Hildibrandr Lv 4VIII (Ásm 4)
Peter Jorgensen (ed.) 2017, ‘Ásmundar saga kappabana 4 (Hildibrandr, Lausavísur 4)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 18.
Liggr ‘lies’
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liggja (verb): lie
þar ‘there’
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þar (adv.): there
inn ‘The’
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2. inn (art.): the
notes
[1-2] inn svási sonr ‘the beloved son’: The poetic adj. sváss ‘agreeable, pleasant, gracious, dear’ occurs exclusively in eddic poetry (cf. LP: sváss); when applied to persons (family members, the gods) it means ‘dear, beloved, gracious’. It is cognate with Goth. swēs ‘own’, OE swǣs ‘dear, own’, OHG swās ‘dear’, Lat. suus ‘belonging to oneself, one’s own’ and a number of other Indo-European languages (cf. AEW: sváss). This phrase bears a striking similarity to the suâsat chind ‘beloved son, boy’ of Hildebrandslied l. 53a (cf. Halvorsen 1951, 14). The phrase sonr at höfði (l. 2) may indicate that this episode too was depicted on the father’s shield, as it is said to be in Saxo, meaning that the saga prose no longer understood the original story. Thus it may rather be a reference to the dead body of Hildibrandr’s son, lying beside his dying father. The lines in Saxo (Saxo 2015, I, vii. 9. 15, ll. 6-10, pp. 508-9) are medioxima nati | Illita conspicuo species celamine constat, | Cui manus hec cursum mete uitalis ademit. | Vnicus hic nobis heres erat, una paterni | Cura animi superoque datus solamine matri ‘there stands the likeness | of my son, whose course of life this hand brought to | its boundary. He was my only heir, the one | concern of his father’s mind, given by the gods | to comfort his mother.’
svási ‘beloved’
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sváss (adj.)
notes
[1-2] inn svási sonr ‘the beloved son’: The poetic adj. sváss ‘agreeable, pleasant, gracious, dear’ occurs exclusively in eddic poetry (cf. LP: sváss); when applied to persons (family members, the gods) it means ‘dear, beloved, gracious’. It is cognate with Goth. swēs ‘own’, OE swǣs ‘dear, own’, OHG swās ‘dear’, Lat. suus ‘belonging to oneself, one’s own’ and a number of other Indo-European languages (cf. AEW: sváss). This phrase bears a striking similarity to the suâsat chind ‘beloved son, boy’ of Hildebrandslied l. 53a (cf. Halvorsen 1951, 14). The phrase sonr at höfði (l. 2) may indicate that this episode too was depicted on the father’s shield, as it is said to be in Saxo, meaning that the saga prose no longer understood the original story. Thus it may rather be a reference to the dead body of Hildibrandr’s son, lying beside his dying father. The lines in Saxo (Saxo 2015, I, vii. 9. 15, ll. 6-10, pp. 508-9) are medioxima nati | Illita conspicuo species celamine constat, | Cui manus hec cursum mete uitalis ademit. | Vnicus hic nobis heres erat, una paterni | Cura animi superoque datus solamine matri ‘there stands the likeness | of my son, whose course of life this hand brought to | its boundary. He was my only heir, the one | concern of his father’s mind, given by the gods | to comfort his mother.’
sonr ‘son’
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sonr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. syni; synir, acc. sonu, syni): son
notes
[1-2] inn svási sonr ‘the beloved son’: The poetic adj. sváss ‘agreeable, pleasant, gracious, dear’ occurs exclusively in eddic poetry (cf. LP: sváss); when applied to persons (family members, the gods) it means ‘dear, beloved, gracious’. It is cognate with Goth. swēs ‘own’, OE swǣs ‘dear, own’, OHG swās ‘dear’, Lat. suus ‘belonging to oneself, one’s own’ and a number of other Indo-European languages (cf. AEW: sváss). This phrase bears a striking similarity to the suâsat chind ‘beloved son, boy’ of Hildebrandslied l. 53a (cf. Halvorsen 1951, 14). The phrase sonr at höfði (l. 2) may indicate that this episode too was depicted on the father’s shield, as it is said to be in Saxo, meaning that the saga prose no longer understood the original story. Thus it may rather be a reference to the dead body of Hildibrandr’s son, lying beside his dying father. The lines in Saxo (Saxo 2015, I, vii. 9. 15, ll. 6-10, pp. 508-9) are medioxima nati | Illita conspicuo species celamine constat, | Cui manus hec cursum mete uitalis ademit. | Vnicus hic nobis heres erat, una paterni | Cura animi superoque datus solamine matri ‘there stands the likeness | of my son, whose course of life this hand brought to | its boundary. He was my only heir, the one | concern of his father’s mind, given by the gods | to comfort his mother.’
at ‘at’
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3. at (prep.): at, to
höfði ‘head’
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hǫfuð (noun n.; °-s; -): head
eptir ‘behind’
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eptir (prep.): after, behind
erfingi ‘the heir’
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erfingi (noun m.; °-ja; -jar): heir, child
er ‘whom’
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2. er (conj.): who, which, when
ek ‘I’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
eiga ‘’
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2. eiga (verb; °á/eigr (præs. pl. 3. pers. eigu/eiga); átti, áttu; átt): own, have
gat ‘begot’
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2. geta (verb): to beget, give birth to, mention, speak of; to think well of, like, love
óviljandi ‘unwillingly’
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óviljandi (adj.)
aldrs ‘of life’
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aldr (noun m.; °aldrs, dat. aldri; aldrar): life, age
synjaðak ‘I deprived’
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1. synja (verb): refuse
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This stanza shows close similarities both to the Old High German Hildebrandslied and to parts of Saxo’s poem.
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