Anon (TGT) 10III
Tarrin Wills (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Lausavísur, Stanzas from the Third Grammatical Treatise 10’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 544.
hefk ‘I have ’
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hafa (verb): have
heitit ‘promised’
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2. heita (verb): be called, promise
mey ‘girl’
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mær (noun f.; °meyjar, dat. meyju; meyjar): maiden
mætri ‘the excellent’
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mætr (adj.; °compar. -ri/-ari, superl. -astr): honoured, respected
mest ‘the greatest’
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meiri (adj. comp.; °meiran; superl. mestr): more, most
notes
[2] nema mest hamlan bresti ‘unless the greatest obstacle fails’: Mest ‘greatest’ here is taken as strong f. nom. adj. with hamlan ‘the obstacle’ (so SnE 1848-87, TGT 1884 and Skj B). The meaning is unclear and Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) puts an elipsis between mest hamlan and bresti. Later (TGT 1927, 96-7) he takes mest as an adv. belonging to the first clause, which leads to the following interpretation: Hefk heitit mest mætri mey því, nema hamlan bresti ‘I have mostly promised the excellent maiden that, unless the obstacle fails’.
nema ‘unless’
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2. nema (conj.): unless
notes
[2] nema mest hamlan bresti ‘unless the greatest obstacle fails’: Mest ‘greatest’ here is taken as strong f. nom. adj. with hamlan ‘the obstacle’ (so SnE 1848-87, TGT 1884 and Skj B). The meaning is unclear and Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) puts an elipsis between mest hamlan and bresti. Later (TGT 1927, 96-7) he takes mest as an adv. belonging to the first clause, which leads to the following interpretation: Hefk heitit mest mætri mey því, nema hamlan bresti ‘I have mostly promised the excellent maiden that, unless the obstacle fails’.
hamlan ‘obstacle’
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hamlan (noun f.): obstacle
notes
[2] hamlan ‘obstacle’: This noun (from the weak verb hamla ‘injure, hinder’) is a hap. leg. and the meaning is uncertain (cf. LP: hamlan, translated as hindring (eller lemlæstelse?) ‘obstacle (or mutilation?)’). — [2] nema mest hamlan bresti ‘unless the greatest obstacle fails’: Mest ‘greatest’ here is taken as strong f. nom. adj. with hamlan ‘the obstacle’ (so SnE 1848-87, TGT 1884 and Skj B). The meaning is unclear and Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) puts an elipsis between mest hamlan and bresti. Later (TGT 1927, 96-7) he takes mest as an adv. belonging to the first clause, which leads to the following interpretation: Hefk heitit mest mætri mey því, nema hamlan bresti ‘I have mostly promised the excellent maiden that, unless the obstacle fails’.
hamlan ‘obstacle’
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hamlan (noun f.): obstacle
notes
[2] hamlan ‘obstacle’: This noun (from the weak verb hamla ‘injure, hinder’) is a hap. leg. and the meaning is uncertain (cf. LP: hamlan, translated as hindring (eller lemlæstelse?) ‘obstacle (or mutilation?)’). — [2] nema mest hamlan bresti ‘unless the greatest obstacle fails’: Mest ‘greatest’ here is taken as strong f. nom. adj. with hamlan ‘the obstacle’ (so SnE 1848-87, TGT 1884 and Skj B). The meaning is unclear and Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) puts an elipsis between mest hamlan and bresti. Later (TGT 1927, 96-7) he takes mest as an adv. belonging to the first clause, which leads to the following interpretation: Hefk heitit mest mætri mey því, nema hamlan bresti ‘I have mostly promised the excellent maiden that, unless the obstacle fails’.
bresti ‘fails’
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1. bresta (verb; °brestr; brast, brustu; brostinn): burst, split
notes
[2] nema mest hamlan bresti ‘unless the greatest obstacle fails’: Mest ‘greatest’ here is taken as strong f. nom. adj. with hamlan ‘the obstacle’ (so SnE 1848-87, TGT 1884 and Skj B). The meaning is unclear and Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) puts an elipsis between mest hamlan and bresti. Later (TGT 1927, 96-7) he takes mest as an adv. belonging to the first clause, which leads to the following interpretation: Hefk heitit mest mætri mey því, nema hamlan bresti ‘I have mostly promised the excellent maiden that, unless the obstacle fails’.
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Cited as an example of soloecismus involving a change of case (fallaskipti; TGT 1927, 53). The fragment (l. 1 only) is cited again in the metaplasmus section to illustrate apocope, i.e. the loss of letters or syllables from the end of a word (TGT 1927, 63). In both instances Óláfr applies the native term orðkólfr (lit. ‘word-club’; not otherwise attested) to this figure in the context of Norse poetry.
The change of case here is in the use of the acc. of the person (mey) instead of the dat. (meyju) with the verb heita. In the second citation l. 1 illustrates apocope, the loss of the final syllable (-ju) in the same word. — The second of five unattributed dróttkvætt fragments in TGT which have a woman as their subject matter. Cf. st. 6 Note to [All]. — Ms. W is chosen here as the main ms. as the second line is lacking in A in both citations.
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