Bjarni Frag 3^III

This couplet (Bjarni Frag 3), recorded in LaufE (papp10ˣ (main ms.), 2368ˣ and 743ˣ), must belong to a stanza describing a ruler’s sea-voyage. It is also found in RE 1665(Gg), which has not been used in this edition.

Holmneglða braut hilmir
hauðrgjǫrð fyrir bǫrðum.

Hilmir braut {holmneglða hauðrgjǫrð} fyrir bǫrðum.

The ruler clove {the island-studded land-girdle} [SEA] before the prows.

Mss: papp10ˣ(44v), 2368ˣ(101), 743ˣ(78v) (LaufE)

Editions: Skj AI, 542, Skj BI, 523, Skald I, 255, NN §2090; SnE 1848-87, III, 498, LaufE 1979, 281, 359.

Context: Bjarni’s stanza is cited after some examples of earth-kennings. The prose text calls attention to holmneglðr ‘island-studded’ (see Note to l. 1), presumably to demonstrate that the earth can protrude from the sea, a claim made in a preceding (incorrect) interpretation of another stanza (Eyv Lv 9/5-8^I).

Notes: [1] holmneglða ‘island-studded’: The second element of this cpd, ‑neglða ‘-studded’, is an extension of the metaphor from the base-word of the sea-kenning ‘girdle of the land’. The ‘studs’ here probably refer to belt plates. — [1] braut ‘clove’: The verb extends the metaphor expressed by the base-word of the sea-kenning (‘girdle’). Cf. ESk Frag 13, which employs the same metaphor: Sverrigjǫrð svalra landa springr sundr fyr bǫrðum ‘The swirling girdle of cool lands [SEA] splits asunder before the bows’. — [2] fyrir bǫrðum ‘before the prows’: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B and LP: fyribarð) emends to fyribǫrðum ‘with prows of fir-wood’ here. The mss speak against this, however, as does the parallel in ESk Frag 13 (as pointed out by Kock, NN §2090). One of Kock’s arguments is that the form fyrir became common in the C12th, gradually replacing fyr, the older form of the prep. (LP: fyr, fyrir).

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. 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.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
6. 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.
7. LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
8. Internal references
9. Edith Marold (ed.) 2017, ‘Bjarni ...ason, Fragments 3’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 23.
10. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Fragments 13’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 163.
11. Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson, Lausavísur 9’ 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. 228.
12. (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 27 April 2024)