Anon Krm 25VIII
Rory McTurk (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Poems, Krákumál 25’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 767.
text and translation
Hjuggu vér með hjörvi.
Hitt lægir mik jafnan,
at Baldrs föður bekki
búna veit ek at sumblum.
Drekkum bjór af bragði
ór bjúgviðum hausa;
sýtir ei drengr við dauða
dýrs at Fjölnis húsum.
Eigi kem ek með æðru
orð til Viðris hallar.
Hjuggu vér með hjörvi. Hitt lægir mik jafnan, at ek veit bekki {föður Baldrs} búna at sumblum. Drekkum bjór af bragði ór {bjúgviðum hausa}; drengr sýtir ei við dauða at {húsum dýrs Fjölnis}. Ek kem eigi með orð æðru til {hallar Viðris}.
‘We hewed with the sword. It always makes me laugh to know that the benches of the father of Baldr <god> [= Óðinn] are prepared for banquets. We’ll soon be drinking beer out of the curved trees of skulls [DRINKING HORNS]; a fellow does not regret death in the dwellings of glorious Fjǫlnir <= Óðinn> [= Valhǫll]. I do not come with words of fear to the hall of Viðrir <= Óðinn> [= Valhǫll]. ’
notes and context
[2-4]: The present ed. agrees with Kock (NN §2156) in taking the adv. jafnan ‘always’ (l. 2) together with lægir ‘makes (me) laugh’ in the same line. Kock rejects the construal of jafnan with the p. p. búna ‘prepared’ in l. 4 adopted by Finnur Jónsson (Skj B), seeing it as an example of the tendency in Skj B to present adverbials (not least jafnan) as qualifying verbs other than those which, as he sees it, they would most naturally be expected to qualify (cf. NN §§318, 331, 1178). — [3-4]: These two lines contain an acc. and inf. construction, with bekki ‘the benches’ as the acc. subject and the verb vera ‘be’ omitted, meaning lit. ‘I know the benches … [to be] prepared’. — [5-6]: The mistranslation (originating with Magnús Ólafsson) of l. 6 (see Introduction) as ex concavis crateribus craniorum ‘from the round bowls of skulls’ in Worm’s edn of 1636 (Worm 1636, 222-3), and the preposterous accompanying comment, also presumably by Magnús (Faulkes 1993a, 104-7): Sperabant Heroes se in aula Othini bibituros craniorum quos occiderant ‘The heroes expected that in Óðinn’s hall they would drink from the skulls of those they had slain’, left their unfortunate mark on many early translations of Krm, as shown in the Introduction.
readings
- [1] Hjuggu vér með hjörvi: abbrev. as ‘H. v. m. h.’ R702ˣ, (?) abbrev. as ‘Hi(’) v(’) m(’) h(’)’ 147, Hjuggum vér með hjörvi 6ˣ, LR, R693ˣ
- [2] Hitt lægir mik (‘hitt hlægir mig’): ‘hitt hl(æ)[…]’(?) 147
- [2] jafnan: ‘(afn)[…]’(?) 147, ‘iafnam’ LR
- [3] at: so 147, 6ˣ, þat R702ˣ, LR, R693ˣ
- [3] Baldrs: ‘balld[...]’ 147, ‘balldur’ LR
- [3] föður: ‘(f)odur’(?) 147, ‘fedur’ 6ˣ, ‘fódurz’ R693ˣ
- [3] bekki: ‘becke’ with caret between e and c indicating e written above the line R693ˣ
- [4] búna: ‘biuna’ 6ˣ
- [4] veit ek at sumblum: ‘v(ei)t eg […] sum[…]’(?) 147
- [5] Drekkum: ‘(d[…]kum)’(?) 147, ‘drekum’ LR
- [5] bjór: ‘(bi[…]r)’(?) 147
- [5] af: ‘(at)’(?) 147, at 6ˣ, LR, R693ˣ
- [6] ór bjúgviðum hausa: ‘o(r) b[…]guidum hausa’(?) 147
- [7] sýtir ei drengr við dauða: ‘syti (eigi drengur) f(yrir) dauda’(?) 147
- [8] Fjölnis: ‘(f)ioln(is)’(?) 147, ‘feolins’ LR, ‘fiolius’ or ‘fiolins’ R693ˣ
- [8] húsum: ‘h[…] sum’ 147
- [9] Eigi kem ek: so 6ˣ, ei kem ek R702ˣ, LR, R693ˣ, ‘eigi ke[...] eg’ 147
- [9] með æðru: so 6ˣ, LR, R693ˣ, ‘med +’ with ‘+ædru’ in margin indicated by cross above line R702ˣ, ‘med (æ)dru’(?) 147
- [10] orð til Viðris: ‘ord til vid[...]’ 147
- [10] hallar: so all others, hallar with ‘alias borda’ in margin 6ˣ
sources
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.
-
UppsUB R 702x (R702x) — 31v - 31v
.
images
Hitt lægir mik jafnan,
þat Baldrs föður bekki
búna veit ek at sumblum.
Drekkum bjór af bragði
ór bjúgviðum hausa;
sýtir ei drengr við dauða
dýrs at Fjölnis húsum.
ei kem ek †med +†
orð til Viðris hallar. -
AM 147 4° (147) — 103r - 103r
.
images
†hitt hl(æ)[…]† †(afn)[…]†,
at †balld[...] (f)odur† bekki
búna †v(ei)t eg […] sum[…]† .
†(d[…]kum) (bi[…]r) (at)† bragði
†o(r) b[…]guidum hausa† ;
†syti (eigi drengur) f(yrir) dauda†
dýrs at †(f)ioln(is) h[…] sum†.
†eigi ke[...] eg† †med (æ)dru†
†ord til vid[...]† hallar. -
AM 6 folx (6x) — 91r/1 - 91r/10
Hjuggum vér með hjörvi .
images
Hitt lægir mik jafnan,
at Baldrs †fedur† bekki
†biuna† veit ek at sumblum.
Drekkum bjór at bragði
ór bjúgviðum hausa;
sýtir ei drengr við dauða
dýrs at Fjölnis húsum.
Eigi kem ek með æðru
orð til Viðris hallar. -
Worm 1636 (LR) — 222 - 223
Hjuggum vér með hjörvi .
images
Hitt lægir mik †iafnam†,
þat †balldur† föður bekki
búna veit ek at sumblum.
†drekum† bjór at bragði
ór bjúgviðum hausa;
sýtir ei drengr við dauða
dýrs at †feolins† húsum.
ei kem ek með æðru
orð til Viðris hallar. -
UppsUB R 693x (R693x) — 16v - 16v
Hjuggum vér með hjörvi .
Hitt lægir mik jafnan,
þat Baldrs †fódurz becke†
búna veit ek at sumblum.
Drekkum bjór at bragði
ór bjúgviðum hausa;
sýtir ei drengr við dauða
dýrs at †fiolius† húsum.
ei kem ek með æðru
orð til Viðris hallar.
editions and texts
Skj: Anonyme digte og vers [XII], H. Krákumál 25: AI, 648, BI, 655, Skald I, 320, NN §2156; Rafn 1826, 20-3, 144-7, Pfeiffer 1860, 127, CPB II, 344, Wisén 1886-9, I, 65, Krm 1891, 228, Finnur Jónsson 1893b, 90, Finnur Jónsson 1905, 156; Ragn 1906-8, 189.
Stanza/chapter/text segment
Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.
Information tab
- text: if the stanza has been published, the edited text of the stanza and translation are here; if it hasn't been published an old edition (usually Skj) is given for reference
- sources: a list of the manuscripts or inscriptions containing this stanza, with page and line references and links (eye button) to images where available, and transcription where available
- readings: a list of variant manuscript readings of words in the main text
- editions and texts: a list of editions of the stanza with links to the bibliography; and a list of prose works in which the stanza occurs, allowing you to navigate within the prose context
- notes and context: notes not linked to individual words are given here, along with the account of the prose context for the stanza, where relevant
Interactive tab
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.
Full text tab
This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.
Chapter/text segment
This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.