Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Gyðingsvísur 2’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 518-19.
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út (adv.): out(side)
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
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2. einn (pron.; °decl. cf. einn num.): one, alone
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2. er (conj.): who, which, when
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2. veita (verb): grant, give
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2. unnr (noun f.): wave < unnleygr (noun m.)
[2] unnleyg*: ‘vnn[...]eygs’ B, BFJ, vnnleygs 399a‑bˣ, BRydberg
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1. leygr (noun m.): flame < unnleygr (noun m.)
[2] unnleyg*: ‘vnn[...]eygs’ B, BFJ, vnnleygs 399a‑bˣ, BRydberg
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firar (noun m.): men
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kunna (verb): know, can, be able
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beitir (noun m.): steerer
[3-4] beitir bráðra sóta barðs ‘steerer of the swift steeds of the prow’: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B), followed by Kock in Skald, emends to bræddra barða, and presumably construes the man-kenning beitir bræddra sóta barða ‘steerer of the tarred steeds of the ship’. His emendation of B’s ‘bardz’ (l. 4) to barða, gen. sg. of m. barði ‘ship’ is unnecessary, however, since barðs may be interpreted as gen. sg. of n. barð ‘beak, prow’, which occurs frequently in ship-kennings (LP: barð – the inclusion of a reference to barðs sóti in the first, 1916 edn of LP suggests that at that time Finnur believed B to be correct here). Finnur’s correction of the adj. to bræddra in Skj B and LP: 2. bræða ‘to tar’, though drastic, is rather happier, though it is possible to make sense of B’s bráðra by taking it as the gen. pl. of bráðr ‘swift, eager, sudden’ agreeing with sóta.
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bráðr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): quick(ly)
[3-4] beitir bráðra sóta barðs ‘steerer of the swift steeds of the prow’: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B), followed by Kock in Skald, emends to bræddra barða, and presumably construes the man-kenning beitir bræddra sóta barða ‘steerer of the tarred steeds of the ship’. His emendation of B’s ‘bardz’ (l. 4) to barða, gen. sg. of m. barði ‘ship’ is unnecessary, however, since barðs may be interpreted as gen. sg. of n. barð ‘beak, prow’, which occurs frequently in ship-kennings (LP: barð – the inclusion of a reference to barðs sóti in the first, 1916 edn of LP suggests that at that time Finnur believed B to be correct here). Finnur’s correction of the adj. to bræddra in Skj B and LP: 2. bræða ‘to tar’, though drastic, is rather happier, though it is possible to make sense of B’s bráðra by taking it as the gen. pl. of bráðr ‘swift, eager, sudden’ agreeing with sóta.
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bráðr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): quick(ly)
[3-4] beitir bráðra sóta barðs ‘steerer of the swift steeds of the prow’: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B), followed by Kock in Skald, emends to bræddra barða, and presumably construes the man-kenning beitir bræddra sóta barða ‘steerer of the tarred steeds of the ship’. His emendation of B’s ‘bardz’ (l. 4) to barða, gen. sg. of m. barði ‘ship’ is unnecessary, however, since barðs may be interpreted as gen. sg. of n. barð ‘beak, prow’, which occurs frequently in ship-kennings (LP: barð – the inclusion of a reference to barðs sóti in the first, 1916 edn of LP suggests that at that time Finnur believed B to be correct here). Finnur’s correction of the adj. to bræddra in Skj B and LP: 2. bræða ‘to tar’, though drastic, is rather happier, though it is possible to make sense of B’s bráðra by taking it as the gen. pl. of bráðr ‘swift, eager, sudden’ agreeing with sóta.
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sóti (noun m.; °-a): steed, Sóti
[3-4] beitir bráðra sóta barðs ‘steerer of the swift steeds of the prow’: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B), followed by Kock in Skald, emends to bræddra barða, and presumably construes the man-kenning beitir bræddra sóta barða ‘steerer of the tarred steeds of the ship’. His emendation of B’s ‘bardz’ (l. 4) to barða, gen. sg. of m. barði ‘ship’ is unnecessary, however, since barðs may be interpreted as gen. sg. of n. barð ‘beak, prow’, which occurs frequently in ship-kennings (LP: barð – the inclusion of a reference to barðs sóti in the first, 1916 edn of LP suggests that at that time Finnur believed B to be correct here). Finnur’s correction of the adj. to bræddra in Skj B and LP: 2. bræða ‘to tar’, though drastic, is rather happier, though it is possible to make sense of B’s bráðra by taking it as the gen. pl. of bráðr ‘swift, eager, sudden’ agreeing with sóta.
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sóti (noun m.; °-a): steed, Sóti
[3-4] beitir bráðra sóta barðs ‘steerer of the swift steeds of the prow’: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B), followed by Kock in Skald, emends to bræddra barða, and presumably construes the man-kenning beitir bræddra sóta barða ‘steerer of the tarred steeds of the ship’. His emendation of B’s ‘bardz’ (l. 4) to barða, gen. sg. of m. barði ‘ship’ is unnecessary, however, since barðs may be interpreted as gen. sg. of n. barð ‘beak, prow’, which occurs frequently in ship-kennings (LP: barð – the inclusion of a reference to barðs sóti in the first, 1916 edn of LP suggests that at that time Finnur believed B to be correct here). Finnur’s correction of the adj. to bræddra in Skj B and LP: 2. bræða ‘to tar’, though drastic, is rather happier, though it is possible to make sense of B’s bráðra by taking it as the gen. pl. of bráðr ‘swift, eager, sudden’ agreeing with sóta.
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barð (noun n.): prow, stern (of a ship)
[3-4] beitir bráðra sóta barðs ‘steerer of the swift steeds of the prow’: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B), followed by Kock in Skald, emends to bræddra barða, and presumably construes the man-kenning beitir bræddra sóta barða ‘steerer of the tarred steeds of the ship’. His emendation of B’s ‘bardz’ (l. 4) to barða, gen. sg. of m. barði ‘ship’ is unnecessary, however, since barðs may be interpreted as gen. sg. of n. barð ‘beak, prow’, which occurs frequently in ship-kennings (LP: barð – the inclusion of a reference to barðs sóti in the first, 1916 edn of LP suggests that at that time Finnur believed B to be correct here). Finnur’s correction of the adj. to bræddra in Skj B and LP: 2. bræða ‘to tar’, though drastic, is rather happier, though it is possible to make sense of B’s bráðra by taking it as the gen. pl. of bráðr ‘swift, eager, sudden’ agreeing with sóta.
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barð (noun n.): prow, stern (of a ship)
[3-4] beitir bráðra sóta barðs ‘steerer of the swift steeds of the prow’: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B), followed by Kock in Skald, emends to bræddra barða, and presumably construes the man-kenning beitir bræddra sóta barða ‘steerer of the tarred steeds of the ship’. His emendation of B’s ‘bardz’ (l. 4) to barða, gen. sg. of m. barði ‘ship’ is unnecessary, however, since barðs may be interpreted as gen. sg. of n. barð ‘beak, prow’, which occurs frequently in ship-kennings (LP: barð – the inclusion of a reference to barðs sóti in the first, 1916 edn of LP suggests that at that time Finnur believed B to be correct here). Finnur’s correction of the adj. to bræddra in Skj B and LP: 2. bræða ‘to tar’, though drastic, is rather happier, though it is possible to make sense of B’s bráðra by taking it as the gen. pl. of bráðr ‘swift, eager, sudden’ agreeing with sóta.
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í (prep.): in, into
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Miklagarðr (noun m.): [Constantinople]
[4] Miklagarði: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘micla[...]di’ B, ‘micla[...]ardi’ BRydberg, BFJ
[4] Miklagarði (dat.): Constantinople or Byzantium, modern Istanbul.
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fúrr (noun m.): fire < fúrbrigðir (noun m.)
[5] Fúrbrigðir: ‘f(a)rbrigdir’(?) BRydberg, ‘fyrbrigdir’ BFJ
[5, 7] Hlies fúrbrigðir ‘Hlér’s fire-spreader [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN]’: B is badly torn, and most of the first word of l. 7 (fol. 14v, l. 14) is lost. Initial <h> is confirmed by the alliterative pattern. Rydberg reads the last two letters ‘e᷎s’, interpreting hræs gen. sg. of n. hræ ‘carrion, scraps’. A diacritic of some kind is visible, but it might just as well be an accent as a hook. Similarly, fúrbrigðir suffers from manuscript cracking and wearing, but the second letter is <u>, not, as Rydberg reads it, <a> or <y> (so BFJ). Brigðir is an acceptable base-word in a man-kenning with determinant meaning ‘gold’ or something similar. This edn follows Skj B in adopting Sveinbjörn Egilsson’s suggested reconstruction (made in a note to 444ˣ) of the first word of l. 7 to Hlies (earlier Hlés), gen. sg. of Hlér m. which is given as an alternative name for Ægir, a sea-god, in the opening l. of Skm (SnE 1998, I, 1). ‘Hlér’s fire’ thus becomes a gold-kenning on a familiar ‘fire of the sea-god’ pattern (Meissner, 225). Rydberg’s prose arrangement reconstructs the man-kenning fárbrigðir hræs ‘drawer of the enemy of the corpse, drawer of the sword’.
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fúrr (noun m.): fire < fúrbrigðir (noun m.)
[5] Fúrbrigðir: ‘f(a)rbrigdir’(?) BRydberg, ‘fyrbrigdir’ BFJ
[5, 7] Hlies fúrbrigðir ‘Hlér’s fire-spreader [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN]’: B is badly torn, and most of the first word of l. 7 (fol. 14v, l. 14) is lost. Initial <h> is confirmed by the alliterative pattern. Rydberg reads the last two letters ‘e᷎s’, interpreting hræs gen. sg. of n. hræ ‘carrion, scraps’. A diacritic of some kind is visible, but it might just as well be an accent as a hook. Similarly, fúrbrigðir suffers from manuscript cracking and wearing, but the second letter is <u>, not, as Rydberg reads it, <a> or <y> (so BFJ). Brigðir is an acceptable base-word in a man-kenning with determinant meaning ‘gold’ or something similar. This edn follows Skj B in adopting Sveinbjörn Egilsson’s suggested reconstruction (made in a note to 444ˣ) of the first word of l. 7 to Hlies (earlier Hlés), gen. sg. of Hlér m. which is given as an alternative name for Ægir, a sea-god, in the opening l. of Skm (SnE 1998, I, 1). ‘Hlér’s fire’ thus becomes a gold-kenning on a familiar ‘fire of the sea-god’ pattern (Meissner, 225). Rydberg’s prose arrangement reconstructs the man-kenning fárbrigðir hræs ‘drawer of the enemy of the corpse, drawer of the sword’.
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brigðir (noun m.): spreader, breaker < fúrbrigðir (noun m.)
[5] Fúrbrigðir: ‘f(a)rbrigdir’(?) BRydberg, ‘fyrbrigdir’ BFJ
[5, 7] Hlies fúrbrigðir ‘Hlér’s fire-spreader [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN]’: B is badly torn, and most of the first word of l. 7 (fol. 14v, l. 14) is lost. Initial <h> is confirmed by the alliterative pattern. Rydberg reads the last two letters ‘e᷎s’, interpreting hræs gen. sg. of n. hræ ‘carrion, scraps’. A diacritic of some kind is visible, but it might just as well be an accent as a hook. Similarly, fúrbrigðir suffers from manuscript cracking and wearing, but the second letter is <u>, not, as Rydberg reads it, <a> or <y> (so BFJ). Brigðir is an acceptable base-word in a man-kenning with determinant meaning ‘gold’ or something similar. This edn follows Skj B in adopting Sveinbjörn Egilsson’s suggested reconstruction (made in a note to 444ˣ) of the first word of l. 7 to Hlies (earlier Hlés), gen. sg. of Hlér m. which is given as an alternative name for Ægir, a sea-god, in the opening l. of Skm (SnE 1998, I, 1). ‘Hlér’s fire’ thus becomes a gold-kenning on a familiar ‘fire of the sea-god’ pattern (Meissner, 225). Rydberg’s prose arrangement reconstructs the man-kenning fárbrigðir hræs ‘drawer of the enemy of the corpse, drawer of the sword’.
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2. vinna (verb): perform, work
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frægð (noun f.): fame
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2. fjǫl (noun n.): very < fjǫlmætr (adj.)
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mætr (adj.; °compar. -ri/-ari, superl. -astr): honoured, respected < fjǫlmætr (adj.)
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
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ágæti (noun n.; °-s; -): fame, excellence
[5, 7] Hlies fúrbrigðir ‘Hlér’s fire-spreader [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN]’: B is badly torn, and most of the first word of l. 7 (fol. 14v, l. 14) is lost. Initial <h> is confirmed by the alliterative pattern. Rydberg reads the last two letters ‘e᷎s’, interpreting hræs gen. sg. of n. hræ ‘carrion, scraps’. A diacritic of some kind is visible, but it might just as well be an accent as a hook. Similarly, fúrbrigðir suffers from manuscript cracking and wearing, but the second letter is <u>, not, as Rydberg reads it, <a> or <y> (so BFJ). Brigðir is an acceptable base-word in a man-kenning with determinant meaning ‘gold’ or something similar. This edn follows Skj B in adopting Sveinbjörn Egilsson’s suggested reconstruction (made in a note to 444ˣ) of the first word of l. 7 to Hlies (earlier Hlés), gen. sg. of Hlér m. which is given as an alternative name for Ægir, a sea-god, in the opening l. of Skm (SnE 1998, I, 1). ‘Hlér’s fire’ thus becomes a gold-kenning on a familiar ‘fire of the sea-god’ pattern (Meissner, 225). Rydberg’s prose arrangement reconstructs the man-kenning fárbrigðir hræs ‘drawer of the enemy of the corpse, drawer of the sword’.
[5, 7] Hlies fúrbrigðir ‘Hlér’s fire-spreader [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN]’: B is badly torn, and most of the first word of l. 7 (fol. 14v, l. 14) is lost. Initial <h> is confirmed by the alliterative pattern. Rydberg reads the last two letters ‘e᷎s’, interpreting hræs gen. sg. of n. hræ ‘carrion, scraps’. A diacritic of some kind is visible, but it might just as well be an accent as a hook. Similarly, fúrbrigðir suffers from manuscript cracking and wearing, but the second letter is <u>, not, as Rydberg reads it, <a> or <y> (so BFJ). Brigðir is an acceptable base-word in a man-kenning with determinant meaning ‘gold’ or something similar. This edn follows Skj B in adopting Sveinbjörn Egilsson’s suggested reconstruction (made in a note to 444ˣ) of the first word of l. 7 to Hlies (earlier Hlés), gen. sg. of Hlér m. which is given as an alternative name for Ægir, a sea-god, in the opening l. of Skm (SnE 1998, I, 1). ‘Hlér’s fire’ thus becomes a gold-kenning on a familiar ‘fire of the sea-god’ pattern (Meissner, 225). Rydberg’s prose arrangement reconstructs the man-kenning fárbrigðir hræs ‘drawer of the enemy of the corpse, drawer of the sword’.
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2. við (prep.): with, against
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hirða (verb): hide, care for < hirðiáss (noun m.)
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2. Áss (noun m.; °áss, dat. ási/ás; ásar): god < hirðiáss (noun m.)
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haf (noun n.; °-s; *-): sea < hafleygr (noun m.): ocean-flame
[8] hafleygjar: ‘[...]fle[...]iar’ all
[8] hafleygjar ‘of the wave-flame [GOLD]’: Sveinbjörn Egilsson (note to 444ˣ) suggests reconstruction to hafleygjar, and this has been adopted by all subsequent eds.
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haf (noun n.; °-s; *-): sea < hafleygr (noun m.): ocean-flame
[8] hafleygjar: ‘[...]fle[...]iar’ all
[8] hafleygjar ‘of the wave-flame [GOLD]’: Sveinbjörn Egilsson (note to 444ˣ) suggests reconstruction to hafleygjar, and this has been adopted by all subsequent eds.
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1. leygr (noun m.): flame < hafleygr (noun m.): ocean-flame
[8] hafleygjar: ‘[...]fle[...]iar’ all
[8] hafleygjar ‘of the wave-flame [GOLD]’: Sveinbjörn Egilsson (note to 444ˣ) suggests reconstruction to hafleygjar, and this has been adopted by all subsequent eds.
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1. leygr (noun m.): flame < hafleygr (noun m.): ocean-flame
[8] hafleygjar: ‘[...]fle[...]iar’ all
[8] hafleygjar ‘of the wave-flame [GOLD]’: Sveinbjörn Egilsson (note to 444ˣ) suggests reconstruction to hafleygjar, and this has been adopted by all subsequent eds.
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sik (pron.; °gen. sín, dat. sér): (refl. pron.)
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afla (verb; °-að-): to gain, earn, procure, acquire
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Út var einn, sá er veita |
Out in Constantinople there was a certain steerer of the swift steeds of the prow [SHIPS > SEAFARER], one who knew how to grant men wave-flame [GOLD]. The very distinguished spreader of the fire of Hlér <sea-god> [(lit. ‘fire-spreader of Hlér’) GOLD > GENEROUS MAN] succeeded in earning fame and glory for himself from the guardian-gods of the wave-flame [GOLD > GENEROUS MEN].
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