Note to Þjóð Yt 20I
[15] fyrstr ... frœknu ‘the first, valiantly’: Several interpretations have been suggested for this line. (a) Frœknu is taken here as an adverbial use of the n. dat. sg. adj. (so also NN §3202, ÍF 26 and Hkr 1991). (b) Frœknu has been viewed as an attributive adj. qualifying fjǫrvi, hence ‘courageous life’ (Säve 1854, 61; Hkr 1893-1901, IV; Skj B; Yt 1925; NN §1009A Anm.). However, this creates an enjambment from l. 14 to l. 15, leading to a split in l. 15 and thereby to a breach in the style of Yt (Åkerlund 1939, 109-10). (c) Because of this, Wadstein (1895a, 73-4) takes frœknu to be the dat. of an unattested noun frœkna ‘bravery’ and links it to fyrstr, hence ‘first in bravery’. Lindquist (1929, 69), Åkerlund (1939, 109-10) and Wessén (Yng 1952, 73) concur. But such a use of fyrstr is unattested; the word denotes only spatial or temporal sequence (cf. Fritzner: fyrri).
References
- Bibliography
- Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
- NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
- Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
- ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
- Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
- Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
- Lindquist, Ivar. 1929. Norröna lovkväden från 800 och 900 talen. I: Förslag till restituerad täxt jämte översättning. Lund: Gleerup.
- Wadstein, Elis. 1895a. ‘Bidrag till tolkning och belysning av skalde- ock Edda-dikter. I. Till tolkningen av Ynglingatal’. ANF 11, 64-92.
- Yt 1925 = Noreen, Adolf, ed. 1925. Ynglingatal: Text, översättning och kommentar. Stockholm: Lagerström.
- Säve, Carl. 1854. Snorre Sturlesons Ynglinga-Saga öfversatt och förklarad. Uppsala: Leffler.
- Åkerlund, Walter. 1939. Studier över Ynglingatal. Skrifta utgivna av Vetenskaps-Societeten i Lund 23. Lund: Gleerup.
- Yng 1952 = Wessén, Elias, ed. 1952. Snorri Sturluson: Ynglingasaga. Stockholm etc.: Svenska bokförlaget etc.
- Internal references
- Edith Marold with the assistance of Vivian Busch, Jana Krüger, Ann-Dörte Kyas and Katharina Seidel, translated from German by John Foulks 2012, ‘ Þjóðólfr ór Hvini, Ynglingatal’ 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. 3. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1440> (accessed 18 April 2024)