Bjbp Jóms 39I
Emily Lethbridge (ed.) 2012, ‘Bjarni byskup Kolbeinsson, Jómsvíkingadrápa 39’ 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. 993.
Upp stóðu þar eptir
ungra snyrtidrengja
— sveit fylgði vel Vagni
væn — þrír tigir einir.
Alls enga frák aðra
jafnmarga svá burgusk,
áðr létti dyn darra,
drengmenn hugumstranga.
Þrír tigir ungra snyrtidrengja stóðu einir upp þar eptir; væn sveit fylgði Vagni vel. Frák alls enga aðra jafnmarga hugumstranga drengmenn burgusk svá, áðr {dyn darra} létti.
Thirty fine young warriors alone remained standing there afterwards; the promising troop supported Vagn well. Not at all have I heard of another such number of strong-spirited fighting-men defending themselves thus, before {the roar of spears} [BATTLE] let up.
Mss: R(54r), 65ˣ(383r)
Readings: [4] einir: ‘[…]’ R, einar 65ˣ, ‘ein(er)’(?) RCP, ‘(einir)’(?) RFJ
Editions: Skj AII, 9, Skj BII, 9, Skald II, 6; Fms 11, 174, Fms 12, 246, Jvs 1879, 116-17.
Notes: [2] snyrtidrengja (gen. pl.) ‘fine ... warriors’: Cf. snyrtimenn ‘fine men’ in st. 16/1, and Note, and on drengr, see Note to st. 3/1. — [4] einir ‘alone’: The word is unclear in the ms. but einir fits metre and sense and is printed, albeit with hesitation, in Jvs 1879 (RCP in Readings) and Skj A (RFJ). — [5-6, 8] frák alls enga aðra jafnmarga ... drengmenn ‘not at all have I heard of another such number of ... fighting-men’: Lit. ‘I have heard of no other equally many fighting men at all’. The stanza emphasises both how few warriors remained to fight (einir ‘alone, only’, l. 4) and how many the brave ones were (jafnmarga ‘equally many’, l. 6). In Skj B, Finnur Jónsson responds to the seeming contradiction by translating ligeså mange (= få) helte ‘equally many (= few) heroes’. On dreng-, see again Note to st. 3/1.
References
- Bibliography
- Skj A = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15a. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. A: Tekst efter håndskrifterne. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1967. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
- Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
- Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
- Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
- Jvs 1879 = Petersens, Carl af, ed. 1879. Jómsvíkinga saga (efter Cod. AM. 510, 4:to) samt Jómsvíkinga drápa. Lund: Gleerup.
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