R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Óttarr svarti, Lausavísur 3’ 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. 788.
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heðan (adv.): hence, from this place
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2. sjá (verb): see
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reykr (noun m.; °-s/-jar, dat. -i/-; -ir): smoke
[1] þanns (‘þann ær’): þann Flat, er Tóm
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rjúka (verb): smoke, reek
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rann (noun n.): house, hall
[2] rǫnn of: ‘rannum’ DG8, rǫnn af Flat, 73aˣ, 71ˣ, 76aˣ, hrǫnn yfir Tóm
[2] rǫnn ‘mansions’: A rann was a large house. The intent is apparently ironic in reference to fishermen’s cottages.
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3. of (prep.): around, from; too
[2] rǫnn of: ‘rannum’ DG8, rǫnn af Flat, 73aˣ, 71ˣ, 76aˣ, hrǫnn yfir Tóm
[2] of ‘over’: This is not the reading of any ms., but the confluence of af and -um (see the variants) suggests an original um/of. Jón Skaptason (1983, 194) takes of to mean ‘from around’.
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1. fiski (noun f.): fishing < fiskimaðr (noun m.): [fishermen]
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maðr (noun m.): man, person < fiskimaðr (noun m.): [fishermen]
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stórr (adj.): large, great
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
[3] of skærur ‘in the dawn light’: Jón Skaptason (loc. cit.) construes this with rjúka ‘waft, emit’ (l. 1).
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1. skæra (noun f.): dawn light, twilight
[3] skærur: skorar Tóm
[3] of skærur ‘in the dawn light’: Jón Skaptason (loc. cit.) construes this with rjúka ‘waft, emit’ (l. 1).
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skellibragð (noun n.): [roaring tricks]
[4] skellibrǫgð ‘the roaring tricks’: Or ‘noisy achievements’. The reference is to clever deeds (trickery need not be implied), which may be either the seduction of the wife or the stanza itself, or both. LP: skellibrǫgð tentatively suggests that loud laughter is meant, on the basis of comparison to ModIcel. skellihlátur ‘roar of laughter’.
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1. hella (noun f.; °-u; -ur): cave, slab
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nú (adv.): now
[5] frýrat mér: ‘fryrrar mer’ 73aˣ, 71ˣ
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
[5] frýrat mér: ‘fryrrar mer’ 73aˣ, 71ˣ
[5] nýrar: so 73aˣ, 71ˣ, nýjar DG8, ‘nyrrar’ Flat, 76aˣ, ‘(ti)yrar’(?) Tóm
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nenning (noun f.; °-ar): [new achievement]
[6] nenningar: so Flat, 73aˣ, 71ˣ, 76aˣ, menningar DG8, nýjungar Tóm
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dagr (noun m.; °-s, dat. degi/dag/dagi(Thom¹ 332¹n.); -ar): day
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hlít (noun f.; °-ar): sufficiency
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fyr (prep.): for, over, because of, etc.
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hvítr (adj.; °-an; -ari, -astr): white
[7, 8] hvítan dǫgurð ‘a white breakfast’: Milk products eaten at breakfast. The poet means he is such an early-rising hard labourer that he forgoes the morning meal.
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horn (noun n.; °-s; -): horn < hornstraumr (noun m.)
[8] horn‑: harm‑ Tóm
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horn (noun n.; °-s; -): horn < hornstraumr (noun m.)
[8] horn‑: harm‑ Tóm
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straumr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i/-; -ar): stream, current < hornstraumr (noun m.)
[8] ‑straums: ‑straum 73aˣ, 71ˣ, 76aˣ
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straumr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i/-; -ar): stream, current < hornstraumr (noun m.)
[8] ‑straums: ‑straum 73aˣ, 71ˣ, 76aˣ
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dǫgurðr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. -i (err.: acc. pl. daugvrdir [$1245$])): [breakfast]
[7, 8] hvítan dǫgurð ‘a white breakfast’: Milk products eaten at breakfast. The poet means he is such an early-rising hard labourer that he forgoes the morning meal.
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Nauma (noun f.): Nauma
[8] Naumu: so 73aˣ, 71ˣ, Nauma DG8, 76aˣ, nômu Tóm
[8] Naumu ‘with a Nauma <giantess>’: Nauma features quite frequently in woman-kennings, providing the base-word in the same way that names of goddesses and valkyries frequently do (LP: 1. nauma; Meissner 407), and hence may have been regarded as a goddess name, as seemingly in Þjóð Yt 22/5-6, though no such deity is mentioned in SnE or elsewhere. In the present instance, however, Nauma may be thought of as a giantess, since the stanza is set in a cave, and in the kenning salr Naumu ‘hall of Nauma [CAVE]’ in Grett Lv 28/6V (Gr 60) Nauma seems to be a giantess, denizen of rocks and caves. The two possibilities could perhaps be reconciled by adopting Brøgger’s suggestion (1924-6, 26) that Nauma was a minor deity whose domain is the abodes of the dead – grave-mounds and cairns.
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
According to ÓHLeg, one day Óttarr told King Óláfr helgi Haraldsson about a small farmer named Karli whom he had stayed with in Iceland. Óttarr said that he took Karli’s wife and went into a cave and sat there and delivered this vísa as he looked over the farm. The same story is told of Sigvatr Þórðarson in the extracts from Styrmir in the ÓH mss. There the prose adds that Karli thought Sigvatr lazy, and Bæjarbók (73aˣ, 71ˣ, 76ˣ) adds further that the wife was young and attractive, and that they ‘played’ (liekum ockr) in the cave. In all texts, the king smiles and responds with Ólhelg Lv 3.
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