Edith Marold (ed.) 2017, ‘Bjarni ...ason, Fragments 2’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 22.
The helmingr (Bjarni Frag 2) is recorded in ms. W (main ms. for this stanza) of SnE and in LaufE (mss 2368ˣ, 743ˣ). It was copied from a LaufE Y ms. in RE 1665(Ff3), but that version has no independent value and has not been used in the present edition. The fragment consists of a dependent clause introduced by svát ‘so that’ and is therefore likely to be the second half of a stanza. It could be part of a description of a battle.
Svát ýdróttum ôttu
éls rekninga þélar
rams af reikar himni
rauð svǫrf ofan gnauða.
Svát {rauð svǫrf {þélar {rams éls rekninga}}} ôttu gnauða ofan af {himni reikar} {ýdróttum}.
‘So that the red shavings of the file of the strong storm of swords [BATTLE > SWORD > BLOOD] rattled down from the sky of the hair-parting [HEAD] of bow-troops [WARRIORS]. ’
The helmingr is cited in the same section as Frag 1 above, illustrating kennings for ‘head’.
Text is based on reconstruction from the base text and variant apparatus and may contain alternative spellings and other normalisations not visible in the manuscript text. Transcriptions may not have been checked and should not be cited.
Svát ýdróttum ôttu
éls †rekuga† þélar
rams af reikar himni
rauð svǫrf ofan gnauða.
Svát ýdróttum ôttu
éls †rekuga† þélar
rams af reikar himni
rauð svǫrf ofan gnauða.
Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.
The text and translation are given here, with buttons to toggle whether the text is shown in the verse order or prose word order. Clicking on indiviudal words gives dictionary links, variant readings, kennings and notes, where relevant.
This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.
This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.