Arn Þorfdr 21II
Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Þorfinnsdrápa 21’ 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. 254-5.
kennings
hvárntveggja auðgjafa mínn‘both my wealth-givers ’
= GENEROUS MEN
both my wealth-givers → GENEROUS MEN
notes
[1-2, 4] sák hvárntveggja auðgjafa mínn hǫggva hirð sína ‘I watched both my wealth-givers [GENEROUS MEN] hack down their own retainers’: (a) The 1st-pers. mode of the Flat reading matches that of l. 3 and Arnórr’s known presence at this battle; this is also adopted in Skj B. (b) The R702ˣ readings are also viable, giving ‘each of my wealth-givers watched his retainers being hacked down’.
notes
[1-2, 4] sák hvárntveggja auðgjafa mínn hǫggva hirð sína ‘I watched both my wealth-givers [GENEROUS MEN] hack down their own retainers’: (a) The 1st-pers. mode of the Flat reading matches that of l. 3 and Arnórr’s known presence at this battle; this is also adopted in Skj B. (b) The R702ˣ readings are also viable, giving ‘each of my wealth-givers watched his retainers being hacked down’.
hǫggva ‘hack down’
(not checked:)
hǫggva (verb): to strike, put to death, cut, hew
[1] hǫggva: ‘ho᷎gna’ R702ˣ
notes
[1-2, 4] sák hvárntveggja auðgjafa mínn hǫggva hirð sína ‘I watched both my wealth-givers [GENEROUS MEN] hack down their own retainers’: (a) The 1st-pers. mode of the Flat reading matches that of l. 3 and Arnórr’s known presence at this battle; this is also adopted in Skj B. (b) The R702ˣ readings are also viable, giving ‘each of my wealth-givers watched his retainers being hacked down’.
hirð ‘retainers’
(not checked:)
hirð (noun f.; °-ar; -ir/-ar(FskB 53)): retinue
notes
[1-2, 4] sák hvárntveggja auðgjafa mínn hǫggva hirð sína ‘I watched both my wealth-givers [GENEROUS MEN] hack down their own retainers’: (a) The 1st-pers. mode of the Flat reading matches that of l. 3 and Arnórr’s known presence at this battle; this is also adopted in Skj B. (b) The R702ˣ readings are also viable, giving ‘each of my wealth-givers watched his retainers being hacked down’.
á ‘in’
(not checked:)
3. á (prep.): on, at
Péttlands ‘the Pentland’
[2] Péttlands‑: ‘fetlandz’ R702ˣ
notes
[2] Péttlandsfirði ‘Pentland Firth’: This is the first record of the name Péttlandsfjǫrðr in ON, which commemorates the Picts, the early inhabitants of mainland Scotland, south across the Firth from Orkney.
firði ‘ Firth’
(not checked:)
fjǫrðr (noun m.): fjord < Pettlandsfjǫrðr (noun m.)
notes
[2] Péttlandsfirði ‘Pentland Firth’: This is the first record of the name Péttlandsfjǫrðr in ON, which commemorates the Picts, the early inhabitants of mainland Scotland, south across the Firth from Orkney.
þrifusk ‘grew’
(not checked:)
þrífa (verb): grab, grasp; thrive (refl.)
mein ‘pain’
(not checked:)
mein (noun n.; °-s; -): harm, injury
at ‘the’
(not checked:)
3. at (prep.): at, to
meiri ‘more’
(not checked:)
meiri (adj. comp.; °meiran; superl. mestr): more, most
mínn ‘my’
(not checked:)
minn (pron.; °f. mín, n. mitt): my
kennings
hvárntveggja auðgjafa mínn‘both my wealth-givers ’
= GENEROUS MEN
both my wealth-givers → GENEROUS MEN
notes
[1-2, 4] sák hvárntveggja auðgjafa mínn hǫggva hirð sína ‘I watched both my wealth-givers [GENEROUS MEN] hack down their own retainers’: (a) The 1st-pers. mode of the Flat reading matches that of l. 3 and Arnórr’s known presence at this battle; this is also adopted in Skj B. (b) The R702ˣ readings are also viable, giving ‘each of my wealth-givers watched his retainers being hacked down’.
auð ‘wealth’
(not checked:)
1. auðr (noun m.; °-s/-ar, dat. -i/-): wealth < auðgjafi (noun m.): [wealth-giver]
kennings
hvárntveggja auðgjafa mínn‘both my wealth-givers ’
= GENEROUS MEN
both my wealth-givers → GENEROUS MEN
notes
[1-2, 4] sák hvárntveggja auðgjafa mínn hǫggva hirð sína ‘I watched both my wealth-givers [GENEROUS MEN] hack down their own retainers’: (a) The 1st-pers. mode of the Flat reading matches that of l. 3 and Arnórr’s known presence at this battle; this is also adopted in Skj B. (b) The R702ˣ readings are also viable, giving ‘each of my wealth-givers watched his retainers being hacked down’.
gjafa ‘givers’
(not checked:)
gjafi (noun m.): giver < auðgjafi (noun m.): [wealth-giver]
[4] ‑gjafa: ‑gjafi R702ˣ
kennings
hvárntveggja auðgjafa mínn‘both my wealth-givers ’
= GENEROUS MEN
both my wealth-givers → GENEROUS MEN
notes
[1-2, 4] sák hvárntveggja auðgjafa mínn hǫggva hirð sína ‘I watched both my wealth-givers [GENEROUS MEN] hack down their own retainers’: (a) The 1st-pers. mode of the Flat reading matches that of l. 3 and Arnórr’s known presence at this battle; this is also adopted in Skj B. (b) The R702ˣ readings are also viable, giving ‘each of my wealth-givers watched his retainers being hacked down’.
sína ‘their own’
(not checked:)
3. sinn (pron.; °f. sín, n. sitt): (refl. poss. pron.)
notes
[1-2, 4] sák hvárntveggja auðgjafa mínn hǫggva hirð sína ‘I watched both my wealth-givers [GENEROUS MEN] hack down their own retainers’: (a) The 1st-pers. mode of the Flat reading matches that of l. 3 and Arnórr’s known presence at this battle; this is also adopted in Skj B. (b) The R702ˣ readings are also viable, giving ‘each of my wealth-givers watched his retainers being hacked down’.
Sær ‘The sea’
(not checked:)
sjór (noun m.): sea
blezk ‘churned’
(not checked:)
2. blanda (verb; °blendr; blett, blendu; blandinn): mix, blend (strong)
[5] blezk: so R702ˣ, ‘blerr’ Flat
notes
[5] blezk ‘churned’: Flat’s ‘blerr’ is not a known verbal form; but the R702ˣ variant blezk (‘blezt’) would be 3rd pers. sg. pret. indic. of blandask ‘mix’ and would give good sense. The usual construction is blandask e-u or blandask við e-t, so that here one must assume either that blóði ‘with blood’ is implied, or that blezk simply means ‘blended with itself, churned’.
en ‘and’
(not checked:)
2. en (conj.): but, and
dreif ‘dashed’
(not checked:)
2. drífa (verb; °drífr; dreif, drifu; drifinn): drive, rush
dreyri ‘blood’
(not checked:)
dreyri (noun m.; °-a): blood
døkkr ‘dark’
(not checked:)
døkkr (adj.; °-van; compar. -vari/-ari/-ri, superl. -vastr/-astr): dark
á ‘on’
(not checked:)
3. á (prep.): on, at
notes
[6] á kløkkva saumfǫr ‘on the pliant nail-row’: (a) Saumfǫr, lit. ‘stitch-row’, the row of nails along each strake, is recorded in ON prose although not elsewhere in poetry, and it occurs in ModIcel. It is kløkkr ‘pliant’ in the sense that it gives with the motion of the ship in heavy seas. Lie (1954, 158-9 and n. 7) took saumfǫr as a pars-pro-toto expression for ‘ship’ here, which may be justified since, as Jesch points out (2001, 140), it is the wood rather than the nails that give pliability. (b) The R702ˣ variant ‘rvmspo᷎r’ is obscure, though rúm n. is a compartment of a ship, the space given to each pair of oars.
notes
[6] á kløkkva saumfǫr ‘on the pliant nail-row’: (a) Saumfǫr, lit. ‘stitch-row’, the row of nails along each strake, is recorded in ON prose although not elsewhere in poetry, and it occurs in ModIcel. It is kløkkr ‘pliant’ in the sense that it gives with the motion of the ship in heavy seas. Lie (1954, 158-9 and n. 7) took saumfǫr as a pars-pro-toto expression for ‘ship’ here, which may be justified since, as Jesch points out (2001, 140), it is the wood rather than the nails that give pliability. (b) The R702ˣ variant ‘rvmspo᷎r’ is obscure, though rúm n. is a compartment of a ship, the space given to each pair of oars.
kløkkva ‘the pliant’
(not checked:)
kløkkr (adj.): flexible, humble
[6] kløkkva (‘klocka’): ‘klockri’ or ‘klockvi’ R702ˣ
notes
[6] á kløkkva saumfǫr ‘on the pliant nail-row’: (a) Saumfǫr, lit. ‘stitch-row’, the row of nails along each strake, is recorded in ON prose although not elsewhere in poetry, and it occurs in ModIcel. It is kløkkr ‘pliant’ in the sense that it gives with the motion of the ship in heavy seas. Lie (1954, 158-9 and n. 7) took saumfǫr as a pars-pro-toto expression for ‘ship’ here, which may be justified since, as Jesch points out (2001, 140), it is the wood rather than the nails that give pliability. (b) The R702ˣ variant ‘rvmspo᷎r’ is obscure, though rúm n. is a compartment of a ship, the space given to each pair of oars.
skaut ‘spurted’
(not checked:)
skjóta (verb): shoot
á ‘on’
(not checked:)
3. á (prep.): on, at
skjaldrim ‘the shield-rail’
(not checked:)
skjaldrim (noun f.): [shield-rail]
[7] skjaldrim sveita: skjǫldin hvíta R702ˣ
notes
[7] skjaldrim ‘the shield-rail’: The outside of the gunwale, on which shields were hung. On the evidence of the Gokstad and Skuldelev 5 ships, it seems that this was a narrow ledge attached to the top strake (Jesch 2001a, 141).
notes
[8] skokkr ‘decking’: As a nautical term, skokkr is confined to skaldic poetry, and in none of the six contexts in which it occurs is its precise reference clear. But, partly on the basis of etymology and partly by inference from the use of skokk in Swed. dialect, it appears that skokkr is virtually synonymous with þiljur, designating the loose decking planks on the bottom of the ship (see Lindquist 1928; Ljunggren 1939, 26-8; Jesch 2001a, 151-3). See also Bǫlv Hardr 4/8, 5/8, 8/5 and Kolli Ingdr 4/7.
vas ‘was’
(not checked:)
2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
blóði ‘with blood’
(not checked:)
blóð (noun n.; °-s): blood
stokkinn ‘spattered’
(not checked:)
stokkinn (adj./verb p.p.): spattered, splattered
[8] stokkinn: stokkin R702ˣ
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Þorfinnr, hard pressed in the battle off Rauðabjǫrg, retires for a short time and then rejoins the fighting, now with the support of Kálfr Árnason and his six crews. He brings up his ship against Rǫgnvaldr’s in a fierce struggle.
Uncharacteristically, R702ˣ contains many nonsensical readings while Flat has a superior text and is therefore adopted as the main ms.
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