Cookies on our website

We use cookies on this website, mainly to provide a secure browsing experience but also to collect statistics on how the website is used. You can find out more about the cookies we set, the information we store and how we use it on the cookies page.

Continue

skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

Menu Search

Note to Anon Óldr 9I

[5, 8] lét trúu boðna ǫldum ‘had the faith proclaimed to men’: Óláfr Christianized the coastal area of Norway between 996 and 999 as well as Iceland and Greenland (Jón Viðar Sigurðsson 1993, 446). Bb’s ‘lęt’ seems to be a slip for lét ‘let, caused’ (so Skj B; Skald), other instances of which in Óldr are spelt ‘lét’ (sts 12/5, 13/5, 21/5) or ‘let’ (16/1, 16/5). Since ‘ę’ in Bb normally represents normalised <æ> or <œ>, ‘lęt’ could be read as læt and emended to pres. tense lætr ‘lets, causes’. A pres. historic here would be supported by pres.-tense references to Óláfr’s missionary efforts in st. 14/5, 8, which presumably suggest their lasting benefit. However, the clear uses of pret. lét in sts 12/5 and 13/5 also relate to the Conversion, and pret. is the prevailing narrative tense of the poem.

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. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
  4. Jón Viðar Sigurðsson. 1993. ‘Óláfr Tryggvason’. In MedS, 446-7.

Close

Log in

This service is only available to members of the relevant projects, and to purchasers of the skaldic volumes published by Brepols.
This service uses cookies. By logging in you agree to the use of cookies on your browser.

Close