Arn Þorfdr 18II
Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Þorfinnsdrápa 18’ 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. 250.
Margr ‘Many’
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2. margr (adj.; °-an): many
vas ‘sounded’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
millum ‘between’
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millum (prep.): between
borga ‘the defences’
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borg (noun f.; °-ar, dat. -; -ir): city, stronghold
mildingr ‘the bountiful one’
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mildingr (noun m.; °-s): ruler, generous one
þrǫng ‘stormed’
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þrøngva (verb): press, throng
at ‘into’
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3. at (prep.): at, to
hildi ‘battle’
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1. hildr (noun f.): battle
horna ‘of horns’
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horn (noun n.; °-s; -): horn
blôstr ‘a blast’
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blástr (noun m.; °blástrar, dat. blǽstri/blástri/blástr/blǽsti/blásti): breath, blast
þars ‘where’
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2. er (conj.): who, which, when
hristisk ‘waved’
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hrista (verb): shake
hugsterks ‘of the stout-hearted’
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hugsterkr (adj.): [stout-hearted]
jǫfurs ‘hero’
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jǫfurr (noun m.): ruler, prince
merki ‘the banner’
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1. merki (noun n.; °-s: -): banner, sign
notes
[5] vætr ‘not a trace’: The emendation, first proposed by Gudbrand Vigfusson (Orkn 1887, 43 n. 12), is necessary since vátr ‘wet’ could make no sense in the helmingr.
brá ‘seized’
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bregða (verb; °bregðr/brigðr; brá, brugðu; brugðinn/brogðinn): pull, jerk, break; change
s ‘once’
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2. er (conj.): who, which, when
vígljóst ‘light enough for battle’
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vígljóss (adj.): light enough for battle
þótti ‘it seemed’
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2. þykkja (verb): seem, think
varg ‘of the thief’
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vargr (noun m.; °dat. -i; -ar): wolf < vargsteypir (noun m.): [thief-feller]
kennings
vargsteypis,‘of the thief-feller, ’
= JUST RULER = Þorfinnr
the thief-feller, → JUST RULER = Þorfinnr
steypis ‘feller’
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steypir (noun m.; °-s): overcomer, destroyer < vargsteypir (noun m.): [thief-feller]
kennings
vargsteypis,‘of the thief-feller, ’
= JUST RULER = Þorfinnr
the thief-feller, → JUST RULER = Þorfinnr
her ‘troop’
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herr (noun m.; °-s/-jar, dat. -; -jar, gen. -ja/herra): army, host
greypum ‘the grim’
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greypr (adj.; °compar. -ari): cruel
skulfu ‘quivered’
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1. skjalfa (verb): shake - intrans.
jôrn ‘iron blades’
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járn (noun n.; °-s; -): iron, weapon
en ‘and’
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2. en (conj.): but, and
ulfar ‘wolves’
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1. ulfr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): wolf
uggs ‘of fear’
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uggr (noun m.; °dat. -): fear
morgin ‘morning’
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morginn (noun m.; °morgins, dat. morgni; morgnar): morning < morginhræ (noun n.)
[8] morgin‑: morgun R702ˣ
notes
[8] morginhræ ‘morning carrion’: A unique cpd playing on morgunverðr, -matr ‘morning meal, breakfast’ is assumed here, cf. Þþyn Lv l. 3IV (c. 955), where the carrion-greedy raven demands its morginbrð ‘morning flesh’; cf. also the macabre application of the culinary bráðla steikðan ‘swiftly roasted’ to corpses in Arn Magndr 8/5. (b) Morgin could alternatively be read as an acc. of time ‘in the morning, by morning’ (so Finnbogi Guðmundsson in ÍF 34), cf. fríamorgin ‘on Friday morning’ in st. 13, and margan morgin ‘(on) many a morning’, Sigv Vestv 1/1-2I. This could qualify any or all of the four clauses in the helmingr, though the best solution semantically, of construing it with [e]s þótti vígljóst ‘once it seemed light enough for battle’ (l. 5), entails a problematic division of l. 8 into parts of three clauses. (c) Kock suggested that uggs morginn is a unitary phrase meaning ‘morning of terror’, a contrasting expression to feginsmorginn ‘morning of joy’ in ESk Sigdr I 3/8. However, while fegin(s) is based on an adj. and very commonly figures in cpd expressions, uggs is a noun and is not otherwise recorded in this role. (d) Finnur Jónsson, in Skj B, emended morgun/morgin to -inn and vigljóst in l. 5 to -ljóss in order to obtain es morginn þótti vígljóss ‘when the morning seemed light enough for fighting’. But the problem of the partitioning of l. 8, mentioned under alternative (b) above, arises again and the emendation is not strictly necessary.
hræ ‘carrion’
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hræ (noun n.; °; -): corpse, carrion < morginhræ (noun n.)
notes
[8] morginhræ ‘morning carrion’: A unique cpd playing on morgunverðr, -matr ‘morning meal, breakfast’ is assumed here, cf. Þþyn Lv l. 3IV (c. 955), where the carrion-greedy raven demands its morginbrð ‘morning flesh’; cf. also the macabre application of the culinary bráðla steikðan ‘swiftly roasted’ to corpses in Arn Magndr 8/5. (b) Morgin could alternatively be read as an acc. of time ‘in the morning, by morning’ (so Finnbogi Guðmundsson in ÍF 34), cf. fríamorgin ‘on Friday morning’ in st. 13, and margan morgin ‘(on) many a morning’, Sigv Vestv 1/1-2I. This could qualify any or all of the four clauses in the helmingr, though the best solution semantically, of construing it with [e]s þótti vígljóst ‘once it seemed light enough for battle’ (l. 5), entails a problematic division of l. 8 into parts of three clauses. (c) Kock suggested that uggs morginn is a unitary phrase meaning ‘morning of terror’, a contrasting expression to feginsmorginn ‘morning of joy’ in ESk Sigdr I 3/8. However, while fegin(s) is based on an adj. and very commonly figures in cpd expressions, uggs is a noun and is not otherwise recorded in this role. (d) Finnur Jónsson, in Skj B, emended morgun/morgin to -inn and vigljóst in l. 5 to -ljóss in order to obtain es morginn þótti vígljóss ‘when the morning seemed light enough for fighting’. But the problem of the partitioning of l. 8, mentioned under alternative (b) above, arises again and the emendation is not strictly necessary.
tuggu ‘chewed’
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tyggja (verb): [chewed]
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Many a blast of horns sounded between the defences, where the banner of the stout-hearted hero waved; the bountiful one stormed into battle. Not a trace of fear seized the grim troop of the thief-feller [JUST RULER = Þorfinnr], once it seemed light enough for battle; iron blades quivered, and wolves chewed morning-carrion.
The st. follows sts 16 and 17 directly.
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