Emily Lethbridge (ed.) 2012, ‘Bjarni byskup Kolbeinsson, Jómsvíkingadrápa 14’ 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. 971.
[2] tǫmðum ‘accustomed’: This is the m. dat. sg. of tam(i)ðr, adjectival p. p. of temja ‘tame, train, accustom’. Here the gen.-case gunnar ‘battle’ specifies to what Búi is accustomed, though a phrase using við ‘to’ would be more usual with temja, tam(i)ðr; see NS §136 for comparable constructions of adj. + gen.
[3, 4] lézk skyldu ‘declared it his duty’: Lit. ‘declared it [to be] a duty for himself’. It appears that m. v. lézk is to be read as lét sér, ‘declared for himself’, and skyldu is acc. sg. of the noun skylda ‘duty’, with vera ‘to be’ understood; cf. NS §153a for m. v. forms in which the enclitic refl. pron. functions as a dat. of respect. Alternatively, skyldu could be verbal: lézk, at [þeir] skyldu fylgja Búa ‘declared that they should follow Búi’; cf. st. 11/2, 4.
[3] frœkn ‘brave’: On the strong adj. here, see Note to st. 7/3, 4.
[3, 4] lézk skyldu ‘declared it his duty’: Lit. ‘declared it [to be] a duty for himself’. It appears that m. v. lézk is to be read as lét sér, ‘declared for himself’, and skyldu is acc. sg. of the noun skylda ‘duty’, with vera ‘to be’ understood; cf. NS §153a for m. v. forms in which the enclitic refl. pron. functions as a dat. of respect. Alternatively, skyldu could be verbal: lézk, at [þeir] skyldu fylgja Búa ‘declared that they should follow Búi’; cf. st. 11/2, 4.
[5, 6] réð ... at strengja ‘swore’: Réð, 3rd pers. sg. pret. indic. of ráða ‘advise, determine’ etc., is here a pleonastic auxiliary.
[5] heit ‘a vow’: Vagn, according to Jvs (1879, 57), vows that he will bed Þorkell leira’s daughter, Ingibjǫrg, and kill Þorkell. See sts 42-5 for the outcome.
[6] meiðr hringa ‘the tree of rings [MAN = Vagn]’: ‘Hriga’ in R must be a scribal error for hringa; all eds emend here.
[6] meiðr hringa ‘the tree of rings [MAN = Vagn]’: ‘Hriga’ in R must be a scribal error for hringa; all eds emend here.
[5, 6] réð ... at strengja ‘swore’: Réð, 3rd pers. sg. pret. indic. of ráða ‘advise, determine’ etc., is here a pleonastic auxiliary.
[7-8] hættr harmr kømr mér at hendi ‘dangerous grief comes upon me’: The reappearance of the unhappy love motif, which contains verbal echoes of st. 2/3-4, chimes with Vagn’s oath about Ingibjǫrg in this stanza and with the theme of the stef in the following one.
[7-8] hættr harmr kømr mér at hendi ‘dangerous grief comes upon me’: The reappearance of the unhappy love motif, which contains verbal echoes of st. 2/3-4, chimes with Vagn’s oath about Ingibjǫrg in this stanza and with the theme of the stef in the following one.
[7-8] hættr harmr kømr mér at hendi ‘dangerous grief comes upon me’: The reappearance of the unhappy love motif, which contains verbal echoes of st. 2/3-4, chimes with Vagn’s oath about Ingibjǫrg in this stanza and with the theme of the stef in the following one.
[7-8] hættr harmr kømr mér at hendi ‘dangerous grief comes upon me’: The reappearance of the unhappy love motif, which contains verbal echoes of st. 2/3-4, chimes with Vagn’s oath about Ingibjǫrg in this stanza and with the theme of the stef in the following one.
[7-8] hættr harmr kømr mér at hendi ‘dangerous grief comes upon me’: The reappearance of the unhappy love motif, which contains verbal echoes of st. 2/3-4, chimes with Vagn’s oath about Ingibjǫrg in this stanza and with the theme of the stef in the following one.
[7-8] hættr harmr kømr mér at hendi ‘dangerous grief comes upon me’: The reappearance of the unhappy love motif, which contains verbal echoes of st. 2/3-4, chimes with Vagn’s oath about Ingibjǫrg in this stanza and with the theme of the stef in the following one.
[8] dóttur Þorketils ‘daughter of Þorkell [= Ingibjǫrg]’: Þorkell leira ‘Clay’ is one of the leading men in Hákon jarl’s army.
[8] dóttur Þorketils ‘daughter of Þorkell [= Ingibjǫrg]’: Þorkell leira ‘Clay’ is one of the leading men in Hákon jarl’s army.
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Vagn kvað hitt inn hrausti; |
The bold Vagn spoke another [oath]; that brave bush of the hood of Hamðir <legendary hero> [(lit. ‘hood-bush of Hamðir’) HELMET > WARRIOR = Vagn] declared it his duty to follow Búi, accustomed to battle. Then the tree of rings [MAN = Vagn] made a vow concerning the bright daughter of Þorkell [= Ingibjǫrg]; dangerous grief comes upon me.
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