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Kálfr Hallsson (Kálf)

14th century; volume 7; ed. Kirsten Wolf;

Kátrínardrápa (Kátr) - 51

The name of the poet of Kátrínardrápa can be deduced from sts 1, 49 and 51 as Kálfr Hallsson (Kálfr would have been Kálfur in C14th). In st. 1/8 he describes himself as ‘the son of Hallur’ (arfi Halls) and at the end of the poem gives his name in both Icelandic (Kálfr [= ‘calf’] 49/1) and Lat. (Vitulus [= Kálfur] 51/3) and says he is now a monk (frater, st. 51/4). The implication of sts 45-51 is that Kálfr had previously led a sinful secular life, but this may be stereotypical self-deprecation. The Lat. phrase Vítulus vátes ‘the poet Kálfr’ by which the poet refers to himself in st. 51/3-4 also appears in Völsungs rímur hins óborna and this has led some scholars to propose that Kálfr Hallsson was the author of both poems (see Note to st. 51). Nothing is known of Kálfr’s monastic affiliation nor his precise dates, though the mid-C14th seems a likely floruit (Vésteinn Ólason 1993, 316).

Kátrínardrápa (‘Drápa about S. Catherine’) — Kálf KátrVII

Kirsten Wolf 2007, ‘ Kálfr Hallsson, Kátrínardrápa’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 931-64. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1019> (accessed 4 July 2022)

stanzas:  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51 

Skj: [Anonyme digte og vers XIV]: [B. 11]. Katrínar drápa (AII, 516-26, BII, 569-82)

SkP info: VII, 957

old edition introduction edition manuscripts transcriptions concordance search files

41 — Kálf Kátr 41VII

edition interactive full text transcriptions old edition references concordance

 

Cite as: Kirsten Wolf (ed.) 2007, ‘Kálfr Hallsson, Kátrínardrápa 41’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 957.

Porphíríum fyr píslir stórar
prýddan vann og tvenn hundrað manna;
giet eg þess víst, að gumnar hljóti
göfuglig laun af sólar jöfri.		 Ljúfri bauð enn lestir hlífa
lofðungs ambátt himintungla,
auð og fold að eignaz skyldi,
eitri líkr, en drotning heita.

Porphíríum og tvenn hundrað manna vann prýddan fyr stórar píslir; eg giet þess, að gumnar hljóti víst göfuglig laun af {jöfri sólar}. {Lestir hlífa}, líkr eitri, bauð enn {ljúfri ambátt {lofðungs himintungla}}, að skyldi eignaz auð og fold en heita drotning.

Porphyry and two hundred men achieved honour for their great torments; I expect that the men will surely receive a generous reward from {the king of the sun} [= God]. {The destroyer of defences} [WARRIOR], like poison, again offered {the beloved handmaid {of the king of heavenly bodies}} [= God > HOLY WOMAN] that she would receive wealth and land and be called queen.

Mss: 713(133), 399a-bˣ(22), 920ˣ(218r)

Readings: [1] Porphíríum: so 399a‑bˣ, 920ˣ, ‘Forphirium’ 713    [2] prýddan: so 399a‑bˣ, 920ˣ, ‘pr[...]ddan’ 713    [3] þess: added in margin 713, om. 399a‑bˣ, 920ˣ    [6] ambátt himintungla: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘a[...] himenn tungl[...]’ 713, om. 920ˣ    [7] auð (‘au(ð)’): so 399a‑bˣ, ‘[...]’ 713, om. 920ˣ    [8] drotning: so 399a‑bˣ, 920ˣ, ‘drot[...]’ 713;    heita: so 399a‑bˣ, 920ˣ, ‘h[...]’ 713

Editions: Skj: [Anonyme digte og vers XIV], [B. 11]. Katrínar drápa 41: AII, 524, BII, 579, Skald II, 319, NN §2963, Kahle 1898, 75-6, 108, Sperber 1911, 52, 82.

Notes: [All]: Between sts 41-5, 713 is defective because p. 133 has a tear running more or less vertically for about half its length. — [1-2] Porphíríum og tvenn hundrað manna vann prýddan ‘Porphyry and two hundred men achieved honour’: On this impersonal use of vinna, see Fritzner: vinna 7. — [8] líkr eitri ‘like poison’: Nothing quite comparable in the prose text (Unger 1877, I, 420; Wolf 2003, 34); the poet presumably implies that Maxentius reverts again and again to the only means of persuasion he knows, the offer of marriage and secular power, which is anathema to the bride of Christ. — [8] heita (inf.) ‘be called’: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) and Kock (Skald) emend to heiti ‘title’ for heita ‘be called’, which alters the meaning of the phrase eignaz skyldi ... drotning heiti to ‘would receive ... the title of queen’.

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Runic data from Samnordisk runtextdatabas, Uppsala universitet, unless otherwise stated