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Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Anon (Vǫls) 2VIII (Vǫls 22)

Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Vǫlsunga saga 22 (Anonymous Lausavísur, Lausavísur from Vǫlsunga saga 2)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 793.

Anonymous LausavísurLausavísur from Vǫlsunga saga
123

Eldr ‘Fire’

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eldr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i/-(HómÍsl¹‰(1993) 24v²⁴); -ar): fire

[1] Eldr: ‘[…]lldr’ 1824b

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nam ‘raged’

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1. nema (verb): to take

[1] nam: man 1824b

notes

[1] nam at æsaz ‘raged’: The ms. has man at æsaz, with man from muna, an auxiliary and modal verb used to express the future tense. This does not make sense in context, and all previous eds have assumed the copyist transposed the two consonants of nam, 3rd pers. sg. pret. of nema ‘begin’, frequently used, as here, as a pleonastic auxiliary with the inf. of another verb to indicate pret. tense. Nam is also to be understood as a pleonastic auxiliary with skjálfa (l. 2) and gnæfa (l. 4).

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at ‘’

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5. at (nota): to (with infinitive)

notes

[1] nam at æsaz ‘raged’: The ms. has man at æsaz, with man from muna, an auxiliary and modal verb used to express the future tense. This does not make sense in context, and all previous eds have assumed the copyist transposed the two consonants of nam, 3rd pers. sg. pret. of nema ‘begin’, frequently used, as here, as a pleonastic auxiliary with the inf. of another verb to indicate pret. tense. Nam is also to be understood as a pleonastic auxiliary with skjálfa (l. 2) and gnæfa (l. 4).

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æsaz ‘’

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œsa (verb): surge

notes

[1] nam at æsaz ‘raged’: The ms. has man at æsaz, with man from muna, an auxiliary and modal verb used to express the future tense. This does not make sense in context, and all previous eds have assumed the copyist transposed the two consonants of nam, 3rd pers. sg. pret. of nema ‘begin’, frequently used, as here, as a pleonastic auxiliary with the inf. of another verb to indicate pret. tense. Nam is also to be understood as a pleonastic auxiliary with skjálfa (l. 2) and gnæfa (l. 4).

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en ‘and’

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2. en (conj.): but, and

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skjálfa ‘shook’

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1. skjalfa (verb): shake - intrans.

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ok ‘and’

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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also

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logi ‘flame’

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logi (noun m.; °-a; -ar): flame

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við ‘up’

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2. við (prep.): with, against

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gnæfa ‘rose’

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gnæfa (verb): [towering, towered]

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treystiz ‘dared’

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treysta (verb): trust, believe in

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þar ‘there’

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þar (adv.): there

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fylkis ‘of the prince’

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fylkir (noun m.): leader

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rekka ‘of the warriors’

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rekkr (noun m.; °; -ar): man, champion

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at ‘through’

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5. at (nota): to (with infinitive)

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ríða ‘to ride’

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1. ríða (verb): ride

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‘nor’

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né (conj.): nor

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yfir ‘across it’

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yfir (prep.): over

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stíga ‘step’

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stíga (verb): step

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

This stanza tells how the heroes Gunnarr and Sigurðr attempt to reach the former valkyrie Brynhildr through a barrier of flames surrounding her hall in order to woo her. Gunnarr first tries to ride through the flames on Sigurðr’s horse, Grani, but the horse refuses. Sigurðr then exchanges shapes with Gunnarr, rides successfully through the flames, and woos Brynhildr in the guise of Gunnarr, having apparently forgotten, due to the influence of a magical potion, that he had become betrothed to her previously in his own person. Stanzas 2 and 3 describe the power of the flames and Sigurðr’s successful penetration of them riding Grani. Stanza 2 is introduced with the words svá er kveðit ‘so it is told’.

Although the poem from which Vǫls 2 and 3 come is not known, it must have described the wooing of Brynhildr and Sigurðr’s successful penetration of the barrier of flames surrounding her hall, with its complicated consequences. Chapter 29 of Vǫls comes within that section of the saga (chs 24-31) that corresponds to the poetry that must have been in a large lacuna in the Codex Regius ms. between the end of Sigrdr and the beginning of Brot. — [1-4]: These lines are reminiscent of other poetic descriptions of cosmic disturbances caused by the movements of gods or heroes; cf. Þry 21/5-8, Þjóð Haustl 15III.

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