Þorbjǫrn hornklofi (Þhorn)
9th century; volume 1; ed. R. D. Fulk;
1. Glymdrápa (Gldr) - 10
2. Haraldskvæði (Hrafnsmál) (Harkv) - 23
3. Lausavísa (Lv) - 1
Little is known about the Norwegian Þorbjǫrn hornklofi ‘Horn-cleaver (?)’. Skáldatal (SnE 1848-87, III, 253, 261, 273) names him as a poet of Haraldr hárfagri ‘Fair-hair’ (r. c. 860-c. 932). Judging from Fsk (ÍF 29, 59), he seems to have spent his whole life at the court of this king. Þorbjǫrn is the composer of two poems about Haraldr, Glymdrápa (Þhorn Gldr) and Haraldskvæði (Þhorn Harkv). Skálda saga, an anecdote about skalds preserved in Hb, and hardly likely to be historical, depicts him as one of three skalds, the other two being Auðunn illskælda ‘Bad-poet’ and Ǫlvir hnúfa ‘Snub-nose (?)’, each of whom attempts a romantic encounter with the same rich widow and then bemoans his failure in a lausavísa (see Auðunn Lv 2, Þhorn Lv, Ǫlv Lv 2). The three skalds are also named in Egils saga (ÍF 2, 19) as Haraldr’s favourites. They occupy places of honour in his hall, with Þorbjǫrn between the other two.
In the prose sources Þorbjǫrn is predominantly referred to only by his nickname Hornklofi. To date there is no satisfying explanation of this word. It is attested in the Þulur as a raven-heiti (see Þul Hrafns 1/5III and Note), but it does not occur in that sense in the surviving body of skaldic poetry. Scholars have claimed that the nickname refers to Þorbjǫrn’s device, in Þhorn Harkv, of having a raven speak in his stead (SnE 1848-87, III, 408; ÍF 26, 101 n. 1). Fidjestøl (1991, 126) is, however, justified in doubting this interpretation. An alternative possibility would be to link the nickname to Egill Hfl 16/6-7V (Eg 49): en jǫfurr heldr lǫndum hornklofi ‘and the ruler holds his lands by a hornklof’. But hornklofi here must be the dative of neuter hornklof, whereas Þorbjǫrn’s nickname is a masculine n-stem, and unfortunately the meaning of this passage is obscure, though hornklof seems to be some kind of tool.
notes my abbr.
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Glymdrápa —
Þhorn GldrI
Edith Marold with the assistance of Vivian Busch, Jana Krüger, Ann-Dörte Kyas and Katharina Seidel, translated from German by John Foulks 2012, ‘ Þorbjǫrn hornklofi, Glymdrápa’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 73. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1435> (accessed 7 July 2022)
stanzas: 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
for reference only: 4x
Skj: Þórbjǫrn hornklofi: 1. Glymdrápa (AI, 22-4, BI, 20-1); stanzas (if different): 3, 4/1-4 |
4/5-8
SkP info: I, 81 |
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Cite as: Edith Marold (ed.) 2012, ‘Þorbjǫrn hornklofi, Glymdrápa 3’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 81. Hrjóðr lét hæstrar tíðar
harðráðr skipa bǫrðum
bôru fáks ins bleika
barnungr á lǫg þrungit,
þar svát barsk at borði
(borðhǫlkvi rak norðan)
hlífar valdr til hildar
(hregg) dǫglinga tveggja. | {Harðráðr hrjóðr {ins bleika fáks bôru}} lét barnungr hæstrar tíðar þrungit bǫrðum skipa á lǫg, svát {valdr hlífar} barsk þar at borði til hildar tveggja dǫglinga; hregg rak {borðhǫlkvi} norðan. {The hard-ruling clearer {of the pale horse of the wave}} [SHIP > SEA-WARRIOR = Haraldr], [when] child-young, had ships’ prows put out to sea at the best time, so that {the owner of the shield} [WARRIOR = Haraldr] travelled on board there into battle against two rulers; the storm drove {the plank-horse} [SHIP] from the north.
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texts: ‹Fsk 23›,
‹HarHárf 5›,
Hkr›,
‹Skm 258 [1-4]›,
‹Flat 399›,
‹SnE 260 [1-4]› editions: Skj Þórbjǫrn hornklofi: 1. Glymdrápa 3, 4/1-4 (AI, 22; BI, 20); Skald I, 13, NN §§232, 1020, 1916A, 2212; Hkr 1893-1901, I, 109, IV, 30-1, ÍF 26, 103, Hkr 1991, 63 (HHárf ch. 10), F 1871, 42; Fsk 1902-3, 18 (ch. 2), ÍF 29, 69 (ch. 3); Fms 10, 186-7, Fms 12, 224-5, Flat 1860-8, I, 572 (HarHárf); SnE 1848-87, I, 440-1, II, 331, 442, SnE 1931, 156, SnE 1998, I, 74.
sources
AM 35 folx (Kx) |
55r, 8 - 55r, 11 [5-8] |
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AM 45 fol (F) |
9v, 21 - 9v, 22 [5-8] |
(Hkr) |
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AM 37 folx (J1x) |
29v, 22 - 30r, 2 [5-8] |
(Hkr) |
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AM 38 folx (J2x) |
31r, 29 - 31v, 2 [5-8] |
(Hkr) |
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OsloUB 371 folx (FskBx) |
6r, 8 - 6r, 15 |
(Fsk) |
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AM 51 folx (51x) |
5r, 4 - 5r, 11 |
(Fsk) |
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AM 302 4°x (302x) |
8r, 16 - 8r, 23 |
(Fsk) |
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AM 303 4°x (FskAx) |
17, 16 - 17, 23 |
(Fsk) |
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AM 52 folx (52x) |
7v, 10 - 7v, 17 |
(Fsk) |
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AM 301 4°x (301x) |
6r, 6 - 6r, 10 |
(Fsk) |
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GKS 1005 fol (Flat) |
76va, 57 - 76va, 60 |
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GKS 2367 4° (R) |
35r, 11 - 35r, 12 [1-4] |
(SnE) |
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Traj 1374x (Tx) |
36v, 9 - 36v, 9 [1-4] |
(SnE) |
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AM 242 fol (W) |
79, 32 - 80, 1 [1-4] |
(SnE) |
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DG 11 (U) |
33v, 25 - 33v, 26 [1-4] |
(SnE) |
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AM 748 I b 4° (A) |
11v, 32 - 11v, 33 [1-4] |
(SnE) |
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AM 761 a 4°x (761ax*) |
19v, 17 - 19v, 20 [1-4] |
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AM 761 a 4°x (761ax*) |
20v - 20v [4-8] |
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