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 Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

Menu Search

Close

Anon (Styrb) 3^I

Matthew Townend (ed.) 2012, ‘Anonymous Lausavísur, Lausavísur from Styrbjarnar þáttr Svíakappa 3’ 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. 1079.

Anonymous Lausavísur Lausavísur from Styrbjarnar þáttr Svíakappa

Lætr ‘let’

(not checked:)
láta (verb): let, have sth done

eigi ‘will not’

(not checked:)
3. eigi (adv.): not

mik ‘me’

(not checked:)
ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me

lýtir ‘the harmer’

(not checked:)
lýtir (noun m.): destroyer

kennings

lýtir liðbands,
‘the harmer of the limb-band, ’
= GENEROUS MAN
the limb-band, → RING
the harmer of the RING → GENEROUS MAN

lið ‘of the limb’

(not checked:)
liðr (noun m.; °-ar/-s, dat. -i/-; -ir, acc. liðu): joint, limb < liðband (noun n.): [limb-band]

kennings

lýtir liðbands,
‘the harmer of the limb-band, ’
= GENEROUS MAN
the limb-band, → RING
the harmer of the RING → GENEROUS MAN

lið ‘of the limb’

(not checked:)
liðr (noun m.; °-ar/-s, dat. -i/-; -ir, acc. liðu): joint, limb < liðband (noun n.): [limb-band]

kennings

lýtir liðbands,
‘the harmer of the limb-band, ’
= GENEROUS MAN
the limb-band, → RING
the harmer of the RING → GENEROUS MAN

bands ‘band’

(not checked:)
band (noun n.; °-s; *-): band, bond < liðband (noun n.): [limb-band]

kennings

lýtir liðbands,
‘the harmer of the limb-band, ’
= GENEROUS MAN
the limb-band, → RING
the harmer of the RING → GENEROUS MAN

bands ‘band’

(not checked:)
band (noun n.; °-s; *-): band, bond < liðband (noun n.): [limb-band]

kennings

lýtir liðbands,
‘the harmer of the limb-band, ’
= GENEROUS MAN
the limb-band, → RING
the harmer of the RING → GENEROUS MAN

sás ‘who’

(not checked:)
sás (conj.): the one who

frið ‘peace’

(not checked:)
friðr (noun m.): peace

[2] frið: frið or ferð Flat

grandar ‘damages’

(not checked:)
granda (verb): harm, injure

reiðr ‘angry’

(not checked:)
4. reiðr (adj.; °superl. -astr): angry

notes

[3] reiðr ‘angry’: In Styrb, Þórr does not intervene in favour of Styrbjǫrn in the ensuing battle, and Eiríkr, empowered by Óðinn, is victorious. Kock (NN §2459; Skald) emends to rýrr ‘short, inferior’ to supply hending for the line, and argues that such a sense fits the manner in which Styrbjǫrn treats Þórr as his subordinate.

emk ‘I am’

(not checked:)
2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am

stála ‘of steel weapons’

(not checked:)
1. stál (noun n.; °-s; -): steel, weapon, prow

kennings

stýri stála.
‘the wielder of steel weapons. ’
= WARRIOR
the wielder of steel weapons. → WARRIOR

stýri ‘the wielder’

(not checked:)
stýrir (noun m.): ruler, controller

kennings

stýri stála.
‘the wielder of steel weapons. ’
= WARRIOR
the wielder of steel weapons. → WARRIOR

Styrbjǫrn ‘Styrbjǫrn’

(not checked:)
Styrbjǫrn (noun m.): Styrbjǫrn

vesa ‘remain’

(not checked:)
2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am

kyrran ‘quiet’

(not checked:)
kyrran (noun f.): [quiet]

Þat ‘That’

(not checked:)
1. sá (pron.; °gen. þess, dat. þeim, acc. þann; f. sú, gen. þeirrar, acc. þá; n. þat, dat. því; pl. m. þeir, f. þǽ---): that (one), those

mun ‘will’

(not checked:)
munu (verb): will, must

sáð ‘seed’

(not checked:)
2. sáð (noun n.; °-s; -): seed

notes

[5] sáð ‘seed’: The context would suggest that Styrbjǫrn is meant, perhaps with a denigratory sense of ‘stripling, upstart’. Although sáð ‘seed, grain, corn’ is not recorded figuratively, the related sæði n. can refer to human offspring, at least in biblical contexts; see CVC: sæði 2, and cf. words such as afspringr ‘offspring’ and kvísl ‘branch’ which can refer both to plants and to human families.

of ‘after’

(not checked:)
3. of (prep.): around, from; too

síðir ‘a time’

(not checked:)
1. síð (noun f.; °; -ir): um síðir: in the end

sigrnennum ‘the victory-minded’

(not checked:)
sigrnenninn (adj./verb p.p.): [victory-minded]

notes

[6] sigrnennum ‘victory-minded’: Skj B and Skald both print sig- ‘battle’, but the ms. reads sigr-, and sigrnenninn is the (nom. sg.) form given in LP (cf. Note to st. 1/3).

her ‘army’

(not checked:)
herr (noun m.; °-s/-jar, dat. -; -jar, gen. -ja/herra): army, host

kenna ‘teach’

(not checked:)
kenna (verb): know, teach

roðin ‘reddened’

(not checked:)
rjóða (verb): to redden

eru ‘are’

(not checked:)
2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am

leyfðra ‘of the praised’

(not checked:)
leyfa (verb): permit; praise

lofða ‘men’

(not checked:)
lofði (noun m.; °; -ar): man

lindi* ‘the spears’

(not checked:)
2. lindi (noun n.): mast, spear, lime-tree

[8] lindi*: lindis Flat

notes

[8] lindi* ‘the spears’: The clause is impossible to construe with the gen. sg. reading lindis in the ms. Emendation seems necessary, and lindi (n. nom. pl.) is adopted here, as in Fms, Skj B and Skald. Linden-wood can indicate either shields or spears (see LP: lind 2, 3); spears are preferred here (as also in Skj B and LP: 2. lindi) on account of the emphasis on Styrbjǫrn’s aggression.

sôr ‘[their] wounds’

(not checked:)
2. sár (noun n.; °-s; -): wound

notes

[8] at binda sôr ‘to bind [their] wounds’: The import of the second helmingr seems to be that Styrbjǫrn’s war-mongering will in the end lead to destruction for his followers.

at ‘to’

(not checked:)
3. at (prep.): at, to

notes

[8] at binda sôr ‘to bind [their] wounds’: The import of the second helmingr seems to be that Styrbjǫrn’s war-mongering will in the end lead to destruction for his followers.

binda ‘bind’

(not checked:)
binda (verb; °bindr; batt/bant(cf. [$332$]), bundu; bundinn): bind, tie

notes

[8] at binda sôr ‘to bind [their] wounds’: The import of the second helmingr seems to be that Styrbjǫrn’s war-mongering will in the end lead to destruction for his followers.

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

verse
prose

Styrbjǫrn returns to Sweden, and the night before the battle with his uncle Eiríkr he sacrifices to Þórr (and Eiríkr to Óðinn). The þáttr then records that a red-bearded man was seen that night in Styrbjǫrn’s camp and spoke the stanza.

̇From the Context (above) we are clearly to understand that the red-bearded man who speaks the stanza is Þórr himself (though in Fms 12 Óðinn is assumed).

log in home page info previous up a level archive and create persistent link on archive.org

© Skaldic Project Academic Body and Brepols, unless otherwise noted. Database structure and interface developed by Tarrin Wills. All users of material on this database are reminded that its content may be either subject to copyright restrictions or is the property of the custodians of linked databases that have given permission for members of the skaldic project to use their material for research purposes. Those users who have been given access to as yet unpublished material are further reminded that they may not use, publish or otherwise manipulate such material except with the express permission of the individual editor of the material in question and the General Editor of the volume in which the material is to be published. Applications for permission to use such material should be made in the first instance to the General Editor of the volume in question. All information that appears in the published volumes has been thoroughly reviewed. If you believe some information here is incorrect please contact Tarrin Wills with full details.

Close

Stanza/chapter/text segment

Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.

Information tab

text: if the stanza has been published, the edited text of the stanza and translation are here; if it hasn't been published an old edition (usually Skj) is given for reference
sources: a list of the manuscripts or inscriptions containing this stanza, with page and line references and links (eye button) to images where available, and transcription where available
readings: a list of variant manuscript readings of words in the main text
editions and texts: a list of editions of the stanza with links to the bibliography; and a list of prose works in which the stanza occurs, allowing you to navigate within the prose context
notes and context: notes not linked to individual words are given here, along with the account of the prose context for the stanza, where relevant

Interactive tab

The text and translation are given here, with buttons to toggle whether the text is shown in the verse order or prose word order. Clicking on indiviudal words gives dictionary links, variant readings, kennings and notes, where relevant.

Full text tab

This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.

Chapter/text segment

This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.