Bragi Frag 6III
Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Bragi inn gamli Boddason, Fragments 6’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 62.
áttak ‘I had’
(not checked:)
2. eiga (verb; °á/eigr (præs. pl. 3. pers. eigu/eiga); átti, áttu; átt): own, have
vin ‘friend’
(not checked:)
vinr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. -/(-i OsvReyk 92.17); -ir): friend
verstan ‘worst’
(not checked:)
verri (adj. comp.): worse, worst
[1] verstan: so all others, ‘vierstan’ changed in scribal hand from ‘vistrstan’ R
vazt ‘of the fishing ground’
(not checked:)
vǫst (noun f.): sea, ocean
[2] vazt rǫdd: ‘vatzravðla’ R, ‘vazraud’ Tˣ, ‘uaz rodd’ W, ‘[…]atzt rodd’ U
kennings
rǫdd Ála vazt-undirkúlu‘to the voice of the Áli of the fishing ground-under-knob, ’
= GOLD
the fishing ground-under-knob, → ROCK
the Áli of the ROCK → GIANT
to the voice of the GIANT → GOLD
notes
[2] vazt- ‘the fishing ground-’: The scribes experienced considerable difficulty with this word and the following rǫdd ‘voice’, in spite of Snorri’s prose explanation. Although vazt is connected with undirkúlu (l. 3) by tmesis (see below), as the prose text makes clear, the scribes of R and Tˣ, at least, understood it to form a cpd with the immediately following word. The various ms. forms of the first element can probably be explained (so SnE 1998, I, 141 textual n.) as implying a first element vatns- < vatn ‘water’. However, both the prose gloss and the probability of aðalhending (vazt /bazt-) favour the lectio difficilior vazt < vǫzt (or vǫst) f. (pl. vaztir) ‘fishing ground’, by extension ‘sea’ (so LP: vǫst; SnE 1998, II, 432).
vazt ‘of the fishing ground’
(not checked:)
vǫst (noun f.): sea, ocean
[2] vazt rǫdd: ‘vatzravðla’ R, ‘vazraud’ Tˣ, ‘uaz rodd’ W, ‘[…]atzt rodd’ U
kennings
rǫdd Ála vazt-undirkúlu‘to the voice of the Áli of the fishing ground-under-knob, ’
= GOLD
the fishing ground-under-knob, → ROCK
the Áli of the ROCK → GIANT
to the voice of the GIANT → GOLD
notes
[2] vazt- ‘the fishing ground-’: The scribes experienced considerable difficulty with this word and the following rǫdd ‘voice’, in spite of Snorri’s prose explanation. Although vazt is connected with undirkúlu (l. 3) by tmesis (see below), as the prose text makes clear, the scribes of R and Tˣ, at least, understood it to form a cpd with the immediately following word. The various ms. forms of the first element can probably be explained (so SnE 1998, I, 141 textual n.) as implying a first element vatns- < vatn ‘water’. However, both the prose gloss and the probability of aðalhending (vazt /bazt-) favour the lectio difficilior vazt < vǫzt (or vǫst) f. (pl. vaztir) ‘fishing ground’, by extension ‘sea’ (so LP: vǫst; SnE 1998, II, 432).
vazt ‘of the fishing ground’
(not checked:)
vǫst (noun f.): sea, ocean
[2] vazt rǫdd: ‘vatzravðla’ R, ‘vazraud’ Tˣ, ‘uaz rodd’ W, ‘[…]atzt rodd’ U
kennings
rǫdd Ála vazt-undirkúlu‘to the voice of the Áli of the fishing ground-under-knob, ’
= GOLD
the fishing ground-under-knob, → ROCK
the Áli of the ROCK → GIANT
to the voice of the GIANT → GOLD
notes
[2] vazt- ‘the fishing ground-’: The scribes experienced considerable difficulty with this word and the following rǫdd ‘voice’, in spite of Snorri’s prose explanation. Although vazt is connected with undirkúlu (l. 3) by tmesis (see below), as the prose text makes clear, the scribes of R and Tˣ, at least, understood it to form a cpd with the immediately following word. The various ms. forms of the first element can probably be explained (so SnE 1998, I, 141 textual n.) as implying a first element vatns- < vatn ‘water’. However, both the prose gloss and the probability of aðalhending (vazt /bazt-) favour the lectio difficilior vazt < vǫzt (or vǫst) f. (pl. vaztir) ‘fishing ground’, by extension ‘sea’ (so LP: vǫst; SnE 1998, II, 432).
rǫdd ‘to the voice’
(not checked:)
rǫdd (noun f.; °raddar, dat. -/u; raddir): voice
[2] vazt rǫdd: ‘vatzravðla’ R, ‘vazraud’ Tˣ, ‘uaz rodd’ W, ‘[…]atzt rodd’ U
kennings
rǫdd Ála vazt-undirkúlu‘to the voice of the Áli of the fishing ground-under-knob, ’
= GOLD
the fishing ground-under-knob, → ROCK
the Áli of the ROCK → GIANT
to the voice of the GIANT → GOLD
notes
[2] rǫdd ‘the voice’: The majority mss and the prose context indicate rǫdd is to be preferred over R’s rǫðli < rǫðull ‘wheel, disk’, as do metrical considerations. However, Skald adopts the cpd vatzrǫðli ‘water-sun [GOLD]’, construing it with l. 1 áttak þann vin verstan vatzrǫðli ‘I had that friend worst to water-sun [GOLD]’. — [2, 3] rǫdd Ála ‘the voice of Áli <sea-king> [GOLD]’: A kenning for ‘gold’ formed against the mythological background indicated by Snorri’s prose text. Áli is elsewhere given as the name for a variety of supernatural beings and humans of the prehistoric period (cf. LP: Áli; SnE 1998, II, 443). Connection with a sea-king of this name (cf. SnE 1998, I, 109 and Note to Þul Sækonunga 1/2) seems most likely here. Kock (NN §222) argues that ála is gen. pl. of áll ‘deep narrow channel in sea or river’ and that undirkúlu ála ‘under-knob of channels’ is a kenning concealing the name Steinn ‘Stone’ for Bragi’s unnamed friend.
rǫdd ‘to the voice’
(not checked:)
rǫdd (noun f.; °raddar, dat. -/u; raddir): voice
[2] vazt rǫdd: ‘vatzravðla’ R, ‘vazraud’ Tˣ, ‘uaz rodd’ W, ‘[…]atzt rodd’ U
kennings
rǫdd Ála vazt-undirkúlu‘to the voice of the Áli of the fishing ground-under-knob, ’
= GOLD
the fishing ground-under-knob, → ROCK
the Áli of the ROCK → GIANT
to the voice of the GIANT → GOLD
notes
[2] rǫdd ‘the voice’: The majority mss and the prose context indicate rǫdd is to be preferred over R’s rǫðli < rǫðull ‘wheel, disk’, as do metrical considerations. However, Skald adopts the cpd vatzrǫðli ‘water-sun [GOLD]’, construing it with l. 1 áttak þann vin verstan vatzrǫðli ‘I had that friend worst to water-sun [GOLD]’. — [2, 3] rǫdd Ála ‘the voice of Áli <sea-king> [GOLD]’: A kenning for ‘gold’ formed against the mythological background indicated by Snorri’s prose text. Áli is elsewhere given as the name for a variety of supernatural beings and humans of the prehistoric period (cf. LP: Áli; SnE 1998, II, 443). Connection with a sea-king of this name (cf. SnE 1998, I, 109 and Note to Þul Sækonunga 1/2) seems most likely here. Kock (NN §222) argues that ála is gen. pl. of áll ‘deep narrow channel in sea or river’ and that undirkúlu ála ‘under-knob of channels’ is a kenning concealing the name Steinn ‘Stone’ for Bragi’s unnamed friend.
mér ‘to me’
(not checked:)
ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
baztan ‘best’
(not checked:)
betri (adj. comp.; °superl. beztr/baztr; pos. góðr adj.): better, best
Ála ‘of the Áli’
(not checked:)
Áli (noun m.): Áli
kennings
rǫdd Ála vazt-undirkúlu‘to the voice of the Áli of the fishing ground-under-knob, ’
= GOLD
the fishing ground-under-knob, → ROCK
the Áli of the ROCK → GIANT
to the voice of the GIANT → GOLD
notes
[2, 3] rǫdd Ála ‘the voice of Áli <sea-king> [GOLD]’: A kenning for ‘gold’ formed against the mythological background indicated by Snorri’s prose text. Áli is elsewhere given as the name for a variety of supernatural beings and humans of the prehistoric period (cf. LP: Áli; SnE 1998, II, 443). Connection with a sea-king of this name (cf. SnE 1998, I, 109 and Note to Þul Sækonunga 1/2) seems most likely here. Kock (NN §222) argues that ála is gen. pl. of áll ‘deep narrow channel in sea or river’ and that undirkúlu ála ‘under-knob of channels’ is a kenning concealing the name Steinn ‘Stone’ for Bragi’s unnamed friend.
Ála ‘of the Áli’
(not checked:)
Áli (noun m.): Áli
kennings
rǫdd Ála vazt-undirkúlu‘to the voice of the Áli of the fishing ground-under-knob, ’
= GOLD
the fishing ground-under-knob, → ROCK
the Áli of the ROCK → GIANT
to the voice of the GIANT → GOLD
notes
[2, 3] rǫdd Ála ‘the voice of Áli <sea-king> [GOLD]’: A kenning for ‘gold’ formed against the mythological background indicated by Snorri’s prose text. Áli is elsewhere given as the name for a variety of supernatural beings and humans of the prehistoric period (cf. LP: Áli; SnE 1998, II, 443). Connection with a sea-king of this name (cf. SnE 1998, I, 109 and Note to Þul Sækonunga 1/2) seems most likely here. Kock (NN §222) argues that ála is gen. pl. of áll ‘deep narrow channel in sea or river’ and that undirkúlu ála ‘under-knob of channels’ is a kenning concealing the name Steinn ‘Stone’ for Bragi’s unnamed friend.
undirkúlu ‘under-knob’
(not checked:)
undirkúla (noun f.): [under-knob]
kennings
rǫdd Ála vazt-undirkúlu‘to the voice of the Áli of the fishing ground-under-knob, ’
= GOLD
the fishing ground-under-knob, → ROCK
the Áli of the ROCK → GIANT
to the voice of the GIANT → GOLD
notes
[3] -undirkúlu ‘-under-knob’: The second element of a cpd separated by tmesis from its first element vazt (l. 2). The whole cpd forms a kenning for a rock.
undirkúlu ‘under-knob’
(not checked:)
undirkúla (noun f.): [under-knob]
kennings
rǫdd Ála vazt-undirkúlu‘to the voice of the Áli of the fishing ground-under-knob, ’
= GOLD
the fishing ground-under-knob, → ROCK
the Áli of the ROCK → GIANT
to the voice of the GIANT → GOLD
notes
[3] -undirkúlu ‘-under-knob’: The second element of a cpd separated by tmesis from its first element vazt (l. 2). The whole cpd forms a kenning for a rock.
undirkúlu ‘under-knob’
(not checked:)
undirkúla (noun f.): [under-knob]
kennings
rǫdd Ála vazt-undirkúlu‘to the voice of the Áli of the fishing ground-under-knob, ’
= GOLD
the fishing ground-under-knob, → ROCK
the Áli of the ROCK → GIANT
to the voice of the GIANT → GOLD
notes
[3] -undirkúlu ‘-under-knob’: The second element of a cpd separated by tmesis from its first element vazt (l. 2). The whole cpd forms a kenning for a rock.
óniðraðan ‘blameless’
(not checked:)
óniðraðr (adj./verb p.p.): [blameless]
[4] óniðraðan: so Tˣ, W, ‘oniþioþan’ R, ‘o[…]þiaþan’ U
þriðja ‘the third one’
(not checked:)
þriði (num. ordinal): third
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
See Introduction to Frag 5-6 above. In the prose both before and after this stanza Snorri directs the reader’s or listener’s interpretation. He states at the beginning: Hér má þat heyra at kallat er orð eða rǫdd jǫtna gullit, svá sem fyrr er sagt. Svá kvað Bragi skáld ‘Here one may hear that gold is called the words or voice of giants, as has been said above. Thus spoke the poet Bragi’. Snorri’s previous reference to this kenning-type comes near the beginning of Skm (SnE 1998, I, 3), right at the end of his narrative about the giant Þjazi. Here he has the deity Bragi explain that the family of this giant was very wealthy and was in the habit of dividing their inheritance by measuring it out in mouthfuls of gold; hence gold can be called the ‘mouth-count’ (munntal) or, by extension, the speech or voice of giants. After the stanza Snorri directs interpretation thus: Hann kallaði stein vazta undirkúlu – steinninn – en jǫtun Ála steinsins (reading of Tx, W), en gull rǫdd jǫtuns, ‘He called the rock the fishing grounds’ under-knob – the rock – and the giant the Áli of the rock, and gold the voice of the giant’.
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