Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Þjóðólfr ór Hvini, Haustlǫng 6’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 440.
Ok slíðrliga síðan
svangr — vas þat fyr lǫngu —
át af eikirótum
okbjǫrn faðir Mǫrnar,
áðr djúphugaðr dræpi
dolg ballastan vallar
hirðitýr meðal herða
herfangs ofan stǫngu.
Ok {svangr faðir Mǫrnar} át síðan slíðrliga {okbjǫrn} af eikirótum – þat vas fyr lǫngu –, áðr {djúphugaðr hirðitýr herfangs} dræpi {ballastan dolg vallar} stǫngu ofan meðal herða.
And {the hungry father of Mǫrn <giantess>} [= Þjazi] then ate horribly {the yoke-bear} [OX] from the oak-roots – that was long ago –, before {the deep-minded retaining god of plunder} [= Loki] could strike {the very bold enemy of the earth} [GIANT = Þjazi] with a pole from above between the shoulders.
Mss: R(25v), Tˣ(26r), W(55) (SnE)
Readings: [1] ‑liga: ‑loga W [3] át: lét W; ‑rótum: so Tˣ, ‘rot[…]’ R, rótu W [4] Mǫrnar: ‘morna’ R, W, ‘niorna’ Tˣ [5] djúp‑: drjúp Tˣ; dræpi (‘drępi’): so W, drepi R, Tˣ [6] ballastan: ‘ballastann’ Tˣ, ‘ballaðan’ W [7] hirði‑: so all others, ‘hirð[…]’ R [8] ‑fangs: ‑fang W; ofan: so all others, ‘ofangs ofan’ R; stǫngu: so Tˣ, ‘strongv’ with first three letters overwritten from something else R, stungu W
Editions: Skj AI, 17, Skj BI, 15, Skald I, 10; SnE 1848-87, I, 310-11, III, 43, SnE 1931, 112, SnE 1998, I, 31.
Context: As for st. 1.
Notes: [All]: According to the prose narrative in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 1), Loki became very angry when Þjazi devoured so much of the ox, and snatched up a long pole, driving it with all his strength at the body of the giant in eagle form. — [4] faðir Mǫrnar ‘father of Mǫrn <giantess> [= Þjazi]’: The same kenning for Þjazi occurs in st. 12/8. Þjazi’s only known daughter was Skaði, so it is possible that Mǫrn is another name for her. Alternatively, and more probably, it may be a general name for a giantess (see Þul Trollkvenna 3/5), and the form ‘morna’ found in both R and W at this point may possibly be gen. pl. ‘of giantesses’ (cf. Meissner 255). The stem vowel in the gen. sg. Mǫrnar must be an extension of the nom. Mǫrn, in which the ǫ resulted from u-umlaut of a. See also Note to Hfr Lv 3/3V (Hallfr 4). Skj B emends to Marnar. — [5, 7, 8] djúphugaðr hirðitýr herfangs ‘the deep-minded retaining god of plunder [= Loki]’: An unusual kenning, dependent, as a number of Haustl’s are, on the mythic narrative context. Loki is, probably ironically, described as ‘deep-minded’ because he tries to attack Þjazi with a pole (a plan that backfires), and he can be described as a hirðitýr ‘retaining god’ because he tries to keep the ox, which is stolen property or herfang ‘plunder, booty’, for himself and his divine companions. — [5] dræpi ‘could strike’: Ms. W’s ‘drępi’ (3rd pers. sg. pret. subj.) is adopted here, rather than R, Tˣ’s drepi (3rd pers. sg. pres. subj.) The pret. subj. form of the verb is to be expected here, and in addition the long vowel is required in the cadence.
Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.
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.
This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.
This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.