Note to StarkSt Vík 29VIII (Gautr 37)
[5-6] vanr hringa ok hróðrkvæða ‘lacking in rings and poems of praise’: The cpd hróðrkvæði ‘poem of praise’ is a hap. leg., although its two component elements are well attested. It is understood here as an example of the rhetorical figure hysteron proteron, in which that which should come last (rings as a reward for praise-poems) is put first, emphasising that Starkaðr neither has the opportunity to compose praise-poems nor to be rewarded for them. LP: hróðrkvæði, on the other hand, assumes the cpd refers to poetry or generally laudatory opinions expressed by others about Starkaðr, though this seems less likely given that Starkaðr’s poetic skills are attested in a number of Old Norse sources and in Saxo (cf. Clunies Ross 2006a). It is also possible that vanr hringa ok hróðrkvæða could refer to a general lack of courtly culture in the environment in which Starkaðr found himself.
References
- Bibliography
- LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
- Clunies Ross, Margaret. 2006a. ‘Poet into Myth: Starkaðr and Bragi’. Viking and Medieval Scandinavia 2, 31-44.