Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Þjóðólfr Arnórsson, Lausavísur 6’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 171-2.
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Sigurðr (noun m.): Sigurðr
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eggja (verb; °-að-): urge
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sleggja (noun f.; °-u; -ur): hammer, sledge-hammer
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snákr (noun m.): snake
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váligr (adj.): dangerous, wicked
[2] brákar ‘of the tanning tool’: Gen. sg. of brk f., referring to a tool, probably of horn, used for preparing skins (LP).
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2. en (conj.): but, and
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skaf (noun n.; °-s): scraping, peeled bark < skafdreki (noun m.)
[3] skaf‑: so H, Hr, skaf‑ or skap‑ Mork, skap‑ Flat, 593b
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dreki (noun m.; °-a; -ar): dragon, dragon-ship < skafdreki (noun m.)
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skríða (verb): creep, glide
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3. of (prep.): around, from; too
[4] of: so H, af or of Mork, af Hr, Flat, 593b
[4] of ‘across’: The variant af ‘from’ also has strong support and as the less obvious prep. before an expression meaning ‘ground’ might have some claim to priority as the lectio difficilior.
[4] leista ‘of feet’: Leistr came to mean ‘sock’ but had the older meaning ‘foot’.
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3. heiðr (noun f.; °heiðar, dat./acc heiði; heiðar): heath
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maðr (noun m.): man, person
[5] Menn sôusk orm: mann sásk orm Mork, menn sásk orm H, mǫnnum leizk ormr Hr, Flat, ‘monnum […] (ormr)’(?) 593b
[5] menn sôusk ‘people were afraid’: The H variant menn is required here, and a minor emendation (or arguably normalisation) of sásk. The variant mǫnnum leizk ormr ‘the reptile seemed to people’ (so Hr, Flat) is also possible, but would be incomplete without a predicate.
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2. sjá (verb): see
[5] Menn sôusk orm: mann sásk orm Mork, menn sásk orm H, mǫnnum leizk ormr Hr, Flat, ‘monnum […] (ormr)’(?) 593b
[5] menn sôusk ‘people were afraid’: The H variant menn is required here, and a minor emendation (or arguably normalisation) of sásk. The variant mǫnnum leizk ormr ‘the reptile seemed to people’ (so Hr, Flat) is also possible, but would be incomplete without a predicate.
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ormr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): serpent
[5] Menn sôusk orm: mann sásk orm Mork, menn sásk orm H, mǫnnum leizk ormr Hr, Flat, ‘monnum […] (ormr)’(?) 593b
[5, 6] orm búinn kilju ilvegs ‘the reptile clad in the covering of the sole-path [FOOT > SHOE]’: This refers to ‘man, tanner’. The overall phrase is kenning-like (and contains a tvíkennt kenning for ‘shoe’), but since búinn ilvegs kilju is a p. p. and dat. rather than a gen. or part of a cpd it is structurally different from a kenning. Kilju ‘covering’ (gen. sg.) is a rare noun, not to be found in Fritzner, and LP offers only this instance under 2. kilja f. meaning ‘cap, covering’; see also Falk 1919, 192. AEW gives three distinct f. nouns, of which the first and third are marked as poetic: 1. ‘protective covering’ (Schulterbedeckung), 2. ‘conflict’ (Zank, Streit) (cf. the verb kilja ‘dispute’), and 3. ‘nourishment’ (Nahrung). Kock in NN §871 favoured kapputrustad ‘wearing a hood’ for búinn kilju, but in Kock and Meissner 1931, II, 96 (: kilja) and NN §2989C suggests ‘ready for strife’ (stridslystne).
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áðr (adv.; °//): before
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il (noun f.; °; -jar): footsole < ilvegr (noun m.): [sole-path]
[5, 6] orm búinn kilju ilvegs ‘the reptile clad in the covering of the sole-path [FOOT > SHOE]’: This refers to ‘man, tanner’. The overall phrase is kenning-like (and contains a tvíkennt kenning for ‘shoe’), but since búinn ilvegs kilju is a p. p. and dat. rather than a gen. or part of a cpd it is structurally different from a kenning. Kilju ‘covering’ (gen. sg.) is a rare noun, not to be found in Fritzner, and LP offers only this instance under 2. kilja f. meaning ‘cap, covering’; see also Falk 1919, 192. AEW gives three distinct f. nouns, of which the first and third are marked as poetic: 1. ‘protective covering’ (Schulterbedeckung), 2. ‘conflict’ (Zank, Streit) (cf. the verb kilja ‘dispute’), and 3. ‘nourishment’ (Nahrung). Kock in NN §871 favoured kapputrustad ‘wearing a hood’ for búinn kilju, but in Kock and Meissner 1931, II, 96 (: kilja) and NN §2989C suggests ‘ready for strife’ (stridslystne).
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il (noun f.; °; -jar): footsole < ilvegr (noun m.): [sole-path]
[5, 6] orm búinn kilju ilvegs ‘the reptile clad in the covering of the sole-path [FOOT > SHOE]’: This refers to ‘man, tanner’. The overall phrase is kenning-like (and contains a tvíkennt kenning for ‘shoe’), but since búinn ilvegs kilju is a p. p. and dat. rather than a gen. or part of a cpd it is structurally different from a kenning. Kilju ‘covering’ (gen. sg.) is a rare noun, not to be found in Fritzner, and LP offers only this instance under 2. kilja f. meaning ‘cap, covering’; see also Falk 1919, 192. AEW gives three distinct f. nouns, of which the first and third are marked as poetic: 1. ‘protective covering’ (Schulterbedeckung), 2. ‘conflict’ (Zank, Streit) (cf. the verb kilja ‘dispute’), and 3. ‘nourishment’ (Nahrung). Kock in NN §871 favoured kapputrustad ‘wearing a hood’ for búinn kilju, but in Kock and Meissner 1931, II, 96 (: kilja) and NN §2989C suggests ‘ready for strife’ (stridslystne).
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1. vegr (noun m.; °-s/-ar, dat. -i/-; -ar/-ir, gen. -a/-na, acc. -a/-i/-u): way, path, side < ilvegr (noun m.): [sole-path]
[5, 6] orm búinn kilju ilvegs ‘the reptile clad in the covering of the sole-path [FOOT > SHOE]’: This refers to ‘man, tanner’. The overall phrase is kenning-like (and contains a tvíkennt kenning for ‘shoe’), but since búinn ilvegs kilju is a p. p. and dat. rather than a gen. or part of a cpd it is structurally different from a kenning. Kilju ‘covering’ (gen. sg.) is a rare noun, not to be found in Fritzner, and LP offers only this instance under 2. kilja f. meaning ‘cap, covering’; see also Falk 1919, 192. AEW gives three distinct f. nouns, of which the first and third are marked as poetic: 1. ‘protective covering’ (Schulterbedeckung), 2. ‘conflict’ (Zank, Streit) (cf. the verb kilja ‘dispute’), and 3. ‘nourishment’ (Nahrung). Kock in NN §871 favoured kapputrustad ‘wearing a hood’ for búinn kilju, but in Kock and Meissner 1931, II, 96 (: kilja) and NN §2989C suggests ‘ready for strife’ (stridslystne).
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1. vegr (noun m.; °-s/-ar, dat. -i/-; -ar/-ir, gen. -a/-na, acc. -a/-i/-u): way, path, side < ilvegr (noun m.): [sole-path]
[5, 6] orm búinn kilju ilvegs ‘the reptile clad in the covering of the sole-path [FOOT > SHOE]’: This refers to ‘man, tanner’. The overall phrase is kenning-like (and contains a tvíkennt kenning for ‘shoe’), but since búinn ilvegs kilju is a p. p. and dat. rather than a gen. or part of a cpd it is structurally different from a kenning. Kilju ‘covering’ (gen. sg.) is a rare noun, not to be found in Fritzner, and LP offers only this instance under 2. kilja f. meaning ‘cap, covering’; see also Falk 1919, 192. AEW gives three distinct f. nouns, of which the first and third are marked as poetic: 1. ‘protective covering’ (Schulterbedeckung), 2. ‘conflict’ (Zank, Streit) (cf. the verb kilja ‘dispute’), and 3. ‘nourishment’ (Nahrung). Kock in NN §871 favoured kapputrustad ‘wearing a hood’ for búinn kilju, but in Kock and Meissner 1931, II, 96 (: kilja) and NN §2989C suggests ‘ready for strife’ (stridslystne).
[6] búinn: bana 593b
[5, 6] orm búinn kilju ilvegs ‘the reptile clad in the covering of the sole-path [FOOT > SHOE]’: This refers to ‘man, tanner’. The overall phrase is kenning-like (and contains a tvíkennt kenning for ‘shoe’), but since búinn ilvegs kilju is a p. p. and dat. rather than a gen. or part of a cpd it is structurally different from a kenning. Kilju ‘covering’ (gen. sg.) is a rare noun, not to be found in Fritzner, and LP offers only this instance under 2. kilja f. meaning ‘cap, covering’; see also Falk 1919, 192. AEW gives three distinct f. nouns, of which the first and third are marked as poetic: 1. ‘protective covering’ (Schulterbedeckung), 2. ‘conflict’ (Zank, Streit) (cf. the verb kilja ‘dispute’), and 3. ‘nourishment’ (Nahrung). Kock in NN §871 favoured kapputrustad ‘wearing a hood’ for búinn kilju, but in Kock and Meissner 1931, II, 96 (: kilja) and NN §2989C suggests ‘ready for strife’ (stridslystne).
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1. kilja (noun f.): covering
[5, 6] orm búinn kilju ilvegs ‘the reptile clad in the covering of the sole-path [FOOT > SHOE]’: This refers to ‘man, tanner’. The overall phrase is kenning-like (and contains a tvíkennt kenning for ‘shoe’), but since búinn ilvegs kilju is a p. p. and dat. rather than a gen. or part of a cpd it is structurally different from a kenning. Kilju ‘covering’ (gen. sg.) is a rare noun, not to be found in Fritzner, and LP offers only this instance under 2. kilja f. meaning ‘cap, covering’; see also Falk 1919, 192. AEW gives three distinct f. nouns, of which the first and third are marked as poetic: 1. ‘protective covering’ (Schulterbedeckung), 2. ‘conflict’ (Zank, Streit) (cf. the verb kilja ‘dispute’), and 3. ‘nourishment’ (Nahrung). Kock in NN §871 favoured kapputrustad ‘wearing a hood’ for búinn kilju, but in Kock and Meissner 1931, II, 96 (: kilja) and NN §2989C suggests ‘ready for strife’ (stridslystne).
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2. naut (noun n.; °; -): cattle < nautaleðr (noun m.)
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leðr (noun n.; °-s; dat. -um): leather < nautaleðr (noun m.)
[7] ‑leðrs: ‘le(d)us’(?) Hr
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3. á (prep.): on, at
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naðr (noun m.): snake
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neflangr (adj.): [long-nosed]
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konungr (noun m.; °dat. -i, -s; -ar): king
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tǫng (noun f.; °tangar, dat. -u/-; tengr/tangir): tongs
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Sigurðr eggjaði sleggju |
The Sigurðr of the sledge-hammer [SMITH] incited the snake of the dangerous tanning tool [TANNER], and the scraping-dragon of skins [TANNER] slithered across the heath of feet [FLOOR]. People were afraid of the reptile clad in the covering of the sole-path [FOOT > SHOE], before the long-nosed king of tongs [SMITH] overcame the serpent of ox-leather [TANNER].
In all the sources the st. is cited within the same anecdote as Lv 5 (see Context). This time Þjóðólfr must represent the contending artisans as the hero Sigurðr and his adversary the dragon Fáfnir. After the st., the king calls Þjóðólfr a good skald and there is a general discussion of poetry. In Flat and 593b, the sts and the instructions preceding them are in the reverse order.
The legendary story on which Þjóðólfr plays is told in Fáfn and in SnE (1998, I, 46). The smith is presented as Sigurðr, appropriately since Sigurðr stayed with the smith Reginn and shattered his anvil (prose preceding Reg 15, NK 176-7), and the tanner as the dragon. Still more clearly than in Lv 5, the kennings produce a double narrative: of the human fracas in Norway through the complete kennings and of the Sigurðr legend through their base-words.
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