Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Anonymous Poems, Liðsmannaflokkr 2’ 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. 1018.
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fara (verb; ferr, fór, fóru, farinn): go, travel
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Ullr (noun m.): Ullr
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í (prep.): in, into
[1, 3, 4] illan fornan serk, þars órum fœddir ok bornir ‘foul old shirt in which we were born and brought up [lit. brought up and born]’: (a) An obvious interpretation would be that illan fornan serk ‘foul old shirt’ refers to a rusty mail-shirt (cf. st. 7/6 and Note for a reference to armour), and that the þars-clause means ‘where…’ and indicates that the attackers are on native soil, not in England, but this view of þar is problematic in view of the statement in st. 1 that they are in England, unless the reference were to Anglo-Scandinavian warriors born in England. The alternative assumption is made here, that þars means ‘in which’, perhaps producing an exaggerated claim that the men have been warriors since birth, so that armour is like a skin to them. (b) The sense might instead be that the warriors are fighting with no armour except their own skin, which is then the ‘shirt’ in which they were ‘born and bred’ (cf. Note to ll. 7-8 below). This could allude to the tradition of berserks who literally fought in their own skin (see Þhorn Harkv 8/5 and Note), but again in an exaggerated fashion, meaning that these warriors wore ordinary clothes rather than armour. (c) Holtsmark (1954, 107; cf. ÍF 35) has argued that the serk(r) ‘shirt’ is to be identified with the caul or amnion, traditionally linked in Scandinavia and England with luck and invulnerability in battle. However, the subject is qualified by margr ‘many’, whereas to be born with a caul is exceptional.
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oddr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): point of weapon < oddsenna (noun f.)
[2] odd‑: ‘od’ JÓ, 20dˣ, 873ˣ, 41ˣ
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oddr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): point of weapon < oddsenna (noun f.)
[2] odd‑: ‘od’ JÓ, 20dˣ, 873ˣ, 41ˣ
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1. senna (noun f.; °; -ur): quarrel < oddsenna (noun f.)
[2] ‑sennu: so all others, ‘senni’ Flat
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1. senna (noun f.; °; -ur): quarrel < oddsenna (noun f.)
[2] ‑sennu: so all others, ‘senni’ Flat
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dagr (noun m.; °-s, dat. degi/dag/dagi(Thom¹ 332¹n.); -ar): day
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frár (adj.; °compar. -ri, superl. -vastr/-str): agile, quick
[3] frár: so JÓ, 20dˣ, 873ˣ, 41ˣ, freyr Flat, frétt DG8
[1, 3, 4] illan fornan serk, þars órum fœddir ok bornir ‘foul old shirt in which we were born and brought up [lit. brought up and born]’: (a) An obvious interpretation would be that illan fornan serk ‘foul old shirt’ refers to a rusty mail-shirt (cf. st. 7/6 and Note for a reference to armour), and that the þars-clause means ‘where…’ and indicates that the attackers are on native soil, not in England, but this view of þar is problematic in view of the statement in st. 1 that they are in England, unless the reference were to Anglo-Scandinavian warriors born in England. The alternative assumption is made here, that þars means ‘in which’, perhaps producing an exaggerated claim that the men have been warriors since birth, so that armour is like a skin to them. (b) The sense might instead be that the warriors are fighting with no armour except their own skin, which is then the ‘shirt’ in which they were ‘born and bred’ (cf. Note to ll. 7-8 below). This could allude to the tradition of berserks who literally fought in their own skin (see Þhorn Harkv 8/5 and Note), but again in an exaggerated fashion, meaning that these warriors wore ordinary clothes rather than armour. (c) Holtsmark (1954, 107; cf. ÍF 35) has argued that the serk(r) ‘shirt’ is to be identified with the caul or amnion, traditionally linked in Scandinavia and England with luck and invulnerability in battle. However, the subject is qualified by margr ‘many’, whereas to be born with a caul is exceptional.
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2. fœða (verb): to feed, give food to, bring up, bear, give birth to
[1, 3, 4] illan fornan serk, þars órum fœddir ok bornir ‘foul old shirt in which we were born and brought up [lit. brought up and born]’: (a) An obvious interpretation would be that illan fornan serk ‘foul old shirt’ refers to a rusty mail-shirt (cf. st. 7/6 and Note for a reference to armour), and that the þars-clause means ‘where…’ and indicates that the attackers are on native soil, not in England, but this view of þar is problematic in view of the statement in st. 1 that they are in England, unless the reference were to Anglo-Scandinavian warriors born in England. The alternative assumption is made here, that þars means ‘in which’, perhaps producing an exaggerated claim that the men have been warriors since birth, so that armour is like a skin to them. (b) The sense might instead be that the warriors are fighting with no armour except their own skin, which is then the ‘shirt’ in which they were ‘born and bred’ (cf. Note to ll. 7-8 below). This could allude to the tradition of berserks who literally fought in their own skin (see Þhorn Harkv 8/5 and Note), but again in an exaggerated fashion, meaning that these warriors wore ordinary clothes rather than armour. (c) Holtsmark (1954, 107; cf. ÍF 35) has argued that the serk(r) ‘shirt’ is to be identified with the caul or amnion, traditionally linked in Scandinavia and England with luck and invulnerability in battle. However, the subject is qualified by margr ‘many’, whereas to be born with a caul is exceptional.
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várr (pron.; °f. ór/vár; pl. órir/várir): our
[1, 3, 4] illan fornan serk, þars órum fœddir ok bornir ‘foul old shirt in which we were born and brought up [lit. brought up and born]’: (a) An obvious interpretation would be that illan fornan serk ‘foul old shirt’ refers to a rusty mail-shirt (cf. st. 7/6 and Note for a reference to armour), and that the þars-clause means ‘where…’ and indicates that the attackers are on native soil, not in England, but this view of þar is problematic in view of the statement in st. 1 that they are in England, unless the reference were to Anglo-Scandinavian warriors born in England. The alternative assumption is made here, that þars means ‘in which’, perhaps producing an exaggerated claim that the men have been warriors since birth, so that armour is like a skin to them. (b) The sense might instead be that the warriors are fighting with no armour except their own skin, which is then the ‘shirt’ in which they were ‘born and bred’ (cf. Note to ll. 7-8 below). This could allude to the tradition of berserks who literally fought in their own skin (see Þhorn Harkv 8/5 and Note), but again in an exaggerated fashion, meaning that these warriors wore ordinary clothes rather than armour. (c) Holtsmark (1954, 107; cf. ÍF 35) has argued that the serk(r) ‘shirt’ is to be identified with the caul or amnion, traditionally linked in Scandinavia and England with luck and invulnerability in battle. However, the subject is qualified by margr ‘many’, whereas to be born with a caul is exceptional.
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forn (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): ancient, old
[1, 3, 4] illan fornan serk, þars órum fœddir ok bornir ‘foul old shirt in which we were born and brought up [lit. brought up and born]’: (a) An obvious interpretation would be that illan fornan serk ‘foul old shirt’ refers to a rusty mail-shirt (cf. st. 7/6 and Note for a reference to armour), and that the þars-clause means ‘where…’ and indicates that the attackers are on native soil, not in England, but this view of þar is problematic in view of the statement in st. 1 that they are in England, unless the reference were to Anglo-Scandinavian warriors born in England. The alternative assumption is made here, that þars means ‘in which’, perhaps producing an exaggerated claim that the men have been warriors since birth, so that armour is like a skin to them. (b) The sense might instead be that the warriors are fighting with no armour except their own skin, which is then the ‘shirt’ in which they were ‘born and bred’ (cf. Note to ll. 7-8 below). This could allude to the tradition of berserks who literally fought in their own skin (see Þhorn Harkv 8/5 and Note), but again in an exaggerated fashion, meaning that these warriors wore ordinary clothes rather than armour. (c) Holtsmark (1954, 107; cf. ÍF 35) has argued that the serk(r) ‘shirt’ is to be identified with the caul or amnion, traditionally linked in Scandinavia and England with luck and invulnerability in battle. However, the subject is qualified by margr ‘many’, whereas to be born with a caul is exceptional.
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1. serkr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -/-i; -ir): shirt
[1, 3, 4] illan fornan serk, þars órum fœddir ok bornir ‘foul old shirt in which we were born and brought up [lit. brought up and born]’: (a) An obvious interpretation would be that illan fornan serk ‘foul old shirt’ refers to a rusty mail-shirt (cf. st. 7/6 and Note for a reference to armour), and that the þars-clause means ‘where…’ and indicates that the attackers are on native soil, not in England, but this view of þar is problematic in view of the statement in st. 1 that they are in England, unless the reference were to Anglo-Scandinavian warriors born in England. The alternative assumption is made here, that þars means ‘in which’, perhaps producing an exaggerated claim that the men have been warriors since birth, so that armour is like a skin to them. (b) The sense might instead be that the warriors are fighting with no armour except their own skin, which is then the ‘shirt’ in which they were ‘born and bred’ (cf. Note to ll. 7-8 below). This could allude to the tradition of berserks who literally fought in their own skin (see Þhorn Harkv 8/5 and Note), but again in an exaggerated fashion, meaning that these warriors wore ordinary clothes rather than armour. (c) Holtsmark (1954, 107; cf. ÍF 35) has argued that the serk(r) ‘shirt’ is to be identified with the caul or amnion, traditionally linked in Scandinavia and England with luck and invulnerability in battle. However, the subject is qualified by margr ‘many’, whereas to be born with a caul is exceptional.
[1, 3, 4] illan fornan serk, þars órum fœddir ok bornir ‘foul old shirt in which we were born and brought up [lit. brought up and born]’: (a) An obvious interpretation would be that illan fornan serk ‘foul old shirt’ refers to a rusty mail-shirt (cf. st. 7/6 and Note for a reference to armour), and that the þars-clause means ‘where…’ and indicates that the attackers are on native soil, not in England, but this view of þar is problematic in view of the statement in st. 1 that they are in England, unless the reference were to Anglo-Scandinavian warriors born in England. The alternative assumption is made here, that þars means ‘in which’, perhaps producing an exaggerated claim that the men have been warriors since birth, so that armour is like a skin to them. (b) The sense might instead be that the warriors are fighting with no armour except their own skin, which is then the ‘shirt’ in which they were ‘born and bred’ (cf. Note to ll. 7-8 below). This could allude to the tradition of berserks who literally fought in their own skin (see Þhorn Harkv 8/5 and Note), but again in an exaggerated fashion, meaning that these warriors wore ordinary clothes rather than armour. (c) Holtsmark (1954, 107; cf. ÍF 35) has argued that the serk(r) ‘shirt’ is to be identified with the caul or amnion, traditionally linked in Scandinavia and England with luck and invulnerability in battle. However, the subject is qualified by margr ‘many’, whereas to be born with a caul is exceptional.
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3. bera (verb; °berr; bar, báru; borinn): bear, carry
[1, 3, 4] illan fornan serk, þars órum fœddir ok bornir ‘foul old shirt in which we were born and brought up [lit. brought up and born]’: (a) An obvious interpretation would be that illan fornan serk ‘foul old shirt’ refers to a rusty mail-shirt (cf. st. 7/6 and Note for a reference to armour), and that the þars-clause means ‘where…’ and indicates that the attackers are on native soil, not in England, but this view of þar is problematic in view of the statement in st. 1 that they are in England, unless the reference were to Anglo-Scandinavian warriors born in England. The alternative assumption is made here, that þars means ‘in which’, perhaps producing an exaggerated claim that the men have been warriors since birth, so that armour is like a skin to them. (b) The sense might instead be that the warriors are fighting with no armour except their own skin, which is then the ‘shirt’ in which they were ‘born and bred’ (cf. Note to ll. 7-8 below). This could allude to the tradition of berserks who literally fought in their own skin (see Þhorn Harkv 8/5 and Note), but again in an exaggerated fashion, meaning that these warriors wore ordinary clothes rather than armour. (c) Holtsmark (1954, 107; cf. ÍF 35) has argued that the serk(r) ‘shirt’ is to be identified with the caul or amnion, traditionally linked in Scandinavia and England with luck and invulnerability in battle. However, the subject is qualified by margr ‘many’, whereas to be born with a caul is exceptional.
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2. enn (adv.): still, yet, again
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3. á (prep.): on, at
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enskr (adj.): English
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maðr (noun m.): man, person
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ala (verb; °elr; ól, ólu; alinn): to beget, produce, procreate
[6] ǫlum: so all others, ‘aulun’ Flat
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gjóðr (noun m.; °-s; -ar): osprey
[6] gjóð: so all others, gjóðs Flat
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blóð (noun n.; °-s): blood
[7] vart ‘scarcely’: (a) The reading vart has support in both the Óláfr and the Knútr traditions. If the translation of ll. 7-8 above is correct, with vart as the adv. ‘scarcely’, the lines mean that the men fight without armour, and hence support interpretation (b) in the Note to ll. 1, 3, 4. (b) Alternatively, vart skald could be read as ‘the cautious skald’ who does put on armour. (c) Skj B, Skald and ÍF 35 print ǫrt ‘bold’ but this variant is restricted to two or possibly three Knýtl mss and could be explained as a scribal emendation.
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munu (verb): will, must
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í (prep.): in, into
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skyrta (noun f.; °-u; -ur): shirt
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skreiða (verb): slink, creep
[8] skreiðask: ‘skædaz’ JÓ, ‘skødaz’ 20dˣ, 873ˣ, ‘skódast’ 41ˣ
[8] skreiðask ‘creep’: Scholars have suggested that underlying this word may be an Anglo-Saxonism that confused the copyists. Guðbrandur Vigfússon (CPB II, 107 n.) tentatively restored skrýðaz and Hofmann (1955, 64-70, apparently independently) refined this to *skréðask ‘clothe, adorn oneself’ representing a conjectured OE dialectal *scrēdan for West Saxon scrȳdan ‘to issue with clothing’. The normal OWN adaptation of OE scrȳdan is skrýða. The related ON skrúð ‘ornament, equipment’ is also thought to be a loan word from OE (AEW: skrúð). ODan. *skréðask could have been ‘restored’ to a diphthongised form skreiðask by OWN speakers (cf. Brøndum-Nielsen 1928, 315-16) under the influence of the verb skreiðask ‘to slide, creep’ (Poole 1987, 284).
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1. hamarr (noun m.; °-s, dat. hamri; hamrar): hammer, cliff
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2. semja (verb): befit
[8] samða: so DG8, seiða Flat, ‘sæda’ JÓ, ‘søda’ 20dˣ, 873ˣ, 41ˣ
[8] samða ‘put together’: This reading, f. acc. sg. p. p. of semja, may represent a scribal emendation of original séða ‘sewn’, suggested by variants ‘seida’, ‘sæda’ and ‘søda’ (Hofmann 1955, 64-70).
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Margr ferr Ullr í illan |
Many a fierce Ullr <god> of the point-quarrel [BATTLE > WARRIOR] gets this day into the foul old shirt in which we were born and brought up [lit. brought up and born]. Once again let us nourish the osprey of Hnikarr <= Óðinn> [RAVEN] on the blood of English men; the skald will scarcely creep into a shirt put together by the hammer.
In ÓHLeg and Flat, as for st. 1. In Knýtl, st. 2 is cited after sts 9/1-4 and 8/5-8 (see Context). After the stanza it is remarked that Knútr fought many battles in London but failed to capture it.
Both helmingar contain statements that the skald and his comrades either did or did not put on armour, depending on the interpretation chosen.
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