HSt Rst 31I
Rolf Stavnem (ed.) 2012, ‘Hallar-Steinn, Rekstefja 31’ 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. 933.
Ǫr ‘The arrow’
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ǫr (noun f.; °dat. -/-u; ǫrvar/ǫrar): arrow < ǫrrjóðr (noun m.)
[1] Ǫr‑: so all others, Ót‑ Bb(112rb)
kennings
Ǫrrjóðr‘The arrow-reddener ’
= WARRIOR = Óláfr
The arrow-reddener → WARRIOR = Óláfr
notes
[1] ǫrrjóðr ‘the arrow-reddener [WARRIOR = Óláfr]’: The ÓT reading, also preferred by Kock (Skald; NN §3122). Finnur Jónsson in Skj B prefers ‘Ót riodr’ from Bb(112rb) and emends to ótrauðr ‘not reluctant’, hence Ótrauðr allra dáða vann bjartar dýrðar jartegnir í et fimta sinn; magnak dimt dvergregn ‘[He who was] not reluctant for all deeds performed bright miracles of honour on a fifth occasion. I compose the dark dwarf-rain [POETRY]’.
kennings
Ǫrrjóðr‘The arrow-reddener ’
= WARRIOR = Óláfr
The arrow-reddener → WARRIOR = Óláfr
notes
[1] ǫrrjóðr ‘the arrow-reddener [WARRIOR = Óláfr]’: The ÓT reading, also preferred by Kock (Skald; NN §3122). Finnur Jónsson in Skj B prefers ‘Ót riodr’ from Bb(112rb) and emends to ótrauðr ‘not reluctant’, hence Ótrauðr allra dáða vann bjartar dýrðar jartegnir í et fimta sinn; magnak dimt dvergregn ‘[He who was] not reluctant for all deeds performed bright miracles of honour on a fifth occasion. I compose the dark dwarf-rain [POETRY]’.
allra ‘of all’
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allr (adj.): all
notes
[1-2] vann bjartar jartegnir allra dáða ‘performed bright proofs of all [his] deeds’: This fifth wonder does not involve action on King Óláfr’s part, but simply the power of his presence, as angels and heavenly light surround him as signs of his holiness. The ÓT reading gat ‘gained’ in place of vann ‘performed’ is also possible, and the sense of jartegnir seems to be ‘proofs, signs’ rather than ‘miracles’ in either case.
dáða ‘deeds’
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dáð (noun f.; °; -ir): feat, deed
notes
[1-2] vann bjartar jartegnir allra dáða ‘performed bright proofs of all [his] deeds’: This fifth wonder does not involve action on King Óláfr’s part, but simply the power of his presence, as angels and heavenly light surround him as signs of his holiness. The ÓT reading gat ‘gained’ in place of vann ‘performed’ is also possible, and the sense of jartegnir seems to be ‘proofs, signs’ rather than ‘miracles’ in either case.
notes
[1-2] vann bjartar jartegnir allra dáða ‘performed bright proofs of all [his] deeds’: This fifth wonder does not involve action on King Óláfr’s part, but simply the power of his presence, as angels and heavenly light surround him as signs of his holiness. The ÓT reading gat ‘gained’ in place of vann ‘performed’ is also possible, and the sense of jartegnir seems to be ‘proofs, signs’ rather than ‘miracles’ in either case.
vann ‘performed’
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2. vinna (verb): perform, work
[2] vann: gat 61, 54, Bb(95rb), gaf Flat
notes
[1-2] vann bjartar jartegnir allra dáða ‘performed bright proofs of all [his] deeds’: This fifth wonder does not involve action on King Óláfr’s part, but simply the power of his presence, as angels and heavenly light surround him as signs of his holiness. The ÓT reading gat ‘gained’ in place of vann ‘performed’ is also possible, and the sense of jartegnir seems to be ‘proofs, signs’ rather than ‘miracles’ in either case.
bjartar ‘bright’
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bjartr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): bright
notes
[1-2] vann bjartar jartegnir allra dáða ‘performed bright proofs of all [his] deeds’: This fifth wonder does not involve action on King Óláfr’s part, but simply the power of his presence, as angels and heavenly light surround him as signs of his holiness. The ÓT reading gat ‘gained’ in place of vann ‘performed’ is also possible, and the sense of jartegnir seems to be ‘proofs, signs’ rather than ‘miracles’ in either case.
dverg ‘dwarf’
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dvergr (noun m.; °-s; -ar): dwarf < dvergregn (noun n.)
[3] dverg‑: dygg Flat
kennings
dimmt dvergregn*‘the dark dwarf-rain ’
= POETRY
the dark dwarf-rain → POETRY
notes
[3, 4] dimmt dvergregn* dýrðar ‘the dark dwarf-rain [POETRY] of glory’: A reference to the myth of the mead of poetry (cf. Note to st. 8/3). Emendation of the mss’ regns to regn ‘rain’ is necessary to provide the object to megnum ‘we [I] strengthen’, and to match dimmt (n. acc. sg.) ‘dark’. The ÓT reading dýrðar ‘of glory’ is adopted in preference to Bb(112rb)’s dreyra ‘blood’ since ‘dark rain of the dwarf-blood’ is not a well-formed kenning, and since the blood in the myth comes from Kvasir rather than a dwarf (SnE 1998, I, 3; cf. SnE 2005, 48). Consequentially dyggðar ‘for virtue’ is preferred to a repeat of dýrðar in l. 8. The adj. dimmt ‘dark’ has been variously interpreted, including as an allusion to the obscurity of skaldic poetry (Skj B), or as Hallar-Steinn’s modest reference to the lacklustre nature of his poem compared with the king’s glorious deeds (NN §1185; de Vries 1964-7, II, 42).
kennings
dimmt dvergregn*‘the dark dwarf-rain ’
= POETRY
the dark dwarf-rain → POETRY
notes
[3, 4] dimmt dvergregn* dýrðar ‘the dark dwarf-rain [POETRY] of glory’: A reference to the myth of the mead of poetry (cf. Note to st. 8/3). Emendation of the mss’ regns to regn ‘rain’ is necessary to provide the object to megnum ‘we [I] strengthen’, and to match dimmt (n. acc. sg.) ‘dark’. The ÓT reading dýrðar ‘of glory’ is adopted in preference to Bb(112rb)’s dreyra ‘blood’ since ‘dark rain of the dwarf-blood’ is not a well-formed kenning, and since the blood in the myth comes from Kvasir rather than a dwarf (SnE 1998, I, 3; cf. SnE 2005, 48). Consequentially dyggðar ‘for virtue’ is preferred to a repeat of dýrðar in l. 8. The adj. dimmt ‘dark’ has been variously interpreted, including as an allusion to the obscurity of skaldic poetry (Skj B), or as Hallar-Steinn’s modest reference to the lacklustre nature of his poem compared with the king’s glorious deeds (NN §1185; de Vries 1964-7, II, 42).
dýrðar ‘of glory’
(not checked:)
dýrð (noun f.; °-ar/-a(NoDipl(1279) 44²); -ir): glory
[3] dýrðar: so all others, dreyra Bb(112rb)
notes
[3, 4] dimmt dvergregn* dýrðar ‘the dark dwarf-rain [POETRY] of glory’: A reference to the myth of the mead of poetry (cf. Note to st. 8/3). Emendation of the mss’ regns to regn ‘rain’ is necessary to provide the object to megnum ‘we [I] strengthen’, and to match dimmt (n. acc. sg.) ‘dark’. The ÓT reading dýrðar ‘of glory’ is adopted in preference to Bb(112rb)’s dreyra ‘blood’ since ‘dark rain of the dwarf-blood’ is not a well-formed kenning, and since the blood in the myth comes from Kvasir rather than a dwarf (SnE 1998, I, 3; cf. SnE 2005, 48). Consequentially dyggðar ‘for virtue’ is preferred to a repeat of dýrðar in l. 8. The adj. dimmt ‘dark’ has been variously interpreted, including as an allusion to the obscurity of skaldic poetry (Skj B), or as Hallar-Steinn’s modest reference to the lacklustre nature of his poem compared with the king’s glorious deeds (NN §1185; de Vries 1964-7, II, 42).
megnum ‘we [I] strengthen’
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megna (verb): strengthen
[3] megnum: magnat 61, 54, Bb(95rb), mǫgnuð Flat
dimmt ‘the dark’
(not checked:)
dimmr (adj.; °superl. -astr): dark
kennings
dimmt dvergregn*‘the dark dwarf-rain ’
= POETRY
the dark dwarf-rain → POETRY
notes
[3, 4] dimmt dvergregn* dýrðar ‘the dark dwarf-rain [POETRY] of glory’: A reference to the myth of the mead of poetry (cf. Note to st. 8/3). Emendation of the mss’ regns to regn ‘rain’ is necessary to provide the object to megnum ‘we [I] strengthen’, and to match dimmt (n. acc. sg.) ‘dark’. The ÓT reading dýrðar ‘of glory’ is adopted in preference to Bb(112rb)’s dreyra ‘blood’ since ‘dark rain of the dwarf-blood’ is not a well-formed kenning, and since the blood in the myth comes from Kvasir rather than a dwarf (SnE 1998, I, 3; cf. SnE 2005, 48). Consequentially dyggðar ‘for virtue’ is preferred to a repeat of dýrðar in l. 8. The adj. dimmt ‘dark’ has been variously interpreted, including as an allusion to the obscurity of skaldic poetry (Skj B), or as Hallar-Steinn’s modest reference to the lacklustre nature of his poem compared with the king’s glorious deeds (NN §1185; de Vries 1964-7, II, 42).
í ‘for’
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í (prep.): in, into
sinn ‘time’
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2. sinn (noun n.; °?dat. -): time
it ‘the’
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2. inn (art.): the
fimta ‘fifth’
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fimmti (num. ordinal): fifth
Sigrgjarn ‘The victory-willing’
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sigrgjarn (adj.): [victory-willing]
sólu ‘than the sun’
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sól (noun f.; °-ar, dat. -u/-; -ir): sun
fegri ‘more beautifully’
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fagr (adj.; °fagran; compar. fegri, superl. fegrstr): fair, beautiful
[5] fegri: so all others, vænni Bb(112rb)
notes
[5] fegri ‘more beautifully’: Lit. ‘more beautiful’. The ÓT reading is here preferred to vænni ‘more beautiful’ since it provides skothending on sigr-.
sénn ‘seen’
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2. sjá (verb): see
vas ‘was’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
skrýddr ‘arrayed’
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2. skrýða (verb): adorn, clothe
[6] skrýddr með prýddum: prýddr með skrýddum all others
notes
[6] skrýddr ... prýddum ‘arrayed ... adorned’: The two epithets, applying to King Óláfr and the angels, are near synonyms, and are in reverse order in the ÓT text.
prýddum ‘the adorned’
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prýða (verb): adorn
[6] skrýddr með prýddum: prýddr með skrýddum all others
notes
[6] skrýddr ... prýddum ‘arrayed ... adorned’: The two epithets, applying to King Óláfr and the angels, are near synonyms, and are in reverse order in the ÓT text.
dǫglingr ‘prince’
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dǫglingr (noun m.; °; -ar): king, ruler
dróttins ‘of the Lord’
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dróttinn (noun m.; °dróttins, dat. dróttni (drottini [$1049$]); dróttnar): lord, master
englum ‘angels’
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1. engill (noun m.; °engils; englar): angel
dyggðar ‘for virtue’
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dyggð (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): virtue
[8] dyggðar: so 61, 54, Bb(95rb), dýrðar Bb(112rb), Flat
fúss ‘eager’
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fúss (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): eager, willing
í ‘in’
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í (prep.): in, into
húsi ‘a house’
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hús (noun n.; °-s; -): house
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
See Context to sts 29 and 30. Óláfr’s curious retainer Þorkell is finally allowed to follow Óláfr on one of his nightly excursions. In a clearing in a wood he sees the king in a house praying, attended by beings who appear to be angels.
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