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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Eskál Lv 2aI/3 — við ‘onto’

Sœkjum jarl, þanns auka
ulfs verð þorir sverðum;
hlǫðum við borð á barða
baugskjǫldum Sigvalda.
Drepr eigi sá sveigir
sárlinns, es gram finnum,
— rǫnd berum út á andra
Endils — við mér hendi.

Sœkjum jarl, þanns þorir auka verð ulfs sverðum; hlǫðum baugskjǫldum við borð á barða Sigvalda. Sá sveigir sárlinns drepr eigi hendi við mér, es finnum gram; berum rǫnd út á andra Endils

Let us visit the jarl who dares to increase the wolf’s food [CORPSES] with swords; let us load shields with bosses onto the side of Sigvaldi’s ship. That wielder of the wound-snake [SWORD > WARRIOR] will not push me away with his hand, when we [I] visit the ruler; let us carry shields out aboard the skis of Endill <sea-king> [SHIPS]

readings

[3] við borð á: vér borð á 7, borðróinn M, borðum 453ˣ, 462ˣ

notes

[3]: Here M has the quite different skipum borðróinn barða ‘let us line (Sigvaldi’s) ship, rowed from the sides (with shields with bosses)’. Both versions are viable, as far as sense is concerned. M’s version is very similar to Bragi Þórr 4/1-2III Ok borðróins barða | brautar hringr inn ljóti ... ‘And the ugly ring of the road of the ship, rowed from the sides [SEA > = Miðgarðsormr] …’. The collocation of borðróinn ‘rowed from the side, side-rowed’ with barði ‘ship’ does not occur anywhere else in skaldic verse and both Lie (1952) and Olsen (1962a, 51-2) have considered Einarr (or whoever was responsible for the M text) deliberately echoed Bragi’s lines, Lie also comparing ll. 7-8 á andra Endils ‘on board the skis of Endill <sea-king> [SHIPS]’ with Bragi Þórr 2/3III á ǫndri Eynæfis ‘on the ski of Eynæfir <sea-king> [SHIP]’. Barði is frequently the name of a ship, rather than a common noun for ‘ship’, as it appears to be here (cf. Jesch 2001a, 136-7). Mss 453ˣ and 462ˣ have skiptum ‘let us divide, share out’, instead of M’s skipum ‘let us arrange, place in line’ (on the ship’s side).

grammar

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