Cookies on our website

We use cookies on this website, mainly to provide a secure browsing experience but also to collect statistics on how the website is used. You can find out more about the cookies we set, the information we store and how we use it on the cookies page.

Continue

skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

Menu Search

Arn Þorfdr 8II

Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Þorfinnsdrápa 8’ 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. 238-40.

Arnórr jarlaskáld ÞórðarsonÞorfinnsdrápa
789

Þrima ‘The battle’

(not checked:)
þrima (noun f.): battle, din

[1] Þrima: Þruma Flat, Þrima 48ˣmarg

Close

þvígit ‘for that’

(not checked:)
þvígit (adv.): [for that]

[1] þvígit: þeygi Flat, þvígit 48ˣmarg

Close

skemmri ‘none the briefer’

(not checked:)
skammr (adj.): short

Close

þat ‘it’

(not checked:)
1. sá (pron.; °gen. þess, dat. þeim, acc. þann; f. sú, gen. þeirrar, acc. þá; n. þat, dat. því; pl. m. þeir, f. þǽ---): that (one), those

notes

[2, 3, 4] þat vas skjótt, at mætr dróttinn minn rak flótta ‘it happened swiftly that my precious lord put them to flight’: The best overall assumption seems to be that at dróttinn minn ‘that my lord’ explains þat vas skjótt ‘it happened quickly’ (so also Skj B and ÍF 34, 48). However, it entails that the consecutive at spjótum do not form a unitary phrase ‘by/near spears’, and the scribal emendation to með in Flat may result from a feeling that they ought to. See the following Note.

Close

vas ‘happened’

(not checked:)
2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am

notes

[2, 3, 4] þat vas skjótt, at mætr dróttinn minn rak flótta ‘it happened swiftly that my precious lord put them to flight’: The best overall assumption seems to be that at dróttinn minn ‘that my lord’ explains þat vas skjótt ‘it happened quickly’ (so also Skj B and ÍF 34, 48). However, it entails that the consecutive at spjótum do not form a unitary phrase ‘by/near spears’, and the scribal emendation to með in Flat may result from a feeling that they ought to. See the following Note.

Close

skjótt ‘swiftly’

(not checked:)
2. skjótr (adj.): quick(ly)

notes

[2, 3, 4] þat vas skjótt, at mætr dróttinn minn rak flótta ‘it happened swiftly that my precious lord put them to flight’: The best overall assumption seems to be that at dróttinn minn ‘that my lord’ explains þat vas skjótt ‘it happened quickly’ (so also Skj B and ÍF 34, 48). However, it entails that the consecutive at spjótum do not form a unitary phrase ‘by/near spears’, and the scribal emendation to með in Flat may result from a feeling that they ought to. See the following Note.

Close

at ‘that’

(not checked:)
4. at (conj.): that

[2] at: með Flat, at 48ˣmarg

notes

[2, 3, 4] þat vas skjótt, at mætr dróttinn minn rak flótta ‘it happened swiftly that my precious lord put them to flight’: The best overall assumption seems to be that at dróttinn minn ‘that my lord’ explains þat vas skjótt ‘it happened quickly’ (so also Skj B and ÍF 34, 48). However, it entails that the consecutive at spjótum do not form a unitary phrase ‘by/near spears’, and the scribal emendation to með in Flat may result from a feeling that they ought to. See the following Note.

Close

spjótum ‘with spears’

(not checked:)
spjót (noun n.; °-s; -): spear

notes

[2] spjótum ‘with spears’: (a) This is construed above with the cl. rak flótta in which it is embedded, hence ‘put (them) to flight with spears’. (b) The alternative is to take it with þrima vas þvígit skemmri ‘the battle was none the briefer’ (l. 1) (so Björn Magnússon Ólsen 1909a, 296). This analysis entails the separation of at ‘that’ from the cl. it introduces, and, although it might explain þvígit skemmri (‘the battle was none the briefer with spears’, i.e. ‘for all the number of spears’), it does not explain how, after a long battle, Þorfinnr ‘swiftly’ routed his enemies.

Close

mætr ‘precious’

(not checked:)
mætr (adj.; °compar. -ri/-ari, superl. -astr): honoured, respected

notes

[2, 3, 4] þat vas skjótt, at mætr dróttinn minn rak flótta ‘it happened swiftly that my precious lord put them to flight’: The best overall assumption seems to be that at dróttinn minn ‘that my lord’ explains þat vas skjótt ‘it happened quickly’ (so also Skj B and ÍF 34, 48). However, it entails that the consecutive at spjótum do not form a unitary phrase ‘by/near spears’, and the scribal emendation to með in Flat may result from a feeling that they ought to. See the following Note.

Close

við ‘with’

(not checked:)
2. við (prep.): with, against

Close

neyti ‘company’

(not checked:)
neyti (noun n.): company

Close

minn ‘my’

(not checked:)
minn (pron.; °f. mín, n. mitt): my

notes

[2, 3, 4] þat vas skjótt, at mætr dróttinn minn rak flótta ‘it happened swiftly that my precious lord put them to flight’: The best overall assumption seems to be that at dróttinn minn ‘that my lord’ explains þat vas skjótt ‘it happened quickly’ (so also Skj B and ÍF 34, 48). However, it entails that the consecutive at spjótum do not form a unitary phrase ‘by/near spears’, and the scribal emendation to með in Flat may result from a feeling that they ought to. See the following Note.

Close

dróttinn ‘lord’

(not checked:)
dróttinn (noun m.; °dróttins, dat. dróttni (drottini [$1049$]); dróttnar): lord, master

notes

[2, 3, 4] þat vas skjótt, at mætr dróttinn minn rak flótta ‘it happened swiftly that my precious lord put them to flight’: The best overall assumption seems to be that at dróttinn minn ‘that my lord’ explains þat vas skjótt ‘it happened quickly’ (so also Skj B and ÍF 34, 48). However, it entails that the consecutive at spjótum do not form a unitary phrase ‘by/near spears’, and the scribal emendation to með in Flat may result from a feeling that they ought to. See the following Note.

Close

rak ‘put’

(not checked:)
2. reka (verb): drive, force

notes

[2, 3, 4] þat vas skjótt, at mætr dróttinn minn rak flótta ‘it happened swiftly that my precious lord put them to flight’: The best overall assumption seems to be that at dróttinn minn ‘that my lord’ explains þat vas skjótt ‘it happened quickly’ (so also Skj B and ÍF 34, 48). However, it entails that the consecutive at spjótum do not form a unitary phrase ‘by/near spears’, and the scribal emendation to með in Flat may result from a feeling that they ought to. See the following Note.

Close

flótta ‘to flight’

(not checked:)
flótti (noun m.): flight, fleeing

notes

[2, 3, 4] þat vas skjótt, at mætr dróttinn minn rak flótta ‘it happened swiftly that my precious lord put them to flight’: The best overall assumption seems to be that at dróttinn minn ‘that my lord’ explains þat vas skjótt ‘it happened quickly’ (so also Skj B and ÍF 34, 48). However, it entails that the consecutive at spjótum do not form a unitary phrase ‘by/near spears’, and the scribal emendation to með in Flat may result from a feeling that they ought to. See the following Note.

Close

Gall ‘screamed’

(not checked:)
gjalla (verb): to scream, shriek; to repay, return, pay for

[5] Gall: so Flat, gól 332ˣ, 48ˣmarg

notes

[5] gall; fellu ‘screamed; fell’: ‘Foli’ in 332ˣ is, as Ólafur Halldórsson (1964, 148) points out, a mis-spelling of fǫli, i.e. fœli, 3rd pers. sg. pret. subj. of fela ‘hide, entrust, bury’. This is established by fǫli in 48ˣmarg. But there is no suitable object to this verb (Björn Magnússon Ólsen’s suggestion being eccentric, 1909, 296-7), so that the reading must be rejected in favour of the variant fellu. The variant gall ‘screamed’ not gól ‘sang’ must accordingly be chosen in order to complete the skothending. This is the best solution, but not a perfect one, since it would be difficult to account for the presumed corruption of fellu to fœli.

Close

áðr ‘before’

(not checked:)
áðr (adv.; °//): before

Close

grams ‘the ruler’s’

(not checked:)
1. gramr (noun m.): ruler

notes

[5, 6] menn grams; sôrum her ‘the ruler’s men; the wounded host’: In view of Arnórr’s usual practice of emphasising the enemy’s losses, these phrases are best taken as references to Scots, while the victorious hann of l. 7 is doubtless Þorfinnr.

Close

menn ‘men’

(not checked:)
maðr (noun m.): man, person

notes

[5, 6] menn grams; sôrum her ‘the ruler’s men; the wounded host’: In view of Arnórr’s usual practice of emphasising the enemy’s losses, these phrases are best taken as references to Scots, while the victorious hann of l. 7 is doubtless Þorfinnr.

Close

fellu ‘fell’

(not checked:)
falla (verb): fall

[5] fellu: so Flat, ‘foli’ 332ˣ, ‘fǫli’ 48ˣmarg

notes

[5] gall; fellu ‘screamed; fell’: ‘Foli’ in 332ˣ is, as Ólafur Halldórsson (1964, 148) points out, a mis-spelling of fǫli, i.e. fœli, 3rd pers. sg. pret. subj. of fela ‘hide, entrust, bury’. This is established by fǫli in 48ˣmarg. But there is no suitable object to this verb (Björn Magnússon Ólsen’s suggestion being eccentric, 1909, 296-7), so that the reading must be rejected in favour of the variant fellu. The variant gall ‘screamed’ not gól ‘sang’ must accordingly be chosen in order to complete the skothending. This is the best solution, but not a perfect one, since it would be difficult to account for the presumed corruption of fellu to fœli.

Close

gunn ‘The battle’

(not checked:)
gunnr (noun f.): battle < gunnmár (noun m.): [battle-gull]

kennings

Gunnmôr
‘The battle-gull ’
   = RAVEN/EAGLE

The battle-gull → RAVEN/EAGLE
Close

môr ‘gull’

(not checked:)
már (noun m.): gull < gunnmár (noun m.): [battle-gull]

kennings

Gunnmôr
‘The battle-gull ’
   = RAVEN/EAGLE

The battle-gull → RAVEN/EAGLE
Close

of ‘above’

(not checked:)
3. of (prep.): around, from; too

[6] of (‘um’): und Flat, um 48ˣmarg

Close

her ‘host’

(not checked:)
herr (noun m.; °-s/-jar, dat. -; -jar, gen. -ja/herra): army, host

notes

[5, 6] menn grams; sôrum her ‘the ruler’s men; the wounded host’: In view of Arnórr’s usual practice of emphasising the enemy’s losses, these phrases are best taken as references to Scots, while the victorious hann of l. 7 is doubtless Þorfinnr.

Close

sôrum ‘the wounded’

(not checked:)
sárr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): sore, painful; wounded

notes

[5, 6] menn grams; sôrum her ‘the ruler’s men; the wounded host’: In view of Arnórr’s usual practice of emphasising the enemy’s losses, these phrases are best taken as references to Scots, while the victorious hann of l. 7 is doubtless Þorfinnr.

Close

‘won’

(not checked:)
1. vega (verb): strike, slay

Close

sunnan ‘south’

(not checked:)
sunnan (adv.): (from the) south

Close

Sandvík ‘of Sandwick (Sandvík)’

(not checked:)
Sandvík (noun f.): Sandwick

notes

[8] Sandvík ‘Sandwick’: Etymologically ‘Sandy bay’, the p. n. is quite common, with examples in Shetland and mainland Scotland. The chief Orcadian Sandwick is an inlet and parish on the west coast of Mainland, but since sts 6-8 all seem, on internal evidence and from Orkn, to refer to the same battle, the one off Deerness (Dýrness) on the east coast, it seems that this Sandvík must be just north of Deerness (see st. 6/4 and Context to st. 6).

Close

ruðu ‘they reddened’

(not checked:)
rjóða (verb): to redden

notes

[8] ruðu branda ‘they reddened swords’: (a) This is taken as a cl. complete in itself (so also Kock, NN §829). The understood subject must be Þorfinnr and his men (the minna neyti ‘smaller company’ of l. 3). Another probable example of a pl. verb lacking an explicit subject is brenndu ‘burned’ in st. 11/1. (b) Ruðu has an explicit subject if áðr grams menn fellu ‘before the ruler’s men fell’ (l. 5) and ruðu branda ‘they reddened swords’ are read together as a single sentence, ‘before the ruler’s men fell, they reddened their swords’ (so Skj B, marking off grams menn by commas so that it is subject to ruðu); but it is rare for a subordinate cl. beginning with áðr ‘before’ to precede its main cl. (c) Ólafur Halldórsson (1964, 149-50, followed by Finnbogi Guðmundsson, ÍF 34, 48) emended to ruðum ‘we reddened’, but this seems unnecessary, and there is no other mention of Arnórr’s presence at this battle.

Close

branda ‘swords’

(not checked:)
brandr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): sword, prow; fire

notes

[8] ruðu branda ‘they reddened swords’: (a) This is taken as a cl. complete in itself (so also Kock, NN §829). The understood subject must be Þorfinnr and his men (the minna neyti ‘smaller company’ of l. 3). Another probable example of a pl. verb lacking an explicit subject is brenndu ‘burned’ in st. 11/1. (b) Ruðu has an explicit subject if áðr grams menn fellu ‘before the ruler’s men fell’ (l. 5) and ruðu branda ‘they reddened swords’ are read together as a single sentence, ‘before the ruler’s men fell, they reddened their swords’ (so Skj B, marking off grams menn by commas so that it is subject to ruðu); but it is rare for a subordinate cl. beginning with áðr ‘before’ to precede its main cl. (c) Ólafur Halldórsson (1964, 149-50, followed by Finnbogi Guðmundsson, ÍF 34, 48) emended to ruðum ‘we reddened’, but this seems unnecessary, and there is no other mention of Arnórr’s presence at this battle.

Close

Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses

The men of Orkney overrun Karl’s flagship before it can be rowed free. Karl, with the few survivors on his ship, leaps onto another and flees, with Þorfinnr in pursuit.

[1-4]: The helmingr is difficult, as no interpretation adequately explains the contradiction between þrima vas þvígit skemmri ‘the battle was none the briefer for that’ (l. 1) and þat vas skjótt ‘it happened swiftly’ (l. 2). It is possible that því(git skemmri) originally referred to some action of Þorfinnr’s enemies which was described in a previous st., now lost.

Close

Log in

This service is only available to members of the relevant projects, and to purchasers of the skaldic volumes published by Brepols.
This service uses cookies. By logging in you agree to the use of cookies on your browser.

Close

Stanza/chapter/text segment

Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.

Information tab

Interactive tab

The text and translation are given here, with buttons to toggle whether the text is shown in the verse order or prose word order. Clicking on indiviudal words gives dictionary links, variant readings, kennings and notes, where relevant.

Full text tab

This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.

Chapter/text segment

This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.