Roberta Frank (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Poems, Málsháttakvæði 13’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1228.
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2. afl (noun n.; °-s; *-): strength
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4. of (particle): (before verb)
[1] of: Correct use of the expletive particle (see Note to st. 10/5).
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2. deila (verb; °-ld-): share out, deal
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2. síðr (adv.): less, hardly
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2. við (prep.): with, against
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sjór (noun m.): sea
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Sǫrli (noun m.): Sǫrli
[2] Sǫrli: Unidentified hero (not the brother of Hamðir, cf. Bragi Rdr 5/5). Christiansen (1931, 413-16) suggests Seurlus, son of the king of Bergen in a Gaelic ballad, whose heart and ribs broke when he swam out to sea after his mermaid-lover.
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springa (verb): burst, spring apart
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af (prep.): from
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2. gildr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): valued at, worth
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1. þrá (noun f.): longing, yearning
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stundum (adv.): at times, sometimes
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þjóta (verb): roar
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í (prep.): in, into
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logn (noun n.; °-s; -): calm
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1. lá (noun f.; °; -r): surf
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lítill (adj.; °lítinn): little
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3. verja (verb): defend
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4. at (conj.): that
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ráða (verb): advise, rule, interpret, decide
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3. fár (adj.; °compar. fǽrri/fárri(Mág² 11), superl. fǽstr): few
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2. margr (adj.; °-an): many
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2. þykkja (verb): seem, think
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fullgóðr (adj.): [good enough]
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fé (noun n.; °fjár/féar; -): cattle, money
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frænuskammr (adj.): [short sharpness]
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
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2. inn (art.): the
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deigr (adj.): soft
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lé (noun m.; °ljá; ljár): [scythe]
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kvæði (noun n.; °-s; -): poem
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skulu (verb): shall, should, must
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með (prep.): with
[7] með kynjum ‘really strange’: Lit. ‘with portents, wonders’, i.e. ‘remarkable, odd, peculiar’. This phrase must refer to the non-traditional content of the poem.
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2. kyn (noun n.; °; -): wonder
[7] með kynjum ‘really strange’: Lit. ‘with portents, wonders’, i.e. ‘remarkable, odd, peculiar’. This phrase must refer to the non-traditional content of the poem.
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allr (adj.): all
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konungr (noun m.; °dat. -i, -s; -ar): king
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morginn (noun m.; °morgins, dat. morgni; morgnar): morning
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langr (adj.; °compar. lengri, superl. lengstr): long
[8] langr: ‘l[...]ngr’ R, langr RFJ
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3. á (prep.): on, at
[8] á valt ‘always’: Usually spelled as one word ávalt. The adv. alliterates on v- in Gamlkan Has 59/5VII, Anon Leið 34/5VII and Anon Nkt 14/5II, suggesting that whatever its true etymology (AEW: ávalt), by C12th it had been reinterpreted as á + valt. See also Note to st. 26/1.
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vallt (adv.): [never, always]
[8] á valt ‘always’: Usually spelled as one word ávalt. The adv. alliterates on v- in Gamlkan Has 59/5VII, Anon Leið 34/5VII and Anon Nkt 14/5II, suggesting that whatever its true etymology (AEW: ávalt), by C12th it had been reinterpreted as á + valt. See also Note to st. 26/1.
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
One contends least in strength with the sea; Sǫrli burst from great longing; at times the surf resounds in a calm; it hardly matters that I prevail but little. To many a man wealth seems good enough; of short sharpness is the soft scythe; the whole poem shall be really strange; a king’s morning is always long.
[3]: Cf. the portent in Orkneyinga saga (Orkn ch. 47, ÍF 34, 106): boði fell í logni ‘a breaker fell from a calm sea’. — [8]: Cf. Sigv Lv 11/3-4I langrs morginn konungs ‘long is the king’s morning’.
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