Cite as: Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 25’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1131.

Rǫst gefr ǫðlingr jastar — ǫl virðik svá — firðum; þǫgn fellir brim bragna — bjórr forn es þat — horna. Máls kann mildingr heilsu — mjǫðr heitir svá — veita; strúgs kømr í val veiga — vín kallak þat — galli. Rǫst gefr ǫðlingr jastar — ǫl virðik svá — firðum; þǫgn fellir brim bragna — bjórr forn es þat — horna. Máls kann mildingr heilsu — mjǫðr heitir svá — veita; strúgs kømr í val veiga — vín kallak þat — galli. Ǫðlingr gefr firðum rǫst jastar; svá virðik ǫl; brim horna – þat es forn bjórr – fellir þǫgn bragna. Mildingr kann veita heilsu máls; mjǫðr heitir svá; galli strúgs – þat kallak vín – kømr í val veiga.

text prose order   The ruler gives men {the whirlpool of yeast}; [ALE] that I consider ale; {the surf of horns} – [BEER] that is ancient beer – removes people’s silence. The generous one provides {the cure of speech}; [MEAD] mead is called thus; {the destruction of dignity} – [WINE] that I call wine – joins the selection of strong drinks.

context: The dróttkvætt variant illustrated by this stanza is tilsagt ‘annotated’, in which the kennings in each couplet are explained in an embedded clause occupying positions 1-4 in the even lines.

notes: The headings are xviij. háttr ‘the eighteenth verse-form’ (Tˣ) and tilsagt (U(47r)). — This variant is also used in RvHbreiðm Hl 67-8. The syntactic pattern is otherwise not uncommon in dróttkvætt poetry, but the ‘annotations’ are usually not of an explanatory nature (cf. also SnE 2007, 79).

texts: ‹Ht 27›, ‹SnE 619›

editions: Skj Snorri Sturluson: 2. Háttatal 25 (AII, 59; BII, 67); Skald II, 38-9, NN §§1306, 2992B; SnE 1848-87, I, 634-7, II, 371, 385, III, 116, SnE 1879-81, I, 4, 77, II, 13, SnE 1931, 227, SnE 2007, 15; Konráð Gíslason 1895-7, I, 16-17.

sources

GKS 2367 4° (R)	47v, 30 - 47v, 33	(SnE)
Traj 1374x (Tx)	50r, 12 - 50r, 12	(SnE)
AM 242 fol (W)	143, 6 - 143, 8	(SnE)
DG 11 (U*)	47r, 13 - 47r, 13 [1-1]	(SnE)
DG 11 (U*)	52r, 1 - 52r, 4	(SnE)
AMAcc 18x (Acc18x)	213, 23 - 214, 1