Bjbp Jóms 31^I

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, 4^III, and cf. Sturl Hákkv 31/4^II himinn mergs ‘heaven of marrow [ARM]’; also Sturl Frag 2/4^III. 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).

References

1. Bibliography
2. Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. ANG = Noreen, Adolf. 1923. Altnordische Grammatik I: Altisländische und altnorwegische Grammatik (Laut- und Flexionslehre) unter Berücksichtigung des Urnordischen. 4th edn. Halle: Niemeyer. 1st edn. 1884. 5th unrev. edn. 1970. Tübingen: Niemeyer.
5. Finnur Jónsson. 1901. Det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog omtr. 800-1300. SUGNL 28. Copenhagen: Møller.
6. Jvs 1879 = Petersens, Carl af, ed. 1879. Jómsvíkinga saga (efter Cod. AM. 510, 4:to) samt Jómsvíkinga drápa. Lund: Gleerup.
7. Internal references
8. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Poems, Máríuflokkr 1’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 507.
9. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Sturla Þórðarson, Hákonarkviða 31’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 722.
10. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Sturla Þórðarson, Fragments 2’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 393.