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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Anon Brúðv 4VII

Valgerður Erna Þorvaldsdóttir (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Brúðkaupsvísur 4’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 531-2.

Anonymous PoemsBrúðkaupsvísur
345

Sveinninn óx þar upp einn
— ágætr var maðr sjá
hittir og hans ætt
hringa — með virðing.
Ærir áttu auð fjár
atgeirs mikinn þeir,
er reyðar rannskíðs
rennis váru ættmenn.

Sveinninn óx upp einn þar með virðing; {sjá hittir hringa} var ágætr maðr, og hans ætt. {Þeir ærir atgeirs}, er váru ættmenn {{{reyðar rann}skíðs} rennis}, áttu mikinn auð fjár.

The youth grew up alone there with honour; {that finder of rings} [MAN] was a fine man, as was his family. {Those messengers of the halberd} [WARRIORS], who were kinsmen {of the propeller {of the ski {of the house of the rorqual}}} [(lit. ‘propeller of the house-ski of the rorqual’) SEA > SHIP > SEAFARER], had great wealth of money.

Mss: 721(14r), 1032ˣ(98v), 399a-bˣ(2), 2166ˣ(2)

Readings: [3] hittir: hitt er 721;    og: um 721    [5] Ærir: Ærin 721    [7] er: og 721;    reyðar: rauða 721

Editions: ÍM II, 130.

Notes: [All]: As Schottmann (1973, 356) noted, the poet introduces the young man as a member of a rich and noble family, whereas the D version of the prose saga establishes him as a klerkr from the beginning. — [2] maðr ‘man’: Jón Helgason suggested that ‘mr’ in 721 might be a misreading of ‘mic’, mjök ‘very’, to be taken with ágætr ‘fine’. The emendation is not necessary. — [3] hittir (m.) ‘finder’: hitt er in 721 and all transcripts. Jón Helgason suggested emending to hittir to provide a base-word for the man-kenning hittir hringa ‘finder of rings’. — [3] og ‘and’: um in all mss. Jón Helgason suggested emending to ok. — [5] Ærir: Emendation suggested by Jón Helgason. — [7] reyðar ‘of the rorqual’: The mss read ‘rauða’, but the kenning requires a word for an inhabitant of the sea. Jón Helgason proposed reyðar, gen. sg. of reyðr, f. a rorqual or finner whale (cf. LP: reyðr). — [8] rennis (m. nom. sg. rennir) ‘one that causes something to run’: ‘Propeller’, ‘driver’ are possible translations.

References

  1. Bibliography
  2. LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
  3. Schottmann, Hans. 1973. Die isländische Mariendichtung. Untersuchungen zur volkssprachigen Mariendichtung des Mittelalters. Münchner germanistische Beiträge 9. Munich: Fink.
  4. ÍM = Jón Helgason, ed. 1936-8. Íslenzk miðaldarkvæði: Islandske digte fra senmiddelalderen. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
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