Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Hrynhenda, Magnússdrápa 10’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 195-6.
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2. drífa (verb; °drífr; dreif, drifu; drifinn): drive, rush
[1] dreif: varp H, Hr, Flat
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3. á (prep.): on, at
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lyfting (noun f.; °-ar, dat. -u, acc. -): after-deck
[1] lypting ‘the after-deck’: The presumed derivation from lypta ‘lift’ (AEW: lypta) suggests a raised structure, and the skaldic contexts (here, in st. 16, ESk Lv 6/8 and Sigv Erlfl 3/7I) would suggest a space that is enclosed or defended in some way. However, Jesch (2001a, 153) finds little archaeological evidence for such a feature except for the slightly raised decking aft in the Gokstad ship, and cf. the ‘elevated half-deck’ in the Oseberg ship mentioned by Shetelig and Falk (1937, 260, 270).
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útan (prep.): outside, without
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2. bifa (verb; °-að-): shudder, tremble
[2] bifðisk: bifðusk E, Hr, bifisk Flat
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gull (noun n.): gold
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2. inn (art.): the
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rauðr (adj.; °compar. -ari): red
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fastr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): firm, fast < fastligr (adj.)
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hneigja (verb): incline, pay homage
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1. fura (noun f.): fir vessel
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geystr (adj.): violent
[3] geystri: so 39, F, H, Hr, Flat, ‘geistri’ Kˣ, glæstri E, J2ˣ
[4] ok ‘and’: (a) The reading ok (so E, J2ˣ, H, Hr, Flat) gives good sense, linking lypting ‘after-deck’ (l. 1) with stýri skeiðar ‘warship’s helm’ (l. 4), also in the stern, so that the two complete the cl. ljótu lauðri dreif á ‘foul surf surged against’. Ok stýri skeiðar could be alternatively taken with it rauða goll bifðisk ‘the red gold shuddered’ (l. 2), but ‘helm’ and ‘gold’ are a rather ill-assorted pair. (b) The variant um stýri skeiðar (so Kˣ, 39, F) would also work: ljótu lauðri dreif útan á lypting um stýri skeiðar ‘foul surf surged in against the after-deck around the helm of the warship’. (c) It is also conceivable that stýri skeiðar is acc. sg. of a kenning referring to Magnús as seafarer (so Fms 12, 131). ‘Agent noun’ kennings with stýrir as base-word and ‘ship’ as determinant are recorded: see LP: stýrir.
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1. skeið (noun f.; °-ar; -r/-ar/-ir): ship
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halda (verb): hold, keep
[5] helzt (‘hellztu’): hélt H, Hr, héldu Flat
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Stafangr (noun m.): Stavanger
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norðan (adv.): from the north
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1. stál (noun n.; °-s; -): steel, weapon, prow
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2. bifa (verb; °-að-): shudder, tremble
[6] bifðusk: bifðisk F, Flat
[6] álar bifðusk fyrir ‘currents shuddered in front’: Álar is most logically construed as subject to bifðusk ‘shuddered, foamed’. Ms. ‘fyri’ is here assumed to be the stressed adverb, normalised fyrir, and translated ‘in front (of the advancing ship)’; the spellings ‘fyri’ and ‘firi’ are well attested in early mss as alternatives to ‘fyrir’ etc. Kock (NN §814) suggested (havet bävade) därvid ‘(the sea trembled) at that’.
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fyrir (prep.): for, before, because of
[6] fyrir álar (‘fyri alar’): ‘fvri alar’ 39, ‘fyrris alar’ Flat
[6] álar bifðusk fyrir ‘currents shuddered in front’: Álar is most logically construed as subject to bifðusk ‘shuddered, foamed’. Ms. ‘fyri’ is here assumed to be the stressed adverb, normalised fyrir, and translated ‘in front (of the advancing ship)’; the spellings ‘fyri’ and ‘firi’ are well attested in early mss as alternatives to ‘fyrir’ etc. Kock (NN §814) suggested (havet bävade) därvid ‘(the sea trembled) at that’.
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2. áll (noun m.): channel
[6] fyrir álar (‘fyri alar’): ‘fvri alar’ 39, ‘fyrris alar’ Flat
[6] álar bifðusk fyrir ‘currents shuddered in front’: Álar is most logically construed as subject to bifðusk ‘shuddered, foamed’. Ms. ‘fyri’ is here assumed to be the stressed adverb, normalised fyrir, and translated ‘in front (of the advancing ship)’; the spellings ‘fyri’ and ‘firi’ are well attested in early mss as alternatives to ‘fyrir’ etc. Kock (NN §814) suggested (havet bävade) därvid ‘(the sea trembled) at that’.
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uppi (adv.): up, up in
[7-8] typpi élmars glóðu uppi glík eldi ‘the mast-heads of the storm-steed [SHIP] glowed aloft like fire’: Like its cognate toppr, typpi probably means both ‘mast-heads’ and ‘forelocks’ and therefore resonates with both levels of imagery: the actual ship and the metaphorical ship-as-steed. The simile of mast-heads glowing like fire may be inspired by the similar image in Sigv ErfÓl 16I. Reinskou (1922, 34-5) pointed out that both skalds are referring to the ship Visundr, and suggested that gilding on the mast-head, since not mentioned in earlier poetry, may have been an innovation in Óláfr helgi’s time. Hougen (1974, 18-19) doubted whether the skalds’ references to gold and gilded prows on ships out at sea are more than a poetic hyperbole, but cf. Encomium Emmae Reginae (ed. Campbell 1998, 12-13) for another C11th example.
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gleðja (verb): gladden, rejoice
[7-8] typpi élmars glóðu uppi glík eldi ‘the mast-heads of the storm-steed [SHIP] glowed aloft like fire’: Like its cognate toppr, typpi probably means both ‘mast-heads’ and ‘forelocks’ and therefore resonates with both levels of imagery: the actual ship and the metaphorical ship-as-steed. The simile of mast-heads glowing like fire may be inspired by the similar image in Sigv ErfÓl 16I. Reinskou (1922, 34-5) pointed out that both skalds are referring to the ship Visundr, and suggested that gilding on the mast-head, since not mentioned in earlier poetry, may have been an innovation in Óláfr helgi’s time. Hougen (1974, 18-19) doubted whether the skalds’ references to gold and gilded prows on ships out at sea are more than a poetic hyperbole, but cf. Encomium Emmae Reginae (ed. Campbell 1998, 12-13) for another C11th example.
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él (noun n.; °; dat. -um): storm < élmarr (noun m.)
[7-8] typpi élmars glóðu uppi glík eldi ‘the mast-heads of the storm-steed [SHIP] glowed aloft like fire’: Like its cognate toppr, typpi probably means both ‘mast-heads’ and ‘forelocks’ and therefore resonates with both levels of imagery: the actual ship and the metaphorical ship-as-steed. The simile of mast-heads glowing like fire may be inspired by the similar image in Sigv ErfÓl 16I. Reinskou (1922, 34-5) pointed out that both skalds are referring to the ship Visundr, and suggested that gilding on the mast-head, since not mentioned in earlier poetry, may have been an innovation in Óláfr helgi’s time. Hougen (1974, 18-19) doubted whether the skalds’ references to gold and gilded prows on ships out at sea are more than a poetic hyperbole, but cf. Encomium Emmae Reginae (ed. Campbell 1998, 12-13) for another C11th example.
[7-8] typpi élmars glóðu uppi glík eldi ‘the mast-heads of the storm-steed [SHIP] glowed aloft like fire’: Like its cognate toppr, typpi probably means both ‘mast-heads’ and ‘forelocks’ and therefore resonates with both levels of imagery: the actual ship and the metaphorical ship-as-steed. The simile of mast-heads glowing like fire may be inspired by the similar image in Sigv ErfÓl 16I. Reinskou (1922, 34-5) pointed out that both skalds are referring to the ship Visundr, and suggested that gilding on the mast-head, since not mentioned in earlier poetry, may have been an innovation in Óláfr helgi’s time. Hougen (1974, 18-19) doubted whether the skalds’ references to gold and gilded prows on ships out at sea are more than a poetic hyperbole, but cf. Encomium Emmae Reginae (ed. Campbell 1998, 12-13) for another C11th example.
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typpi (noun n.): [mast-heads]
[7-8] typpi élmars glóðu uppi glík eldi ‘the mast-heads of the storm-steed [SHIP] glowed aloft like fire’: Like its cognate toppr, typpi probably means both ‘mast-heads’ and ‘forelocks’ and therefore resonates with both levels of imagery: the actual ship and the metaphorical ship-as-steed. The simile of mast-heads glowing like fire may be inspired by the similar image in Sigv ErfÓl 16I. Reinskou (1922, 34-5) pointed out that both skalds are referring to the ship Visundr, and suggested that gilding on the mast-head, since not mentioned in earlier poetry, may have been an innovation in Óláfr helgi’s time. Hougen (1974, 18-19) doubted whether the skalds’ references to gold and gilded prows on ships out at sea are more than a poetic hyperbole, but cf. Encomium Emmae Reginae (ed. Campbell 1998, 12-13) for another C11th example.
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eldr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i/-(HómÍsl¹(1993) 24v²⁴); -ar): fire
[7-8] typpi élmars glóðu uppi glík eldi ‘the mast-heads of the storm-steed [SHIP] glowed aloft like fire’: Like its cognate toppr, typpi probably means both ‘mast-heads’ and ‘forelocks’ and therefore resonates with both levels of imagery: the actual ship and the metaphorical ship-as-steed. The simile of mast-heads glowing like fire may be inspired by the similar image in Sigv ErfÓl 16I. Reinskou (1922, 34-5) pointed out that both skalds are referring to the ship Visundr, and suggested that gilding on the mast-head, since not mentioned in earlier poetry, may have been an innovation in Óláfr helgi’s time. Hougen (1974, 18-19) doubted whether the skalds’ references to gold and gilded prows on ships out at sea are more than a poetic hyperbole, but cf. Encomium Emmae Reginae (ed. Campbell 1998, 12-13) for another C11th example.
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glíkr (adj.; °-jan/-an; compar. -ari, superl. -astr): like, alike
[7-8] typpi élmars glóðu uppi glík eldi ‘the mast-heads of the storm-steed [SHIP] glowed aloft like fire’: Like its cognate toppr, typpi probably means both ‘mast-heads’ and ‘forelocks’ and therefore resonates with both levels of imagery: the actual ship and the metaphorical ship-as-steed. The simile of mast-heads glowing like fire may be inspired by the similar image in Sigv ErfÓl 16I. Reinskou (1922, 34-5) pointed out that both skalds are referring to the ship Visundr, and suggested that gilding on the mast-head, since not mentioned in earlier poetry, may have been an innovation in Óláfr helgi’s time. Hougen (1974, 18-19) doubted whether the skalds’ references to gold and gilded prows on ships out at sea are more than a poetic hyperbole, but cf. Encomium Emmae Reginae (ed. Campbell 1998, 12-13) for another C11th example.
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í (prep.): in, into
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danaveldi (noun n.): realm of the Danes
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Foul surf surged in against the after-deck and the helm of the warship; the red gold shuddered; the powerful hound of the fir-tree [WIND] pitched the rushing ship of fir. You steered sturdy prows from the north past Stavanger to the realm of the Danes; currents shuddered in front; the mast-heads of the storm-steed [SHIP] glowed aloft like fire.
See st. 9. In Hkr, st. 10 is preceded by a short description of the ship Visundr: it has more than thirty benches and a gilded bison’s head and tail at prow and stern. In Flat, no comment separates the two sts, but they are followed by a remark that Magnús’s journey is referred to. In H-Hr a brief comment that Magnús sailed south to Denmark links the two.
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