BjHall Kálffl 7I
Alison Finlay (ed.) 2012, ‘Bjarni gullbrárskáld Hallbjarnarson, Kálfsflokkr 7’ 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. 887.
frák ‘I have heard that’
(not checked:)
1. fregna (verb): hear of
[1] frák (‘fra ec’): brá ek 61, 325V, 325VII, Tóm
Þorbergs ‘of Þorbergr’
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Þórbergr (noun m.): [Þorbergr]
kennings
hlýri Þorbergs;‘brother of Þorbergr; ’
= Kálfr
brother of Þorbergr; → Kálfr
hlýri ‘brother’
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hlýri (noun m.): brother
kennings
hlýri Þorbergs;‘brother of Þorbergr; ’
= Kálfr
brother of Þorbergr; → Kálfr
þess ‘of that’
[2] þess gerðusk ér: þér gjǫrðusk þess 325VI
gerðusk ‘made yourself’
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1. gera (verb): do, make
[2] þess gerðusk ér: þér gjǫrðusk þess 325VI
ér ‘you’
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ér (pron.; °gen. yðvar/yðar, dat./acc. yðr): you
[2] þess gerðusk ér: þér gjǫrðusk þess 325VI; ér: þat 321ˣ, ‘i[…]’ Holm4, om. Bb
verðir ‘worthy’
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3. verðr (adj.): worth, worthy
helt ‘lasted’
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halda (verb): hold, keep
[3] helt: helt því Holm2, 73aˣ, Holm4, 61, 325V, 325VI, 325VII, Tóm, Kˣ, 39, F, J2ˣ, E, helt þar 321ˣ, hest Bb
notes
[3] helt ‘that lasted’: All mss except Bb (‘hest’) read helt því, in which helt ‘lasted, held’ is used impersonally with því as its dat. object. Því, however, is hypermetrical.
hann ‘he’
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hann (pron.; °gen. hans, dat. honum; f. hon, gen. hennar, acc. hana): he, she, it, they, them...
[3] hann of spillti: ‘[…]’ 325VII; hann: herr Kˣ
notes
[3] hann ‘he’: Other eds adopt the reading herr ‘the army, men’ of Kˣ, emphasizing the agency of others in creating strife between Magnús and Kálfr; but all other mss, representing both ÓH and Hkr, favour the reading hann, which attributes the responsibility to Magnús; see also Note to ll. 5-8.
notes
[3] of spillti ‘damaged [it]’: Good relations between Kálfr and the king were damaged by Magnús’s harsh treatment of the former opponents of his father, as censured by Sigvatr Þórðarson in Sigv BervII; see also Context above. Of is the expletive particle.
notes
[3] of spillti ‘damaged [it]’: Good relations between Kálfr and the king were damaged by Magnús’s harsh treatment of the former opponents of his father, as censured by Sigvatr Þórðarson in Sigv BervII; see also Context above. Of is the expletive particle.
Haralds ‘Haraldr’s’
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Haraldr (noun m.): Haraldr
[4] Haralds bróðurson góðan: ‘haral[…] sun[…]’ 325VII
kennings
bróðurson Haralds‘the son of Haraldr’s brother ’
= Magnús
the son of Haraldr’s brother → Magnús
notes
[4] Haralds bróðurson ‘the son of Haraldr’s brother [= Magnús]’: This epithet for Magnús may suggest a date of composition of the poem within the reign of Haraldr harðráði (cf. st. 3/4 and Note).
bróður ‘brother’
[4] Haralds bróðurson góðan: ‘haral[…] sun[…]’ 325VII
kennings
bróðurson Haralds‘the son of Haraldr’s brother ’
= Magnús
the son of Haraldr’s brother → Magnús
notes
[4] Haralds bróðurson ‘the son of Haraldr’s brother [= Magnús]’: This epithet for Magnús may suggest a date of composition of the poem within the reign of Haraldr harðráði (cf. st. 3/4 and Note).
son ‘the son of’
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sonr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. syni; synir, acc. sonu, syni): son < bróðursonr (noun m.): nephew
[4] Haralds bróðurson góðan: ‘haral[…] sun[…]’ 325VII
kennings
bróðurson Haralds‘the son of Haraldr’s brother ’
= Magnús
the son of Haraldr’s brother → Magnús
notes
[4] Haralds bróðurson ‘the son of Haraldr’s brother [= Magnús]’: This epithet for Magnús may suggest a date of composition of the poem within the reign of Haraldr harðráði (cf. st. 3/4 and Note).
góðan ‘was good’
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góðr (adj.): good
[4] Haralds bróðurson góðan: ‘haral[…] sun[…]’ 325VII
Vǫkðu ‘stirred up’
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1. vekja (verb): awaken, rouse
[5] Vǫkðu ǫfundmenn: ‘[...]ofund[…]’ 325VII
ǫfundmenn ‘Envious men’
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ǫfundmaðr (noun m.): [Envious men]
[5] Vǫkðu ǫfundmenn: ‘[...]ofund[…]’ 325VII
ykkar ‘you’
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it (pron.; °gen. ykkar, dat./acc. ykkr): you (two)
[5] ykkar: so 73aˣ, Holm4, Bb, Tóm, 39, F, J2ˣ, E, ykkrir Holm2, 61, 325V, 325VI, ykkir 321ˣ, ‘[…]ar’ 325VII, ykkra Kˣ
notes
[5] ykkar ‘you’: The m. nom. pl. reading ykkrir ‘your’ of Holm2 and other mss agrees with ǫfundmenn ‘envious men’ and was probably adopted because of the proximity of the words; but the form ykkar, gen. object in the phrase á miðli ykkar ‘between you (two)’, clearly makes better sense.
iðula ‘constantly’
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iðula (adv.): [constantly, ever]
notes
[6] iðula ‘constantly’: A trisyllabic short-stemmed word with resolution on the first syllable. Words of this structure are unusual in skaldic poetry; see Kuhn (1939, 184).
róg ‘strife’
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róg (noun n.; °-s): strife, slander
á ‘between’
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3. á (prep.): on, at
[6] á miðli: í miðli 73aˣ, Holm4, 61, 325VI, Tóm, F, í milli 325V, milli 325VII, Bb, á miðlum Kˣ
notes
[6] á miðli ‘between’: The variants á miðlum, í miðli are synonymous and also possible. Milli is a later form.
miðli ‘’
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milli (prep.): between
[6] á miðli: í miðli 73aˣ, Holm4, 61, 325VI, Tóm, F, í milli 325V, milli 325VII, Bb, á miðlum Kˣ
notes
[6] á miðli ‘between’: The variants á miðlum, í miðli are synonymous and also possible. Milli is a later form.
ó ‘an un’
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ó- ((prefix)): un- < óþarfr (adj.): harmful
[7] óþǫrf: ok óþǫrf Bb, eigi þǫrf Kˣ
þǫrf ‘necessary thing’
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þarfr (adj.): necessary, useful < óþarfr (adj.): harmful
[7] óþǫrf: ok óþǫrf Bb, eigi þǫrf Kˣ
lízk ‘that seems’
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líta (verb): look, see; appear
mér ‘to me’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
arfa ‘heir’
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arfi (noun m.; °-a; -ar): heir, heiress
kennings
arfa Ôleifs;‘Óláfr’s heir; ’
= Magnús
Óláfr’s heir; → Magnús
Ôleifs ‘Óláfr’s’
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Óláfr (noun m.): Óláfr
kennings
arfa Ôleifs;‘Óláfr’s heir; ’
= Magnús
Óláfr’s heir; → Magnús
í ‘in’
(not checked:)
í (prep.): in, into
notes
[8] í þeim môlum ‘in those matters’: The phrase is taken here with the intercalary, but it could alternatively modify the main clause. Its exact reference is not clear.
þeim ‘those’
notes
[8] í þeim môlum ‘in those matters’: The phrase is taken here with the intercalary, but it could alternatively modify the main clause. Its exact reference is not clear.
môlum ‘matters’
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1. mál (noun n.; °-s; -): speech, matter
notes
[8] í þeim môlum ‘in those matters’: The phrase is taken here with the intercalary, but it could alternatively modify the main clause. Its exact reference is not clear.
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
|
Þér frák, Þorbergs hlýri, |
I have heard that the son of Haraldr’s brother [= Magnús] was good to you, brother of Þorbergr [= Kálfr]; you made yourself worthy of that; that lasted until he damaged [it]. Envious men constantly stirred up strife between you and Óláfr’s heir [= Magnús]; that seems to me an unnecessary thing in those matters.
Magnús, reminded by followers of the role played by Kálfr in the downfall of his father Óláfr, forces Kálfr to accompany him to the battle-site of Stiklastaðir (Stiklestad). Kálfr denies having dealt Óláfr his death blow, but has his belongings in readiness and flees the kingdom for the British Isles.
In Hkr the stanza is identified as belonging to Kálffl. — [5]: The line has resolution of the syllables ǫfund- in the second lift, and represents a type that became popular in the C11th among Haraldr harðráði and his poets; see Kuhn (1983, 68) and Note to Hharð Gamv 2/1II. — [5-8]: This is construed here as in Skj B. Kock (NN §2039, followed by ÍF 28) argues that arfa Ôleifs ‘heir of Óláfr’, rather than being construed in apposition to ykkar ‘you (two)’, should be taken together with óþǫrf, here ‘an unnecessary thing’, which he interprets as ‘harm’ (cf. Fritzner: úþurft ‘(unnecessary) harm’), hence ‘it seems to me there was harm for the heir of Óláfr in these dealings’. While this gives a more natural word order, the implication of harm inflicted on Magnús seems to contradict the suggestion of his agency in hann of spillti ‘he damaged [it]’ (l. 3).
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