Bjbp Jóms 4I
Emily Lethbridge (ed.) 2012, ‘Bjarni byskup Kolbeinsson, Jómsvíkingadrápa 4’ 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. 962.
Varkak ‘I was not’
(not checked:)
2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
notes
[1] …: Finnur Jónsson in Skj A reads the missing word as fróðr ‘wise, learned’ (so also CPB II, 302), noting that the reading is utydeligt, men vistnok sikkert ‘unclear, but doubtless secure’; Jvs 1879 has ‘f….’ in the diplomatic text with ‘f…r’ in a footnote, and fróðr in the normalised text. Fms 11 has firri, which is glossed in Fms 12 as fjærri ‘farther’.
und ‘under’
(not checked:)
3. und (prep.): under, underneath
forsum ‘waterfalls’
(not checked:)
fors (noun m.): torrent
fórk ‘I never’
(not checked:)
fara (verb; ferr, fór, fóru, farinn): go, travel
notes
[2] fórk aldrigi at gǫldrum ‘I never engaged in enchantments’: Aldrigi ‘never’ is abbreviated in the ms. Expanding to aldrigi produces a metrically regular Type D-line, with elision in position 4, whereas the shorter alternative aldri would be irregular (cf. LP: aldrigi, aldri).
aldrigi ‘engaged’
(not checked:)
aldri (adv.): never
notes
[2] fórk aldrigi at gǫldrum ‘I never engaged in enchantments’: Aldrigi ‘never’ is abbreviated in the ms. Expanding to aldrigi produces a metrically regular Type D-line, with elision in position 4, whereas the shorter alternative aldri would be irregular (cf. LP: aldrigi, aldri).
at ‘in’
(not checked:)
3. at (prep.): at, to
notes
[2] fórk aldrigi at gǫldrum ‘I never engaged in enchantments’: Aldrigi ‘never’ is abbreviated in the ms. Expanding to aldrigi produces a metrically regular Type D-line, with elision in position 4, whereas the shorter alternative aldri would be irregular (cf. LP: aldrigi, aldri).
gǫldrum ‘enchantments’
(not checked:)
galdr (noun m.): chant, incantation
notes
[2] fórk aldrigi at gǫldrum ‘I never engaged in enchantments’: Aldrigi ‘never’ is abbreviated in the ms. Expanding to aldrigi produces a metrically regular Type D-line, with elision in position 4, whereas the shorter alternative aldri would be irregular (cf. LP: aldrigi, aldri).
Ǫllungis ‘at all’
(not checked:)
ǫllungis (adv.): completely
[5] Ǫllungis namk eigi: ‘[…]’ R, Ǫllungis nam ek eigi RCP, RFJ
namk ‘I did not’
(not checked:)
1. nema (verb): to take
[5] Ǫllungis namk eigi: ‘[…]’ R, Ǫllungis nam ek eigi RCP, RFJ
eigi ‘learn’
(not checked:)
3. eigi (adv.): not
[5] Ǫllungis namk eigi: ‘[…]’ R, Ǫllungis nam ek eigi RCP, RFJ
Yggjar ‘of Yggr’
(not checked:)
1. Yggr (noun m.): Yggr
[6] Yggjar feng und hanga: ‘[…]’ R, Yggjar feng und hanga RCP, RFJ
kennings
feng Yggjar‘the booty of Yggr ’
= POETRY
the booty of Yggr → POETRY
feng ‘the booty’
(not checked:)
fengr (noun m.; °-jar/-s, dat. -/-i): loot
[6] Yggjar feng und hanga: ‘[…]’ R, Yggjar feng und hanga RCP, RFJ
kennings
feng Yggjar‘the booty of Yggr ’
= POETRY
the booty of Yggr → POETRY
und ‘under’
(not checked:)
3. und (prep.): under, underneath
[6] Yggjar feng und hanga: ‘[…]’ R, Yggjar feng und hanga RCP, RFJ
hanga ‘the hanged one’
(not checked:)
hangi (noun m.; °-a): hanged one
[6] Yggjar feng und hanga: ‘[…]’ R, Yggjar feng und hanga RCP, RFJ
… ‘’
(not checked:)
(non-lexical)
[7] …: ‘þo […] fw (at) […](y)’(?) or ‘þa […] fw (at) […](y)(?)’ RCP, ‘þa it fw’ or ‘þeira it fw’ RFJ
flein ‘arrow’
(not checked:)
fleinn (noun m.; °dat. fleini): spear < fleinstríðir (noun m.): [arrow-harmer]
[8] fleinstríðir mér óðar: ‘[…]’ R, ‘(fleinstriþir mer oþar)’(?) RCP, RFJ
kennings
fleinstríðir‘arrow-harmer ’
= WARRIOR
arrow-harmer → WARRIOR
notes
[8] fleinstríðir mér óðar ‘arrow-harmer [WARRIOR] ... to me ... of the poem’: Fleinstríðir ‘arrow-harmer’ appears to be a warrior-kenning, perhaps referring to the skald, while mér is dat. sg. ‘to/for me’ and óðar is gen. sg. of óðr ‘poem’; but since l. 7 is illegible, and was virtually so even in the C19th, l. 8 cannot be construed.
stríðir ‘harmer’
(not checked:)
stríðir (noun m.): opponent, fighter < fleinstríðir (noun m.): [arrow-harmer]
[8] fleinstríðir mér óðar: ‘[…]’ R, ‘(fleinstriþir mer oþar)’(?) RCP, RFJ
kennings
fleinstríðir‘arrow-harmer ’
= WARRIOR
arrow-harmer → WARRIOR
notes
[8] fleinstríðir mér óðar ‘arrow-harmer [WARRIOR] ... to me ... of the poem’: Fleinstríðir ‘arrow-harmer’ appears to be a warrior-kenning, perhaps referring to the skald, while mér is dat. sg. ‘to/for me’ and óðar is gen. sg. of óðr ‘poem’; but since l. 7 is illegible, and was virtually so even in the C19th, l. 8 cannot be construed.
mér ‘to me’
(not checked:)
ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
[8] fleinstríðir mér óðar: ‘[…]’ R, ‘(fleinstriþir mer oþar)’(?) RCP, RFJ
notes
[8] fleinstríðir mér óðar ‘arrow-harmer [WARRIOR] ... to me ... of the poem’: Fleinstríðir ‘arrow-harmer’ appears to be a warrior-kenning, perhaps referring to the skald, while mér is dat. sg. ‘to/for me’ and óðar is gen. sg. of óðr ‘poem’; but since l. 7 is illegible, and was virtually so even in the C19th, l. 8 cannot be construed.
óðar ‘of the poem’
(not checked:)
1. óðr (noun m.): poem
[8] fleinstríðir mér óðar: ‘[…]’ R, ‘(fleinstriþir mer oþar)’(?) RCP, RFJ
notes
[8] fleinstríðir mér óðar ‘arrow-harmer [WARRIOR] ... to me ... of the poem’: Fleinstríðir ‘arrow-harmer’ appears to be a warrior-kenning, perhaps referring to the skald, while mér is dat. sg. ‘to/for me’ and óðar is gen. sg. of óðr ‘poem’; but since l. 7 is illegible, and was virtually so even in the C19th, l. 8 cannot be construed.
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
On the ordering of sts 2-5, see Introduction. Ms. 65ˣ (ll. 1-2 only) and the printed texts RCP and RFJ are used as supplementary witnesses to the R readings here; again see Introduction. Finnur Jónsson (RFJ, in Skj A II, 2) acknowledges relying on the RCP (af Petersens, in Jvs 1879) readings for this stanza, but has made out enough to believe them correct. From what can be ascertained from the poorly-preserved text, it seems that the poet continues his caricature of the opening of a traditional drápa (see Note to ll. 1-2 below). — [1-2]: The skald (who became a bishop, if the identification with Bjarni Kolbeinsson is correct), seems to distance himself from the traditional association of poetry with Óðinn and hence with magic. Although certainty is impossible given the state of the text, this would be supported by ll. 5-6 as read by Finnur Jónsson and af Petersens. — [5-6]: These lines are now illegible, but the RCP and RFJ readings above suggest that they refer to the myth of the mead of poetry (cf. Note to st. 1/6), again alluding to, yet rejecting, the association of poetry with Óðinn. Hangi can refer either to a hanged man or to Óðinn (LP: hangi), and the god is said both to have sat under hanged men (Yng, ÍF 26, 18) and to have hanged himself on a tree (Hávm 138-41); see also Haugen (1983); Schjødt (1993); Lassen (2010, 190-1).
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