Note to Anon Líkn 34VII
[6, 8] lundr styrjar hræskóðs ‘tree of corpse-scathe’s tumult [BATTLE > WEAPON > WARRIOR]’: The weapon-kenning hraeskóð (not so much something that harms corpses but a scathe that makes corpses of men) occurs also in the primary ms. of Hfr Óldr 4/2I, with a variant reading hjálmskóð ‘helmet-scathe’, which Skj B accepts for Hfr while allowing hræskóð to stand in Líkn. Perhaps extrapolating from the variant in Hfr, Skald emends Líkn also to hjálmskóð, overturning the evidence of primary mss of two different poems. (Cf. analogous valskóð ‘slaughter scathe’ in GOdds Lv 4/2IV.) The conflation of ‘tumult’ (styrr) and ‘tree’ (lundr) recalls the imagery of ‘din-trees’ (gnýviðir) in 16/7.
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.
- Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
- Internal references
- George S. Tate 2007, ‘ Anonymous, Líknarbraut’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 228-86. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1024> (accessed 25 April 2024)
- Not published: do not cite (GOdds Lv 4IV)
- Diana Whaley (ed.) 2012, ‘Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld Óttarsson, Óláfsdrápa 4’ 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. 395.