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Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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ESk Geisl 29VII

Martin Chase (ed.) 2007, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Geisli 29’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 30-1.

Einarr SkúlasonGeisli
282930

Lét ‘made’

(not checked:)
láta (verb): let, have sth done

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jarp ‘the brown-’

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jarpr (adj.): brown-, brown-haired < jarplitr (adj.)

notes

[1] jarplitan ‘brown-coloured’: The adj. does not occur elsewhere, but is a cpd of jarpr ‘brown’ and litr ‘coloured.’ The skalds often used the characteristic epithets ‘black’ and ‘dark-coloured’ in reference to the raven (see Meissner, 117), and Einarr sustains the metaphor by using tu Hugins ‘food of Huginn’ as a kenning for the slain. St. 29 thus contains references to the three traditional beasts of battle: the raven, the eagle, and the wolf. Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) understands the references to the birds of battle rather differently in ll. 1-4, construing Magnús enn góði lét hugin fagna tu; malmþings kennir rauð munn jarplitaðs arnar jóðs ‘Magnús the Good let the raven enjoy food; the warrior [tester of the weapon-meeting] reddened the beak of the brown-coloured eagle [offspring of the eagle]’. Here he adopts an emendation, jarplitaðs (l. 1), originally suggested in Nj 1875-8, II, 293-5.

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litan ‘coloured one’

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2. litr (adj.): coloured < jarplitr (adj.)

[1] ‑litan: so Bb, ‘‑lidr’ Flat, ‘leitan’ Hr

notes

[1] jarplitan ‘brown-coloured’: The adj. does not occur elsewhere, but is a cpd of jarpr ‘brown’ and litr ‘coloured.’ The skalds often used the characteristic epithets ‘black’ and ‘dark-coloured’ in reference to the raven (see Meissner, 117), and Einarr sustains the metaphor by using tu Hugins ‘food of Huginn’ as a kenning for the slain. St. 29 thus contains references to the three traditional beasts of battle: the raven, the eagle, and the wolf. Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) understands the references to the birds of battle rather differently in ll. 1-4, construing Magnús enn góði lét hugin fagna tu; malmþings kennir rauð munn jarplitaðs arnar jóðs ‘Magnús the Good let the raven enjoy food; the warrior [tester of the weapon-meeting] reddened the beak of the brown-coloured eagle [offspring of the eagle]’. Here he adopts an emendation, jarplitaðs (l. 1), originally suggested in Nj 1875-8, II, 293-5.

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ôtu ‘with the food’

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áta (noun f.; °-u; -ur): food

kennings

ôtu Hugins;
‘with the food of Huginn; ’
   = CORPSES

with the food of Huginn; → CORPSES
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jóðs ‘offspring’

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jóð (noun n.): child, offspring

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inn ‘the’

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2. inn (art.): the

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góði ‘Good’

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góðr (adj.): good

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munn ‘the mouth’

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munnr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): mouth

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rauð ‘reddened’

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rjóða (verb): to redden

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malm ‘of the weapon’

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malmr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): metal < malmþing (noun n.): weapon-assembly

[3] malmþings: mildingr Bb, Hr

kennings

kennir malmþings
‘the tester of the weapon-meeting ’
   = WARRIOR

the weapon-meeting → BATTLE
the tester of the BATTLE → WARRIOR
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malm ‘of the weapon’

(not checked:)
malmr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): metal < malmþing (noun n.): weapon-assembly

[3] malmþings: mildingr Bb, Hr

kennings

kennir malmþings
‘the tester of the weapon-meeting ’
   = WARRIOR

the weapon-meeting → BATTLE
the tester of the BATTLE → WARRIOR
Close

þings ‘meeting’

(not checked:)
þing (noun n.; °-s; -): meeting, assembly < malmþing (noun n.): weapon-assembly

[3] malmþings: mildingr Bb, Hr

kennings

kennir malmþings
‘the tester of the weapon-meeting ’
   = WARRIOR

the weapon-meeting → BATTLE
the tester of the BATTLE → WARRIOR
Close

þings ‘meeting’

(not checked:)
þing (noun n.; °-s; -): meeting, assembly < malmþing (noun n.): weapon-assembly

[3] malmþings: mildingr Bb, Hr

kennings

kennir malmþings
‘the tester of the weapon-meeting ’
   = WARRIOR

the weapon-meeting → BATTLE
the tester of the BATTLE → WARRIOR
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innan ‘’

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innan (prep.): inside, within

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kennir ‘the tester’

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kennir (noun m.): teacher

[3] kennir: innan Bb, Hr

kennings

kennir malmþings
‘the tester of the weapon-meeting ’
   = WARRIOR

the weapon-meeting → BATTLE
the tester of the BATTLE → WARRIOR
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Magnús ‘Magnús’

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2. Magnús (noun m.): Magnús

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Hugins ‘of Huginn’

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1. Huginn (noun m.): Huginn

[4] Hugins: ‘huginn’ Bb, ‘hugan’ Hr

kennings

ôtu Hugins;
‘with the food of Huginn; ’
   = CORPSES

with the food of Huginn; → CORPSES
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fagna ‘rejoice’

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fagna (verb; °-að-): welcome, rejoice

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Hrætt ‘The frightened’

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1. hræddr (adj.): afraid

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varð ‘had’

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1. verða (verb): become, be

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folk ‘army’

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folk (noun n.): people

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á ‘to’

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3. á (prep.): on, at

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flótta ‘flight’

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flótti (noun m.): flight, fleeing

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frôn ‘the sharp’

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2. fránn (adj.): bright, shining

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leit ‘’

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líta (verb): look, see; appear

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beit ‘bit’

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bíta (verb; °bítr; beit, bitu; bitinn): bite

[6] beit: leit Bb

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at ‘to’

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

[6] at: á Hr

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leggja ‘take’

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leggja (verb): put, lay

[6] leggja: leggi Hr

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hlutu ‘’

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hljóta (verb): alot, gain

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biðu ‘experienced’

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2. biða (verb; °-að-): experience, suffer

[7] biðu: hlutu Bb, Hr

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víf ‘women’

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víf (noun n.): woman, wife

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en ‘and’

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2. en (conj.): but, and

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vargar ‘wolves’

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vargr (noun m.; °dat. -i; -ar): wolf

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vinðversk ‘Wendish’

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vinðverskr (adj.): [Wendish]

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of ‘over’

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3. of (prep.): around, from; too

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hræ ‘carrion’

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hræ (noun n.; °; -): corpse, carrion

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ginðu ‘gaped’

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1. gína (verb): gape

notes

[8] ginðu ‘gaped’: An example of a weak pret. form of a strong verb (see ANG §482, Anm. 2). The vowel has been shortened to facilitate aðalhending with vinðversk (Kahle 1892, 57-9 discusses this phenomenon).

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Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses

Immediately following st. 28 H-Hr reads: Eptir fall Regbuss gerðisk Magnús konúngr svꜽ ákafr, at hann var fremstr sinna manna, ok beið eigi merkjanna, hann hjo [sic] á 2 hendr, ok drap heiðíngja niðr sem búfꜵ; sá Vindr þá eingan sinn kost vænna enn flýja, þeir sem því kómu við ‘After the fall of Regbus [a Wendish king] King Magnús became so vehement that he was [fighting] at the front of his men and did not wait for the standards. He hacked to both sides, and struck the heathens down like cattle. The Wends who were able to then saw no better option than to flee’. The prose text continues in H (Dreifðisk þá herrinn víðs vegar... ‘The army was widely scattered’), which omits st. 29, but Hr first inserts the phrase svá segir Einarr ‘thus says Einarr’ followed by the text of this st.

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