Cookies on our website

We use cookies on this website, mainly to provide a secure browsing experience but also to collect statistics on how the website is used. You can find out more about the cookies we set, the information we store and how we use it on the cookies page.

Continue

skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

Menu Search

Note to SnSt Ht 84III

[5-8]: The syntax of the last helmingr is difficult, because hinn es metr mál ‘the one who judges lawsuits’ (l. 5) is a dependent clause. Following SnE 1848-87, Konráð Gíslason (1895-7) and Skj B (and SnE 2007) take hinn with milding ‘lord’ (l. 6) and read sízt getr milding, hinn’s môl metr, þann es setr … translated as ikke gives der en fyrste, som vurderer sager, der således behandler … ‘there does not exist a lord, who judges cases, who thus treats …’. However, it is unprecedented for a rel. clause to precede the antecedent at the beginning of a helmingr. Kock (NN §2188) treats the clause hinn es mál metr as an independent clause ‘the one who appraises the cases’ i.e. ‘if one looks at the matter right’ (ser man rätt på saken), but his examples from Middle English, Middle High German and Middle Low German are unconvincing. Because the stanza consists of a series of run-on clauses, it seems preferable to regard l. 5 as an extension of the previous helmingr, i.e. fylkir leader’ (l. 4) is the antecedent of hinn es ‘the one who’ (for comparable constructions in kviðuháttr, see Gade 2005).

References

  1. Bibliography
  2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
  3. SnE 1848-87 = Snorri Sturluson. 1848-87. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar: Edda Snorronis Sturlaei. Ed. Jón Sigurðsson et al. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Legatum Arnamagnaeanum. Rpt. Osnabrück: Zeller, 1966.
  4. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
  5. Gade, Kari Ellen. 2005. ‘The Syntax of Old Norse kviðuháttr Meter’. Journal of Germanic Linguistics 17, 155-81.
  6. Konráð Gíslason. 1895-7. Efterladte skrifter. 2 vols. I: Forelæsninger over oldnordiske skjaldekvad. II: Forelæsninger og videnskablige afhandlinger. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
  7. SnE 2007 = Snorri Sturluson. 2007. Edda: Háttatal. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.

Close

Log in

This service is only available to members of the relevant projects, and to purchasers of the skaldic volumes published by Brepols.
This service uses cookies. By logging in you agree to the use of cookies on your browser.

Close