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Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Bersi Ólfl 2I

Diana Whaley (ed.) 2012, ‘Bersi Skáld-Torfuson, Flokkr about Óláfr helgi 2’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 792.

Bersi Skáld-TorfusonFlokkr about Óláfr helgi
123

Sveins ‘of Sveinn’

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2. Sveinn (noun m.): Sveinn

notes

[1] Sveins ‘of Sveinn’: Sveinn jarl Hákonarson (r. c. 1000-15); see Biography of Bersi above and ‘Ruler biographies’ in Introduction to this volume.

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raunir ‘trials’

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raun (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): ordeal, proof, experience

[1] raunir: ‘raunr’ or ‘rannr’ J1ˣ, raun 68

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hefk ‘I have’

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hafa (verb): have

[1] hefk (‘hef ec’): hefði R686ˣ

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sénar ‘seen’

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2. sjá (verb): see

[1] sénar: séna 68

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snart ‘keenly’

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snarr (adj.): gallant, bold

[2] snart: svart 325VI, 75a

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rekninga ‘of swords’

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rekningr (noun m.; °;-ar): sword, driven one

[2] rekninga: rækjandi 61, ‘rækinga’ 325V, 325VII, Flat, Tóm, ‘retningara’ Bb

kennings

bjartar svaltungur rekninga
‘bright, cool tongues of swords ’
   = SWORD BLADES

bright, cool tongues of swords → SWORD BLADES
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bjartar ‘bright’

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bjartr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): bright

[2] bjartar: so R686ˣ, J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 325VI, 75a, 61, Holm4, ‘kiartar’ Kˣ, ‘briartar’ Holm2, bjartir 68, hjarta 325V, 325VII, Flat, ‘biart(ir)’(?) Bb, ‘harta’ Tóm

kennings

bjartar svaltungur rekninga
‘bright, cool tongues of swords ’
   = SWORD BLADES

bright, cool tongues of swords → SWORD BLADES
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þars ‘where’

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þars (conj.): where

notes

[3] þars ‘where’: This introduces the clause built around sungu ‘sang’ (so also Skald and NN §685). As the anacrusis to a Type C-line it belongs with the rest of the line (cf. Gade 1995a, 124), and hence it cannot be taken with the clause built around fórum ‘we advanced’ (as in Skj B and ÍF 27).

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sval ‘cool’

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svalr (adj.): cool < svaltunga (noun f.)

[3] sval‑: snar‑ 325V

kennings

bjartar svaltungur rekninga
‘bright, cool tongues of swords ’
   = SWORD BLADES

bright, cool tongues of swords → SWORD BLADES
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tungur ‘tongues’

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tunga (noun f.; °-u; -ur): tongue, language < svaltunga (noun f.)

[3] ‑tungur: ‘‑tungro’ R686ˣ

kennings

bjartar svaltungur rekninga
‘bright, cool tongues of swords ’
   = SWORD BLADES

bright, cool tongues of swords → SWORD BLADES
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sungu ‘sang’

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syngja (verb): sing

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saman ‘together’

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saman (adv.): together

[4] saman: so all others, sama Kˣ

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fórum ‘advanced’

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fara (verb; ferr, fór, fóru, farinn): go, travel

[4] fórum (‘foro’): vru 61

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vér ‘we’

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vér (pron.; °gen. vár, dat./acc. oss): we, us, our

[4] vér: vit J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 68, 61, Holm4, 325V, 325VII, Bb, Flat

notes

[4] vér ‘we’: The dual vit, found in several ÓH mss, is also grammatically acceptable, and would underline Bersi’s relationship with Sveinn.

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stórar ‘the great’

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stórr (adj.): large, great

[4] stórar: stórir Holm2, R686ˣ, 68, stórum J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 61, stóra Bb

notes

[4] stórar ‘great’: This f. nom./acc. pl. adj. could alternatively qualify -tungur ‘tongues’ (l. 2) and hence the kenning for ‘sword-blades’.

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Elgs ‘elk’

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elgr (noun m.; °-s; -ir/-ar): elk

[5] Elgs: ‘ægls’ J1ˣ

kennings

riðboða hæsts elgs hranna,
‘a riding offerer of the tallest elk of the waves, ’
   = SEAFARER

the tallest elk of the waves, → SHIP
a riding offerer of the SHIP → SEAFARER
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Elgs ‘elk’

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elgr (noun m.; °-s; -ir/-ar): elk

[5] Elgs: ‘ægls’ J1ˣ

kennings

riðboða hæsts elgs hranna,
‘a riding offerer of the tallest elk of the waves, ’
   = SEAFARER

the tallest elk of the waves, → SHIP
a riding offerer of the SHIP → SEAFARER
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munk ‘I will’

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munu (verb): will, must

[5] munk (‘man ec’): mun J1ˣ, J2ˣ

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eigi ‘not’

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3. eigi (adv.): not

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fylgja ‘follow’

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2. fylgja (verb): follow, accompany

[5] fylgja: ‘flylgia’ R686ˣ

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út ‘on expeditions’

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út (adv.): out(side)

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rið ‘a riding’

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2. riða (verb) < riðboði (noun m.)

[6] riðboða: ríðanda 325V;    rið‑: so Holm2, R686ˣ, J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 325VI, 75a, Holm4, Bb, hríð Kˣ, 68, 325VII, Flat, Tóm, skíðs 61

kennings

riðboða hæsts elgs hranna,
‘a riding offerer of the tallest elk of the waves, ’
   = SEAFARER

the tallest elk of the waves, → SHIP
a riding offerer of the SHIP → SEAFARER
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boða ‘offerer’

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boði (noun m.; °-a; -ar): messenger, breaker < riðboði (noun m.)

[6] riðboða: ríðanda 325V

kennings

riðboða hæsts elgs hranna,
‘a riding offerer of the tallest elk of the waves, ’
   = SEAFARER

the tallest elk of the waves, → SHIP
a riding offerer of the SHIP → SEAFARER
Close

síðan ‘afterwards’

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síðan (adv.): later, then

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hæsts ‘of the tallest’

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3. hár (adj.; °-van; compar. hǽrri, superl. hǽstr): high

[7] hæsts: hests Kˣ, Holm4, helzt Holm2, 68, Bb, ‘h(ꜹ)st’(?) R686ˣ, hæst J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 325VI, 325VII, hest 75a, 325V, Flat, Tóm, heldr 61

kennings

riðboða hæsts elgs hranna,
‘a riding offerer of the tallest elk of the waves, ’
   = SEAFARER

the tallest elk of the waves, → SHIP
a riding offerer of the SHIP → SEAFARER
Close

hæsts ‘of the tallest’

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3. hár (adj.; °-van; compar. hǽrri, superl. hǽstr): high

[7] hæsts: hests Kˣ, Holm4, helzt Holm2, 68, Bb, ‘h(ꜹ)st’(?) R686ˣ, hæst J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 325VI, 325VII, hest 75a, 325V, Flat, Tóm, heldr 61

kennings

riðboða hæsts elgs hranna,
‘a riding offerer of the tallest elk of the waves, ’
   = SEAFARER

the tallest elk of the waves, → SHIP
a riding offerer of the SHIP → SEAFARER
Close

at ‘in’

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3. at (prep.): at, to

[7] at: á J2ˣ, 68

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hverjum ‘any’

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2. hverr (pron.): who, whom, each, every

[7] hverjum: ‘hveri(ui)’(?) J1ˣ, hvrum 68, hvru 61

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hranna ‘of the waves’

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hrǫnn (noun f.; °; dat. -um): wave

kennings

riðboða hæsts elgs hranna,
‘a riding offerer of the tallest elk of the waves, ’
   = SEAFARER

the tallest elk of the waves, → SHIP
a riding offerer of the SHIP → SEAFARER
Close

hranna ‘of the waves’

(not checked:)
hrǫnn (noun f.; °; dat. -um): wave

kennings

riðboða hæsts elgs hranna,
‘a riding offerer of the tallest elk of the waves, ’
   = SEAFARER

the tallest elk of the waves, → SHIP
a riding offerer of the SHIP → SEAFARER
Close

manni ‘man’

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maðr (noun m.): man, person

[8] manni: manna 325VII, Bb, Tóm

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

This follows Ólfl 1 (see Context), with no intervening words.

[5-8]: The overall sense is clearly that the speaker will never campaign with a nobler lord (fylgja út dýrra manni), and there appears to be a man-kenning involving boða ‘offerer’ as a base-word (matching that in st. 1/6) and a ship-kenning formed from hranna ‘of waves’ plus elgs ‘elk’ (l. 5) or hests ‘horse’ (l. 7, , Holm4). Beyond that the helmingr is problematic especially because of the presence in the majority readings of two animal terms, elg- ‘elk’ and hest- ‘horse’ (both largely guaranteed by the metre), and because the identity of hríð- or rið- in l. 6 is uncertain. (a) In the solution tentatively proposed above, the reading hæst ‘tallest, highest’ in l. 7 found in J, 325VI and 325VII is emended to gen. sg. hæsts (encouraged by hests in and Holm4) and understood to qualiy elgs ‘of the elk’. ‘Rið-’ in most mss in l. 6 is taken as a verbal prefix meaning ‘riding’ or ‘swinging, swaying’ (cf. riðmarar ‘riding horses’ in a ship-kenning in Tindr Hákdr 1/7). Hence riðboða hæsts elgs hranna is ‘riding offerer of the tallest elk of the waves [SHIP > SEAFARER]’. Retaining -boða gives a dat. sg. governed by fylgja ‘follow’ in apposition to manni ‘man’. The rhyme of short vowel on long in rið- : síð- would be paralleled in Bersi 1/7 hapts : keyptak. (b) The overload of kenning elements can alternatively be resolved by assuming two separate kennings, and one way of doing this underlies Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson’s solution in ÍF 27, followed in Hkr 1991. He takes hests hranna ‘horse of the waves [SHIP]’ as an adverbial gen. of place, i.e. ‘on a ship, by ship’, expanding on út ‘out (on expeditions)’ (Bjarni cites NS §141; cf. also Poole 2004). Elgs is read as an Óðinn-heiti, for which Bjarni cites an interpretation of Egill St 15V (Eg 86) and an interpretation of the present line in ÍF 2, 252 n. Hence Elgs hríðboða is ‘offerer of Óðinn’s storm [(lit. ‘Óðinn’s storm-offerer’) BATTLE > WARRIOR]’, taken in apposition to dýrra manni ‘a man more excellent’. The overall construal is thus Munk eigi fylgja út síðan hranna hests Elgs hríðboða, dýrra manni, which (replacing the kennings by their referents) would translate: ‘I will not afterwards follow on expeditions by ship a warrior, a man more excellent [than Sveinn]’. This has the advantage of requiring no emendation, but it does demand of the audience that they would apprehend elgs in an unusual sense and hranna hests in an unusual syntactic function. (c) Another construal also assumes two kennings but in a different configuration: hríðboði elgs read as boði elgs hríðar ‘offerer of the elk of the sea [SHIP > GENEROUS RULER]’ (paralleled in Anon Óldr 17/3), with emendation of boða to boði in order to supply an apostrophe, and with manni hests hranna ‘man of the horse of the waves’, hence ‘seafarer’ or ‘ship’s champion’, understood as the object of fylgja ‘follow’. This is the solution proposed by Kock in NN §686B, C. However, confidence in the latter construction depends on one’s confidence in Kock’s claimed parallels, and a bare manni seems stylistically more likely. Further, none of the numerous mss has boði, and although hríð can mean ‘sea’ (Þul Sjóvar 2/3III; LP: hríð 4), it much more frequently refers to ‘storm’ or ‘(phase in a) battle’. (d) Finnur Jónsson in Skj B (developing an idea already mooted in Hkr 1893-1901, IV) makes two small emendations: of elgs to elds in l. 5, and of -boða to -boði in l. 6, to produce hranna hests elds hríðboði ‘offerer of the storm of the fire of the horse of the waves [(lit. ‘storm-offerer of the fire of the horse of the waves’) SHIP > SHIELD > BATTLE > WARRIOR]’. However, there are numerous objections to this, as noted by Kock (NN §686A): the emendation to elds is against all mss; it destroys a perfectly good rhyme; and it assumes that ‘fire of the ship’ can mean ‘shield’, something that Finnur himself presents with caution in LP: hríðboði. (e) Some of these problems are obviated by emending elgs instead to olgs ‘fire’ (LP, AEW: olgr; Þul Elds 3/1III), hence hríðboða olgs hests hranna ‘offerer of the storm of the fire of the horse of the wave [(lit. ‘storm-offerer of the fire of the horse of the waves’) SHIP > SHIELD > BATTLE > WARRIOR]’.

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