Arn Þorfdr 13II
Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Þorfinnsdrápa 13’ 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. 243-4.
Veitk ‘I know’
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1. vita (verb): know
þars ‘where’
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2. er (conj.): who, which, when
Vatnsfjǫrðr ‘Vatnsfjǫrðr’
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Vatnsfjǫrðr (noun m.): Vatnsfjǫrðr
notes
[1] Vatnsfjǫrðr: The most convincing location for Vatnsfjǫrðr, because of the equivalence of the two names, is Loch Vatten, an arm of the sea branching off Loch Bracadale on the west coast of Skye (so, e.g., Anderson 1873, 27, n. 2). It is relatively fertile—a suitable target for plundering and cattle-raiding. An alternative is Waterford in Ireland (Crawford 1987, 74 and 233, n. 74).
heitir ‘it is called’
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2. heita (verb): be called, promise
vask ‘I was’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
[2] vask (‘uásk’): so Flat, ‘varsk’ R702ˣ
notes
[2] vask; haska ‘I was; peril’: Arnórr rhymes háski on bráskat ‘did not cease’ in st. 11/2 and on sásk ‘did not fear’ in Arn Hardr 10/4, but in the present case the suggestion of Konráð Gíslason (1877, 49-50) must be considered, that vowel shortening produced a variant form haski.
í ‘in’
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í (prep.): in, into
miklum ‘great’
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mikill (adj.; °mikinn): great, large
haska ‘peril’
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háski (noun m.; °-a; -ar): danger
notes
[2] vask; haska ‘I was; peril’: Arnórr rhymes háski on bráskat ‘did not cease’ in st. 11/2 and on sásk ‘did not fear’ in Arn Hardr 10/4, but in the present case the suggestion of Konráð Gíslason (1877, 49-50) must be considered, that vowel shortening produced a variant form haski.
míns ‘of my’
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minn (pron.; °f. mín, n. mitt): my
við ‘with’
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2. við (prep.): with, against
mannkyns ‘of men’
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mannkyn (noun n.): mankind
kennings
reyni mannkyns.‘the trier of men. ’
= RULER
the trier of men. → RULER
notes
[3] reyni mannkyns ‘the trier of men [RULER]’: The kenning probably denotes Þorfinnr and means specifically ‘he who tries men’s strength (in battle)’, as does Mark Eirdr 28 reynir máttar hersa ‘trier of the strength of hersar’. However, it is conceivable that Arnórr also intended the kenning (and perhaps dróttins míns ‘of my lord’ in ll. 3 and 4) to refer to God, thus implying that God was supporting the skald and Þorfinnr. All other recorded kennings meaning ‘trier of men’ (Mark Eirdr 25/7 reynir hǫlða among them) refer to God.
reyni ‘the trier’
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2. reynir (noun m.): tester
kennings
reyni mannkyns.‘the trier of men. ’
= RULER
the trier of men. → RULER
notes
[3] reyni mannkyns ‘the trier of men [RULER]’: The kenning probably denotes Þorfinnr and means specifically ‘he who tries men’s strength (in battle)’, as does Mark Eirdr 28 reynir máttar hersa ‘trier of the strength of hersar’. However, it is conceivable that Arnórr also intended the kenning (and perhaps dróttins míns ‘of my lord’ in ll. 3 and 4) to refer to God, thus implying that God was supporting the skald and Þorfinnr. All other recorded kennings meaning ‘trier of men’ (Mark Eirdr 25/7 reynir hǫlða among them) refer to God.
merki ‘tokens’
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1. merki (noun n.; °-s: -): banner, sign
[4] merki: so Flat, merkin R702ˣ
dróttins ‘lord’
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dróttinn (noun m.; °dróttins, dat. dróttni (drottini [$1049$]); dróttnar): lord, master
verka ‘of the exploits’
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verk (noun n.; °-s; -): deed
Þjóð ‘The crew’
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þjóð (noun f.; °-ar, dat. -/-u; -ir): people
bar ‘carried’
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3. bera (verb; °berr; bar, báru; borinn): bear, carry
skjótt ‘swiftly’
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2. skjótr (adj.): quick(ly)
af ‘from’
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af (prep.): from
skeiðum ‘the warships’
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1. skeið (noun f.; °-ar; -r/-ar/-ir): ship
skjaldborg ‘the shield-wall’
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skjaldborg (noun f.): shield-wall
fría ‘on Friday’
[6] fría‑: fira Flat
morgin ‘ morning’
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morginn (noun m.; °morgins, dat. morgni; morgnar): morning < fríamorginn (noun m.): Friday morning
[6] ‑morgin: morgun or morgum Flat
gǫrla ‘clearly’
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gǫrla (adv.): quite, fully
at ‘that’
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4. at (conj.): that
notes
[7] gínði ‘gaped’: This is quite a common image: cf. vargar gínðu of hræ ‘wolves gaped over carrion’ in ESk Geisl 29/7, 8VII. Grínði ‘grinned, stretched his jaws’ in R702ˣ and SLR may reflect a scribal error in a previous stage of transmission, but as the lectio difficilior cannot be ruled out as the original reading. The verb grína ‘grin, stare, squeal, grunt’ is rare in ON and normally strong (AEW), but grínði is supported by the fact that the verb is weak in ModIcel. Either way, the l. lacks the expected skothending, but no obvious emendation suggests itself.
grár ‘the grey’
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grár (adj.; °gráan/grán): grey
ulfr ‘wolf’
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1. ulfr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): wolf
sôrum ‘the wounded’
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sárr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): sore, painful; wounded
[8] sôrum: sárann Flat
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A great and bloody battle is fought at Vatnsfjǫrðr, beginning early in the day and ending in victory for the jarls.
The relevant part of the text in 332ˣ ends just before this st. would have appeared.
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