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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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HSt Rst 35I

Rolf Stavnem (ed.) 2012, ‘Hallar-Steinn, Rekstefja 35’ 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. 938.

Hallar-SteinnRekstefja
3435

Eigi ‘not’

(not checked:)
3. eigi (adv.): not

notes

[1] eigi einkar lága ‘not extremely poor’: Lágr is more literally ‘low’. The poet’s reference to his own work is, at least superficially, modest in tone, as typical of skaldic poetry of the Christian era (cf. st. 24/3 and Note). It may also be noted that the line is not tvískelft or skjálfhent.

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einkar ‘extremely’

(not checked:)
einkar (adv.): extremely

notes

[1] eigi einkar lága ‘not extremely poor’: Lágr is more literally ‘low’. The poet’s reference to his own work is, at least superficially, modest in tone, as typical of skaldic poetry of the Christian era (cf. st. 24/3 and Note). It may also be noted that the line is not tvískelft or skjálfhent.

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lága ‘poor’

(not checked:)
lágr (adj.; °comp. lǽgri, superl. lǽgstr): low

notes

[1] eigi einkar lága ‘not extremely poor’: Lágr is more literally ‘low’. The poet’s reference to his own work is, at least superficially, modest in tone, as typical of skaldic poetry of the Christian era (cf. st. 24/3 and Note). It may also be noted that the line is not tvískelft or skjálfhent.

Close

‘increase’

(not checked:)
2. fá (verb; °fǽr; fekk, fengu; fenginn): get, receive

notes

[2, 3] fæ … stœrða ‘increase’: Lit. ‘get ... increased’.

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ina ‘the’

(not checked:)
2. inn (art.): the

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þriðju ‘third’

(not checked:)
þriði (num. ordinal): third

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hyr ‘of the fire’

(not checked:)
hyrr (noun m.): fire < hyrnjǫrðr (noun m.)

kennings

ps hyr-Njǫrðr,
‘fire-Njǫrðr of the bay’
   = MAN

the fire of the bay, → GOLD
Njǫrðr of the GOLD → MAN

notes

[3, 4] ps hyr-Njǫrðr ‘Njǫrðr <god> of the fire of the bay [(lit. ‘fire-Njǫrðr of the bay’) GOLD > MAN]’: (a) This edn follows Konráð Gíslason (1895-7) and Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) in emending the nonsensical ms. reading ‘morðr’ to Njǫrðr, which is only a matter of reading <ni> instead of <m>, and ms. ‘hofs’ to hóps. The kenning is taken here as a vocative directed to the recipient of the poem, but it is uncertain whether this would be Óláfr or an unknown commissioner of the poem. Alternatively it could be appositional to ek ‘I’ (l. 2), as seemingly assumed in Skj B. (b) Kock (NN §2097) argued against a vocative warrior-kenning instoppad mitt ibland fruntimren ‘squeezed in among the women’, as he puts it, and emends Njǫrðr to an endingless dat. sg. form Njǫrð (a younger variant on Nirði; cf. ANG §§394, 395.3). He sees the kenning as elaborating on drôpu and referring to the recipient of the praise-poem, King Óláfr; he cites parallels in st. 1/3 and st. 34/5-6, and further parallels in NN §2543A, C.

Close

hyr ‘of the fire’

(not checked:)
hyrr (noun m.): fire < hyrnjǫrðr (noun m.)

kennings

ps hyr-Njǫrðr,
‘fire-Njǫrðr of the bay’
   = MAN

the fire of the bay, → GOLD
Njǫrðr of the GOLD → MAN

notes

[3, 4] ps hyr-Njǫrðr ‘Njǫrðr <god> of the fire of the bay [(lit. ‘fire-Njǫrðr of the bay’) GOLD > MAN]’: (a) This edn follows Konráð Gíslason (1895-7) and Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) in emending the nonsensical ms. reading ‘morðr’ to Njǫrðr, which is only a matter of reading <ni> instead of <m>, and ms. ‘hofs’ to hóps. The kenning is taken here as a vocative directed to the recipient of the poem, but it is uncertain whether this would be Óláfr or an unknown commissioner of the poem. Alternatively it could be appositional to ek ‘I’ (l. 2), as seemingly assumed in Skj B. (b) Kock (NN §2097) argued against a vocative warrior-kenning instoppad mitt ibland fruntimren ‘squeezed in among the women’, as he puts it, and emends Njǫrðr to an endingless dat. sg. form Njǫrð (a younger variant on Nirði; cf. ANG §§394, 395.3). He sees the kenning as elaborating on drôpu and referring to the recipient of the praise-poem, King Óláfr; he cites parallels in st. 1/3 and st. 34/5-6, and further parallels in NN §2543A, C.

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Njǫrðr ‘Njǫrðr’

(not checked:)
Njǫrðr (noun m.): Njǫrðr < hyrnjǫrðr (noun m.)

[3] Njǫrðr: ‘morðr’ Bb

kennings

ps hyr-Njǫrðr,
‘fire-Njǫrðr of the bay’
   = MAN

the fire of the bay, → GOLD
Njǫrðr of the GOLD → MAN

notes

[3, 4] ps hyr-Njǫrðr ‘Njǫrðr <god> of the fire of the bay [(lit. ‘fire-Njǫrðr of the bay’) GOLD > MAN]’: (a) This edn follows Konráð Gíslason (1895-7) and Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) in emending the nonsensical ms. reading ‘morðr’ to Njǫrðr, which is only a matter of reading <ni> instead of <m>, and ms. ‘hofs’ to hóps. The kenning is taken here as a vocative directed to the recipient of the poem, but it is uncertain whether this would be Óláfr or an unknown commissioner of the poem. Alternatively it could be appositional to ek ‘I’ (l. 2), as seemingly assumed in Skj B. (b) Kock (NN §2097) argued against a vocative warrior-kenning instoppad mitt ibland fruntimren ‘squeezed in among the women’, as he puts it, and emends Njǫrðr to an endingless dat. sg. form Njǫrð (a younger variant on Nirði; cf. ANG §§394, 395.3). He sees the kenning as elaborating on drôpu and referring to the recipient of the praise-poem, King Óláfr; he cites parallels in st. 1/3 and st. 34/5-6, and further parallels in NN §2543A, C.

Close

hróðri ‘praise’

(not checked:)
hróðr (noun m.): encomium, praise

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stœrða ‘with’

(not checked:)
stœra (verb): increase, strengthen

notes

[2, 3] fæ … stœrða ‘increase’: Lit. ‘get ... increased’.

Close

ps ‘of the bay’

(not checked:)
hóp (noun n.): [company, bay]

[4] ps: hofs Bb

kennings

ps hyr-Njǫrðr,
‘fire-Njǫrðr of the bay’
   = MAN

the fire of the bay, → GOLD
Njǫrðr of the GOLD → MAN

notes

[3, 4] ps hyr-Njǫrðr ‘Njǫrðr <god> of the fire of the bay [(lit. ‘fire-Njǫrðr of the bay’) GOLD > MAN]’: (a) This edn follows Konráð Gíslason (1895-7) and Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) in emending the nonsensical ms. reading ‘morðr’ to Njǫrðr, which is only a matter of reading <ni> instead of <m>, and ms. ‘hofs’ to hóps. The kenning is taken here as a vocative directed to the recipient of the poem, but it is uncertain whether this would be Óláfr or an unknown commissioner of the poem. Alternatively it could be appositional to ek ‘I’ (l. 2), as seemingly assumed in Skj B. (b) Kock (NN §2097) argued against a vocative warrior-kenning instoppad mitt ibland fruntimren ‘squeezed in among the women’, as he puts it, and emends Njǫrðr to an endingless dat. sg. form Njǫrð (a younger variant on Nirði; cf. ANG §§394, 395.3). He sees the kenning as elaborating on drôpu and referring to the recipient of the praise-poem, King Óláfr; he cites parallels in st. 1/3 and st. 34/5-6, and further parallels in NN §2543A, C.

Close

ps ‘of the bay’

(not checked:)
hóp (noun n.): [company, bay]

[4] ps: hofs Bb

kennings

ps hyr-Njǫrðr,
‘fire-Njǫrðr of the bay’
   = MAN

the fire of the bay, → GOLD
Njǫrðr of the GOLD → MAN

notes

[3, 4] ps hyr-Njǫrðr ‘Njǫrðr <god> of the fire of the bay [(lit. ‘fire-Njǫrðr of the bay’) GOLD > MAN]’: (a) This edn follows Konráð Gíslason (1895-7) and Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) in emending the nonsensical ms. reading ‘morðr’ to Njǫrðr, which is only a matter of reading <ni> instead of <m>, and ms. ‘hofs’ to hóps. The kenning is taken here as a vocative directed to the recipient of the poem, but it is uncertain whether this would be Óláfr or an unknown commissioner of the poem. Alternatively it could be appositional to ek ‘I’ (l. 2), as seemingly assumed in Skj B. (b) Kock (NN §2097) argued against a vocative warrior-kenning instoppad mitt ibland fruntimren ‘squeezed in among the women’, as he puts it, and emends Njǫrðr to an endingless dat. sg. form Njǫrð (a younger variant on Nirði; cf. ANG §§394, 395.3). He sees the kenning as elaborating on drôpu and referring to the recipient of the praise-poem, King Óláfr; he cites parallels in st. 1/3 and st. 34/5-6, and further parallels in NN §2543A, C.

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tvískelfðatvískelft

(not checked:)
tvískelfðr (adj./verb p.p.): [tvískelft]

notes

[4] tvískelfða ‘in tvískelft’: On this metre, see Introduction.

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drôpudrápa

(not checked:)
drápa (noun f.; °-u): poem with refrains

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Slíkr ‘Such’

(not checked:)
2. slíkr (adj.): such

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svá ‘to that’

(not checked:)
svá (adv.): so, thus

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munk ‘I can’

(not checked:)
munu (verb): will, must

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vátta ‘attest’

(not checked:)
vátta (verb): affirm, attest

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sjald ‘rarely’

(not checked:)
sjaldan (adv.): seldom < sjaldstundum (adv.)

[6] sjald‑: ‘siall‑’ Bb

notes

[6] sjaldstundum ‘rarely’: Ms. ‘siall-’; cf. Note to st. 32/3.

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verðr ‘is’

(not checked:)
1. verða (verb): become, be

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fundinn ‘found’

(not checked:)
2. finna (verb): find, meet

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herr ‘may the troop’

(not checked:)
herr (noun m.; °-s/-jar, dat. -; -jar, gen. -ja/herra): army, host

notes

[7] herr prúðr hǫrvi ‘the troop splendid in linen [women]’: Apparently the same group of women addressed in st. 1/1-2; see Note. Though not structurally a kenning, this phrase resembles the kenning in st. 1/1, and cf. Meissner 415 for further examples in which linen (hǫr or lín) is the distinguishing attribute of women.

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prúðr ‘splendid’

(not checked:)
prúðr (adj.; °superl. -astr): magnificent, proud

notes

[7] herr prúðr hǫrvi ‘the troop splendid in linen [women]’: Apparently the same group of women addressed in st. 1/1-2; see Note. Though not structurally a kenning, this phrase resembles the kenning in st. 1/1, and cf. Meissner 415 for further examples in which linen (hǫr or lín) is the distinguishing attribute of women.

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hǫrvi ‘in linen’

(not checked:)
hǫrr (noun m.): linen

notes

[7] herr prúðr hǫrvi ‘the troop splendid in linen [women]’: Apparently the same group of women addressed in st. 1/1-2; see Note. Though not structurally a kenning, this phrase resembles the kenning in st. 1/1, and cf. Meissner 415 for further examples in which linen (hǫr or lín) is the distinguishing attribute of women.

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kvæða ‘from the poem [lit. poems]’

(not checked:)
kvæði (noun n.; °-s; -): poem

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hafi ‘have’

(not checked:)
hafa (verb): have

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gagn ‘benefit’

(not checked:)
1. gagn (noun n.): victory

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en ‘and’

(not checked:)
2. en (conj.): but, and

notes

[8] en ek þagna ‘and I fall silent’: The same phrase also closes Geisli (ESk Geisl 71/8VII).

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ek ‘I’

(not checked:)
ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me

notes

[8] en ek þagna ‘and I fall silent’: The same phrase also closes Geisli (ESk Geisl 71/8VII).

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þagna ‘fall silent’

(not checked:)
þagna (verb): be silent

notes

[8] en ek þagna ‘and I fall silent’: The same phrase also closes Geisli (ESk Geisl 71/8VII).

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

[2]: The line lacks hending, but since there is no other reason to suspect corruption, and no obvious alternative, it is retained without emendation. — [4]: For the rhyme hóps : drôp-, see Note to st. 3/8.

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