Tindr Hákdr 7I/4 — nafni ‘the namesake’
Saddi jarl, þars odda
ofþing saman gingu,
(vann Hanga vals hungri)
hrafna (byrgis nafni).
Morðskýja* varð mávi
Mistar gótt til vista
heiðins dóms at háða
hríð við markar síðu.
Jarl saddi hrafna, þars ofþing odda gingu saman; nafni byrgis vann hungri vals Hanga. Varð gótt til vista mávi Mistar við síðu markar heiðins dóms at háða hríð morðskýja*.
The jarl sated the ravens, where the mighty assemblies of barbs [BATTLES] came together; the namesake of the protector [= Hákon] overcame the hunger of the falcon of Hangi <= Óðinn> [RAVEN]. It became good for provisions for the seagull of Mist <valkyrie> [RAVEN/EAGLE] by the coast of the forest of heathendom [NORWAY] after the storm of killing-clouds [SHIELDS > BATTLE] [was] waged.
notes
[4] nafni byrgis ‘the namesake of the protector [= Hákon]’: Although the referent is unmistakable, the working of the allusion remains obscure. The noun nafni ‘namesake’ can be used to denote a person who shares a given name with another well-known figure, as with the two kings Óláfr (Sigv Berv 6/8II). In one instance the clue is instead given by the gen. of a nickname accompanying nafni: Hildr Lv 1/1 nafni Nefju ‘[Hrólfr], namesake of [Hrólfr] Nefja’. A relevant Byrgi(r) (whether given name or nickname) has yet to be identified, but if byrgi(r) is a nickname or common noun it is likely to mean ‘protector, protection, defence’ (cf. borg f. and byrgi n., both ‘fortress, stronghold’, and byrgja ‘to enclose’). Meanwhile, the most likely namesake for Hákon jarl would be his C10th predecessor King Hákon góði, and since heiðinn dómr ‘heathendom’ is pointedly referred to in l. 7 (see Note below), it is possible that the allusion is to Hákon (indeed both Hákons) as a protector of the ancestral religion (cf. ‘Ruler biographies’ in Introduction to this volume). Finnur Jónsson (1886b, 342; Skj B) proposed emendation to fylkis ‘of the leader, ruler’; a nafni fylkis would in his analysis be a jarl, i.e. Hákon, but this diverges from the skaldic usage of nafni noted above.
kennings
- nafni byrgis — the namesake of the protector [= Hákon]
grammar
case: nom.