Þórarinn loftunga (Þloft)
11th century; volume 1; ed. Matthew Townend;
1. Hǫfuðlausn (Hfl) - 1
2. Tøgdrápa (Tøgdr) - 8
3. Glælognskviða (Glækv) - 10
Few biographical facts are known about Þórarinn loftunga ‘Praise-tongue’ (Þloft). In introducing Þórarinn’s service to King Knútr inn ríki Sveinsson (Cnut the Great), Snorri Sturluson (ÍF 27, 307; cf. ÓH 1941, I, 473) records in general terms that he was an Icelander and a great poet (skáld mikit) who had spent a great deal of time with kings and other chieftains. Knýtl (ÍF 35, 124) gives a similar portrait, and adds that Þórarinn was gamall ‘old’ when he first came to Knútr. However, all of Þórarinn’s extant poetry derives from his service to Knútr and his son Sveinn, and these are the only monarchs for whom Þórarinn is recorded as a poet in Skáldatal (SnE 1848-87, III, 258, 267). Þorm Lv 10/1-2 also refers to Knútr rewarding Þórarinn with gold over a long period (for the anecdote in which it is quoted see ÓHLeg 1982, 124-8; ÓH 1941, II, 799-804), and his pre-Knútr career must remain hypothetical. Parts of three poems are preserved: Hǫfuðlausn (Hfl) and Tøgdrápa (Tøgdr) for Knútr, and Glælognskviða (Glækv) for Sveinn, probably composed in this order, and between c. 1027 and 1034; for circumstances of composition and preservation see individual Introductions below. The evidence of the poems suggests that Þórarinn entered Knútr’s service in either England or Denmark, accompanied him on his journey to Norway in 1028, and after 1030 remained at Sveinn’s court in Norway at least until c. 1032. For previous discussions of Þórarinn’s career see LH I, 601-3, Malcolm (1993), and Townend (2005, 256-7).
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Glælognskviða —
Þloft GlækvI
Matthew Townend 2012, ‘(Introduction to) Þórarinn loftunga, Glælognskviða’ 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. 863.
stanzas: 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
for reference only: 10x
Skj: Þórarinn loftunga: 3. Glælognskviða, 1032 (AI, 324-7, BI, 300-1)
SkP info: I, 875 | |
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| 9 — Þloft Glækv 9I
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Cite as: Matthew Townend (ed.) 2012, ‘Þórarinn loftunga, Glælognskviða 9’ 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. 875.
context: See Context to st. 2 above.
notes: In Skj and Skald, ll. 1-8 are printed as st. 9 and ll. 9-12 as st. 10, but the twelve lines are very tightly linked syntactically, with ll. 9-12 forming a subordinate clause dependent on ll. 1-2, 4, while ll. 5-8 form an independent main clause, as does l. 3. The collective evidence of the mss is equivocal in terms of stanza divisions, and in 39 and E, ll. 9-12 occur between ll. 1-4 and 5-8, while in 325V ll. 5-8 are omitted. — [11] bóka máls ‘of the language of books [LATIN]’: ON bók ‘book’ is a semantic loan from OE, and a development from an earlier meaning ‘textile, tapestry’, recorded in eddic verse (see LP, AEW: bók; Fischer 1909, 1). Though mál bóka may simply mean ‘the language of books, learned language’, the language of books, especially in early C11th Scandinavia, is specifically the Lat. language (compare OE bōclǣden ‘book-language, Latin’ and later ON bókmál ‘book-language, learned language, Latin’; see ONP: bókmál). This phrase thus supplies the first extant skaldic reference to both Lat. and books, and indicates that the poem’s genesis was in an at least partly ecclesiastical milieu.
texts: ‹Flat 645›,
‹ÓH 184 (180)›,
‹ÓHHkr 173 (II 173)›,
‹Hkr 374 (II 173)› editions: Skj Þórarinn loftunga: 3. Glælognskviða 9 (AI, 327; BI, 301); Skald I, 153, NN §2017; Hkr 1893-1901, II, 521, IV, 175-6, ÍF 27, 408-9 (ÓHHkr ch. 245), E 1916, 3; ÓH 1941, I, 604 (ch. 245), Flat 1860-8, II, 377; Magerøy 1948, 16, 17-18, 30-6.
sources
| AM 36 folx (Kx) |
487v, 7 - 487v, 14 |
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| AM 39 fol (39) |
11rb, 5 - 11rb, 6 |
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| AM 47 fol (E) |
2r, 1 - 2r, 2 |
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| Holm perg 2 4° (Holm2) |
71v, 40 - 72r, 1 |
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| AM 325 VI 4° (325VI) |
39vb, 14 - 39vb, 16 |
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| AM 321 4°x (321x) |
273, 20 - 273, 21 |
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| AM 61 fol (61) |
128vb, 18 - 128vb, 19 |
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| AM 325 V 4° (325V) |
86rb, 14 - 86rb, 15 [1-4, 9-12] |
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| AM 325 VII 4° (325VII) |
40r, 8 - 40r, 9 |
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| AM 325 XI 2 n 4° (325XI 2 n) |
1r, 5 - 1r, 6 |
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| Holm perg 1 fol (Bb) |
203va - 203va |
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| GKS 1005 fol (Flat) |
127va, 12 - 127va, 14 |
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| GKS 1008 fol (Tóm) |
159r, 39 - 159r, 39 |
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| Thott 972 folx (972x) |
566va, 4 - 566va, 11 |
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| AM 73 a folx (73ax) |
210r, 24 - 210r, 24 |
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