Anon Bjark 4III
Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Poems, Bjarkamál in fornu 4’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 500.
gjǫflasti ‘most munificent’
(not checked:)
gjǫfull (adj.; °gjǫflan; superl. gjǫflastr): munificent
[1] gjǫflasti: ‘[…]sti’ U, ‘gioflatti’ C
hirð ‘retinue’
(not checked:)
hirð (noun f.; °-ar; -ir/-ar(FskB 53)): retinue
[2] hirð sína: ‘[…]’ B, hirð sína 744ˣ
sína ‘his’
(not checked:)
3. sinn (pron.; °f. sín, n. sitt): (refl. poss. pron.)
[2] hirð sína: ‘[…]’ B, hirð sína 744ˣ
Fenju ‘Fenja’s’
(not checked:)
Fenja (noun f.): bristly one, Fenja
[3] Fenju forverki: ‘[…]’ B, ‘feníu foruerke’ 744ˣ
kennings
forverki Fenju,‘Fenja’s toil, ’
= GOLD
Fenja’s toil, → GOLD
notes
[3] forverki Fenju ‘with Fenja’s <giantess’s> toil [GOLD]’: Fenja was the name of a giantess who, with her partner Menja, was forced by their master Fróði, a legendary king of Denmark, to grind gold with the magic quern Grotti, according to the poem Grottasǫngr, recorded with a long explanatory prose narrative in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 52-7). Similar gold-kennings are meldr fáglýjaðra þýja Fróða ‘the flour of the little-satisfied bondwomen of Fróði’ (Eyv Lv 8/5, 6, 7I) and þann meldr Fenju ‘that flour of Fenja’ (ESk Øxfl 6/6, 7); see further Meissner 228.
forverki ‘toil’
(not checked:)
forverk (noun n.): [toil]
[3] Fenju forverki: ‘[…]’ B, ‘feníu foruerke’ 744ˣ
kennings
forverki Fenju,‘Fenja’s toil, ’
= GOLD
Fenja’s toil, → GOLD
notes
[3] forverki Fenju ‘with Fenja’s <giantess’s> toil [GOLD]’: Fenja was the name of a giantess who, with her partner Menja, was forced by their master Fróði, a legendary king of Denmark, to grind gold with the magic quern Grotti, according to the poem Grottasǫngr, recorded with a long explanatory prose narrative in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 52-7). Similar gold-kennings are meldr fáglýjaðra þýja Fróða ‘the flour of the little-satisfied bondwomen of Fróði’ (Eyv Lv 8/5, 6, 7I) and þann meldr Fenju ‘that flour of Fenja’ (ESk Øxfl 6/6, 7); see further Meissner 228.
Fáfnis ‘Fáfnir’s’
(not checked:)
Fáfnir (noun m.): Fáfnir
[4] Fáfnis miðgarði: ‘fafnis miðgarþ[…]’ U, ‘[…]’ B, ‘fafniss miðgarde’ 744ˣ
kennings
miðgarði Fáfnis,‘Fáfnir’s land, ’
= GOLD
Fáfnir’s land, → GOLD
notes
[4] miðgarði Fáfnis ‘Fáfnir’s <dragon’s> land [GOLD]’: The reference is to Fáfnir, son of Hreiðmarr, who turned into a dragon and guarded a gold-hoard by lying upon it, hence gold can be called Fáfnir’s land (see Note to l. 6 below and cf. Meissner 239, SnE 1998, I, 45-7 and Þorm Lv 10/2I). In this kenning miðgarðr, normally the name for the world of humans in Old Norse myth, provides a base-word belonging to the semantic field ‘land’.
miðgarði ‘land’
(not checked:)
miðgarðr (noun m.): Miðgarðr
[4] Fáfnis miðgarði: ‘fafnis miðgarþ[…]’ U, ‘[…]’ B, ‘fafniss miðgarde’ 744ˣ
kennings
miðgarði Fáfnis,‘Fáfnir’s land, ’
= GOLD
Fáfnir’s land, → GOLD
notes
[4] miðgarði Fáfnis ‘Fáfnir’s <dragon’s> land [GOLD]’: The reference is to Fáfnir, son of Hreiðmarr, who turned into a dragon and guarded a gold-hoard by lying upon it, hence gold can be called Fáfnir’s land (see Note to l. 6 below and cf. Meissner 239, SnE 1998, I, 45-7 and Þorm Lv 10/2I). In this kenning miðgarðr, normally the name for the world of humans in Old Norse myth, provides a base-word belonging to the semantic field ‘land’.
kennings
glóbarri Glasis,‘Glasir’s glowing foliage, ’
= GOLD
Glasir’s glowing foliage, → GOLD
notes
[5] glóbarri Glasis ‘Glasir’s <grove’s> glowing foliage [GOLD]’: This unique kenning (Meissner 227) depends upon knowledge that a grove of trees (or possibly a single tree) named Glasir ‘Shining One’ with red-gold leaves stood before the doors of Valhǫll. The only information about this comes from Skm (SnE 1998, I, 41), where Snorri quotes three lines of an otherwise unknown poem in ljóðaháttr as evidence. The common noun barr is strictly the needles of a conifer (or barley).
gló ‘glowing’
(not checked:)
glóa (verb): glow < glóbarr (noun n.): [glowing foliage]
kennings
glóbarri Glasis,‘Glasir’s glowing foliage, ’
= GOLD
Glasir’s glowing foliage, → GOLD
notes
[5] glóbarri Glasis ‘Glasir’s <grove’s> glowing foliage [GOLD]’: This unique kenning (Meissner 227) depends upon knowledge that a grove of trees (or possibly a single tree) named Glasir ‘Shining One’ with red-gold leaves stood before the doors of Valhǫll. The only information about this comes from Skm (SnE 1998, I, 41), where Snorri quotes three lines of an otherwise unknown poem in ljóðaháttr as evidence. The common noun barr is strictly the needles of a conifer (or barley).
barri ‘foliage’
(not checked:)
1. barr (noun n.): barley < glóbarr (noun n.): [glowing foliage]
kennings
glóbarri Glasis,‘Glasir’s glowing foliage, ’
= GOLD
Glasir’s glowing foliage, → GOLD
notes
[5] glóbarri Glasis ‘Glasir’s <grove’s> glowing foliage [GOLD]’: This unique kenning (Meissner 227) depends upon knowledge that a grove of trees (or possibly a single tree) named Glasir ‘Shining One’ with red-gold leaves stood before the doors of Valhǫll. The only information about this comes from Skm (SnE 1998, I, 41), where Snorri quotes three lines of an otherwise unknown poem in ljóðaháttr as evidence. The common noun barr is strictly the needles of a conifer (or barley).
Grana ‘Grani’s’
(not checked:)
Grani (noun m.): Grani
kennings
fagrbyrði Grana,‘Grani’s fair burden, ’
= GOLD
Grani’s fair burden, → GOLD
notes
[6] fagrbyrði Grana ‘Grani’s <horse’s> fair burden [GOLD]’: Like the kennings of l. 4 and sts 5/5 and 6/5 and 6/6, this kenning alludes to the legend of the Niflungar. In l. 4, reference is made to Fáfnir, who killed his father and guarded the family’s fabulous gold-hoard, before he was killed in turn by the hero Sigurðr; here the allusion is to Sigurðr’s horse, Grani, who carried the gold back from Gnitaheiðr, where Fáfnir’s killing took place; cf. farmi Grana ‘Grani’s burden’ Þblǫnd Sigdr 2/4. SnSt Ht 41/4 (þungfarmr Grana ‘the heavy burden of Grani’) and 41/6 (reiðmálmr Gnitaheiðar ‘the riding-metal of Gnitaheiðr’) use kennings referring to both Grani and Gnitaheiðr in the same stanza; and cf. st. 5/5 and Note for another parallel. This kenning type is discussed in Meissner 228.
fagr ‘fair’
(not checked:)
fagr (adj.; °fagran; compar. fegri, superl. fegrstr): fair, beautiful < fagrbyrðr (noun f.): [fair burden]
kennings
fagrbyrði Grana,‘Grani’s fair burden, ’
= GOLD
Grani’s fair burden, → GOLD
notes
[6] fagrbyrði Grana ‘Grani’s <horse’s> fair burden [GOLD]’: Like the kennings of l. 4 and sts 5/5 and 6/5 and 6/6, this kenning alludes to the legend of the Niflungar. In l. 4, reference is made to Fáfnir, who killed his father and guarded the family’s fabulous gold-hoard, before he was killed in turn by the hero Sigurðr; here the allusion is to Sigurðr’s horse, Grani, who carried the gold back from Gnitaheiðr, where Fáfnir’s killing took place; cf. farmi Grana ‘Grani’s burden’ Þblǫnd Sigdr 2/4. SnSt Ht 41/4 (þungfarmr Grana ‘the heavy burden of Grani’) and 41/6 (reiðmálmr Gnitaheiðar ‘the riding-metal of Gnitaheiðr’) use kennings referring to both Grani and Gnitaheiðr in the same stanza; and cf. st. 5/5 and Note for another parallel. This kenning type is discussed in Meissner 228.
byrði ‘burden’
(not checked:)
byrðr (noun f.; °byrðar, acc. byrði/byrð(GrgKonᴵ 205¹¹); byrðar, acc. byrðar/byrðir): burden, load < fagrbyrðr (noun f.): [fair burden]
kennings
fagrbyrði Grana,‘Grani’s fair burden, ’
= GOLD
Grani’s fair burden, → GOLD
notes
[6] fagrbyrði Grana ‘Grani’s <horse’s> fair burden [GOLD]’: Like the kennings of l. 4 and sts 5/5 and 6/5 and 6/6, this kenning alludes to the legend of the Niflungar. In l. 4, reference is made to Fáfnir, who killed his father and guarded the family’s fabulous gold-hoard, before he was killed in turn by the hero Sigurðr; here the allusion is to Sigurðr’s horse, Grani, who carried the gold back from Gnitaheiðr, where Fáfnir’s killing took place; cf. farmi Grana ‘Grani’s burden’ Þblǫnd Sigdr 2/4. SnSt Ht 41/4 (þungfarmr Grana ‘the heavy burden of Grani’) and 41/6 (reiðmálmr Gnitaheiðar ‘the riding-metal of Gnitaheiðr’) use kennings referring to both Grani and Gnitaheiðr in the same stanza; and cf. st. 5/5 and Note for another parallel. This kenning type is discussed in Meissner 228.
Draupnis ‘Draupnir’s’
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Draupnir (noun m.): Draupnir
[7] Draupnis: ‘[…]raupnis’ C, Drupnis papp10ˣ, 2368ˣ, 743ˣ
kennings
dýrsveita Draupnis,‘Draupnir’s precious sweat, ’
= GOLD
Draupnir’s precious sweat, → GOLD
notes
[7] dýrsveita Draupnis ‘Draupnir’s <mythical ring’s> precious sweat [GOLD]’: Draupnir ‘Dripper’ was the name of a gold ring owned by the god Óðinn, which had the property that every ninth night there dripped from it eight equally heavy gold rings (SnE 2005, 47); cf. drógar Draupnis ‘of the drawing of Draupnir’ OBarr Frag 1/1.
dýr ‘precious’
(not checked:)
dýrr (adj.; °compar. -ri/-ari, superl. -str/-astr): precious < dýrsveiti (noun m.): [precious sweat]
[7] dýrsveita: ‘[…]’ B, ‘dy᷎r sueíta’ 744ˣ
kennings
dýrsveita Draupnis,‘Draupnir’s precious sweat, ’
= GOLD
Draupnir’s precious sweat, → GOLD
notes
[7] dýrsveita Draupnis ‘Draupnir’s <mythical ring’s> precious sweat [GOLD]’: Draupnir ‘Dripper’ was the name of a gold ring owned by the god Óðinn, which had the property that every ninth night there dripped from it eight equally heavy gold rings (SnE 2005, 47); cf. drógar Draupnis ‘of the drawing of Draupnir’ OBarr Frag 1/1.
sveita ‘sweat’
(not checked:)
sveiti (noun m.; °-a): blood < dýrsveiti (noun m.): [precious sweat]
[7] dýrsveita: ‘[…]’ B, ‘dy᷎r sueíta’ 744ˣ
kennings
dýrsveita Draupnis,‘Draupnir’s precious sweat, ’
= GOLD
Draupnir’s precious sweat, → GOLD
notes
[7] dýrsveita Draupnis ‘Draupnir’s <mythical ring’s> precious sweat [GOLD]’: Draupnir ‘Dripper’ was the name of a gold ring owned by the god Óðinn, which had the property that every ninth night there dripped from it eight equally heavy gold rings (SnE 2005, 47); cf. drógar Draupnis ‘of the drawing of Draupnir’ OBarr Frag 1/1.
kennings
dúni Grafvitnis.‘Grafvitnir’s feather-bed. ’
= GOLD
Grafvitnir’s feather-bed. → GOLD
notes
[8] dúni Grafvitnis ‘Grafvitnir’s <snake’s> feather-bed [GOLD]’: Grafvitnir ‘grave-wolf’ (AEW: grafa) is a snake-heiti; cf. SnE 1998, I, 90, Grí 34/5 and Þul Orma 2/1 (see Note there). A very similar kenning, beð Grafvitnis ‘Grafvitnir’s bed’, is in ESk Øxfl 6/4. According to a notion common in both Old English and Old Norse poetry, serpents and dragons were in the habit of lying on hoards of gold, often concealed in mounds (cf. Beowulf ll. 2231b-2310 and Beowulf 2008, 238-9), hence in a large group of gold-kennings gold could be termed the bed or lair of a snake; cf. Meissner 237-41. Fáfnir’s legendary gold (see l. 4 above) served as a paradigmatic example of this thought-pattern.
Grafvitnis ‘Grafvitnir’s’
(not checked:)
Grafvitnir (noun m.): Grafvitnir
[8] Grafvitnis: ‘[…]fvitnis’ U, ‘[…]’ B, ‘grafvítniss’ 744ˣ
kennings
dúni Grafvitnis.‘Grafvitnir’s feather-bed. ’
= GOLD
Grafvitnir’s feather-bed. → GOLD
notes
[8] dúni Grafvitnis ‘Grafvitnir’s <snake’s> feather-bed [GOLD]’: Grafvitnir ‘grave-wolf’ (AEW: grafa) is a snake-heiti; cf. SnE 1998, I, 90, Grí 34/5 and Þul Orma 2/1 (see Note there). A very similar kenning, beð Grafvitnis ‘Grafvitnir’s bed’, is in ESk Øxfl 6/4. According to a notion common in both Old English and Old Norse poetry, serpents and dragons were in the habit of lying on hoards of gold, often concealed in mounds (cf. Beowulf ll. 2231b-2310 and Beowulf 2008, 238-9), hence in a large group of gold-kennings gold could be termed the bed or lair of a snake; cf. Meissner 237-41. Fáfnir’s legendary gold (see l. 4 above) served as a paradigmatic example of this thought-pattern.
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
The three stanzas 4, 5 and 6 are introduced thus in mss of Skm (SnE 1998, I, 60): Í Bjarkamálum inum fornum eru tǫ<l>ð mǫrg gulls heiti ‘In Bjarkamál in fornu many terms for gold are listed’. The stanzas then follow without further prose intervention.
The three stanzas 4, 5 and 6 list kennings for gold. All but one are dependent on mythological or legendary narratives for their rationale. Many of these kennings are either not recorded elsewhere or are only found in poetry from the mid-twelfth century onwards (cf. Olrik 1903-10, I, 98-101; Guðrún Nordal 2001, 329-30). There are close parallels between the gold-kennings deployed in these stanzas and those used by Einarr Skúlason in ESk Øxfl (especially sts 1-3, 6 and 9) and by Snorri Sturluson, both as advocated in SnE and as used in SnSt Ht 41-2. Given that Snorri knew and quoted these stanzas from Bjark, they may have served him as a model in Ht 41-2, as the subject of those stanzas is the generosity of Skúli jarl Bárðarson, which may be compared implicitly in Ht with that of Hrólfr kraki (see also SnSt Ht 94/2). — [5-6]: The lines are fornyrðislag (Type D) rather than málaháttr.
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