Eyjólfr dáðaskáld, Bandadrápa 1

Russell Poole

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Edáð Banddr 1^I

Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Eyjólfr dáðaskáld, Bandadrápa 1’ 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. 456.

Eyjólfr dáðaskáld Bandadrápa

1 2

Meita ‘of Meiti’

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Meiti (noun m.): Meiti

kennings

móti Meita
‘an encounter of Meiti ’
= BATTLE
an encounter of Meiti → BATTLE

var ‘’

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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am

fór ‘he went’

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fara (verb; ferr, fór, fóru, farinn): go, travel

[1] fór: var R

at ‘to’

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3. at (prep.): at, to

móti ‘an encounter’

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1. mót (noun n.; °; -): meeting

kennings

móti Meita
‘an encounter of Meiti ’
= BATTLE
an encounter of Meiti → BATTLE

mjǫk ‘very’

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mjǫk (adv.): very, much

notes

[2] mjǫk síð of dag ‘very late in the day’: If, as stated in Hkr and Fsk, the battle took place in early spring, it might have been fought under cover of darkness.

síð ‘late’

(not checked:)
2. síð (adv.): late

notes

[2] mjǫk síð of dag ‘very late in the day’: If, as stated in Hkr and Fsk, the battle took place in early spring, it might have been fought under cover of darkness.

of ‘in’

(not checked:)
3. of (prep.): around, from; too

notes

[2] mjǫk síð of dag ‘very late in the day’: If, as stated in Hkr and Fsk, the battle took place in early spring, it might have been fought under cover of darkness.

dag ‘day’

(not checked:)
dagr (noun m.; °-s, dat. degi/dag/dagi(Thom¹ 332¹n.); -ar): day

notes

[2] mjǫk síð of dag ‘very late in the day’: If, as stated in Hkr and Fsk, the battle took place in early spring, it might have been fought under cover of darkness.

skíða ‘’

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skíði (noun m.): ski (?)

skíði ‘on the ski’

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skíð (noun n.; °; -): ski

[2] skíði: ‘skiþ(a)’(?) R

kennings

skíði útvers
‘on the ski of the fishing ground ’
= SHIP
on the ski of the fishing ground → SHIP

ungr ‘[When] young’

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ungr (adj.): young

með ‘with’

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með (prep.): with

notes

[3] með jǫfnu gengi ‘with an equal following’: The implication may be that, although young, Eiríkr is popular and able to muster as much support as a more seasoned magnate. Fsk states (perhaps extrapolating from the stanza) that Eiríkr was outnumbered in his earlier jockeying for position with Skopti.

jǫfnu ‘equal’

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jafn (adj.; °comp. -ari, superl. -astr): even, just

notes

gengi ‘a following’

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gengi (noun n.): support, following

notes

út ‘of the fishing’

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út (adv.): out(side) < útver (noun n.): [fishing-stations]út (adv.): out(side)

kennings

skíði útvers
‘on the ski of the fishing ground ’
= SHIP
on the ski of the fishing ground → SHIP

[4] ‑vers: ‘vars’ J1ˣ, ver U

kennings

skíði útvers
‘on the ski of the fishing ground ’
= SHIP
on the ski of the fishing ground → SHIP

formum ‘’

frǫmum ‘to the noble’

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framr (adj.; °compar. framari/fremri, superl. framastr/fremstr): outstanding, foremost

[4] frǫmum: ‘formvm’ U

hersi ‘hersir’

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hersir (noun m.; °-is; -ar): cheiftan

þás ‘when’

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þás (conj.): when

rið ‘of the swinging’

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2. riða (verb) < riðlogi (noun m.): [swinging flame]

[5] riðloga: rauðvita FskBˣ, FskAˣ

kennings

reiðir riðloga randvallar
‘the brandisher of the swinging flame of the rim-plain ’
= WARRIOR = Eiríkr
the rim-plain → SHIELD
the swinging flame of the SHIELD → SWORD
the brandisher of the SWORD → WARRIOR = Eiríkr

notes

[5] riðloga ‘of the swinging flame’: The Fsk reading rauðvita ‘of red beacon-fire’ makes good sense, since together with the determinant ‘shield’ it would yield a satisfactory kenning for ‘sword’. Nonetheless, riðloga, the reading of the Hkr mss, has better claims, as the lectio difficilior.

rið ‘of the swinging’

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2. riða (verb) < riðlogi (noun m.): [swinging flame]

[5] riðloga: rauðvita FskBˣ, FskAˣ

kennings

notes

rauðvita ‘’

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rauðviti (noun m.)

rꝍyddir ‘’

reið ‘’

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1. reið (noun f.; °-ar; -ir/-ar): riding; chariot

loga ‘ flame’

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logi (noun m.; °-a; -ar): flame < riðlogi (noun m.): [swinging flame]

[5] riðloga: rauðvita FskBˣ, FskAˣ

kennings

notes

loga ‘ flame’

(not checked:)
logi (noun m.; °-a; -ar): flame < riðlogi (noun m.): [swinging flame]

[5] riðloga: rauðvita FskBˣ, FskAˣ

kennings

notes

ramu ‘’

rann ‘’

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rann (noun n.): house, hall < rannvǫllr (noun m.): hall-plainrann (noun n.): house, hall < rannvǫllr (noun m.): hall-plain

reiðir ‘the brandisher’

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3. reiðir (noun m.): [brandisher]

[5] reiðir: reið J1ˣ, ‘rꝍydder’ FskAˣ

kennings

vallr ‘’

(not checked:)
vǫllr (noun m.; °vallar, dat. velli; vellir acc. vǫllu/velli): plain, field < rannvǫllr (noun m.): hall-plain

rand ‘of the rim’

(not checked:)
rǫnd (noun f.; °dat. -/-u; rendr/randir): shield, shield-rim < randvǫllr (noun m.)

[6] rand‑: rann J1ˣ, FskAˣ, ‘ramu’ FskBˣ

kennings

rand ‘of the rim’

(not checked:)
rǫnd (noun f.; °dat. -/-u; rendr/randir): shield, shield-rim < randvǫllr (noun m.)

[6] rand‑: rann J1ˣ, FskAˣ, ‘ramu’ FskBˣ

kennings

rand ‘of the rim’

(not checked:)
rǫnd (noun f.; °dat. -/-u; rendr/randir): shield, shield-rim < randvǫllr (noun m.)

[6] rand‑: rann J1ˣ, FskAˣ, ‘ramu’ FskBˣ

kennings

vallar ‘plain’

(not checked:)
vǫllr (noun m.; °vallar, dat. velli; vellir acc. vǫllu/velli): plain, field < randvǫllr (noun m.)vǫllr (noun m.; °vallar, dat. velli; vellir acc. vǫllu/velli): plain, field < rannvǫllr (noun m.): hall-plainvǫllr (noun m.; °vallar, dat. velli; vellir acc. vǫllu/velli): plain, field

[6] ‑vallar: ‘‑vallr’ J1ˣ, 325VIII 1

kennings

vallar ‘plain’

[6] ‑vallar: ‘‑vallr’ J1ˣ, 325VIII 1

kennings

vallar ‘plain’

[6] ‑vallar: ‘‑vallr’ J1ˣ, 325VIII 1

kennings

lét ‘caused’

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

notes

[6, 8] lét Skopta falla ‘caused Skopti to fall’: Whether Eiríkr personally slew Skopti is unclear. Fsk allows of this interpretation, but the phrasing in Hkr (ÍF 26, 249), þar fell Skopti ‘Skopti fell there’, avoids the question of agency. On Skopti, see Context.

falla ‘to fall’

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falla (verb): fall

notes

reiðir ‘’

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1. reiðir (noun m.): [spreader] < 1. ulfreiðir (noun m.): wolf-spreader

réttir ‘’

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réttir (noun m.) < ulfréttir (noun m.)

ulf ‘the wolf’

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1. ulfr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): wolf < ulfteitir (noun m.)1. ulfr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): wolf < ulfréttir (noun m.)1. ulfr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): wolf < 1. ulfreiðir (noun m.): wolf-spreader

kennings

ulfteitir
‘the wolf-gladdener ’
= WARRIOR
the wolf-gladdener → WARRIOR

fekk ‘’

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2. fá (verb; °fǽr; fekk, fengu; fenginn): get, receive

teitir ‘gladdener’

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teitir (noun m.): gladdener < ulfteitir (noun m.)

[7] ‑teitir: ‑réttir J1ˣ, ‑reiðir 325VIII 1

kennings

ulfteitir
‘the wolf-gladdener ’
= WARRIOR
the wolf-gladdener → WARRIOR

gaf ‘gave’

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gefa (verb): give

[7] gaf: fekk F, 325VIII 1

ôtu ‘food’

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áta (noun f.; °-u; -ur): food

opt ‘often’

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opt (adv.): often

blóð ‘the blood’

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blóð (noun n.; °-s): blood < blóðvalr (noun m.): [blood-falcons]

kennings

blóðvǫlum
‘the blood-falcons ’
= RAVENS/EAGLES
the blood-falcons → RAVENS/EAGLES

vǫlum ‘falcons’

(not checked:)
2. valr (noun m.; °-s): falcon < blóðvalr (noun m.): [blood-falcons]

kennings

blóðvǫlum
‘the blood-falcons ’
= RAVENS/EAGLES
the blood-falcons → RAVENS/EAGLES

Skopta ‘Skopti’

(not checked:)
skopti (noun m.): skopti

notes

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

verse
prose

In Fsk and Hkr, st. 1 is preceded by a description of Eiríkr’s first recorded exploit, at age ten or eleven. Rivalry develops between him and Tíðenda-Skopti (‘News-Skopti’), son-in-law of his father Hákon jarl Sigurðarson. Hákon rebukes Eiríkr for trying to take over Skopti’s mooring place. The following year, Eiríkr brings a ship to meet Skopti as he travels from one estate to another and in the ensuing battle kills him (see Note to l. 6). In SnE (Skm), the first helmingr is cited to illustrate the use of skíð ‘ski’ in ship-kennings.

The stanza is cited explicitly from Banddr in Hkr, and from ‘the poem (kvæði) that Eyjólfr dáðaskáld composed about Eiríkr’ in Fsk. — [1-4]: (a) The construal adopted here (as also in ÍF 26) gives the most straightforward word order and the most regular kenning structure; the battle-kenning mót Meita is directly paralleled in HÁsbj Lv 1/5^V (Dpl 1). A minor drawback is that in taking frǫmum hersi as a comp. with jǫfnu gengi a slight ellipsis is assumed: ‘with a following equal to [that of] the noble hersir’. (b) The main alternative is to read (in prose order): Ungr fór með jǫfnu gengi skíði útvers Meita mjǫk síð of dag útvers at móti frǫmum hersi ‘[When] young he went with an equal following on the ski of the fishing ground of Meiti <sea-king> [SEA > SHIP] very late in the day to an encounter with the noble hersir’ (so Hkr 1893-1901, IV; Skj B). Here, útvers ‘of the fishing ground’ is pleonastic in that skíð Meita ‘ski of Meiti’ already forms a ship-kenning. Other explanations of útvers are possible: (c) Kock (NN §550) combines útvers with hersi, hence ‘lord of the fishing-ground’ (referring to Skopti). (d) Útvers could be construed as gen. of direction, ‘to the fishing-ground’ (see Poole 2004, 129). Guðbrandur Vígfússon (CPB II, 51, 570) similarly took útvers as an adverbial gen. of place, but as a p. n., ‘at Útver’, explaining Útver as an island off Sogn. — [1]: Evidently an emulation of Eskál Vell 22/1 (de Vries 1964-7, I, 183).

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Edáð Banddr 1I

Meita ‘of Meiti’

kennings

var ‘’

fór ‘he went’

at ‘to’

móti ‘an encounter’

kennings

mjǫk ‘very’

notes

síð ‘late’

notes

of ‘in’

notes

dag ‘day’

notes

skíða ‘’

skíði ‘on the ski’

kennings

ungr ‘[When] young’

með ‘with’

notes

jǫfnu ‘equal’

notes

gengi ‘a following’

notes

út ‘of the fishing’

kennings

ver ‘’

vars ‘’

vers ‘ground’

kennings

formum ‘’

frǫmum ‘to the noble’

hersi ‘hersir’

þás ‘when’

rið ‘of the swinging’

kennings

notes

rið ‘of the swinging’

kennings

notes

rauðvita ‘’

rꝍyddir ‘’

reið ‘’

loga ‘ flame’

kennings

notes

loga ‘ flame’

kennings

notes

ramu ‘’

rann ‘’

reiðir ‘the brandisher’

kennings

vallr ‘’

rand ‘of the rim’

kennings

rand ‘of the rim’

kennings

rand ‘of the rim’

kennings

vallar ‘plain’

kennings

vallar ‘plain’

kennings

vallar ‘plain’

kennings

lét ‘caused’

notes

falla ‘to fall’

notes

reiðir ‘’

réttir ‘’

ulf ‘the wolf’

kennings

fekk ‘’

teitir ‘gladdener’

kennings

Edáð Banddr 1^I