Note to Rv Lv 35^III

[2] óðflýtir ‘the poem-conveyer [POET]’: Óð- can be an intensifying prefix but is also a noun meaning ‘poem’. Flýtir is an agent noun formed from the weak verb flýta ‘hasten’, but also carries a range of meanings including ‘conveyor, deliverer’ (LP: flýtir). Here, ‘poem-conveyor’ is chosen for the translation since the intensifying prefix óð- is normally only found with adjectives. Even if it could be prefixed to a noun, it would seem to demand an object that is not expressed here. There is a possible parallel in the nominal cpd óðsemjandi ‘composer of poetry’ (Kálf Kátr 2/8^VII), though this depends on an emendation. The proposed translation is also consonant with Rǫgnvaldr’s express awareness of himself as a poet (cf. Rv Lv 1^II, 11^II, 29^II). An alternative explanation, according to Bibire (1988), is that ‘the óðflýtir “frenzied fleeter” of a horse is its rider who makes it gallop’, which is more consonant with the speaker’s wish to bridle the horse. Given the extent of word-play in this quatrain, it is possible that both meanings are to be understood.

References

1. Bibliography
2. 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.
3. Bibire, Paul. 1988. ‘The Poetry of Earl Rǫgnvaldr’s Court’. In Crawford 1988, 208-40.
4. Internal references
5. Kirsten Wolf (ed.) 2007, ‘Kálfr Hallsson, Kátrínardrápa 2’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 933.
6. Judith Jesch (ed.) 2009, ‘Rǫgnvaldr jarl Kali Kolsson, Lausavísur 1’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 576-7.