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Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Ggnæv Frag 1III

Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Gamli gnævaðarskáld, Fragment 1’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 190.

Gamli gnævaðarskáldFragment1

Ǫðlingr ‘ruler’

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ǫðlingr (noun m.; °; -ar): prince, ruler

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ungum ‘while young’

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ungr (adj.): young

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ungr ‘The young’

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ungr (adj.): young

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naglfara ‘of the nail-studded one’

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Naglfari (noun m.): nail-studded one

kennings

tungu naglfara
‘of the language of the nail-studded one ’
   = BATTLE

the language of the nail-studded one → BATTLE

notes

[2] naglfara ‘of the nail-studded one <sword>’: Understood here as a heiti for ‘sword’ (see Þul Sverða 8/4 and Note) which forms the determinant of a kenning for ‘battle’. The cpd also occurs in Bragi Rdr 5/3 (see Note to ll. 3-4 there). See also ÞjóðA Frag 3/3-4II slíðrdúkaðar siglur samnagla ‘sheath-covered masts of the rivet [SWORDS]’.

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á ‘on’

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3. á (prep.): on, at

[2] á: so Tˣ, U, A, om. R, 744ˣ, C, ‘[…]’ B

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tungu ‘of the language’

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tunga (noun f.; °-u; -ur): tongue, language

[2] tungu: ‘tunglo’ Tˣ, ‘[…]u’ B, ‘tu. gu’ 744ˣ

kennings

tungu naglfara
‘of the language of the nail-studded one ’
   = BATTLE

the language of the nail-studded one → BATTLE
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innan ‘on board ship’

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innan (prep.): inside, within

notes

[3] innanborðs ‘on board ship’: Interpretations of innan have varied, depending on whether scholars have (a) understood innan (l. 3) as an adv. ‘away from home’ or ‘abroad’ (lit. ‘from inside’) in association with drap sér ‘launched himself’ (l. 1), as have Skj B and SnE 1998, I, 222, II, 329 or (b) taken innan together with borðs, as has been done in this edn. Kock (NN §422) construed innan borðs as an adverbial phrase, meaning ‘on the ship’ and linked it with á aflgerð orða tungu naglfara ok meðalkafla ‘into the powerful activity of the words of the blade of the sword and the hilt’ (see Notes above and below for a discussion of these lines). Marold (1994c, 574-5), in a discussion of the cpd naglfari, which she understands to mean ‘ship’, takes innanborðs naglfara to mean ‘on board ship’.

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borðs ‘’

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borð (noun n.; °-s; -): side, plank, board; table

notes

[3] innanborðs ‘on board ship’: Interpretations of innan have varied, depending on whether scholars have (a) understood innan (l. 3) as an adv. ‘away from home’ or ‘abroad’ (lit. ‘from inside’) in association with drap sér ‘launched himself’ (l. 1), as have Skj B and SnE 1998, I, 222, II, 329 or (b) taken innan together with borðs, as has been done in this edn. Kock (NN §422) construed innan borðs as an adverbial phrase, meaning ‘on the ship’ and linked it with á aflgerð orða tungu naglfara ok meðalkafla ‘into the powerful activity of the words of the blade of the sword and the hilt’ (see Notes above and below for a discussion of these lines). Marold (1994c, 574-5), in a discussion of the cpd naglfari, which she understands to mean ‘ship’, takes innanborðs naglfara to mean ‘on board ship’.

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ok ‘and’

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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also

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orða ‘the words’

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orð (noun n.; °-s; -): word

kennings

orða meðalkafla.
‘the words of the sword-hilt.’
   = BATTLE

the words of the sword-hilt. → BATTLE

notes

[4] aflgerð ‘the powerful activity’: Aflgerð is a hap. leg. Ms. ’s aflgjǫrð ‘strength-girdle’ offers a variant form of the second element, as do R’s and C’s ‑gjóðr ‘eagle’. Neither of these variants fits the context.  Here the cpd is understood as a metaphorical way of referring to battle, in combination with the two kennings, both of which have base-words meaning ‘language’ or ‘words’. The underlying concept is that of a debate or altercation at a þing or assembly. So both kennings belong to the pattern ‘speech/debate of weapons’ (cf. Meissner 176-8). Marold (1994c, 575) understands a different syntactical arrangement, ungr ǫðlingr drap sér ungum innanborðs naglfara á tungu ok orða aflgerð meðalkafla ‘the young ruler devoted himself in his youth on board ship to the powerful action of speech and of the words of the sword [BATTLE]’.

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aflgerð ‘the powerful activity’

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aflgerð (noun f.): [powerful activity]

[4] aflgerð: so U, A, B, aflgjóðr with l added later R, aflgjǫrð Tˣ, aflgjóðr C

notes

[4] aflgerð ‘the powerful activity’: Aflgerð is a hap. leg. Ms. ’s aflgjǫrð ‘strength-girdle’ offers a variant form of the second element, as do R’s and C’s ‑gjóðr ‘eagle’. Neither of these variants fits the context.  Here the cpd is understood as a metaphorical way of referring to battle, in combination with the two kennings, both of which have base-words meaning ‘language’ or ‘words’. The underlying concept is that of a debate or altercation at a þing or assembly. So both kennings belong to the pattern ‘speech/debate of weapons’ (cf. Meissner 176-8). Marold (1994c, 575) understands a different syntactical arrangement, ungr ǫðlingr drap sér ungum innanborðs naglfara á tungu ok orða aflgerð meðalkafla ‘the young ruler devoted himself in his youth on board ship to the powerful action of speech and of the words of the sword [BATTLE]’.

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meðalkafla ‘of the sword-hilt’

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meðalkafli (noun m.): sword-hilt

kennings

orða meðalkafla.
‘the words of the sword-hilt.’
   = BATTLE

the words of the sword-hilt. → BATTLE

notes

[4] meðalkafla ‘of the sword-hilt’: The meðalkafli ‘middle piece’ was that part of the sword-hilt between the pommel and the guard (Fritzner: meðalkafli; Shetelig and Falk 1937, 380 n. 1; cf. HHund II 3/7; Þul Sverða 12/6).

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

See Introduction. The helmingr is introduced in R with the words: Sem Gamli kvað Gnævaðarskáld ‘As Gamli gnævaðarskáld said’.

The helmingr employs dunhent ‘echoing-rhymed’ in ll. 1 and 2 (cf. SnE 2007, 15, 43), and has aðalhending in ll. 2, 3 and 4. 

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