(not checked:)
2. en (conj.): but, and

notes

[6] en ‘and’: Kock (NN §1160) takes this as the adv. enn ‘again,’ but an adv. cannot occupy that position preceding a verb in Type D4-lines. Holtsmark (Hl 1941) regards en as a weakened form of hann ‘he’ as the subject of brá ‘ended’ (inf. bregða). However, bregða often occurs in impersonal constructions, and no subject is needed in this clause.

brá ‘ended’

(not checked:)
bregða (verb; °bregðr/brigðr; brá, brugðu; brugðinn/brogðinn): pull, jerk, break; change

notes

[6] brá fǫstu ‘the fast ended’: Bregða ‘end’ (brá 3rd pers. sg. pret. indic.) is used impersonally with fǫstu ‘fast’ as the dat. object. This construction usually requires a gen. (‘of someone’) and Jón Helgason (Hl 1941) tentatively suggests an emendation of grástóði (n. dat. sg.) ‘for the grey stud-horses’ to grástóða (n. gen. pl.) ‘of grey stud-horses’. In the present edn grástóði is taken as an ethical dat. (collective, sg.).

fǫstu ‘the fast’

(not checked:)
fastr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): firm, fast

notes

hjaldr ‘battle’

(not checked:)
1. hjaldr (noun m.): battle < hjaldrgagl (noun n.): [battle-goslings]

kennings

svǫrt hjaldrgǫgl
‘black battle-goslings ’
= RAVENS
black battle-goslings → RAVENS

gǫgl ‘goslings’

(not checked:)
gagl (noun n.): gosling < hjaldrgagl (noun n.): [battle-goslings]

kennings

svǫrt hjaldrgǫgl
‘black battle-goslings ’
= RAVENS
black battle-goslings → RAVENS

nutu ‘benefited from’

(not checked:)
njóta (verb): enjoy, use

hildar ‘the fight’

(not checked:)
1. hildr (noun f.): battle

hvít* ‘the white’

(not checked:)
hvítr (adj.; °-an; -ari, -astr): white

[8] hvít*: hvítt papp25ˣ, R683ˣ

notes

[8] hvít* (f. nom. sg.) ‘white’: The emendation from hvítt (n. nom. sg.) is necessary because the adj. qualifies hlífð (f. nom. sg.) ‘shield’ (l. 6). It could also be that this is an instance where <tt> stands for <t> (see Note to st. 38/5 and Hl 1941, 106), but in this case, in word-final position, that cannot be ascertained.

svǫrt ‘black’

(not checked:)
svartr (adj.): black

kennings

svǫrt hjaldrgǫgl
‘black battle-goslings ’
= RAVENS
black battle-goslings → RAVENS

í ‘in’

(not checked:)
í (prep.): in, into

dyn ‘the din’

(not checked:)
dynr (noun m.; °dat. -; -ir): din

kennings

dyn rítar;
‘the din of the shield; ’
= BATTLE
the din of the shield; → BATTLE

rítar ‘of the shield’

(not checked:)
rít (noun f.): shield

kennings

dyn rítar;
‘the din of the shield; ’
= BATTLE
the din of the shield; → BATTLE

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

verse
prose

The heading is refrún in minni (‘Redrun hin minnj’) ‘the lesser fox-secret’ and the metre corresponds to that of SnSt Ht 22 (in minnstu refhvǫrf ‘the least fox-turns’). It is a variant of dróttkvætt which is characterised by antithesis, that is, by the juxtaposition at the beginning of ll. 4 and 8 of two words, usually of the same grammatical form, with opposite meanings (cf. Ht 17-23 and sts 55-6, 69-70 below).

In this stanza, the antithesis consists of the words svangr ‘hungry’ : fullr ‘full’ (l. 4) and hvít ‘white’ : svǫrt ‘black’ (l. 8). Aside from the stanzas in Hl and Ht which exemplify such antitheses (Hl 39-40, 55-6, 69-70; Ht 17-23), this particular verse-form is not otherwise attested in Old Norse poetry. Holtsmark (Hl 1941, 124-5) argues that it may have been modelled on Latin school exercises (antithetum, contrapositio; for examples, see Holtsmark loc. cit.). See also de Vries (1938, 717-18, 733). For a discussion of the term refrún, see Note to st. 55 [All]. — Haraldr must be the Danish legendary king Haraldr hilditǫnn ‘War-tooth’ Hrœreksson (Saxo: Hálfdanarson), the nephew of Helgi Hálfdanarson (sts 37-8) and the uncle of Hringr Randvésson (sts 41-2). He was killed at the epic battle of Brávellir, which he fought against his nephew Hringr (see ÍF 35, 49-70 and Saxo 2005, I, 7, 10, 1-11, 1, pp. 492-9, 7, 11, 13-12, 2, pp. 506-9, 8, 1, 1-5, 1, pp. 510-23).

© Skaldic Project Academic Body and Brepols, unless otherwise noted. Database structure and interface developed by Tarrin Wills. All users of material on this database are reminded that its content may be either subject to copyright restrictions or is the property of the custodians of linked databases that have given permission for members of the skaldic project to use their material for research purposes. Those users who have been given access to as yet unpublished material are further reminded that they may not use, publish or otherwise manipulate such material except with the express permission of the individual editor of the material in question and the General Editor of the volume in which the material is to be published. Applications for permission to use such material should be made in the first instance to the General Editor of the volume in question. All information that appears in the published volumes has been thoroughly reviewed. If you believe some information here is incorrect please contact Tarrin Wills with full details.

Stanza/chapter/text segment

Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.

Information tab

text: if the stanza has been published, the edited text of the stanza and translation are here; if it hasn't been published an old edition (usually Skj) is given for reference
sources: a list of the manuscripts or inscriptions containing this stanza, with page and line references and links (eye button) to images where available, and transcription where available
readings: a list of variant manuscript readings of words in the main text
editions and texts: a list of editions of the stanza with links to the bibliography; and a list of prose works in which the stanza occurs, allowing you to navigate within the prose context
notes and context: notes not linked to individual words are given here, along with the account of the prose context for the stanza, where relevant

Interactive tab

The text and translation are given here, with buttons to toggle whether the text is shown in the verse order or prose word order. Clicking on indiviudal words gives dictionary links, variant readings, kennings and notes, where relevant.

Full text tab

This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.

Chapter/text segment

This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.

Cookies on our website

RvHbreiðm Hl 39III

Harald ‘Haraldr’

frák ‘I heard that’

gunni ‘war’

gerva ‘waged’

Geri ‘Geri’

notes

varð ‘became’

þars ‘where’

lið ‘the troop’

barðisk ‘fought’

môr ‘seagull’

kennings

kom ‘came’

sigrs ‘of battle’

kennings

notes

til ‘to’

sára ‘wounds’

svangr ‘the hungry’

kennings

fullr ‘sated’

þars ‘where’

spjǫr ‘spears’

gullu ‘resounded’

þvít ‘because’

notes

grástóði ‘for the grey stud-horses’

kennings

gríða ‘of troll-women’

kennings

notes

gnast ‘cracked’

hlífð ‘shield’

notes

en ‘and’

notes

brá ‘ended’

notes

fǫstu ‘the fast’

notes

hjaldr ‘battle’

kennings

gǫgl ‘goslings’

kennings

nutu ‘benefited from’

hildar ‘the fight’

hvít* ‘the white’

notes

svǫrt ‘black’

kennings

í ‘in’

dyn ‘the din’

kennings

rítar ‘of the shield’

kennings

Log in

Stanza/chapter/text segment

Information tab

Interactive tab

Full text tab

Chapter/text segment

RvHbreiðm Hl 39^III