Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Auðunn illskælda, Lausavísa 1’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 18.
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maðr (noun m.): man, person
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skulu (verb): shall, should, must
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þó (adv.): though
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mold (noun f.; °-ar, dat. -u; -ir): earth, soil
[1, 3] kenniseiðs moldar ‘of the testing coalfish of the earth [SNAKE = Ormr (ormr ‘snake’)]’: This snake-kenning plays on the common noun ormr ‘snake’, which can also be a pers. n.
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mega (verb): may, might
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2. hverr (pron.): who, whom, each, every
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4. of (particle): (before verb)
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þegja (verb): be silent
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kenna (verb): know, teach < kenniseiðr (noun m.)
[1, 3] kenniseiðs moldar ‘of the testing coalfish of the earth [SNAKE = Ormr (ormr ‘snake’)]’: This snake-kenning plays on the common noun ormr ‘snake’, which can also be a pers. n.
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2. seiðr (noun m.): coalfish < kenniseiðr (noun m.)
[3] ‑seiðs: meiðs W, ‘selds’ B
[1, 3] kenniseiðs moldar ‘of the testing coalfish of the earth [SNAKE = Ormr (ormr ‘snake’)]’: This snake-kenning plays on the common noun ormr ‘snake’, which can also be a pers. n.
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þótt (conj.): although
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kleppr (noun m.; °; -ar): [lump] < kleppdǫgg (noun f.)
[4] kleppdǫgg lǫggvar Hôars ‘the lump-dew of Hárr’s <= Óðinn’s> cask-rim [VAT > BAD POETRY]’: Editors have found difficulty with this kenning and made various suggestions for its interpretation (cf. SnE 1848-87, III, 137; TGT 1884, 166-7; TGT 1927, 90-1; LP: kleppdǫgg, lǫgg; NN §1006), but, although the lexical elements are unusual, it conforms to standard references to the myth of the mead of poetry as Óðinn’s possession and his alcoholic drink (cf. Meissner 427-30). Lǫgg ‘the rim or ledge at the bottom of a cask or barrel’ or ‘the inside of a cask’ (CVC: lögg; Fritzner: lǫgg; ModIcel. lögg ‘drop left in a bottle’) must be understood as pars pro toto for a vat or cask, in which the mead of poetry is stored. However, the kind of poetry Ormr can produce, Auðunn alleges, is not of a mellifluous, free-flowing type, but rather kleppdǫgg ‘lump-dew’ that can stick to the bottom of the barrel, that is to say, dregs. Auðunn does not use the scatological imagery of kennings like leirr arnar ‘mud of the eagle’ (Arngr Gd 2/7IV; cf. SnE 1998, I, 5), but the effect is similar.
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dǫgg (noun f.; °-var/-ar, dat. -/-u; -var/-ar/dǫggir/daggir (cf. [$1242$])): dew < kleppdǫgg (noun f.)
[4] ‑dǫgg: ‑dǫggs B
[4] kleppdǫgg lǫggvar Hôars ‘the lump-dew of Hárr’s <= Óðinn’s> cask-rim [VAT > BAD POETRY]’: Editors have found difficulty with this kenning and made various suggestions for its interpretation (cf. SnE 1848-87, III, 137; TGT 1884, 166-7; TGT 1927, 90-1; LP: kleppdǫgg, lǫgg; NN §1006), but, although the lexical elements are unusual, it conforms to standard references to the myth of the mead of poetry as Óðinn’s possession and his alcoholic drink (cf. Meissner 427-30). Lǫgg ‘the rim or ledge at the bottom of a cask or barrel’ or ‘the inside of a cask’ (CVC: lögg; Fritzner: lǫgg; ModIcel. lögg ‘drop left in a bottle’) must be understood as pars pro toto for a vat or cask, in which the mead of poetry is stored. However, the kind of poetry Ormr can produce, Auðunn alleges, is not of a mellifluous, free-flowing type, but rather kleppdǫgg ‘lump-dew’ that can stick to the bottom of the barrel, that is to say, dregs. Auðunn does not use the scatological imagery of kennings like leirr arnar ‘mud of the eagle’ (Arngr Gd 2/7IV; cf. SnE 1998, I, 5), but the effect is similar.
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Hár (noun m.): Hárr, the High One
[4] kleppdǫgg lǫggvar Hôars ‘the lump-dew of Hárr’s <= Óðinn’s> cask-rim [VAT > BAD POETRY]’: Editors have found difficulty with this kenning and made various suggestions for its interpretation (cf. SnE 1848-87, III, 137; TGT 1884, 166-7; TGT 1927, 90-1; LP: kleppdǫgg, lǫgg; NN §1006), but, although the lexical elements are unusual, it conforms to standard references to the myth of the mead of poetry as Óðinn’s possession and his alcoholic drink (cf. Meissner 427-30). Lǫgg ‘the rim or ledge at the bottom of a cask or barrel’ or ‘the inside of a cask’ (CVC: lögg; Fritzner: lǫgg; ModIcel. lögg ‘drop left in a bottle’) must be understood as pars pro toto for a vat or cask, in which the mead of poetry is stored. However, the kind of poetry Ormr can produce, Auðunn alleges, is not of a mellifluous, free-flowing type, but rather kleppdǫgg ‘lump-dew’ that can stick to the bottom of the barrel, that is to say, dregs. Auðunn does not use the scatological imagery of kennings like leirr arnar ‘mud of the eagle’ (Arngr Gd 2/7IV; cf. SnE 1998, I, 5), but the effect is similar.
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Hár (noun m.): Hárr, the High One
[4] kleppdǫgg lǫggvar Hôars ‘the lump-dew of Hárr’s <= Óðinn’s> cask-rim [VAT > BAD POETRY]’: Editors have found difficulty with this kenning and made various suggestions for its interpretation (cf. SnE 1848-87, III, 137; TGT 1884, 166-7; TGT 1927, 90-1; LP: kleppdǫgg, lǫgg; NN §1006), but, although the lexical elements are unusual, it conforms to standard references to the myth of the mead of poetry as Óðinn’s possession and his alcoholic drink (cf. Meissner 427-30). Lǫgg ‘the rim or ledge at the bottom of a cask or barrel’ or ‘the inside of a cask’ (CVC: lögg; Fritzner: lǫgg; ModIcel. lögg ‘drop left in a bottle’) must be understood as pars pro toto for a vat or cask, in which the mead of poetry is stored. However, the kind of poetry Ormr can produce, Auðunn alleges, is not of a mellifluous, free-flowing type, but rather kleppdǫgg ‘lump-dew’ that can stick to the bottom of the barrel, that is to say, dregs. Auðunn does not use the scatological imagery of kennings like leirr arnar ‘mud of the eagle’ (Arngr Gd 2/7IV; cf. SnE 1998, I, 5), but the effect is similar.
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lǫgg (noun f.): [cask-rim]
[4] kleppdǫgg lǫggvar Hôars ‘the lump-dew of Hárr’s <= Óðinn’s> cask-rim [VAT > BAD POETRY]’: Editors have found difficulty with this kenning and made various suggestions for its interpretation (cf. SnE 1848-87, III, 137; TGT 1884, 166-7; TGT 1927, 90-1; LP: kleppdǫgg, lǫgg; NN §1006), but, although the lexical elements are unusual, it conforms to standard references to the myth of the mead of poetry as Óðinn’s possession and his alcoholic drink (cf. Meissner 427-30). Lǫgg ‘the rim or ledge at the bottom of a cask or barrel’ or ‘the inside of a cask’ (CVC: lögg; Fritzner: lǫgg; ModIcel. lögg ‘drop left in a bottle’) must be understood as pars pro toto for a vat or cask, in which the mead of poetry is stored. However, the kind of poetry Ormr can produce, Auðunn alleges, is not of a mellifluous, free-flowing type, but rather kleppdǫgg ‘lump-dew’ that can stick to the bottom of the barrel, that is to say, dregs. Auðunn does not use the scatological imagery of kennings like leirr arnar ‘mud of the eagle’ (Arngr Gd 2/7IV; cf. SnE 1998, I, 5), but the effect is similar.
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lǫgg (noun f.): [cask-rim]
[4] kleppdǫgg lǫggvar Hôars ‘the lump-dew of Hárr’s <= Óðinn’s> cask-rim [VAT > BAD POETRY]’: Editors have found difficulty with this kenning and made various suggestions for its interpretation (cf. SnE 1848-87, III, 137; TGT 1884, 166-7; TGT 1927, 90-1; LP: kleppdǫgg, lǫgg; NN §1006), but, although the lexical elements are unusual, it conforms to standard references to the myth of the mead of poetry as Óðinn’s possession and his alcoholic drink (cf. Meissner 427-30). Lǫgg ‘the rim or ledge at the bottom of a cask or barrel’ or ‘the inside of a cask’ (CVC: lögg; Fritzner: lǫgg; ModIcel. lögg ‘drop left in a bottle’) must be understood as pars pro toto for a vat or cask, in which the mead of poetry is stored. However, the kind of poetry Ormr can produce, Auðunn alleges, is not of a mellifluous, free-flowing type, but rather kleppdǫgg ‘lump-dew’ that can stick to the bottom of the barrel, that is to say, dregs. Auðunn does not use the scatological imagery of kennings like leirr arnar ‘mud of the eagle’ (Arngr Gd 2/7IV; cf. SnE 1998, I, 5), but the effect is similar.
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Óláfr Þórðarson introduces this helmingr in ch. 11 of the Málskrúðsfræði section of TGT on faulty style (De Barbarismo). He comments that barbarismus may occur with the addition of a letter, and gives the example of megja for mega ‘to be able’ in l. 2. The reason here, as he observes, is to make a long syllable of a short one and thus provide aðalhending.
Nothing is known of the original context of this helmingr, but it appears to insult an unidentified poet named Ormr (see following Note). Kock (NN §134) understood the helmingr to mean that Ormr was a man whom no skald could praise. Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) understood the import of the helmingr similarly to this edn, although he does not venture an interpretation of the kennings.
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