Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Þorfinnsdrápa 20’ 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. 253-4.
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óskepna (noun f.): [monstrous thing]
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1. verða (verb): become, be
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uppi (adv.): up, up in
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endr (adv.): formerly, once, again
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þás (conj.): when
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2. margr (adj.; °-an): many
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kenna (verb): know, teach
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háligr (adj.): noble
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5. at (nota): to (with infinitive)
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hníga (verb): sink, fall
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harðr (adj.; °comp. -ari; superl. -astr): hard, harsh
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2. er (conj.): who, which, when
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jarl (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): poet, earl
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2. berja (verb; °barði; barðr/bariðr/barinn): fight
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ráða (verb): advise, rule, interpret, decide
[5] réðusk ‘destroyed each other’: (a) Ráða occurs with the meaning ‘betray’ or ‘seal another’s fate’, often specifically by killing or causing death (see LP: ráða 9), and ráða e-n can mean ‘plot someone’s death’ (Fritzner: ráða 7). The juxtaposition of ráða in this sense with nær ‘almost’ is matched in ÞjóðA Magnfl 15/8. (b) The alternative translation ‘attacked each other’ is suggested by the context and would be supported by idioms with that sense such as ráða(sk) á and ráða til e-s, or expressions where ráðask implies motion, such as ráðask þangat ‘make one’s way there’, ráðask frá ‘leave’.
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ástmaðr (noun m.; °·manns, dat. ·manni; ·menn): [dear friends]
[5] ástmenn órir ‘our [my] dear friends’: Lit. ‘our [my] beloved men’, Arnórr’s patrons Þorfinnr and Rǫgnvaldr.
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várr (pron.; °f. ór/vár; pl. órir/várir): our
[5] ástmenn órir ‘our [my] dear friends’: Lit. ‘our [my] beloved men’, Arnórr’s patrons Þorfinnr and Rǫgnvaldr.
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eldr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i/-(HómÍsl¹(1993) 24v²⁴); -ar): fire < eldhríð (noun f.): [sword-blizzard]
[6] eldhríð ‘sword-blizzard [BATTLE]’: Eldr, like logi, usually means ‘fire’, but is also a heiti for ‘sword’ in Þul Sverða 8/2III; cf. runnr elda ‘tree of swords [WARRIOR]’ in Anon Óldr 11I (C12th). It would be a strange coincidence if, as Finnur Jónsson assumes in Skj B, an original oddr ‘point’ had been corrupted to eldr both in Óldr 11 and in st. 20 (where emendation to odd- was originally proposed by Gudbrand Vigfusson, Orkn 1887, 59 n. 4).
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hríð (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): time, storm < eldhríð (noun f.): [sword-blizzard]
[6] eldhríð ‘sword-blizzard [BATTLE]’: Eldr, like logi, usually means ‘fire’, but is also a heiti for ‘sword’ in Þul Sverða 8/2III; cf. runnr elda ‘tree of swords [WARRIOR]’ in Anon Óldr 11I (C12th). It would be a strange coincidence if, as Finnur Jónsson assumes in Skj B, an original oddr ‘point’ had been corrupted to eldr both in Óldr 11 and in st. 20 (where emendation to odd- was originally proposed by Gudbrand Vigfusson, Orkn 1887, 59 n. 4).
[6] es ‘as’: This reading is adopted in preference to en ‘and, but’, since es varð síðan ‘as (the battle) came about then’ gives immediacy to the description of the onslaught, whereas the conjunction in en varð síðan ‘and then (a battle) came about’ would imply a different conflict and a different temporal frame.
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1. verða (verb): become, be
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síðan (adv.): later, then
[7] ǫld ‘men’: The ‘gracious men’ who ‘received many injuries’ could be Rǫgnvaldr’s own men, or the moderate men of both sides who had no wish for strife.
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2. fá (verb; °fǽr; fekk, fengu; fenginn): get, receive
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mein (noun n.; °-s; -): harm, injury
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2. inn (art.): the
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mildr (adj.; °compar. -ri/-ari, superl. -astr): mild, gentle, gracious, generous
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2. margr (adj.; °-an): many
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fyr (prep.): for, over, because of, etc.
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Rauðabjǫrg (noun n.): Rauðabjǫrg
[8] Rauðabjǫrgum ‘Rauðabjǫrg’: Lit. ‘red (iron ore?) rocks’, probably Ruberry or Roberry on the east coast of Hoy, Orkney. Both the geographical situation and phonetic form of Roberry are compatible with the Rauðabjǫrg of the st. and the saga, especially if Roberry derives from Rauðabergi, locative sg. of Rauðaberg, a by-form of Rauðabjǫrg (see Taylor 1931, 43-4 for discussion of alternative locations).
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Stanzas 20 and 24 are first quoted at the end of ch. 32, a summary chapter on the life and death of Þorfinnr. They are introduced as witnesses to the battle between the jarls Rǫgnvaldr Brúsason and Þorfinnr. They occur again, together with st. 19 and BjHall Kálffl 8I, at the end of ch. 56, which concerns Páll, son of Þorfinnr. The sts have no connection with the preceding prose, and there are no introductory words to explain their inclusion at this point.
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