Arn Þorfdr 3II
Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Þorfinnsdrápa 3’ 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, p. 233.
Hétk ‘I called’
(not checked:)
2. heita (verb): be called, promise
notes
[1, 3, 4] hétk á góðar sagnir skipa ‘I called to the worthy ships’ companies’: (a) Presumably exhorting them to hear a poem, drink a toast or fight nobly; heita á ‘call on, exhort’ is a common idiom (cf. Eyv Hák 3/1I and Steinn Úlffl l. 1 in military contexts). The unstressed á ‘to’ appears to govern the immediately following góðar sagnir skipa ‘worthy ships’ companies’; this is also the solution adopted in Fms 12, 170, where hétk is glossed as ávarpaði ‘addressed’, and by Kock in NN §826. (b) Finnur Jónsson, in Skj B, takes gramr drakk líð with á góðar sagnir skipa, hence ‘the lord drank ale to the worthy ships’ companies’ together, and takes hétk together with verðgjafa hrafns ‘raven’s meal-giver [WARRIOR]’ and translates tiltalte (drak til) ‘addressed (drank to)’; but heita e-n is not recorded with such a meaning.
hvern ‘each’
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2. hverr (pron.): who, whom, each, every
vetr ‘winter’
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vetr (noun m.; °vetrar/vetrs(HómHauksb³ 173²³), dat. vetri; vetr): winter
sôtum ‘we [I] sat’
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sitja (verb): sit
hrafns ‘of the raven’
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hrafn (noun m.; °hrafns; dat. hrafni; hrafnar): raven
kennings
verðgjafa hrafns;‘the meal-giver of the raven; ’
= WARRIOR
the meal-giver of the raven; → WARRIOR
verð ‘the meal’
(not checked:)
verð (noun n.; °-s; dat. -um): worth, price < verðgjafi (noun m.): [meal-giver]
kennings
verðgjafa hrafns;‘the meal-giver of the raven; ’
= WARRIOR
the meal-giver of the raven; → WARRIOR
gjafa ‘giver’
(not checked:)
gjafi (noun m.): giver < verðgjafi (noun m.): [meal-giver]
[2] ‑gjafa: gefa Hr
kennings
verðgjafa hrafns;‘the meal-giver of the raven; ’
= WARRIOR
the meal-giver of the raven; → WARRIOR
jafnan ‘always’
(not checked:)
jafnan (adv.): always
notes
[2] jafnan ‘always’: The adv. is here taken with hétk ‘I called’, thus stressing that it was a habit with Arnórr to address the assembled company. It could alternatively modify drakk ‘drank’, or else the subordinate cl. þás stum ‘as we [I] sat’, though it would then duplicate the meaning of hvern vetr ‘each winter’.
líð ‘strong drink’
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líð (noun n.): drink
drakk ‘drank’
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2. drekka (verb; °drekkr; drakk, drukku; drukkinn/drykkinn): drink
gramr ‘the lord’
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1. gramr (noun m.): ruler
á ‘to’
(not checked:)
3. á (prep.): on, at
notes
[1, 3, 4] hétk á góðar sagnir skipa ‘I called to the worthy ships’ companies’: (a) Presumably exhorting them to hear a poem, drink a toast or fight nobly; heita á ‘call on, exhort’ is a common idiom (cf. Eyv Hák 3/1I and Steinn Úlffl l. 1 in military contexts). The unstressed á ‘to’ appears to govern the immediately following góðar sagnir skipa ‘worthy ships’ companies’; this is also the solution adopted in Fms 12, 170, where hétk is glossed as ávarpaði ‘addressed’, and by Kock in NN §826. (b) Finnur Jónsson, in Skj B, takes gramr drakk líð with á góðar sagnir skipa, hence ‘the lord drank ale to the worthy ships’ companies’ together, and takes hétk together with verðgjafa hrafns ‘raven’s meal-giver [WARRIOR]’ and translates tiltalte (drak til) ‘addressed (drank to)’; but heita e-n is not recorded with such a meaning.
notes
[1, 3, 4] hétk á góðar sagnir skipa ‘I called to the worthy ships’ companies’: (a) Presumably exhorting them to hear a poem, drink a toast or fight nobly; heita á ‘call on, exhort’ is a common idiom (cf. Eyv Hák 3/1I and Steinn Úlffl l. 1 in military contexts). The unstressed á ‘to’ appears to govern the immediately following góðar sagnir skipa ‘worthy ships’ companies’; this is also the solution adopted in Fms 12, 170, where hétk is glossed as ávarpaði ‘addressed’, and by Kock in NN §826. (b) Finnur Jónsson, in Skj B, takes gramr drakk líð with á góðar sagnir skipa, hence ‘the lord drank ale to the worthy ships’ companies’ together, and takes hétk together with verðgjafa hrafns ‘raven’s meal-giver [WARRIOR]’ and translates tiltalte (drak til) ‘addressed (drank to)’; but heita e-n is not recorded with such a meaning.
gagn ‘facing’
vert ‘’
[4] ‑vert: so all others, ‑vart Mork
skipa ‘ships’’
(not checked:)
skip (noun n.; °-s; -): ship
notes
[1, 3, 4] hétk á góðar sagnir skipa ‘I called to the worthy ships’ companies’: (a) Presumably exhorting them to hear a poem, drink a toast or fight nobly; heita á ‘call on, exhort’ is a common idiom (cf. Eyv Hák 3/1I and Steinn Úlffl l. 1 in military contexts). The unstressed á ‘to’ appears to govern the immediately following góðar sagnir skipa ‘worthy ships’ companies’; this is also the solution adopted in Fms 12, 170, where hétk is glossed as ávarpaði ‘addressed’, and by Kock in NN §826. (b) Finnur Jónsson, in Skj B, takes gramr drakk líð with á góðar sagnir skipa, hence ‘the lord drank ale to the worthy ships’ companies’ together, and takes hétk together with verðgjafa hrafns ‘raven’s meal-giver [WARRIOR]’ and translates tiltalte (drak til) ‘addressed (drank to)’; but heita e-n is not recorded with such a meaning.
sagnir ‘companies’
(not checked:)
sǫgn (noun f.; °sagnar; sagnir): narrative, message; troop, men
notes
[1, 3, 4] hétk á góðar sagnir skipa ‘I called to the worthy ships’ companies’: (a) Presumably exhorting them to hear a poem, drink a toast or fight nobly; heita á ‘call on, exhort’ is a common idiom (cf. Eyv Hák 3/1I and Steinn Úlffl l. 1 in military contexts). The unstressed á ‘to’ appears to govern the immediately following góðar sagnir skipa ‘worthy ships’ companies’; this is also the solution adopted in Fms 12, 170, where hétk is glossed as ávarpaði ‘addressed’, and by Kock in NN §826. (b) Finnur Jónsson, in Skj B, takes gramr drakk líð with á góðar sagnir skipa, hence ‘the lord drank ale to the worthy ships’ companies’ together, and takes hétk together with verðgjafa hrafns ‘raven’s meal-giver [WARRIOR]’ and translates tiltalte (drak til) ‘addressed (drank to)’; but heita e-n is not recorded with such a meaning.
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
After comments on the peaceful rule of Óláfr kyrri ‘the Quiet’, son of Haraldr Sigurðarson, there is a detailed excursus on the ancient manner of seating men at drinking sessions in Scandinavian royal halls. The st. authenticates the point that a revered counsellor would be placed in it óœðra ǫndugi ‘the lesser high-seat’ opposite the ruler, and that it was considered the greatest honour to receive toasts from him. The Mork version does nothing to contradict the impression that the st. is about Óláfr kyrri, whereas Fsk and H-Hr specify that Arnórr is telling how he sat with Þorfinnr jarl.
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