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Lausavísur §

Edited by Diana Whaley

Logit ‘broken faith’

ljúga (verb): lie

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Baldr ‘The Baldr’

nom.

Baldr (noun m.): [Baldr, Baldur]

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Baldri ‘the Baldr’

dat.

Baldr (noun m.): [Baldr, Baldur]

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linns ‘of the snake’

linnr (noun m.): snake

[3-4] linns láðbrjótr ‘the breaker of the land of the snake [(lit. ‘snake’s land-breaker’) GOLD > GENEROUS MAN]’: This kenning is taken here, as by most eds, in apposition with the warrior-kenning built around Baldr. The main alternative, taken up in Fms 12, would be to read it as an apostrophe, presumably addressed to Haraldr.

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linns ‘of the snake’

linnr (noun m.): snake

[3-4] linns láðbrjótr ‘the breaker of the land of the snake [(lit. ‘snake’s land-breaker’) GOLD > GENEROUS MAN]’: This kenning is taken here, as by most eds, in apposition with the warrior-kenning built around Baldr. The main alternative, taken up in Fms 12, would be to read it as an apostrophe, presumably addressed to Haraldr.

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sás ‘who’

2. er (conj.): who, which, when

[3, 4] sás á land … ráða fyrir ‘who has a land … to rule over’: Á is 3rd pers. sg. pres. indic. of eiga ‘own, have to’, which in the latter sense takes an inf. with (or as here) without at (see LP: eiga 8).

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land ‘a land’

land (noun n.; °-s; *-): land

[3, 4] sás á land … ráða fyrir ‘who has a land … to rule over’: Á is 3rd pers. sg. pres. indic. of eiga ‘own, have to’, which in the latter sense takes an inf. with (or as here) without at (see LP: eiga 8).

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á ‘has’

2. eiga (verb; °á/eigr (præs. pl. 3. pers. eigu/eiga); átti, áttu; átt): own, have

[3, 4] sás á land … ráða fyrir ‘who has a land … to rule over’: Á is 3rd pers. sg. pres. indic. of eiga ‘own, have to’, which in the latter sense takes an inf. with (or as here) without at (see LP: eiga 8).

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sunnar ‘farther south’

sunnar (adv.): further south

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láð ‘of the land’

2. láð (noun n.): earth, land < láðbrjótr (noun m.)

[3-4] linns láðbrjótr ‘the breaker of the land of the snake [(lit. ‘snake’s land-breaker’) GOLD > GENEROUS MAN]’: This kenning is taken here, as by most eds, in apposition with the warrior-kenning built around Baldr. The main alternative, taken up in Fms 12, would be to read it as an apostrophe, presumably addressed to Haraldr.

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láð ‘of the land’

2. láð (noun n.): earth, land < láðbrjótr (noun m.)

[3-4] linns láðbrjótr ‘the breaker of the land of the snake [(lit. ‘snake’s land-breaker’) GOLD > GENEROUS MAN]’: This kenning is taken here, as by most eds, in apposition with the warrior-kenning built around Baldr. The main alternative, taken up in Fms 12, would be to read it as an apostrophe, presumably addressed to Haraldr.

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brjótr ‘the breaker’

nom.

brjótr (noun m.): breaker < láðbrjótr (noun m.)

[3-4] linns láðbrjótr ‘the breaker of the land of the snake [(lit. ‘snake’s land-breaker’) GOLD > GENEROUS MAN]’: This kenning is taken here, as by most eds, in apposition with the warrior-kenning built around Baldr. The main alternative, taken up in Fms 12, would be to read it as an apostrophe, presumably addressed to Haraldr.

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fyrir ‘over’

fyrir (prep.): for, before, because of

[3, 4] sás á land … ráða fyrir ‘who has a land … to rule over’: Á is 3rd pers. sg. pres. indic. of eiga ‘own, have to’, which in the latter sense takes an inf. with (or as here) without at (see LP: eiga 8).

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ráða ‘to rule’

ráða (verb): advise, rule, interpret, decide

[3, 4] sás á land … ráða fyrir ‘who has a land … to rule over’: Á is 3rd pers. sg. pres. indic. of eiga ‘own, have to’, which in the latter sense takes an inf. with (or as here) without at (see LP: eiga 8).

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Sjá ‘That’

1. sjá (pron.; °gen. þessa dat. þessum/þeima, acc. þenna; f. sjá/þessi; n. þetta, dat. þessu/þvísa; pl. þessir): this

[5] sjá ... mun ‘that, ... must be’: The Fsk readings point to sjá mun, which gives good sense, and is adopted here since FskBˣ is the main ms. for this st. The variant Þós sjá ‘And yet that’ (Mork, Flat) is also viable (and is adopted in Skj B and Skald) as is Þás sjá ‘Then that’ (H, Hr).

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mun ‘must be’

munu (verb): will, must

[5] sjá ... mun ‘that, ... must be’: The Fsk readings point to sjá mun, which gives good sense, and is adopted here since FskBˣ is the main ms. for this st. The variant Þós sjá ‘And yet that’ (Mork, Flat) is also viable (and is adopted in Skj B and Skald) as is Þás sjá ‘Then that’ (H, Hr).

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Njǫrðr ‘Njǫrðr’

nom.

Njǫrðr (noun m.): Njǫrðr

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norðr ‘in the north’

2. norðr (adv.): north

[6] norðr ‘in the north’: This could technically be an adj. ‘northern’ or adv. ‘in/towards the north’, and could qualify either the warrior-kenning Njǫrðr glymhríðar borða ‘Njǫrðr of the clashing storm of shields’ (ll. 5-6), or gramr ‘lord’ (l. 7). Since the warrior is already described as inn nørðri ‘the one further north’ (l. 5) it must refer to the gramr ‘lord’ (l. 7), and since this lord is addressed with the 2nd pers. sg. est ‘you are’ it is presumably Haraldr. Otherwise it might have been tempting to take (frœkn) norðr as ‘bold [if you go] north’, a jibe at Sveinn matching the point in the first helmingr that his rightful territory is farther south.

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hôla ‘vastly’

hála (adv.): vastly

[8] hôla ‘vastly’: The adv. is assumed here to modify fastmálari ok fremri ‘more true to your word and more outstanding’ (ll. 7-8). It is instead taken with frœkn ‘bold’ (l. 7) in Skj B, but this entails an awkward w. o., to which Kock objected in NN §870.

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Click/tap on words in the text for grammatical information and notes.
[Logit hefr Baldr at Baldri]
brynþings fetilstinga,
linns, sás land á sunnar,
láðbrjótr, fyrir ráða.
Sjá mun Njǫrðr inn nørðri
(norðr) glymhríðar borða
(gramr est frœkn) ok fremri
fastmálari hôla.

2Lausavísur4

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