Óttarr svarti, Lausavísur 3

R. D. Fulk

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

Menu Search

Ótt Lv 3^I

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.

Óttarr svarti Lausavísur

2 3

[1] þanns (‘þann ær’): þann Flat, er Tóm

rjúka ‘waft’

(not checked:)
rjúka (verb): smoke, reek

rǫnn ‘mansions’

(not checked:)
rann (noun n.): house, hall

[2] rǫnn of: ‘rannum’ DG8, rǫnn af Flat, 73aˣ, 71ˣ, 76aˣ, hrǫnn yfir Tóm

notes

[2] rǫnn ‘mansions’: A rann was a large house. The intent is apparently ironic in reference to fishermen’s cottages.

of ‘over’

(not checked:)
3. of (prep.): around, from; too

[2] rǫnn of: ‘rannum’ DG8, rǫnn af Flat, 73aˣ, 71ˣ, 76aˣ, hrǫnn yfir Tóm

notes

[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’.

fiski ‘fisher’

(not checked:)
1. fiski (noun f.): fishing < fiskimaðr (noun m.): [fishermen]

mǫnnum ‘men’

(not checked:)
maðr (noun m.): man, person < fiskimaðr (noun m.): [fishermen]

stór ‘great’

(not checked:)
stórr (adj.): large, great

eru ‘are’

(not checked:)
2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am

skalds ‘of the poet’

(not checked:)
skáld (noun n.; °-s; -): poet

[3] skalds: ‘skíalldr’ Tóm

of ‘in’

(not checked:)
3. of (prep.): around, from; too

[3] of (‘um’): om. 73aˣ

notes

[3] of skærur ‘in the dawn light’: Jón Skaptason (loc. cit.) construes this with rjúka ‘waft, emit’ (l. 1).

skærur ‘the dawn light’

(not checked:)
1. skæra (noun f.): dawn light, twilight

[3] skærur: skorar Tóm

notes

[3] of skærur ‘in the dawn light’: Jón Skaptason (loc. cit.) construes this with rjúka ‘waft, emit’ (l. 1).

skellibrǫgð ‘the roaring tricks’

(not checked:)
skellibragð (noun n.): [roaring tricks]

notes

[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’.

ór ‘out of’

(not checked:)
3. ór (prep.): out of

[4] ór: í Tóm

helli ‘the cave’

(not checked:)
1. hella (noun f.; °-u; -ur): cave, slab

Nú ‘Now’

(not checked:)
nú (adv.): now

frýrat ‘no-one’

[5] frýrat mér: ‘fryrrar mer’ 73aˣ, 71ˣ

mér ‘me’

(not checked:)
ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me

[5] frýrat mér: ‘fryrrar mer’ 73aˣ, 71ˣ

nýrar ‘jibing’

[5] nýrar: so 73aˣ, 71ˣ, nýjar DG8, ‘nyrrar’ Flat, 76aˣ, ‘(ti)yrar’(?) Tóm

nenningar ‘new achievement’

(not checked:)
nenning (noun f.; °-ar): [new achievement]

[6] nenningar: so Flat, 73aˣ, 71ˣ, 76aˣ, menningar DG8, nýjungar Tóm

dag ‘day’

(not checked:)
dagr (noun m.; °-s, dat. degi/dag/dagi(Thom¹ 332¹n.); -ar): day

þenna ‘to’

(not checked:)
1. sjá (pron.; °gen. þessa dat. þessum/þeima, acc. þenna; f. sjá/þessi; n. þetta, dat. þessu/þvísa; pl. þessir): this

hlíti ‘am content’

(not checked:)
hlít (noun f.; °-ar): sufficiency

ek ‘I’

(not checked:)
ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me

[7] ek: so all others, ek þér DG8

fyr ‘instead of’

(not checked:)
fyr (prep.): for, over, because of, etc.

hvítan ‘white’

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

notes

[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.

horn ‘of the horn’

(not checked:)
horn (noun n.; °-s; -): horn < hornstraumr (noun m.)

[8] horn‑: harm‑ Tóm

kennings

Naumu hornstraums
‘with a Nauma of the horn-stream ’
= WOMAN
the horn-stream → ALE
with a Nauma of the ALE → WOMAN

horn ‘of the horn’

(not checked:)
horn (noun n.; °-s; -): horn < hornstraumr (noun m.)

[8] horn‑: harm‑ Tóm

kennings

Naumu hornstraums
‘with a Nauma of the horn-stream ’
= WOMAN
the horn-stream → ALE
with a Nauma of the ALE → WOMAN

straums ‘stream’

(not checked:)
straumr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i/-; -ar): stream, current < hornstraumr (noun m.)

[8] ‑straums: ‑straum 73aˣ, 71ˣ, 76aˣ

kennings

Naumu hornstraums
‘with a Nauma of the horn-stream ’
= WOMAN
the horn-stream → ALE
with a Nauma of the ALE → WOMAN

straums ‘stream’

(not checked:)
straumr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i/-; -ar): stream, current < hornstraumr (noun m.)

[8] ‑straums: ‑straum 73aˣ, 71ˣ, 76aˣ

kennings

Naumu hornstraums
‘with a Nauma of the horn-stream ’
= WOMAN
the horn-stream → ALE
with a Nauma of the ALE → WOMAN

dǫgurð ‘breakfast’

(not checked:)
dǫgurðr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. -i (err.: acc. pl. daugvrdir [$1245$])): [breakfast]

notes

[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.

Naumu ‘with a Nauma’

(not checked:)
Nauma (noun f.): Nauma

[8] Naumu: so 73aˣ, 71ˣ, Nauma DG8, 76aˣ, nômu Tóm

kennings

Naumu hornstraums
‘with a Nauma of the horn-stream ’
= WOMAN
the horn-stream → ALE
with a Nauma of the ALE → WOMAN

notes

[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 28/6^V (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

verse
prose

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.

© 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

Ótt Lv 3I

Heðan ‘From here’

sék ‘I see’

reyk ‘smoke’

þanns ‘which’

rjúka ‘waft’

rǫnn ‘mansions’

notes

of ‘over’

notes

fiski ‘fisher’

mǫnnum ‘men’

stór ‘great’

eru ‘are’

skalds ‘of the poet’

of ‘in’

notes

skærur ‘the dawn light’

notes

skellibrǫgð ‘the roaring tricks’

notes

ór ‘out of’

helli ‘the cave’

Nú ‘Now’

frýrat ‘no-one’

mér ‘me’

nýrar ‘jibing’

nenningar ‘new achievement’

dag ‘day’

þenna ‘to’

hlíti ‘am content’

ek ‘I’

fyr ‘instead of’

hvítan ‘white’

notes

horn ‘of the horn’

kennings

horn ‘of the horn’

kennings

straums ‘stream’

kennings

straums ‘stream’

kennings

dǫgurð ‘breakfast’

notes

Naumu ‘with a Nauma’

kennings

notes

Log in

Stanza/chapter/text segment

Information tab

Interactive tab

Full text tab

Chapter/text segment

Ótt Lv 3^I