Gamlkan Has 26VII
Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Gamli kanóki, Harmsól 26’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 95-6.
Hverr ‘which’
(not checked:)
2. hverr (pron.): who, whom, each, every
kennings
hverr hendir loga fjarðar‘which distributor of the fire of the fjord ’
= GENEROUS MAN
the fire of the fjord → GOLD
which distributor of the GOLD → GENEROUS MAN
myndi ‘could’
(not checked:)
munu (verb): will, must
svá ‘so’
(not checked:)
svá (adv.): so, thus
[1] svá hendir: ‘s[...]nnder’ B, ‘[...]h[...]nnder’ 399a‑bˣ, ‘(s)[...] [...](æ)nnder’(?) BRydberg, ‘s(va) [...]nndir’(?) BFJ
notes
[1] svá hendir: B is very dark and badly worn; <h> is confirmed by the alliteration. Reconstruction to svá hendir is suggested by Sveinbjörn Egilsson in a marginal note to 444ˣ, and has been adopted by all eds.
hendir ‘distributor’
(not checked:)
hendir (noun m.): [distributor]
[1] svá hendir: ‘s[...]nnder’ B, ‘[...]h[...]nnder’ 399a‑bˣ, ‘(s)[...] [...](æ)nnder’(?) BRydberg, ‘s(va) [...]nndir’(?) BFJ
kennings
hverr hendir loga fjarðar‘which distributor of the fire of the fjord ’
= GENEROUS MAN
the fire of the fjord → GOLD
which distributor of the GOLD → GENEROUS MAN
notes
[1] svá hendir: B is very dark and badly worn; <h> is confirmed by the alliteration. Reconstruction to svá hendir is suggested by Sveinbjörn Egilsson in a marginal note to 444ˣ, and has been adopted by all eds.
harð ‘hard’
(not checked:)
harðr (adj.; °comp. -ari; superl. -astr): hard, harsh < harðgeðr (adj.): hard-minded
geðr ‘minded’
(not checked:)
-geðr (adj.): -minded < harðgeðr (adj.): hard-minded
loga ‘of the fire’
(not checked:)
logi (noun m.; °-a; -ar): flame
kennings
hverr hendir loga fjarðar‘which distributor of the fire of the fjord ’
= GENEROUS MAN
the fire of the fjord → GOLD
which distributor of the GOLD → GENEROUS MAN
loga ‘of the fire’
(not checked:)
logi (noun m.; °-a; -ar): flame
kennings
hverr hendir loga fjarðar‘which distributor of the fire of the fjord ’
= GENEROUS MAN
the fire of the fjord → GOLD
which distributor of the GOLD → GENEROUS MAN
fjarðar ‘of the fjord’
(not checked:)
fjǫrðr (noun m.): fjord
kennings
hverr hendir loga fjarðar‘which distributor of the fire of the fjord ’
= GENEROUS MAN
the fire of the fjord → GOLD
which distributor of the GOLD → GENEROUS MAN
fjarðar ‘of the fjord’
(not checked:)
fjǫrðr (noun m.): fjord
kennings
hverr hendir loga fjarðar‘which distributor of the fire of the fjord ’
= GENEROUS MAN
the fire of the fjord → GOLD
which distributor of the GOLD → GENEROUS MAN
éla ‘of storms’
(not checked:)
él (noun n.; °; dat. -um): storm
kennings
Ítr … rítar ranns éla,‘Glorious … of the shield of the house of storms, ’
= God
the house of storms, → SKY/HEAVEN
the shield of the SKY/HEAVEN → SUN
Glorious … of the SUN → God
éla ‘of storms’
(not checked:)
él (noun n.; °; dat. -um): storm
kennings
Ítr … rítar ranns éla,‘Glorious … of the shield of the house of storms, ’
= God
the house of storms, → SKY/HEAVEN
the shield of the SKY/HEAVEN → SUN
Glorious … of the SUN → God
éla ‘of storms’
(not checked:)
él (noun n.; °; dat. -um): storm
kennings
Ítr … rítar ranns éla,‘Glorious … of the shield of the house of storms, ’
= God
the house of storms, → SKY/HEAVEN
the shield of the SKY/HEAVEN → SUN
Glorious … of the SUN → God
ranns ‘of the house’
(not checked:)
rann (noun n.): house, hall
kennings
Ítr … rítar ranns éla,‘Glorious … of the shield of the house of storms, ’
= God
the house of storms, → SKY/HEAVEN
the shield of the SKY/HEAVEN → SUN
Glorious … of the SUN → God
ranns ‘of the house’
(not checked:)
rann (noun n.): house, hall
kennings
Ítr … rítar ranns éla,‘Glorious … of the shield of the house of storms, ’
= God
the house of storms, → SKY/HEAVEN
the shield of the SKY/HEAVEN → SUN
Glorious … of the SUN → God
ranns ‘of the house’
(not checked:)
rann (noun n.): house, hall
kennings
Ítr … rítar ranns éla,‘Glorious … of the shield of the house of storms, ’
= God
the house of storms, → SKY/HEAVEN
the shield of the SKY/HEAVEN → SUN
Glorious … of the SUN → God
ef ‘if’
(not checked:)
3. ef (conj.): if
ynni ‘he loved’
(not checked:)
1. unna (verb): love
ítr ‘Glorious’
(not checked:)
ítr (adj.): glorious
kennings
Ítr … rítar ranns éla,‘Glorious … of the shield of the house of storms, ’
= God
the house of storms, → SKY/HEAVEN
the shield of the SKY/HEAVEN → SUN
Glorious … of the SUN → God
kennings
Ítr … rítar ranns éla,‘Glorious … of the shield of the house of storms, ’
= God
the house of storms, → SKY/HEAVEN
the shield of the SKY/HEAVEN → SUN
Glorious … of the SUN → God
notes
[4] …: The ms. is badly torn. Traces of a tall letter, possibly an <f> and an abbreviation remain, but these are uncertain. Sveinbjörn Egilsson’s reconstruction to festir ‘fastener’, an agent noun from the verb festa ‘to fasten’ is perhaps inspired by the similar ll. at 50/2-3 ítr postoli rítar | fróns musteris festir. Rydberg (1907, lxxi) claims to see traces of a <g> here, and reconstructs gervir ‘creator’, which is adopted by Finnur Jónsson, Kock and Black. This seems unlikely, however, since the previous transcribers of the ms., those responsible for 399a-bˣ, record no trace of it. Rydberg compares Geisl 65/5, where God is referred to as gervir himna ‘maker of the heavens’, in support of his reconstruction. Clearly, there is a God-kenning here, but the base-word cannot be supplied with any certainty.
þér ‘you’
(not checked:)
þú (pron.; °gen. þín, dat. þér, acc. þik): you
rítar ‘of the shield’
(not checked:)
rít (noun f.): shield
kennings
Ítr … rítar ranns éla,‘Glorious … of the shield of the house of storms, ’
= God
the house of storms, → SKY/HEAVEN
the shield of the SKY/HEAVEN → SUN
Glorious … of the SUN → God
rítar ‘of the shield’
(not checked:)
rít (noun f.): shield
kennings
Ítr … rítar ranns éla,‘Glorious … of the shield of the house of storms, ’
= God
the house of storms, → SKY/HEAVEN
the shield of the SKY/HEAVEN → SUN
Glorious … of the SUN → God
at ‘that’
(not checked:)
4. at (conj.): that
þrek ‘power’
(not checked:)
þrek (noun n.): courage, strength < þreknenninn (adj./verb p.p.)
kennings
þreknenninn sættandi ýta?‘powerful reconciler of men?’
= God
powerful reconciler of men? → God
notes
[5] þreknenninn ‘powerful’: Sveinbjörn Egilsson (note to 444ˣ), followed by Kempff, construes with his reconstruction Þrór ‘Óðinn’ in l. 6 (see following Note).
nenninn ‘ful’
(not checked:)
nenninn (adj.): vigorous < þreknenninn (adj./verb p.p.)
kennings
þreknenninn sættandi ýta?‘powerful reconciler of men?’
= God
powerful reconciler of men? → God
notes
[5] þreknenninn ‘powerful’: Sveinbjörn Egilsson (note to 444ˣ), followed by Kempff, construes with his reconstruction Þrór ‘Óðinn’ in l. 6 (see following Note).
þinni ‘your’
(not checked:)
þinn (pron.; °f. þín, n. þitt): your
kennings
… ormlands‘a … of the snake-land ’
= MAN
the snake-land → GOLD
a … of the GOLD → MAN
notes
[6] …: Once again, B is badly worn and no one has been able to discern any trace of the missing letters. The alliterative scheme requires a word with initial <þ>, which must serve as the base-word of a man-kenning with the determinant ormlands (‘of the land of the snake [GOLD]’). Man-kennings of this type elsewhere in the poem and generally suggest that a noun meaning ‘destroyer’ or ‘distributer’, a god-name or a tree-name would be appropriate choices. Sveinbjörn Egilsson (1844, 21 n. 35), followed by Kempff, suggests reconstruction to Þrór, an Óðinn-heiti. Skj B suggests reconstruction to þollr ‘tree’, which has been adopted by all subsequent eds.
sættandi ‘reconciler’
(not checked:)
sættandi (noun m.): reconciler
kennings
þreknenninn sættandi ýta?‘powerful reconciler of men?’
= God
powerful reconciler of men? → God
notes
[6-7] sættandi ýta ‘reconciler of men [= God (= Christ)]’: This is a particularly appropriate Christ-kenning, given that Gamli is here challenging his hearers to consider their responses to Christ’s attempt to make peace between themselves and God. Compare the similar assertion in st. 17, which seeks to manipulate the hearer’s response to Christ as peacemaker (see especially ll. 5-6).
mætti ‘might’
(not checked:)
mega (verb): may, might
ó ‘un’
(not checked:)
ó- ((prefix)): un- < ógrátandi (adj.): [without weeping]
grátandi ‘weeping’
(not checked:)
2. gráta (verb): weep < ógrátandi (adj.): [without weeping]
ýta ‘of men’
(not checked:)
ýtr (noun m.): man; launcher
kennings
þreknenninn sættandi ýta?‘powerful reconciler of men?’
= God
powerful reconciler of men? → God
notes
[6-7] sættandi ýta ‘reconciler of men [= God (= Christ)]’: This is a particularly appropriate Christ-kenning, given that Gamli is here challenging his hearers to consider their responses to Christ’s attempt to make peace between themselves and God. Compare the similar assertion in st. 17, which seeks to manipulate the hearer’s response to Christ as peacemaker (see especially ll. 5-6).
orm ‘of the snake’
(not checked:)
ormr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): serpent < ormland (noun n.)
kennings
… ormlands‘a … of the snake-land ’
= MAN
the snake-land → GOLD
a … of the GOLD → MAN
orm ‘of the snake’
(not checked:)
ormr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): serpent < ormland (noun n.)
kennings
… ormlands‘a … of the snake-land ’
= MAN
the snake-land → GOLD
a … of the GOLD → MAN
lands ‘land’
(not checked:)
land (noun n.; °-s; *-): land < ormland (noun n.)
kennings
… ormlands‘a … of the snake-land ’
= MAN
the snake-land → GOLD
a … of the GOLD → MAN
lands ‘land’
(not checked:)
land (noun n.; °-s; *-): land < ormland (noun n.)
kennings
… ormlands‘a … of the snake-land ’
= MAN
the snake-land → GOLD
a … of the GOLD → MAN
hjá ‘by’
(not checked:)
hjá (prep.): beside, with
kvǫl ‘Passion’
(not checked:)
kvǫl (noun f.; °-ar; -ar/-ir): torment, torture
standa ‘stand’
(not checked:)
standa (verb): stand
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
|
Hverr myndi svá hendir |
Glorious … of the shield of the house of storms [SKY/HEAVEN > SUN > = God (= Christ)], which distributor of the fire of the fjord [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN] could [be] so hard-minded, if he loved you, that [he], a … of the snake-land [GOLD > MAN] might stand unweeping by your Passion, powerful reconciler of men [= God (= Christ)]?
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