Bjarni Frag 2^III

The helmingr (Bjarni Frag 2) is recorded in ms. W (main ms. for this stanza) of SnE and in LaufE (mss 2368ˣ, 743ˣ). It was copied from a LaufE Y ms. in RE 1665(Ff3), but that version has no independent value and has not been used in the present edition. The fragment consists of a dependent clause introduced by svát ‘so that’ and is therefore likely to be the second half of a stanza. It could be part of a description of a battle.

Svát ýdróttum ôttu
éls rekninga þélar
rams af reikar himni
rauð svǫrf ofan gnauða.

Svát {rauð svǫrf {þélar {rams éls rekninga}}} ôttu gnauða ofan af {himni reikar} {ýdróttum}.

So that {the red shavings {of the file {of the strong storm of swords}}} [BATTLE > SWORD > BLOOD] rattled down from {the sky of the hair-parting} [HEAD] {of bow-troops} [WARRIORS].

Mss: W(169) (SnE); 2368ˣ(96), 743ˣ(75v) (LaufE)

Readings: [2] rekninga: ‘rekuga’ 2368ˣ, 743ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 542, Skj BI, 523, Skald I, 255; SnE 1848-87, II, 499, III, 178, LaufE 1979, 354.

Context: The helmingr is cited in the same section as Frag 1 above, illustrating kennings for ‘head’.

Notes: [1] ýdróttum ‘of bow-troops [WARRIORS]’: Ý- ‘yew’ is synonymous with ‘bow’ because bows were commonly fashioned out of this wood (Falk 1914b, 92). — [1, 4] ôttu gnauða ‘rattled’: Lit. ‘had to rattle’; ôttu (3rd pers. pl. pret. indic. of eiga) is purely pleonastic here. The verb gnauða ‘rattle’ extends the metaphor svǫrf ‘shavings’ for ‘blood’ (on which, see Note to l. 4). — [4] svǫrf ‘shavings’: The base-word of this kenning for ‘blood’ builds on the metaphorical base-word of the sword-kenning (þél ‘file’). Shavings, small fragments of metal, are produced by using a þél (file) – here they denote drops of blood from a wound caused by a sword.

References

1. Bibliography
2. SnE 1848-87 = Snorri Sturluson. 1848-87. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar: Edda Snorronis Sturlaei. Ed. Jón Sigurðsson et al. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Legatum Arnamagnaeanum. Rpt. Osnabrück: Zeller, 1966.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. LaufE 1979 = Faulkes, Anthony, ed. 1979. Edda Magnúsar Ólafssonar (Laufás Edda). RSÁM 13. Vol. I of Two Versions of Snorra Edda from the 17th Century. Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar, 1977-9.
5. Falk, Hjalmar. 1914b. Altnordische Waffenkunde. Videnskapsselskapets skrifter, II. Hist.-filos. kl. 1914, 6. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad.
6. Internal references
7. Edith Marold 2017, ‘Snorra Edda (Prologue, Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál)’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols [check printed volume for citation].
8. Edith Marold (ed.) 2017, ‘Bjarni ...ason, Fragments 2’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 22.
9. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Laufás Edda’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=10928> (accessed 1 May 2024)