Emily Lethbridge (ed.) 2012, ‘Bjarni byskup Kolbeinsson, Jómsvíkingadrápa 31’ 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. 986.
Ein drepr fyr mér allri
— ylgr gekk á ná bólginn —
— þar stóð úlfr í átu —
ítrmanns kona teiti.
Góð ætt of kemr grimmu
— gein vargr of sal mergjar —
— gráðr þvarr gylðis jóða —
gœðings at mér stríði.
Ein kona ítrmanns drepr allri teiti fyr mér; ylgr gekk á bólginn ná; úlfr stóð þar í átu. Góð ætt gœðings of kemr grimmu stríði at mér; vargr gein of {sal mergjar}; gráðr {jóða gylðis} þvarr.
A certain nobleman’s wife kills all joy for me; the she-wolf stepped on the swollen corpse; the wolf stood there on the food. The good kinswoman of a chieftain brings cruel torment upon me; a wolf gaped over {the hall of marrow} [BONE]; the greed {of the progeny of the wolf} [WOLVES] diminished.
Mss: R(54r)
Readings: [1] mér allri: abbrev. as ‘m. a.’ R [4] teiti: abbrev. as ‘t.’ R [8] gœðings at mér stríði: abbrev. as ‘gæþ. a. m. stri’ R
Editions: Skj AII, 7, Skj BII, 7, Skald II, 4; Fms 11, 171-2, Fms 12, 245, Jvs 1879, 114-15.
Notes: [All]: Lines 1, 4, 5 and 8 form the fifth appearance of the stef ‘refrain’; see Introduction. Some words are abbreviated in the ms. The gruesome, if conventional, images of wolves gorging on the slain in the inner lines (ll. 2-3, 6-7) contrast with the stef lines lamenting the poet’s unhappiness in love. — [6] sal mergjar ‘the hall of marrow [BONE]’: This kenning for ‘bone’ is unusual, but the same collocation is found in Anon Mfl 1/1, 4III, and cf. Sturl Hákkv 31/4II himinn mergs ‘heaven of marrow [ARM]’; also Sturl Frag 2/4III. As an i-stem noun, mergr historically has gen. sg. in -jar, but ‑s also occurs (cf. Finnur Jónsson 1901, 45; ANG §389 Anm. 1).
Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.
The text and translation are given here, with buttons to toggle whether the text is shown in the verse order or prose word order. Clicking on indiviudal words gives dictionary links, variant readings, kennings and notes, where relevant.
This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.
This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.