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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Anon (Styrb) 2I

Matthew Townend (ed.) 2012, ‘Anonymous Lausavísur, Lausavísur from Styrbjarnar þáttr Svíakappa 2’ 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. 1078.

Anonymous LausavísurLausavísur from Styrbjarnar þáttr Svíakappa
123

Eigi ‘not willing’

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3. eigi (adv.): not

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vildu ‘were’

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vilja (verb): want, intend

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Jótar ‘The Jótar’

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Jóti (noun m.; °; -ar): one of the Jótar

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reiða ‘to pay’

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2. reiða (verb): carry

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gjald ‘tribute’

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gjald (noun n.): payment, reward, return

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til ‘for’

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til (prep.): to

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skeiða ‘ships’

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1. skeið (noun f.; °-ar; -r/-ar/-ir): ship

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áðr ‘before’

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áðr (adv.; °//): before

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Styrbjarnar ‘of Styrbjǫrn’

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Styrbjǫrn (noun m.): Styrbjǫrn

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stœði ‘stood’

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standa (verb): stand

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Strandar ‘of Strǫnd <river>’

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Strǫnd (noun f.; °strandar, dat. -u/-; strandir/strendr): Strǫnd

kennings

dýr Strandar
‘the beasts of Strǫnd <river> ’
   = SHIPS

the beasts of Strǫnd <river> → SHIPS

notes

[4] dýr Strandar ‘the beasts of Strǫnd <river> [SHIPS]’: Strǫnd is given as a river-name in Grí 28/9, and is included (from Grí) in Þul Á 5/7III. It is assumed to be that here (so also Skj B, Skald and LP: strǫnd 2, and see Meissner 214 for this type of ship-kenning). However, since there is no known river of this name it may be that the sense of strǫnd is ‘shore, beach’, cf. perhaps the use in ship-kennings of words referring to onshore features such as hlunnr ‘roller(s), launcher’ or naust ‘boat-house’ (see LP: hlunnr, naust); for another possible example of such a kenning, see Note to Glúmr Gráf 2/1-4, interpretation (a).

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dýr ‘the beasts’

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1. dýr (noun n.; °-s (spec.: dyʀiɴs KonrA 66⁴‡, etc., cf. Seip 1955 188-189); -): animal

kennings

dýr Strandar
‘the beasts of Strǫnd <river> ’
   = SHIPS

the beasts of Strǫnd <river> → SHIPS

notes

[4] dýr ‘the beasts’: This could be either sg. or pl.; stœði could also either be sg. or pl. 3rd pers. pret. subj. — [4] dýr Strandar ‘the beasts of Strǫnd <river> [SHIPS]’: Strǫnd is given as a river-name in Grí 28/9, and is included (from Grí) in Þul Á 5/7III. It is assumed to be that here (so also Skj B, Skald and LP: strǫnd 2, and see Meissner 214 for this type of ship-kenning). However, since there is no known river of this name it may be that the sense of strǫnd is ‘shore, beach’, cf. perhaps the use in ship-kennings of words referring to onshore features such as hlunnr ‘roller(s), launcher’ or naust ‘boat-house’ (see LP: hlunnr, naust); for another possible example of such a kenning, see Note to Glúmr Gráf 2/1-4, interpretation (a).

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dýr ‘the beasts’

(not checked:)
1. dýr (noun n.; °-s (spec.: dyʀiɴs KonrA 66⁴‡, etc., cf. Seip 1955 188-189); -): animal

kennings

dýr Strandar
‘the beasts of Strǫnd <river> ’
   = SHIPS

the beasts of Strǫnd <river> → SHIPS

notes

[4] dýr ‘the beasts’: This could be either sg. or pl.; stœði could also either be sg. or pl. 3rd pers. pret. subj. — [4] dýr Strandar ‘the beasts of Strǫnd <river> [SHIPS]’: Strǫnd is given as a river-name in Grí 28/9, and is included (from Grí) in Þul Á 5/7III. It is assumed to be that here (so also Skj B, Skald and LP: strǫnd 2, and see Meissner 214 for this type of ship-kenning). However, since there is no known river of this name it may be that the sense of strǫnd is ‘shore, beach’, cf. perhaps the use in ship-kennings of words referring to onshore features such as hlunnr ‘roller(s), launcher’ or naust ‘boat-house’ (see LP: hlunnr, naust); for another possible example of such a kenning, see Note to Glúmr Gráf 2/1-4, interpretation (a).

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á ‘by’

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3. á (prep.): on, at

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landi ‘the coast’

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land (noun n.; °-s; *-): land

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Nús ‘Now’

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nú (adv.): now

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Danmarkar ‘of Denmark’

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Danmǫrk (noun f.): [Denmark]

kennings

dróttinn Danmarkar
‘the lord of Denmark ’
   = DANISH KING = Haraldr

the lord of Denmark → DANISH KING = Haraldr
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dróttinn ‘the lord’

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dróttinn (noun m.; °dróttins, dat. dróttni (drottini [$1049$]); dróttnar): lord, master

kennings

dróttinn Danmarkar
‘the lord of Denmark ’
   = DANISH KING = Haraldr

the lord of Denmark → DANISH KING = Haraldr
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í ‘the’

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í (prep.): in, into

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lið ‘troop’

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lið (noun n.; °-s; -): retinue, troop

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genginn ‘has joined’

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2. ganga (verb; geng, gekk, gengu, genginn): walk, go

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landa ‘of lands’

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land (noun n.; °-s; *-): land

notes

[7] vanr landa ok lýða ‘deprived of lands and people’: The sense here seems to be that Haraldr is now subservient to Styrbjǫrn (see Context).

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vanr ‘deprived’

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2. vanr (adj.): lacking

notes

[7] vanr landa ok lýða ‘deprived of lands and people’: The sense here seems to be that Haraldr is now subservient to Styrbjǫrn (see Context).

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ok ‘and’

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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also

notes

[7] vanr landa ok lýða ‘deprived of lands and people’: The sense here seems to be that Haraldr is now subservient to Styrbjǫrn (see Context).

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lýða ‘people’

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lýðr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -; -ir): one of the people

notes

[7] vanr landa ok lýða ‘deprived of lands and people’: The sense here seems to be that Haraldr is now subservient to Styrbjǫrn (see Context).

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lifir ‘lives’

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lifa (verb): live

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ánauðigr ‘oppressed’

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ánauðigr (adj.; °·nauðgan; compar. ·nauðgari): oppressed, enslaved

[8] ánauðigr: ánauðr hann Flat

notes

[8] ánauðigr ‘oppressed’: The ms. reads hann ánauðr. (a) It is assumed here that the original reading was trisyllabic ánauðigr and that, as very frequently in skaldic texts, the pron. hann ‘he’ in the sole ms. is a later addition which can be removed by routine normalisation. (b) Ánauðr is assumed in Fms 12, LP: ánauðr and ONP to be a variant of the more usual adj. ánauðigr. However, this form is unrecorded, and the resulting line is unmetrical, since it would resemble a Type D-line (with resolution on lifir), but would not fit the known fillings of Type D even lines (Gade 1995a, 109-17), while to read it as a Type A-line would be to assume an unstressed first syllable in ánauðr. (c) Kock (NN §1897; Skald), pointing to the construction snauðr at auði ‘bereft, stripped of wealth’ in Anon Pl 13/7VII, emends ánauðr hann auðar to æ snauðr hann auðar ‘always stripped of wealth’. This has the advantage of removing the additional alliteration (of á- : auð-), and Kock may be correct that the line is corrupt.

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auðar ‘by fate’

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1. auðr (noun m.; °-s/-ar, dat. -i/-): wealth

notes

[8] auðar ‘by fate’: (a) This is taken here (as also in Fms 12, Skj B and LP: 4. auðr) to be the rare poetic word auðr ‘fate, death’ (probably f.; so ONP). (b) It is, however, possible that it is simply the more common m. noun auðr ‘wealth’ (cf. LP: 3. auðr), and that auðar forms, with landa and lýða, the last of a triplet governed by vanr, hence ‘deprived of lands, people and wealth’. This would leave ánauðigr alone to mean ‘oppressed’.

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Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses

Styrbjǫrn sails from Jómsborg to Denmark with 1200 warships and demands Danish assistance in the form of 240 warships under a leader chosen by himself. He chooses King Haraldr Gormsson. The stanza is then introduced with the words, Þa kuodu Danir visu ‘Then the Danes spoke a verse’.

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