Cite as: Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 47’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1156.

Seimþverrir gefr seima seimǫrr liði beima; hringmildan spyrk hringum hringskemmi brott þinga.

Baugstøkkvir fremr baugum bauggrimmr hjarar drauga; viðr gullbroti gulli gullhættr skaða fullan.

{Seimǫrr seimþverrir} gefr liði beima seima; spyrk {hringmildan hringskemmi} þinga brott hringum. {Bauggrimmr baugstøkkvir} fremr {drauga hjarar} baugum; {gullhættr gullbroti} viðr gulli fullan skaða.

{The gold-generous gold-diminisher} [GENEROUS MAN] gives gold to the host of men; I hear that {the ring-liberal ring-shortener} [GENEROUS MAN] pledges away rings. {The bracelet-grim bracelet-flinger} [GENEROUS MAN] promotes {tree-trunks of the sword} [WARRIORS] with bracelets; {the gold-threatening gold-breaker} [GENEROUS MAN] does full damage to the gold.

Mss: R(49v), Tˣ(51v), W(145-146), U(54r) (SnE)

Readings: [2] ‑ǫrr: ‘‑err’ U    [3] ‑mildan: ‑mildum W    [4] ‑skemmi: ‑kenning U;    brott þinga: brotninga W    [6] drauga: so W, U, draug R, draugar Tˣ    [7] viðr: vinnr U    [8] ‑hættr: ‑heitr U

Editions: Skj: Snorri Sturluson, 2. Háttatal 47: AII, 65, BII, 74, Skald II, 41, NN §2180; SnE 1848-87, I, 660-1, II, 392, III, 123, SnE 1879-81, I, 8, 79, II, 19, SnE 1931, 236, SnE 2007, 22; Konráð Gíslason 1895-7, I, 28.

Context: The dróttkvætt variant is iðurmælt ‘repeatedly spoken’. Each odd line contains aðalhendingar falling on the alliterating syllables (as in st. 46 above), and the same rhymes extend to the following even line, with the first hending falling on the first, alliterating syllable in position 1.

Notes: [All]: The heading in Tˣ is 39. — [All]: For this metre, see also RvHbreiðm Hl 57-8, as well as SnE 2007, 80-1. — [4] þinga ‘pledges’: Lit. ‘pledge’ (inf.). Altered in R to stinga ‘stab, thrust’ (R*). — [6] -grimmr ‘-grim’: Originally ‘-grimr’ in R, and later altered to ‘-grimmr’ (R*). — [6] drauga (m. acc. pl.) ‘tree-trunks’: So W, U. Ms. R has draug (m. acc. sg.), which has been altered to draugum (dat. pl.; R*). The latter makes no sense syntactically, and the sg. form (draug) is unmetrical (the metre requires a long-stemmed disyllabic word in the cadence).