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Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Anon Leið 13^VII

Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Leiðarvísan 13’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 152-3.

Anonymous Poems Leiðarvísan

Stef ‘refrain’

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stef (noun n.; °; -): refrain

skal ‘shall’

(not checked:)
skulu (verb): shall, should, must

hátt ‘A loud’

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3. hár (adj.; °-van; compar. hǽrri, superl. hǽstr): high

né ‘nor’

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né (conj.): nor

hætta ‘to desist’

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3. hætta (verb): desist

hykk ‘intend’

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2. hyggja (verb): think, consider

enn ‘yet’

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2. enn (adv.): still, yet, again

tǫlu ‘speech’

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tal (noun n.; °-s; *-): talk, speech; number

dyggva ‘from good’

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dyggr (adj.; °dyggvan/dyggan; compar. -vari/-ari/-ri, superl. -vastr/-astr/-str): trustworthy

fljótt ‘quickly’

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2. fljótr (adj.): quick

ef ‘if’

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3. ef (conj.): if

finna ‘to find’

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2. finna (verb): find, meet

mættak ‘I am able’

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mœta (verb): meet

[3] mættak (‘ec mætta’): so 624, ‘ek mętte’ B

fríð ‘beautiful’

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fríðr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): beautiful, fair

orð ‘words’

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orð (noun n.; °-s; -): word

goði ‘for God’

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1. guð (noun m.; °***guðrs, guðis, gus): (Christian) God

smíðat ‘be made’

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smíða (verb): craft

[4] smíðat: ‘smidut’ B, ‘smidud’ 624

Lúta ‘bow down’

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1. lúta (verb): (strong)

englar ‘Angels’

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1. engill (noun m.; °engils; englar): angel

ítrum ‘the glorious’

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ítr (adj.): glorious

ótt ‘fear’

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ótti (noun m.; °-a): fear < óttlauss (adj.): fearless

laust ‘lessly’

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lauss (adj.; °compar. lausari): loose, free, without < óttlauss (adj.): fearless

ok ‘and’

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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also

lið ‘people’

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lið (noun n.; °-s; -): retinue, troop

dróttni ‘Lord’

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dróttinn (noun m.; °dróttins, dat. dróttni (drottini [$1049$]); dróttnar): lord, master

einn ‘alone’

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2. einn (pron.; °decl. cf. einn num.): one, alone

es ‘is’

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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am

siklingr ‘the king’

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siklingr (noun m.; °; -ar): king, ruler

kennings

siklingr setrs sunnu
‘the king of the seat of the sun ’
= God
the seat of the sun → SKY/HEAVEN
the king of the SKY/HEAVEN → God

notes

[7-8] siklingr setrs sunnu ‘prince of the seat of the sun [SKY/HEAVEN > = God]’: Cf. the God-kennings Has 13/6-8: vísi setrs sunnu ‘king of the seat of the sun’, and 49/5-8: harri setrs sunnu ‘ruler of the seat of the sun’. Cf. the heaven-kenning Geisl 3/2-4: setrs rǫðuls ‘of the seat of the sun’. In each case, setrs provides the hǫfuðstafr. Konungr élsetrs ‘king of the storm-seat’ (Has 20/8) is also on the same model, and the same concept informs dǫglingr stóls sólar ‘king of the seat of the sun’ (Leið 1/5-6).

sunnu ‘of the sun’

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sunna (noun f.): sun

kennings

siklingr setrs sunnu
‘the king of the seat of the sun ’
= God
the seat of the sun → SKY/HEAVEN
the king of the SKY/HEAVEN → God

notes

[7-8] siklingr setrs sunnu ‘prince of the seat of the sun [SKY/HEAVEN > = God]’: Cf. the God-kennings Has 13/6-8: vísi setrs sunnu ‘king of the seat of the sun’, and 49/5-8: harri setrs sunnu ‘ruler of the seat of the sun’. Cf. the heaven-kenning Geisl 3/2-4: setrs rǫðuls ‘of the seat of the sun’. In each case, setrs provides the hǫfuðstafr. Konungr élsetrs ‘king of the storm-seat’ (Has 20/8) is also on the same model, and the same concept informs dǫglingr stóls sólar ‘king of the seat of the sun’ (Leið 1/5-6).

sunnu ‘of the sun’

(not checked:)
sunna (noun f.): sun

kennings

siklingr setrs sunnu
‘the king of the seat of the sun ’
= God
the seat of the sun → SKY/HEAVEN
the king of the SKY/HEAVEN → God

notes

[7-8] siklingr setrs sunnu ‘prince of the seat of the sun [SKY/HEAVEN > = God]’: Cf. the God-kennings Has 13/6-8: vísi setrs sunnu ‘king of the seat of the sun’, and 49/5-8: harri setrs sunnu ‘ruler of the seat of the sun’. Cf. the heaven-kenning Geisl 3/2-4: setrs rǫðuls ‘of the seat of the sun’. In each case, setrs provides the hǫfuðstafr. Konungr élsetrs ‘king of the storm-seat’ (Has 20/8) is also on the same model, and the same concept informs dǫglingr stóls sólar ‘king of the seat of the sun’ (Leið 1/5-6).

setrs ‘of the seat’

(not checked:)
setr (noun n.; °-s; -): seat, abode

kennings

siklingr setrs sunnu
‘the king of the seat of the sun ’
= God
the seat of the sun → SKY/HEAVEN
the king of the SKY/HEAVEN → God

notes

[7-8] siklingr setrs sunnu ‘prince of the seat of the sun [SKY/HEAVEN > = God]’: Cf. the God-kennings Has 13/6-8: vísi setrs sunnu ‘king of the seat of the sun’, and 49/5-8: harri setrs sunnu ‘ruler of the seat of the sun’. Cf. the heaven-kenning Geisl 3/2-4: setrs rǫðuls ‘of the seat of the sun’. In each case, setrs provides the hǫfuðstafr. Konungr élsetrs ‘king of the storm-seat’ (Has 20/8) is also on the same model, and the same concept informs dǫglingr stóls sólar ‘king of the seat of the sun’ (Leið 1/5-6).

setrs ‘of the seat’

(not checked:)
setr (noun n.; °-s; -): seat, abode

kennings

siklingr setrs sunnu
‘the king of the seat of the sun ’
= God
the seat of the sun → SKY/HEAVEN
the king of the SKY/HEAVEN → God

notes

[7-8] siklingr setrs sunnu ‘prince of the seat of the sun [SKY/HEAVEN > = God]’: Cf. the God-kennings Has 13/6-8: vísi setrs sunnu ‘king of the seat of the sun’, and 49/5-8: harri setrs sunnu ‘ruler of the seat of the sun’. Cf. the heaven-kenning Geisl 3/2-4: setrs rǫðuls ‘of the seat of the sun’. In each case, setrs provides the hǫfuðstafr. Konungr élsetrs ‘king of the storm-seat’ (Has 20/8) is also on the same model, and the same concept informs dǫglingr stóls sólar ‘king of the seat of the sun’ (Leið 1/5-6).

hvívetna ‘everything else’

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hvívetna (adv.): everything else

[8] hvívetna: ‘huetuetnu’ 624

betri ‘better’

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betri (adj. comp.; °superl. beztr/baztr; pos. góðr adj.): better, best

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

verse
prose

There is an obelos in the left margin indicating the beginning of Leið’s first stef (refrain). — [1-4]: Several interpretations of these ll. are possible. With Sveinbjörn Egilsson and Skj B fljótt (l. 3) is understood here as an adv. ‘quickly’, describing the composition of the refrain. However, Kock (NN §2558) takes fljótt ‘swift-running’ and hátt ‘loud’ (l. 1) as grammatically parallel adjectives. He thus construes hátt, fljótt stef skal smíðat goði ‘a loud, swift-running refrain shall be composed for God’. It is also possible (Peter Foote, pers. comm.) that fljótt (adv.) might be construed with hætta ‘to stop, desist’ (l. 1), rendering the second clause né hykk enn hætta fljótt ‘nor do I intend to desist (i.e. bring the poem to an end) soon’. — [5-8]: Considerable similarities of diction, structure and sentiment exist between this refrain and other helmingar in the Christian skaldic corpus, especially that of C12th. On these similarities, especially between Leið 13/5-8, Pl 32/1-4, Geisl 66/5-6 and Has 20/7-8, and their possible implications for the relative chronology of the C12th drápur, see Attwood 1996b, 232-4.

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