ÞKolb Eirdr 1I
Jayne Carroll (ed.) 2012, ‘Þórðr Kolbeinsson, Eiríksdrápa 1’ 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. 489.
Ok ‘And’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
sannliga ‘in truth’
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sannliga (adv.): truly
sunnan ‘from the south’
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sunnan (adv.): (from the) south
satz ‘’
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2. sjá (verb): see
vit ‘’
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2. vit (pron.): we two
vík ‘’
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vík (noun f.): bay
búendr ‘farmers’
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búandi (noun m.; °-a; búendr (bøendr var. ÓH 47¹²: AM 325 VII 4° 325 VII), dat. búǫndum/búandum/búendum): farmer, resident
háska ‘’
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háski (noun m.; °-a; -ar): danger
ríkir ‘’
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ríkr (adj.): mighty, powerful, rich
ítrir ‘excellent’
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ítr (adj.): glorious
[2] ítrir: so J1ˣ, 61, 54, Bb, háska Kˣ, J2ˣ, ríkir F, 325VIII 1
notes
[2] ítrir ‘excellent’: The variants to this word in the cadence of l. 2 give rise to various possible readings of the helmingr, none of which is wholly unproblematic. (a) Ítrir in J1ˣ and the ÓT mss gives the syntax and sense shown above (similarly Skj B; ÍF 26). Another m. nom. pl. adj., ríkir ‘powerful’, in F and 325VIII 1 supports the syntax suggested by ítrir, though ríkir itself appears to be corrupt. Ítrir ‘excellent’ is a slightly unexpected epithet for fearful búendr ‘farmers’, since it usually qualifies words for warriors, rulers and deities (LP: ítr), and Kock (NN §579) signals unease. However, these farmers are the countrymen of the hero Eiríkr, and the adj. could serve to show that the attacking force was sufficient to terrify even the bold. Alternatively, the epithet could be ironic. (b) Háska ‘danger’ is the reading of the main ms. Kˣ and of J2ˣ, representing both branches of the Hkr stemma. It gives good sense if it is taken in apposition with stór stríð ‘great strife’, as it is by Kock (Skald; NN §§579, 1854B), who also construes of meiðir stála ‘because of the trees of steel [WARRIORS]’ with stór stríð. However, an aðalhending sôusk: hásk- would be imperfect.
stríð ‘strife’
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2. stríð (noun n.; °-s; -): affliction
of ‘about’
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3. of (prep.): around, from; too
[3] of (‘um’): apparently corrected from ‘v(ið)(?)’ 325VIII 1
stalla ‘’
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stallr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): seat, stall, support
stála ‘of steel’
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1. stál (noun n.; °-s; -): steel, weapon, prow
[3] stála: stalla 325VIII 1
kennings
meiða stála‘trees of steel ’
= WARRIORS
trees of steel → WARRIORS
smeiiða ‘’
kennings
meiða stála‘trees of steel ’
= WARRIORS
trees of steel → WARRIORS
stór ‘great’
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stórr (adj.): large, great
notes
[4] stór ‘great’: This is interpreted here as a n. acc. pl. adj. qualifying stríð ‘strife, afflictions’ (so also Skald; NN §579). It could alternatively be stór- as an uninflected first element in an otherwise unattested cpd stórhersǫgur ‘great war-stories’ (so Skj B; ÍF 26). This produces a somewhat simpler word order, with l. 4 as a syntactic unit. However, stór- commonly compounds with simplex nominals but only rarely with cpd ones, and in all mss stór is very clearly written, and presumably understood, as a separate word.
sǫgur ‘stories’
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1. saga (noun f.; °*-u; *-ur): story, saga < hersaga (noun f.): [war-stories]
fóru ‘travelled’
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fara (verb; ferr, fór, fóru, farinn): go, travel
suðr ‘’
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1. suðr (noun n.; °-s): [southern, the] < suðrland (noun n.)
sverð ‘’
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sverð (noun n.; °-s; -): sword < sverðlangr (adj.): long-sworded(?)
Súð ‘long’
[5] Súð‑: sverð‑ J1ˣ, suðr 325VIII 1
lungum ‘’
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lung (noun n.): longship < súðlung (noun n.)
lǫndum ‘’
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land (noun n.; °-s; *-): land < suðrland (noun n.)
lǫngum ‘planked’
[5] ‑lǫngum: lǫndum 325VIII 1, ‘‑lungum’ 54, Bb
ek ‘’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
senda ‘’
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senda (verb): send
kennings
Sveiða vangs viggmeiðr‘steed-tree of the field of Sveiði’
= SEAFARER
the field of Sveiði → SEA
the steed of the SEA → SHIP
The tree of the SHIP → SEAFARER
kennings
Sveiða vangs viggmeiðr‘steed-tree of the field of Sveiði’
= SEAFARER
the field of Sveiði → SEA
the steed of the SEA → SHIP
The tree of the SHIP → SEAFARER
kennings
Sveiða vangs viggmeiðr‘steed-tree of the field of Sveiði’
= SEAFARER
the field of Sveiði → SEA
the steed of the SEA → SHIP
The tree of the SHIP → SEAFARER
sunnr ‘in the south’
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sunnr (adv.): south
af ‘from’
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af (prep.): from
dregnum ‘the worn’
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2. draga (verb; °dregr; dró, drógu; dreginn/droget(Hirð NKS 1642 4° 146v²⁹; cf. [$962$])): drag, pull, draw
[6] dregnum: drǫgnum J1ˣ, 61, 54
notes
[6] dregnum hlunni ‘the worn launching-roller’: So Konráð Gíslason (1892, 146-7) and most eds. The reference is to the wear and tear on the rollers through launching ships or pulling them ashore. See further Note to Sturl Hryn 12/4II, where the same phrase occurs. Kock (NN §1106) takes dregnum with skeiðum ‘warships’ (l. 8), but the resulting word order is awkward.
hlunni ‘launching-roller’
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hlunnr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): roller
notes
[6] dregnum hlunni ‘the worn launching-roller’: So Konráð Gíslason (1892, 146-7) and most eds. The reference is to the wear and tear on the rollers through launching ships or pulling them ashore. See further Note to Sturl Hryn 12/4II, where the same phrase occurs. Kock (NN §1106) takes dregnum with skeiðum ‘warships’ (l. 8), but the resulting word order is awkward.
vatngs ‘’
vagns ‘’
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vagn (noun m.; °dat. -i; -ar): wagon
vangs ‘of the field’
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1. vangr (noun m.): field, plain
[7] vangs: vagns corrected from ‘aagns’ F, ‘vatngs’ J1ˣ
kennings
Sveiða vangs viggmeiðr‘steed-tree of the field of Sveiði’
= SEAFARER
the field of Sveiði → SEA
the steed of the SEA → SHIP
The tree of the SHIP → SEAFARER
vangs ‘of the field’
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1. vangr (noun m.): field, plain
[7] vangs: vagns corrected from ‘aagns’ F, ‘vatngs’ J1ˣ
kennings
Sveiða vangs viggmeiðr‘steed-tree of the field of Sveiði’
= SEAFARER
the field of Sveiði → SEA
the steed of the SEA → SHIP
The tree of the SHIP → SEAFARER
vangs ‘of the field’
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1. vangr (noun m.): field, plain
[7] vangs: vagns corrected from ‘aagns’ F, ‘vatngs’ J1ˣ
kennings
Sveiða vangs viggmeiðr‘steed-tree of the field of Sveiði’
= SEAFARER
the field of Sveiði → SEA
the steed of the SEA → SHIP
The tree of the SHIP → SEAFARER
af ‘’
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af (prep.): from
vatn ‘the water’
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vatn (noun n.; °-s; -*): water, lake
þrungit ‘thrust’
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þrøngva (verb): press, throng
víg ‘’
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víg (noun n.; °-s; -): battle < viggmeiðr (noun m.)
vigg ‘of the steed’
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viggr (noun m.): horse < viggmeiðr (noun m.)
[8] vigg‑: víg‑ F, J1ˣ, 325VIII 1, 61, 54, Bb
kennings
Sveiða vangs viggmeiðr‘steed-tree of the field of Sveiði’
= SEAFARER
the field of Sveiði → SEA
the steed of the SEA → SHIP
The tree of the SHIP → SEAFARER
vigg ‘of the steed’
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viggr (noun m.): horse < viggmeiðr (noun m.)
[8] vigg‑: víg‑ F, J1ˣ, 325VIII 1, 61, 54, Bb
kennings
Sveiða vangs viggmeiðr‘steed-tree of the field of Sveiði’
= SEAFARER
the field of Sveiði → SEA
the steed of the SEA → SHIP
The tree of the SHIP → SEAFARER
meiðr ‘The tree’
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meiðr (noun m.): beam, tree < viggmeiðr (noun m.)meiðr (noun m.): beam, tree < viggmeiðr (noun m.)
[8] ‑meiðr: so F, J1ˣ, 325VIII 1, 61, 54, Bb, om. Kˣ, J2ˣ
kennings
Sveiða vangs viggmeiðr‘steed-tree of the field of Sveiði’
= SEAFARER
the field of Sveiði → SEA
the steed of the SEA → SHIP
The tree of the SHIP → SEAFARER
Dana ‘of the Danes’
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Danr (noun m.; °dat. -; -ir): Dane
notes
[8] Dana ‘of the Danes’: The forces led by the Jómsvíkingar at the battle of Hjǫrungavágr are said to have comprised Danes and Wends (see also sts 4/4 and 5/2; cf. Tindr Hákdr 4/1, 6/4, 9/4; Þskúm Lv 1/10; Vígf Hák 1/7).
skeiða ‘’
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1. skeið (noun f.; °-ar; -r/-ar/-ir): ship
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
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Ok sannliga sunnan |
And in truth war-stories about trees of steel [WARRIORS] travelled from the south; excellent farmers widely feared great strife. The tree of the steed of the field of Sveiði <sea-king> [(lit. ‘steed-tree of the field of Sveiði’) SEA > SHIP > SEAFARER] heard that the long-planked warships of the Danes had been thrust onto the water from the worn launching-roller in the south.
In Raumaríki (Romerike), Eiríkr jarl hears that the Jómsvíkingar are preparing for war. He gathers a force and sets off for Upplǫnd (Opplandene) and thence to Þrándheimr (Trøndelag) to join his father, Hákon jarl.
Stanzas 1-5 describe the attack on Norway which culminated in the battle at Hjǫrungavágr (Liavågen, c. 985); on the battle and other skaldic poetry associated with it, see the entry on Hákon jarl Sigurðarson in ‘Ruler biographies’ in Introduction to this volume. — [5]: Cf. Hallv Knútdr 1/1III Súðlǫngum komt Sveiða, lit. ‘long-planked you came/brought of Sveiði’.
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