Kate Heslop (ed.) 2012, ‘Anonymous Poems, Óláfs drápa Tryggvasonar 19’ 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. 1050.
Frægs stillis varð falla
ferð, en beitt vas sverðum;
endr kom brúnt á branda
blóð; varð autt um góðan.
Auk und jǫfri frœknum
Ormr hrauzk, en felt rauðu
Eireks hirð, áðr yrði
jarls ráð fyrir hjarli.
Ferð frægs stillis varð falla, en beitt vas sverðum; brúnt blóð kom endr á branda; varð autt um góðan. Ormr hrauzk auk und frœknum jǫfri, en hirð Eireks felt rauðu, áðr ráð jarls yrði fyrir hjarli.
The troop of the famous ruler [Óláfr] had to fall, but swords were wielded; brown blood again came onto blades; it became empty around the good man [Óláfr]. Ormr (‘Serpent’) was also cleared under the bold prince, but Eiríkr’s retinue were hooded with red, before the jarl’s rule extended over the land.
Mss: Bb(113ra)
Editions: Skj AI, 577, Skj BI, 572, Skald I, 277; Munch and Unger 1847, 122, 141, Gullberg 1875, 17, 35.
Notes: [4] varð autt ‘it became empty’: I.e. a space was cleared as Óláfr’s warriors fell. — [6] Ormr ‘(“Serpent”)’: Óláfr’s famous warship Ormr inn langi ‘the Long Serpent’, frequently named in contemporary poetry, as well as being the subject of word-play in st. 21/4 below, for example; see also Notes to Hfr ErfÓl 10/1, Hókr Eirfl 3/4. — [6] hrauzk ‘was ... cleared’: On the placing of the verb, see Introduction. — [6] felt rauðu ‘were hooded with red’: Or ‘put on red headgear’ (verb falda ‘to clothe the head’), a conventional circumlocution meaning ‘died in battle’ (LP: 2. falda). The image is one of blood streaming down from a head-wound.
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