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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Bjbp Jóms 7I

Emily Lethbridge (ed.) 2012, ‘Bjarni byskup Kolbeinsson, Jómsvíkingadrápa 7’ 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. 965.

Bjarni byskup KolbeinssonJómsvíkingadrápa
678

frák ‘I have heard that’

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1. fregna (verb): hear of

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heyja ‘fought’

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2. heyja (verb): fight, wage (battle)

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Harald ‘Haraldr’

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Haraldr (noun m.): Haraldr

notes

[2] Harald ‘Haraldr’: Two rulers named Haraldr belong to the previous generation to the one commemorated in the poem (see Context to st. 10). Skj B takes this as King Haraldr blátǫnn ‘Blue-tooth’ Gormsson, but Strút-Haraldr ‘Jutting-hood-Haraldr’ is more likely (so Fms 12), since like Búi, mentioned in l. 8, he is a Jómsvíkingr, and since the term siðfornir ‘heathens’ in l. 6 would be apt for him but not for Haraldr blátǫnn, who famously converted to Christianity.

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bardaga ‘battles’

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bardagi (noun m.; °-a; -ar): [scourge, battles]

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stóra ‘great’

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stórr (adj.): large, great

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þeir ‘those’

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1. sá (pron.; °gen. þess, dat. þeim, acc. þann; f. sú, gen. þeirrar, acc. þá; n. þat, dat. því; pl. m. þeir, f. þǽ---): that (one), those

notes

[3, 4] þeir bǫðgjarnastir niðjar ‘those extremely battle-eager kinsmen’: Presumably, if the above identification of Haraldr as Strút-Haraldr is correct, these are Strút-Haraldr’s sons, Sigvaldi and Þorkell inn hávi ‘the Tall’. The adj. (bǫðgjarnastir ‘extremely battle-eager’) is in the strong form here, as also in st. 14/2, 3, 4 sá frœkn Hamðis faldruðr ‘that brave bush of the hood of Hamðir <legendary hero> [(lit. hood-bush of Hamðir) HELMET > WARRIOR]’ and st. 27/6, 7 þeir gunnrakkastir gumnar ‘those extremely battle-bold men’. In noun phrases of this structure (demonstrative /sú/þat + adj. + noun), there are skaldic examples of both weak and strong adjectives (see LP: 1). The strong form may have been favoured in the Jóms examples since in all three the demonstrative and adj. are not consecutive.

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ruðu ‘reddened’

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rjóða (verb): to redden

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bǫðgjarnastir ‘extremely battle-eager’

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bǫðgjarn (adj.): extremely battle-eager

notes

[3, 4] þeir bǫðgjarnastir niðjar ‘those extremely battle-eager kinsmen’: Presumably, if the above identification of Haraldr as Strút-Haraldr is correct, these are Strút-Haraldr’s sons, Sigvaldi and Þorkell inn hávi ‘the Tall’. The adj. (bǫðgjarnastir ‘extremely battle-eager’) is in the strong form here, as also in st. 14/2, 3, 4 sá frœkn Hamðis faldruðr ‘that brave bush of the hood of Hamðir <legendary hero> [(lit. hood-bush of Hamðir) HELMET > WARRIOR]’ and st. 27/6, 7 þeir gunnrakkastir gumnar ‘those extremely battle-bold men’. In noun phrases of this structure (demonstrative /sú/þat + adj. + noun), there are skaldic examples of both weak and strong adjectives (see LP: 1). The strong form may have been favoured in the Jóms examples since in all three the demonstrative and adj. are not consecutive.

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niðjar ‘kinsmen’

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1. niðr (noun m.; °-s; niðjar/niðir, acc. niði): son, kinsman, relative

notes

[3, 4] þeir bǫðgjarnastir niðjar ‘those extremely battle-eager kinsmen’: Presumably, if the above identification of Haraldr as Strút-Haraldr is correct, these are Strút-Haraldr’s sons, Sigvaldi and Þorkell inn hávi ‘the Tall’. The adj. (bǫðgjarnastir ‘extremely battle-eager’) is in the strong form here, as also in st. 14/2, 3, 4 sá frœkn Hamðis faldruðr ‘that brave bush of the hood of Hamðir <legendary hero> [(lit. hood-bush of Hamðir) HELMET > WARRIOR]’ and st. 27/6, 7 þeir gunnrakkastir gumnar ‘those extremely battle-bold men’. In noun phrases of this structure (demonstrative /sú/þat + adj. + noun), there are skaldic examples of both weak and strong adjectives (see LP: 1). The strong form may have been favoured in the Jóms examples since in all three the demonstrative and adj. are not consecutive.

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Sjá ‘see’

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2. sjá (verb): see

notes

[5, 6] sjá þar glym járna ‘see there the crash of iron weapons [BATTLE]’: So also Fms 12. The inf. verb sjá ‘see’ is compatible with the referent of the kenning, battle, but not with the base-word glym ‘crash, tumult’. In Skj B and Skald, arfa Véseta ‘the heir of Véseti [= Búi]’ is taken as the object of sjá and glym járna ‘crash of iron weapons [BATTLE]’ as the object of efla ‘support’ in the intercalary clause.

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knáttu ‘could’

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knega (verb): to know, understand, be able to

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þar ‘there’

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þar (adv.): there

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síðan ‘Then’

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síðan (adv.): later, then

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siðfornir ‘heathens’

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siðforn (adj.): [heathens]

notes

[6] siðfornir ‘heathens’: Hap. leg.; more literally, ‘custom-old, of the old faith or custom’, designating the Jómsvíkingar fighting with Búi. The Christian faith was called nýr siðr ‘the new custom’ (see Fritzner: siðr 2, and cf. Note to Þloft Tøgdr 1/2).

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glym ‘the crash’

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glymr (noun m.): noise

kennings

glym járna;
‘the crash of iron weapons; ’
   = BATTLE

the crash of iron weapons; → BATTLE

notes

[5, 6] sjá þar glym járna ‘see there the crash of iron weapons [BATTLE]’: So also Fms 12. The inf. verb sjá ‘see’ is compatible with the referent of the kenning, battle, but not with the base-word glym ‘crash, tumult’. In Skj B and Skald, arfa Véseta ‘the heir of Véseti [= Búi]’ is taken as the object of sjá and glym járna ‘crash of iron weapons [BATTLE]’ as the object of efla ‘support’ in the intercalary clause.

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járna ‘of iron weapons’

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járn (noun n.; °-s; -): iron, weapon

kennings

glym járna;
‘the crash of iron weapons; ’
   = BATTLE

the crash of iron weapons; → BATTLE

notes

[5, 6] sjá þar glym járna ‘see there the crash of iron weapons [BATTLE]’: So also Fms 12. The inf. verb sjá ‘see’ is compatible with the referent of the kenning, battle, but not with the base-word glym ‘crash, tumult’. In Skj B and Skald, arfa Véseta ‘the heir of Véseti [= Búi]’ is taken as the object of sjá and glym járna ‘crash of iron weapons [BATTLE]’ as the object of efla ‘support’ in the intercalary clause.

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þótti ‘it seemed’

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2. þykkja (verb): seem, think

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at ‘to’

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5. at (nota): to (with infinitive)

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þǫrf ‘necessary’

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þarfr (adj.): necessary, useful

notes

[8] þǫrf ‘necessary’: Lit. ‘a necessity’. The vows that the Jómsvíkingar made to support Búi in his attack on Hákon jarl Sigurðarson became a major element in the legend (see sts 11-14 and Contexts).

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Véseta ‘of Véseti’

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Véseti (noun m.): Véseti

kennings

arfa Véseta.
‘the heir of Véseti. ’
   = Búi

the heir of Véseti. → Búi

notes

[8] arfa Véseta ‘the heir of Véseti [= Búi]’: Véseti is said to have ruled Borgundarhólmr (Bornholm; e.g. Jóms 1879, 30), and to have had three children: Búi digri ‘the Stout’, Sigurðr hvíti ‘the White’ or kápa ‘Cloak’ and Þorgunna, wife of Áki Pálna-Tókason and mother of Vagn (ibid., 30-1).

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arfa ‘the heir’

(not checked:)
arfi (noun m.; °-a; -ar): heir, heiress

kennings

arfa Véseta.
‘the heir of Véseti. ’
   = Búi

the heir of Véseti. → Búi

notes

[8] arfa Véseta ‘the heir of Véseti [= Búi]’: Véseti is said to have ruled Borgundarhólmr (Bornholm; e.g. Jóms 1879, 30), and to have had three children: Búi digri ‘the Stout’, Sigurðr hvíti ‘the White’ or kápa ‘Cloak’ and Þorgunna, wife of Áki Pálna-Tókason and mother of Vagn (ibid., 30-1).

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The verse-form fjórðungalok ‘couplets’ closure’ is used here; cf. Note to st. 2 [All].

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