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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Bjbp Jóms 1I

Emily Lethbridge (ed.) 2012, ‘Bjarni byskup Kolbeinsson, Jómsvíkingadrápa 1’ 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. 959.

Bjarni byskup KolbeinssonJómsvíkingadrápa
12

Engan ‘no’

(not checked:)
2. engi (pron.): no, none

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at ‘for’

(not checked:)
3. at (prep.): at, to

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óði ‘poem’

(not checked:)
1. óðr (noun m.): poem

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málma ‘of metal weapons’

(not checked:)
malmr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): metal

kennings

rýri málma
‘diminisher of metal weapons ’
   = WARRIOR

diminisher of metal weapons → WARRIOR
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rýri ‘diminisher’

(not checked:)
rýrir (noun m.): diminsher, destroyer

kennings

rýri málma
‘diminisher of metal weapons ’
   = WARRIOR

diminisher of metal weapons → WARRIOR
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þó ‘nonetheless’

(not checked:)
þó (adv.): though

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hróðr ‘a praise-poem’

(not checked:)
hróðr (noun m.): encomium, praise

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of ‘about’

(not checked:)
3. of (prep.): around, from; too

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hugðan ‘the courageous’

(not checked:)
hugðr (adj./verb p.p.): agreeable, courageous

kennings

hugðan prýði atferðar.
‘the courageous adorner of action. ’
   = MAN

the courageous adorner of action. → MAN

notes

[3] hugðan ‘courageous’: This appears to qualify m. acc. sg. prýði, hence ‘courageous adorner’. It could conceivably qualify hróðr ‘praise-poem’, with the sense ‘agreeable’ or similar; cf. a similar phrase in HSt Rst 34/7.

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hljóðs ‘for a hearing’

(not checked:)
hljóð (noun n.; °-s; -): sound, silence, a hearing

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atferðar ‘of action’

(not checked:)
atferð (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): behaviour

kennings

hugðan prýði atferðar.
‘the courageous adorner of action. ’
   = MAN

the courageous adorner of action. → MAN

notes

[4] prýði atferðar ‘about the adorner of action [MAN]’: Atferð normally means ‘conduct, behaviour’, but since the kenning refers to one of the Jómsvíkingar the reference may be specifically to military action, hence ‘valiant man’ (so LP: prýðir). Finnur Jónsson (Skj A) regards prýði as certain; Carl af Petersens (Jvs 1879) is less sure, but the letters can be made out except for the ‘r’. Prýði appears to be acc. sg. of the agent noun prýðir, following the prep. of ‘about’ and forming a kenning for ‘man’ or ‘warrior’, although prýðir is not common in such kennings (see Meissner 299). The identification of the man or warrior is problematic since the poem is concerned with several heroes, but Vagn Ákason is especially prominent (see sts 8, 9/7-8).

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prýði ‘adorner’

(not checked:)
prýðir (noun m.): adorner

[4] prýði: ‘p[…]yði’ R, ‘fnvdi’ 65ˣ, ‘(p)[…](y)ði’(?) RCP, prýði RFJ

kennings

hugðan prýði atferðar.
‘the courageous adorner of action. ’
   = MAN

the courageous adorner of action. → MAN

notes

[4] prýði atferðar ‘about the adorner of action [MAN]’: Atferð normally means ‘conduct, behaviour’, but since the kenning refers to one of the Jómsvíkingar the reference may be specifically to military action, hence ‘valiant man’ (so LP: prýðir). Finnur Jónsson (Skj A) regards prýði as certain; Carl af Petersens (Jvs 1879) is less sure, but the letters can be made out except for the ‘r’. Prýði appears to be acc. sg. of the agent noun prýðir, following the prep. of ‘about’ and forming a kenning for ‘man’ or ‘warrior’, although prýðir is not common in such kennings (see Meissner 299). The identification of the man or warrior is problematic since the poem is concerned with several heroes, but Vagn Ákason is especially prominent (see sts 8, 9/7-8).

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Framm ‘forth’

(not checked:)
fram (adv.): out, forth, forwards, away

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mun ‘will’

(not checked:)
munu (verb): will, must

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fyr ‘before’

(not checked:)
fyr (prep.): for, over, because of, etc.

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ǫldum ‘people’

(not checked:)
ǫld (noun f.; °; aldir): people, age

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Yggjar ‘of Yggr’

(not checked:)
1. Yggr (noun m.): Yggr

kennings

bjór Yggjar
‘the beer of Yggr ’
   = POEM

the beer of Yggr → POEM

notes

[6] bjór Yggjar ‘the beer of Yggr <= Óðinn> [POEM]’: The sense of bjórr could be more broadly ‘strong drink’; cf. Note to Mhkv 29/3III, where the kenning bjórr Yggjar is also found. The reference is to the myth of the mead of poetry (see Note to Eskál Vell 1 [All]; Frank 1981; Faulkes 1997; Finlay 2000).

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bjór ‘the beer’

(not checked:)
1. bjórr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -): beer

[6] bjór: ‘bi[…]’ R, bjór 65ˣ, RCP, RFJ

kennings

bjór Yggjar
‘the beer of Yggr ’
   = POEM

the beer of Yggr → POEM

notes

[6] bjór Yggjar ‘the beer of Yggr <= Óðinn> [POEM]’: The sense of bjórr could be more broadly ‘strong drink’; cf. Note to Mhkv 29/3III, where the kenning bjórr Yggjar is also found. The reference is to the myth of the mead of poetry (see Note to Eskál Vell 1 [All]; Frank 1981; Faulkes 1997; Finlay 2000).

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of ‘’

(not checked:)
4. of (particle): (before verb)

notes

[6] of fœra ‘bring’: Of is the expletive particle, the first of several examples in the poem.

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fœra ‘bring’

(not checked:)
2. fœra (verb): bring

notes

[6] of fœra ‘bring’: Of is the expletive particle, the first of several examples in the poem.

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þó ‘although’

(not checked:)
þó (adv.): though

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at ‘’

(not checked:)
4. at (conj.): that

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engir ‘no’

(not checked:)
2. engi (pron.): no, none

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ýtar ‘men’

(not checked:)
ýtr (noun m.): man; launcher

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hlýði ‘may listen’

(not checked:)
hljóða (verb): listen, sound

notes

[8] hlýði ‘may listen’: A scribal mark follows this, the last word in the stanza, indicating a change to the stanza order; see Introduction. 

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

The stanza is preserved only as part of a continuous text of Jóms in R and hence, together with sts 2-9, 13-16, 19, 21-5, 27, 28, 31, 35-7, 39 and 40, is not embedded in a narrative context.

On the use of 65ˣ and the diplomatic texts in Jvs 1879 (siglum RCP when cited in Readings) and Skj A (siglum RFJ) as supplementary witnesses to the R reading, see Introduction to this poem. — The poet humorously inverts the conventional call for a hearing which opens many skaldic praise-poems (e.g. Eskál Vell 1; cf. Wood 1960a), calling for no-one’s attention, and anticipating that no-one will listen to his composition (though st. 5/7 envisages an audience). The subject of glorious martial deeds is paradigmatic but this, too, is shortly to be undercut by the abrupt change of subject to the poet’s disappointment in love (sts 2, 3, 6, and the stef). — [1-4]: Kveðja e-n e-s ‘to call on sby for sth.’ is well attested. In Fms 11 and 12, each couplet is taken as a syntactic unit and hljóðs ‘a hearing’ is not construed with kveðk ‘I call’; but the remainder of the interpretation departs unnecessarily from the legible text.

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