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Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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HSt Rst 26^I

Rolf Stavnem (ed.) 2012, ‘Hallar-Steinn, Rekstefja 26’ 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. 928.

Hallar-Steinn Rekstefja

Val ‘in the falcon’

(not checked:)
2. valr (noun m.; °-s): falcon < valstafn (noun m.)

[1] Valstafns: vark jafns 61, 53, 54, Bb(94rb), var jafn Flat

kennings

valstafns,
‘in the falcon-stem, ’
= ARM
in the falcon-stem, → ARM

notes

[1] valstafns ‘in the falcon-stem [ARM]’: Another kenning referring to ‘arm’ as the perch of a hunting bird is found in st. 8/1, 4. Valstafn also occurs in Anon Gyð 6/4^VII. — [1] vætki rofna valstafns ‘not giving way in the falcon-stem [ARM]’: (a) The line is problematic, but the present interpretation (which matches that of SHI 3 and Konráð Gíslason 1895-7) gives reasonable sense by taking rofna as the adjectival m. acc. pl. p. p. from rjúfa ‘to break’, hence, with the negative vætki, ‘not at all broken, not giving way or failing’. This is taken with the arm-kenning valstafns, hence ‘not giving way in the arm’ (cf. NS §137 for adj. + gen. constructions), and it qualifies hirðmeðr ‘retainers’ (l. 4), characterizing them as powerful warriors (and perhaps, in the context, climbers). (b) The reading of the ÓT mss, vask jafns rofnat, is still more difficult to construe. Finnur Jónsson’s solution (Skj B) involves emendation to (rofna) vizku ‘(deprived of) their wits’, as well as a complex word order. (c) This is rejected by Kock (NN §1183), whose interpretation involves postulating a verb *rafna ‘perform’ (cf. OE ræfnian ‘perform, carry out’).

Val ‘in the falcon’

(not checked:)
2. valr (noun m.; °-s): falcon < valstafn (noun m.)

[1] Valstafns: vark jafns 61, 53, 54, Bb(94rb), var jafn Flat

kennings

valstafns,
‘in the falcon-stem, ’
= ARM
in the falcon-stem, → ARM

notes

[1] valstafns ‘in the falcon-stem [ARM]’: Another kenning referring to ‘arm’ as the perch of a hunting bird is found in st. 8/1, 4. Valstafn also occurs in Anon Gyð 6/4^VII. — [1] vætki rofna valstafns ‘not giving way in the falcon-stem [ARM]’: (a) The line is problematic, but the present interpretation (which matches that of SHI 3 and Konráð Gíslason 1895-7) gives reasonable sense by taking rofna as the adjectival m. acc. pl. p. p. from rjúfa ‘to break’, hence, with the negative vætki, ‘not at all broken, not giving way or failing’. This is taken with the arm-kenning valstafns, hence ‘not giving way in the arm’ (cf. NS §137 for adj. + gen. constructions), and it qualifies hirðmeðr ‘retainers’ (l. 4), characterizing them as powerful warriors (and perhaps, in the context, climbers). (b) The reading of the ÓT mss, vask jafns rofnat, is still more difficult to construe. Finnur Jónsson’s solution (Skj B) involves emendation to (rofna) vizku ‘(deprived of) their wits’, as well as a complex word order. (c) This is rejected by Kock (NN §1183), whose interpretation involves postulating a verb *rafna ‘perform’ (cf. OE ræfnian ‘perform, carry out’).

stafns ‘stem’

(not checked:)
stafn (noun m.; °dat. -i/-; -ar): prow < valstafn (noun m.)

[1] Valstafns: vark jafns 61, 53, 54, Bb(94rb), var jafn Flat

kennings

valstafns,
‘in the falcon-stem, ’
= ARM
in the falcon-stem, → ARM

notes

[1] valstafns ‘in the falcon-stem [ARM]’: Another kenning referring to ‘arm’ as the perch of a hunting bird is found in st. 8/1, 4. Valstafn also occurs in Anon Gyð 6/4^VII. — [1] vætki rofna valstafns ‘not giving way in the falcon-stem [ARM]’: (a) The line is problematic, but the present interpretation (which matches that of SHI 3 and Konráð Gíslason 1895-7) gives reasonable sense by taking rofna as the adjectival m. acc. pl. p. p. from rjúfa ‘to break’, hence, with the negative vætki, ‘not at all broken, not giving way or failing’. This is taken with the arm-kenning valstafns, hence ‘not giving way in the arm’ (cf. NS §137 for adj. + gen. constructions), and it qualifies hirðmeðr ‘retainers’ (l. 4), characterizing them as powerful warriors (and perhaps, in the context, climbers). (b) The reading of the ÓT mss, vask jafns rofnat, is still more difficult to construe. Finnur Jónsson’s solution (Skj B) involves emendation to (rofna) vizku ‘(deprived of) their wits’, as well as a complex word order. (c) This is rejected by Kock (NN §1183), whose interpretation involves postulating a verb *rafna ‘perform’ (cf. OE ræfnian ‘perform, carry out’).

stafns ‘stem’

(not checked:)
stafn (noun m.; °dat. -i/-; -ar): prow < valstafn (noun m.)

[1] Valstafns: vark jafns 61, 53, 54, Bb(94rb), var jafn Flat

kennings

valstafns,
‘in the falcon-stem, ’
= ARM
in the falcon-stem, → ARM

notes

[1] valstafns ‘in the falcon-stem [ARM]’: Another kenning referring to ‘arm’ as the perch of a hunting bird is found in st. 8/1, 4. Valstafn also occurs in Anon Gyð 6/4^VII. — [1] vætki rofna valstafns ‘not giving way in the falcon-stem [ARM]’: (a) The line is problematic, but the present interpretation (which matches that of SHI 3 and Konráð Gíslason 1895-7) gives reasonable sense by taking rofna as the adjectival m. acc. pl. p. p. from rjúfa ‘to break’, hence, with the negative vætki, ‘not at all broken, not giving way or failing’. This is taken with the arm-kenning valstafns, hence ‘not giving way in the arm’ (cf. NS §137 for adj. + gen. constructions), and it qualifies hirðmeðr ‘retainers’ (l. 4), characterizing them as powerful warriors (and perhaps, in the context, climbers). (b) The reading of the ÓT mss, vask jafns rofnat, is still more difficult to construe. Finnur Jónsson’s solution (Skj B) involves emendation to (rofna) vizku ‘(deprived of) their wits’, as well as a complex word order. (c) This is rejected by Kock (NN §1183), whose interpretation involves postulating a verb *rafna ‘perform’ (cf. OE ræfnian ‘perform, carry out’).

vætki ‘not giving’

(not checked:)
vættki (noun n.; °vettugis/vettergis, dat. vettugi): nothing

[1] vætki: so all others, ‘vatki’ Bb(112rb)

notes

[1] vætki rofna valstafns ‘not giving way in the falcon-stem [ARM]’: (a) The line is problematic, but the present interpretation (which matches that of SHI 3 and Konráð Gíslason 1895-7) gives reasonable sense by taking rofna as the adjectival m. acc. pl. p. p. from rjúfa ‘to break’, hence, with the negative vætki, ‘not at all broken, not giving way or failing’. This is taken with the arm-kenning valstafns, hence ‘not giving way in the arm’ (cf. NS §137 for adj. + gen. constructions), and it qualifies hirðmeðr ‘retainers’ (l. 4), characterizing them as powerful warriors (and perhaps, in the context, climbers). (b) The reading of the ÓT mss, vask jafns rofnat, is still more difficult to construe. Finnur Jónsson’s solution (Skj B) involves emendation to (rofna) vizku ‘(deprived of) their wits’, as well as a complex word order. (c) This is rejected by Kock (NN §1183), whose interpretation involves postulating a verb *rafna ‘perform’ (cf. OE ræfnian ‘perform, carry out’).

rofna ‘way’

(not checked:)
rofna (verb): broken

[1] rofna: rofnat 61, 53, 54, Bb(94rb), rofnaðr Flat

notes

[1] vætki rofna valstafns ‘not giving way in the falcon-stem [ARM]’: (a) The line is problematic, but the present interpretation (which matches that of SHI 3 and Konráð Gíslason 1895-7) gives reasonable sense by taking rofna as the adjectival m. acc. pl. p. p. from rjúfa ‘to break’, hence, with the negative vætki, ‘not at all broken, not giving way or failing’. This is taken with the arm-kenning valstafns, hence ‘not giving way in the arm’ (cf. NS §137 for adj. + gen. constructions), and it qualifies hirðmeðr ‘retainers’ (l. 4), characterizing them as powerful warriors (and perhaps, in the context, climbers). (b) The reading of the ÓT mss, vask jafns rofnat, is still more difficult to construe. Finnur Jónsson’s solution (Skj B) involves emendation to (rofna) vizku ‘(deprived of) their wits’, as well as a complex word order. (c) This is rejected by Kock (NN §1183), whose interpretation involves postulating a verb *rafna ‘perform’ (cf. OE ræfnian ‘perform, carry out’).

viti ‘know’

(not checked:)
1. vita (verb): know

menn ‘people’

(not checked:)
maðr (noun m.): man, person

at ‘that’

(not checked:)
4. at (conj.): that

frák ‘I have heard’

(not checked:)
1. fregna (verb): hear of

[2] frák (‘ek fra’): so all others, ek sá Bb(112rb)

notes

[2] frák ‘I have heard’: This, the reading of the ÓT mss, is preferable to sák ‘I saw’ in Bb(112rb), since Hallar-Steinn could not claim to be an eye-witness.

tvenna ‘that two’

(not checked:)
tvennr (adj.): two

haus ‘head’

(not checked:)
hauss (noun m.; °hauss, dat. hausi/haus; hausar): skull

notes

[3, 4] veðja haus manns ljósum hringi ‘bet a man’s head [and] a shining ring’: Veðja ‘to bet, wager’ takes a dat. object, as seen in ljósum hringi ‘a shining ring’. Haus (manns) seems to be used in an equivalent way to denote the other part of the reciprocal wager, and it is taken as such by the ÓT compiler, but dat. hausi (manns) ‘(a man’s) head’ would be expected; haus must therefore be taken as an endingless dat.

manns ‘a man’s’

(not checked:)
maðr (noun m.): man, person

notes

[3, 4] veðja haus manns ljósum hringi ‘bet a man’s head [and] a shining ring’: Veðja ‘to bet, wager’ takes a dat. object, as seen in ljósum hringi ‘a shining ring’. Haus (manns) seems to be used in an equivalent way to denote the other part of the reciprocal wager, and it is taken as such by the ÓT compiler, but dat. hausi (manns) ‘(a man’s) head’ would be expected; haus must therefore be taken as an endingless dat.

hringi ‘ring’

(not checked:)
1. hringr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -; -ar): ring; sword

notes

[3, 4] veðja haus manns ljósum hringi ‘bet a man’s head [and] a shining ring’: Veðja ‘to bet, wager’ takes a dat. object, as seen in ljósum hringi ‘a shining ring’. Haus (manns) seems to be used in an equivalent way to denote the other part of the reciprocal wager, and it is taken as such by the ÓT compiler, but dat. hausi (manns) ‘(a man’s) head’ would be expected; haus must therefore be taken as an endingless dat.

ljósum ‘shining’

(not checked:)
ljóss (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): bright

[3] ljósum: lausum 54, Bb(94rb)

notes

[3, 4] veðja haus manns ljósum hringi ‘bet a man’s head [and] a shining ring’: Veðja ‘to bet, wager’ takes a dat. object, as seen in ljósum hringi ‘a shining ring’. Haus (manns) seems to be used in an equivalent way to denote the other part of the reciprocal wager, and it is taken as such by the ÓT compiler, but dat. hausi (manns) ‘(a man’s) head’ would be expected; haus must therefore be taken as an endingless dat.

hirð ‘re’

(not checked:)
hirð (noun f.; °-ar; -ir/-ar(FskB 53)): retinue < hirðmaðr (noun m.): retainer

[4] hirð‑: hríð‑ Flat

meðr ‘tainers’

(not checked:)
maðr (noun m.): man, person < hirðmaðr (noun m.): retainer

konungs ‘of the king’

(not checked:)
konungr (noun m.; °dat. -i, -s; -ar): king

veðja ‘bet’

(not checked:)
veðja (verb): [bet]

[4] veðja: at veðja 54, Bb(94rb)

notes

[3, 4] veðja haus manns ljósum hringi ‘bet a man’s head [and] a shining ring’: Veðja ‘to bet, wager’ takes a dat. object, as seen in ljósum hringi ‘a shining ring’. Haus (manns) seems to be used in an equivalent way to denote the other part of the reciprocal wager, and it is taken as such by the ÓT compiler, but dat. hausi (manns) ‘(a man’s) head’ would be expected; haus must therefore be taken as an endingless dat.

Her ‘very’

(not checked:)
herr (noun m.; °-s/-jar, dat. -; -jar, gen. -ja/herra): army, host < hermargr (adj.): a great deal

notes

[5] hermart ‘very much’: The form mart rather than margt is indicated by the hending with snyrtir; cf. also st. 34/1. Syntactically, Kock (NN §1184) takes the word with lézk ‘declared’ (l. 6) rather than with framði ‘performed’ (l. 7), producing a simpler word order but less good sense.

mart ‘much’

(not checked:)
2. margr (adj.; °-an): many < hermargr (adj.): a great deal

notes

[5] hermart ‘very much’: The form mart rather than margt is indicated by the hending with snyrtir; cf. also st. 34/1. Syntactically, Kock (NN §1184) takes the word with lézk ‘declared’ (l. 6) rather than with framði ‘performed’ (l. 7), producing a simpler word order but less good sense.

hjǫrva ‘of swords’

(not checked:)
hjǫrr (noun m.): sword

kennings

Hvárr snyrtir hjǫrva
‘Each polisher of swords ’
= WARRIOR
Each polisher of swords → WARRIOR

snyrtir ‘polisher’

(not checked:)
snyrtir (noun m.): polisher

kennings

Hvárr snyrtir hjǫrva
‘Each polisher of swords ’
= WARRIOR
Each polisher of swords → WARRIOR

hvárr ‘Each’

(not checked:)
hvárr (pron.): who, which, what, whether

kennings

Hvárr snyrtir hjǫrva
‘Each polisher of swords ’
= WARRIOR
Each polisher of swords → WARRIOR

lézk ‘claimed’

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

[6] lézk: ‘bet(z)’(?) Bb(94rb)

grams ‘of the prince’

(not checked:)
1. gramr (noun m.): ruler

[6] grams: gramr 54, Bb(94rb)

í ‘on’

(not checked:)
í (prep.): in, into

hamri ‘the crag’

(not checked:)
1. hamarr (noun m.; °-s, dat. hamri; hamrar): hammer, cliff

styrremðr ‘the battle-mighty’

(not checked:)
styrremðr (adj./verb p.p.): [battle-mighty]

[7] styrremðr: so 61, Bb(94rb), Flat, styr réð Bb(112rb), styrr eðr 53, ‘styremdr’ 54

stillir ‘ruler’

(not checked:)
stillir (noun m.): ruler

framði ‘performed’

(not checked:)
fremja (verb): advance, perform

stœrra ‘greater’

(not checked:)
stórr (adj.): large, great

ǫðrum ‘than the other’

(not checked:)
1. annarr (pron.; °f. ǫnnur, n. annat; pl. aðrir): (an)other, second

fœrri ‘he was more agile’

(not checked:)
fœrr (adj.): capable

[8] fœrri: ferri 53

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verse
prose

This and the following two stanzas illustrate a narrative about a rock-climbing incident. Two of Óláfr’s retainers bet on who will be the fastest to climb a high and precipitous crag. One wagers his head, the other a gold ring.

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