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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Note to Sigv Frag 1III

[4] eigi in ‘not the’: (a) This seems likely to be the starting point for the various ms. readings. It yields the phrase eigi in smæstu ‘not the smallest’, hence by litotes, ‘far from minor’, i.e. ‘major (battles)’. See also Note to ll. 3-4. Elision is assumed in  eigi (i)n to avoid a superfluous syllable. (b) Faulkes prints engin (SnE 1998, I, 80) but points out (ibid., 204) that the form engin would not be expected before the C14th, and Finnur Jónsson (LP: 2. engi) states that engin here must certainly be read as engi en (= engi in) ‘none the’, ‘not the’. This also seems possible. Again, elision of engi (i)n must be assumed, and elision is presumably intended in Skj B’s eng en.

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. 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.
  4. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.

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