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Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Gamlkan Has 45VII

Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Gamli kanóki, Harmsól 45’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 113.

Gamli kanókiHarmsól
444546

Háborgar, fæsk hvergi
hald, þats bresti aldri,
hreggs nema horskum seggjum
heitfastr jǫfurr veiti.
Sterk lofar drótt ok dýrkar
dagstalls konung snjallan;
himins es fylkir fremri
fróðr hvívetna góðu.

Hvergi fæsk hald, þats aldri bresti, nema {heitfastr jǫfurr {háborgar hreggs}} veiti horskum seggjum. Sterk drótt lofar ok dýrkar {snjallan konung {dagstalls}}; {fróðr fylkir himins} es fremri hvívetna góðu.

Nowhere is found that help which never fails, unless {the promise-faithful prince {of the high fortress of the storm}} [SKY/HEAVEN > = God] may grant [it] to prudent men. The mighty host praises and glorifies {the glorious king {of the day-support}} [SKY/HEAVEN > = God]; {the excellent king of heaven} [= God] is superior to everything that is good.

Mss: B(13r), 399a-bˣ

Readings: [4] veiti: so 399a‑bˣ, ‘[...](e)ite’(?) B    [5] Sterk lofar drótt: abbrev. as ‘Sterk lofar drott ok d.’ B

Editions: Skj AI, 568, Skj BI, 560, Skald I, 271, NN §1206; Sveinbjörn Egilsson 1844, 27-8, Kempff 1867, 13-14, Rydberg 1907, 28, Black 1971, 252, Attwood 1996a, 233.

Notes: [1-4] jǫfurr háborgar hreggs ‘prince of the high fortress of the storm [SKY/HEAVEN > = God]’: God-kennings involving the adj. hár ‘high’ in conjunction with a heaven-kenning meaning ‘abode of the weather’, where the ‘weather’ element is supplied by hregg ‘storm’ occur in both Has and Leið. Cf. the opening of Has, where God is hailed as hár stillir hreggtjalda ‘high ruler of the storm-tents’ (1/1-2) and jǫfurr hás hreggranns ‘prince of the high storm-house’ (Leið 17/1-2), a more complicated version of which occurs in 2/1-3: harri hás hreggranns fagrgims ‘king of the high stormhouse of the fair jewel’. — [3] horskum seggjum ‘to prudent men’: Kock (NN §§224, 1206) notes that this phrase may be construed as belonging to either cl. in the first helmingr, giving either the arrangement adopted here, or that adopted by Finnur Jónsson (Skj B): hvergi fæsk hald horskum seggjum, þats aldri bresti ‘nowhere is found help for prudent men which never fails’. — [5-8]: The third and final instance of stef 2.

References

  1. Bibliography
  2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
  3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
  4. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
  5. Attwood, Katrina. 1996a. ‘The Poems of MS AM 757a 4to: An Edition and Contextual Study’. Ph.D. thesis. University of Leeds.
  6. Black, Elizabeth L. 1971. ‘Harmsól: an edition’. B. Litt. thesis. University of Oxford.
  7. Rydberg, Hugo, ed. 1907. ‘Die geistlichen Drápur und Dróttkvættfragmente des Cod. AM 757 4to.’. Ph.D. thesis. University of Lund. Copenhagen: Møller.
  8. Kempff, Hjalmar, ed. 1867. Kaniken Gamles ‘Harmsól’ (Sol i Sorgen): isländskt andligt qväde från medeltiden med öfversättning och förklaringar. Uppsala: Edquist & Berglund.
  9. Sveinbjörn Egilsson, ed. 1844. Fjøgur gømul kvæði. Boðsrit til að hlusta á þá opinberu yfirheyrslu í Bessastaða Skóla þann 22-29 mai 1844. Viðeyar Klaustri: prentuð af Helga Helgasyni, á kostnað Bessastaða Skóla. Bessastaðir: Helgi Helgason.
  10. Internal references
  11. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Codex Frisianus’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=22> (accessed 28 March 2024)
  12. Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Leiðarvísan 17’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 156.
  13. Katrina Attwood 2007, ‘ Anonymous, Leiðarvísan’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 137-78. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1022> (accessed 28 March 2024)
  14. Katrina Attwood 2007, ‘ Gamli kanóki, Harmsól’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 70-132. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1196> (accessed 28 March 2024)
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