Kate Heslop (ed.) 2012, ‘Þorleifr jarlsskáld Rauðfeldarson, Lausavísur 5’ 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. 375.
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hugr (noun m.): mind, thought, courage
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minn (pron.; °f. mín, n. mitt): my
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1. illa (adv.): badly
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hafa (verb): have
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drengr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -; -ir, gen. -ja): man, warrior
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skaði (noun m.; °-a; -ar): harm, damage
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2. fá (verb; °fǽr; fekk, fengu; fenginn): get, receive
[2, 3] fengit sér * ‘suffered’: Lit. ‘received for himself’. Ek ‘I’ following sé(r) in the mss seems to be based on a misreading of sér as a verb.
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sik (pron.; °gen. sín, dat. sér): (refl. pron.)
[3] sér *: sér ek Flat, 4867ˣ, sé ek 563aˣ
[2, 3] fengit sér * ‘suffered’: Lit. ‘received for himself’. Ek ‘I’ following sé(r) in the mss seems to be based on a misreading of sér as a verb.
[2, 3] fengit sér * ‘suffered’: Lit. ‘received for himself’. Ek ‘I’ following sé(r) in the mss seems to be based on a misreading of sér as a verb.
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3. á (prep.): on, at
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sléttr (adj.): level, smooth
[3] sléttri: svartri 4867ˣ, saltri corrected from svart 563aˣ
[3, 4]: The readings svartri in 4867ˣ or saltri in 563aˣ (l. 3) and ‘svar/svartt til brands’, read as svárt til brands in 563ˣ (l. 4), could yield: drengr hefr svárt fengit sér skaða til brands ok knarrar á svartri/saltri eyri ‘the warrior has grievously suffered damage to ship’s beak and ship on the black/salty gravel-spit’.
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eyrr (noun f.): land-spit
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svarri (noun m.; °-a): (proud) lady
[4] svarri báts: svar til brands 4867ˣ, svart til brands 563aˣ
[3, 4]: The readings svartri in 4867ˣ or saltri in 563aˣ (l. 3) and ‘svar/svartt til brands’, read as svárt til brands in 563ˣ (l. 4), could yield: drengr hefr svárt fengit sér skaða til brands ok knarrar á svartri/saltri eyri ‘the warrior has grievously suffered damage to ship’s beak and ship on the black/salty gravel-spit’.
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bátr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i/-; -ar): boat
[4] svarri báts: svar til brands 4867ˣ, svart til brands 563aˣ
[3, 4]: The readings svartri in 4867ˣ or saltri in 563aˣ (l. 3) and ‘svar/svartt til brands’, read as svárt til brands in 563ˣ (l. 4), could yield: drengr hefr svárt fengit sér skaða til brands ok knarrar á svartri/saltri eyri ‘the warrior has grievously suffered damage to ship’s beak and ship on the black/salty gravel-spit’.
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
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knǫrr (noun m.; °knarrar, dat. knerri; knerrir, acc. knǫrru/knerri): (a kind of) ship
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2. enn (adv.): still, yet, again
[5] Enn þeims: hinn er Flat, hann er 4867ˣ, 563aˣ
[5] enn ... þeims ‘but ... the one who’: The emendation of ms. hinn er or hann er to en(n) þeims adopted here was proposed by Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) and followed by most subsequent eds. It is necessary since the line is evidently corrupt, as it lacks one alliterative stave and is syntactically unsatisfactory, and an original conj. enn could have been misunderstood as the article hinn. With the Flat reading hinn er (normalised es) ‘that one who’ the helmingr forms two syntactically viable couplets, but the rel. hinn es has no credible antecedent. It cannot be drengr ‘man, fellow, warrior’ (l. 2), since that is the man who suffered damage, whereas ll. 5-6 refer to the one who burned the ship. The variant hann er/es ‘he who’ is little better since it produces a subordinate clause without a main one.
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2. er (conj.): who, which, when
[5] Enn þeims: hinn er Flat, hann er 4867ˣ, 563aˣ
[5] enn ... þeims ‘but ... the one who’: The emendation of ms. hinn er or hann er to en(n) þeims adopted here was proposed by Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) and followed by most subsequent eds. It is necessary since the line is evidently corrupt, as it lacks one alliterative stave and is syntactically unsatisfactory, and an original conj. enn could have been misunderstood as the article hinn. With the Flat reading hinn er (normalised es) ‘that one who’ the helmingr forms two syntactically viable couplets, but the rel. hinn es has no credible antecedent. It cannot be drengr ‘man, fellow, warrior’ (l. 2), since that is the man who suffered damage, whereas ll. 5-6 refer to the one who burned the ship. The variant hann er/es ‘he who’ is little better since it produces a subordinate clause without a main one.
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upp (adv.): up
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ráða (verb): advise, rule, interpret, decide
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3. brenna (verb; (weak, transitive)): to burn (weak, intr.)
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alda (noun f.; °; *-ur): wave
[6] fíl ǫldu ‘the elephant of the wave [SHIP]’: The word fíll ‘elephant’ is believed to be of ultimately Turkish or Persian origin (AEW: fíll). Elephants occur elsewhere in the skaldic corpus only in C13th poetry (LP: fíll), and this kenning may also be late (ÍF 9, xcviii). Ship-kennings with exotic animals as base-words are rare. The only other certain example is léon bôru ‘lion of the billow’, which is also from a stanza unique to ÞorlJ, but attributed to King Sveinn tjúguskegg (Svtjúg Lv 1/8; Arn Hryn 2/1II has an uncertain example). This could suggest that the two stanzas were composed by the same person, who was thus probably not Þorleifr (see also Almqvist 1965-74, I, 193, 198).
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fíll (noun m.): [elephant]
[6] fíl ǫldu ‘the elephant of the wave [SHIP]’: The word fíll ‘elephant’ is believed to be of ultimately Turkish or Persian origin (AEW: fíll). Elephants occur elsewhere in the skaldic corpus only in C13th poetry (LP: fíll), and this kenning may also be late (ÍF 9, xcviii). Ship-kennings with exotic animals as base-words are rare. The only other certain example is léon bôru ‘lion of the billow’, which is also from a stanza unique to ÞorlJ, but attributed to King Sveinn tjúguskegg (Svtjúg Lv 1/8; Arn Hryn 2/1II has an uncertain example). This could suggest that the two stanzas were composed by the same person, who was thus probably not Þorleifr (see also Almqvist 1965-74, I, 193, 198).
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fyr (prep.): for, over, because of, etc.
[8] fyr skaldi ‘[as an act] against the skald [me]’: Fyr here has the sense ‘to the disadvantage or disfavour of’ (LP: fyr, fyrir B4).
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skáld (noun n.; °-s; -): poet
[8] fyr skaldi ‘[as an act] against the skald [me]’: Fyr here has the sense ‘to the disadvantage or disfavour of’ (LP: fyr, fyrir B4).
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2. hverr (pron.): who, whom, each, every
[7] hverr: ‘hvør’ 4867ˣ, hvor 563aˣ
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1. vita (verb): know
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2. nema (conj.): unless
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kol (noun n.; °; -): coal
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knǫrr (noun m.; °knarrar, dat. knerri; knerrir, acc. knǫrru/knerri): (a kind of) ship
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fýsi (noun f.): urge, desire
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Hákon jarl, incensed at Þorleifr’s refusal to sell his goods to him, sacks and burns his ship and hangs his crewmates.
[7-8]: The Text above diverges from Skj B and Skald in taking kǫld kol ‘cold coals’, the remains of the ship, as the subject of fýsi ‘might urge’ rather than object of gjalda ‘repay, pay back’: they urge the skald to revenge.
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