Halli XI Fl 1^II

Norðr ‘north’

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2. norðr (adv.): north

[1] Norðr: Nú E

lykr ‘locks up [the land]’

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lykja (verb): lock up, enclose

[1] lykr: om. Hr

notes

[1, 4] lykr stǫfnum langskipa ‘locks up [the land] with the stems of the longships’: The verb is most probably from lykja ‘lock up (a gap), seal, join, weld’ (cf. CVC: lykja; Fritzner: lykja), though it could possibly instead be interpreted as lýkr 3rd pers. sg. pres. indic. of lúka ‘lock’ (so Skald). The verb recurs with the same possible meanings in st. 2/8. Haraldr appears to be the subject of this st.

gramr ‘The king’

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1. gramr (noun m.): ruler

[1] gramr: gram Hr

sás ‘who’

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sás (conj.): the one who

gerðir ‘surrounds’

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2. gerða (verb): enclose

[1] gerðir: ‘geyrðir’ F, ‘giordi’ Hr

grund ‘his territory’

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grund (noun f.): earth, land

frá ‘of’

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frá (prep.): from

Eyrarsundi ‘Øresund’

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eyrarsund (noun n.; °; -): Øresund

hrafn ‘the raven’

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hrafn (noun m.; °hrafns; dat. hrafni; hrafnar): raven < hrafngœlir (noun m.)

[3] hrafn‑: ‘har’ H

kennings

notes

[3-4] hrafngœlir sparn hǫfn hæli ‘the raven-gladdener [WARRIOR] kicked against the harbour with his keel’: Kock (NN §3092) and Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson (ÍF 28, 159) explain hæli as a reference to part of the keel, the kjalarhæll ‘keel-heel’, rejecting the explanation in Skj B, where langskipa ‘of the longships’ (l. 4) is taken to govern stǫfnum ‘with the stems’ (l. 4). It is also possible, however, that the gen. pl. noun was interpreted as apo koinou, i.e. as qualifying both the preceding and the following noun. Also at play is a metaphor from horsemanship. The exchange of diction between sea and land transportation seen here is bolder than the norm and evidently led to confusion in H-Hr, where the entire l. hrafngœlir sparn hæli ‘the raven-gladdener kicked with his keel’ is replaced by a conventional ‘raven’ topos, hrafn (‘har’ H) gelr hátt yfir heila ‘the raven screams loudly over [men’s] heads’.

gœlir ‘gladdener’

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gœlir (noun m.): gladdener < hrafngœlir (noun m.)

[3] ‑gœlir: gelr H, Hr

kennings

notes

[3-4] hrafngœlir sparn hǫfn hæli ‘the raven-gladdener [WARRIOR] kicked against the harbour with his keel’: Kock (NN §3092) and Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson (ÍF 28, 159) explain hæli as a reference to part of the keel, the kjalarhæll ‘keel-heel’, rejecting the explanation in Skj B, where langskipa ‘of the longships’ (l. 4) is taken to govern stǫfnum ‘with the stems’ (l. 4). It is also possible, however, that the gen. pl. noun was interpreted as apo koinou, i.e. as qualifying both the preceding and the following noun. Also at play is a metaphor from horsemanship. The exchange of diction between sea and land transportation seen here is bolder than the norm and evidently led to confusion in H-Hr, where the entire l. hrafngœlir sparn hæli ‘the raven-gladdener kicked with his keel’ is replaced by a conventional ‘raven’ topos, hrafn (‘har’ H) gelr hátt yfir heila ‘the raven screams loudly over [men’s] heads’.

sparn ‘kicked against’

[3] sparn: hátt yfir H, Hr

notes

[3-4] hrafngœlir sparn hǫfn hæli ‘the raven-gladdener [WARRIOR] kicked against the harbour with his keel’: Kock (NN §3092) and Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson (ÍF 28, 159) explain hæli as a reference to part of the keel, the kjalarhæll ‘keel-heel’, rejecting the explanation in Skj B, where langskipa ‘of the longships’ (l. 4) is taken to govern stǫfnum ‘with the stems’ (l. 4). It is also possible, however, that the gen. pl. noun was interpreted as apo koinou, i.e. as qualifying both the preceding and the following noun. Also at play is a metaphor from horsemanship. The exchange of diction between sea and land transportation seen here is bolder than the norm and evidently led to confusion in H-Hr, where the entire l. hrafngœlir sparn hæli ‘the raven-gladdener kicked with his keel’ is replaced by a conventional ‘raven’ topos, hrafn (‘har’ H) gelr hátt yfir heila ‘the raven screams loudly over [men’s] heads’.

hæli ‘with his keel’

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1. hæll (noun m.; °hǽls, dat. hǽli; hǽlar): heel

[3] hæli: so 39, F, E, J2ˣ, ‘holi’ Kˣ, heila H, Hr

notes

[3-4] hrafngœlir sparn hǫfn hæli ‘the raven-gladdener [WARRIOR] kicked against the harbour with his keel’: Kock (NN §3092) and Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson (ÍF 28, 159) explain hæli as a reference to part of the keel, the kjalarhæll ‘keel-heel’, rejecting the explanation in Skj B, where langskipa ‘of the longships’ (l. 4) is taken to govern stǫfnum ‘with the stems’ (l. 4). It is also possible, however, that the gen. pl. noun was interpreted as apo koinou, i.e. as qualifying both the preceding and the following noun. Also at play is a metaphor from horsemanship. The exchange of diction between sea and land transportation seen here is bolder than the norm and evidently led to confusion in H-Hr, where the entire l. hrafngœlir sparn hæli ‘the raven-gladdener kicked with his keel’ is replaced by a conventional ‘raven’ topos, hrafn (‘har’ H) gelr hátt yfir heila ‘the raven screams loudly over [men’s] heads’.

hǫfn ‘the harbour’

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1. hǫfn (noun f.; °hafnar; hafnir(/hafnar(Streng 234³²)): haven, harbour

notes

[3-4] hrafngœlir sparn hǫfn hæli ‘the raven-gladdener [WARRIOR] kicked against the harbour with his keel’: Kock (NN §3092) and Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson (ÍF 28, 159) explain hæli as a reference to part of the keel, the kjalarhæll ‘keel-heel’, rejecting the explanation in Skj B, where langskipa ‘of the longships’ (l. 4) is taken to govern stǫfnum ‘with the stems’ (l. 4). It is also possible, however, that the gen. pl. noun was interpreted as apo koinou, i.e. as qualifying both the preceding and the following noun. Also at play is a metaphor from horsemanship. The exchange of diction between sea and land transportation seen here is bolder than the norm and evidently led to confusion in H-Hr, where the entire l. hrafngœlir sparn hæli ‘the raven-gladdener kicked with his keel’ is replaced by a conventional ‘raven’ topos, hrafn (‘har’ H) gelr hátt yfir heila ‘the raven screams loudly over [men’s] heads’.

lang ‘of the long’

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langr (adj.; °compar. lengri, superl. lengstr): long < langskip (noun n.): longship

[4] lang‑: so all others, lǫg‑ Kˣ

notes

[1, 4] lykr stǫfnum langskipa ‘locks up [the land] with the stems of the longships’: The verb is most probably from lykja ‘lock up (a gap), seal, join, weld’ (cf. CVC: lykja; Fritzner: lykja), though it could possibly instead be interpreted as lýkr 3rd pers. sg. pres. indic. of lúka ‘lock’ (so Skald). The verb recurs with the same possible meanings in st. 2/8. Haraldr appears to be the subject of this st.

skipa ‘ships’

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skip (noun n.; °-s; -): ship < langskip (noun n.): longship

notes

[1, 4] lykr stǫfnum langskipa ‘locks up [the land] with the stems of the longships’: The verb is most probably from lykja ‘lock up (a gap), seal, join, weld’ (cf. CVC: lykja; Fritzner: lykja), though it could possibly instead be interpreted as lýkr 3rd pers. sg. pres. indic. of lúka ‘lock’ (so Skald). The verb recurs with the same possible meanings in st. 2/8. Haraldr appears to be the subject of this st.

stǫfnum ‘with the stems’

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stafn (noun m.; °dat. -i/-; -ar): prow

notes

[1, 4] lykr stǫfnum langskipa ‘locks up [the land] with the stems of the longships’: The verb is most probably from lykja ‘lock up (a gap), seal, join, weld’ (cf. CVC: lykja; Fritzner: lykja), though it could possibly instead be interpreted as lýkr 3rd pers. sg. pres. indic. of lúka ‘lock’ (so Skald). The verb recurs with the same possible meanings in st. 2/8. Haraldr appears to be the subject of this st.

Rísta ‘cut’

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rísta (verb): carve, raise

[5] Rísta: ristu H, Hr

golli ‘with gold’

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gull (noun n.): gold

notes

[5, 8] brandar, golli glæstir ‘the stems, encrusted with gold’: The meaning of brandr has not been fully established. Suggested is ‘curved gunwale fore and aft’ (Foote and Wilson 1970, 234; cf. Jesch 2001a, 147) but while mast-tops apparently would be gilded (Jesch 2001a, 161) it is dubious whether such decoration would have been applied to the timbers of the hull. That may favour a pars pro toto interpretation of brandr as ‘ships’ (Jesch 2001a, 147).

glæstir ‘encrusted’

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glæsa (verb): adorn

notes

[5, 8] brandar, golli glæstir ‘the stems, encrusted with gold’: The meaning of brandr has not been fully established. Suggested is ‘curved gunwale fore and aft’ (Foote and Wilson 1970, 234; cf. Jesch 2001a, 147) but while mast-tops apparently would be gilded (Jesch 2001a, 161) it is dubious whether such decoration would have been applied to the timbers of the hull. That may favour a pars pro toto interpretation of brandr as ‘ships’ (Jesch 2001a, 147).

gjalfr ‘the ocean-surge’

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gjalfr (noun n.; °-s): surge, waves

en ‘and’

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2. en (conj.): but, and

hlýður ‘the wash-strakes’

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2. hlýða (verb): hear, listen; be able

[6] hlýður: súðir H, Hr

notes

[6] hlýður skjalfa ‘the wash-strakes tremble’: The hlýða appears to have been a light plank (or strake) that when necessary could be mounted above the main planks of the hull to hinder heavy seas from spilling into the vessel (Jesch 2001a, 141-3). The reported trembling of the wash-strakes could reflect the lightness of their calibre and construction, as equally the sheer impetus of the ship on its course. Interspersed commentary on the sometimes tempestuous voyage that brings the leader or the skald to battle can be inferred to have been a standard ingredient in praise-poetry. Further examples are seen in later sts of this flokkr.

skjalfa ‘tremble’

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1. skjalfa (verb): shake - intrans.

[6] skjalfa: sjalfa H

notes

[6] hlýður skjalfa ‘the wash-strakes tremble’: The hlýða appears to have been a light plank (or strake) that when necessary could be mounted above the main planks of the hull to hinder heavy seas from spilling into the vessel (Jesch 2001a, 141-3). The reported trembling of the wash-strakes could reflect the lightness of their calibre and construction, as equally the sheer impetus of the ship on its course. Interspersed commentary on the sometimes tempestuous voyage that brings the leader or the skald to battle can be inferred to have been a standard ingredient in praise-poetry. Further examples are seen in later sts of this flokkr.

hvasst ‘keenly’

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hvass (adj.; °-an; -ari, -astr): keen, sharp

und ‘under’

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3. und (prep.): under, underneath

[7] und: var H, Hr

her ‘the army’

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herr (noun m.; °-s/-jar, dat. -; -jar, gen. -ja/herra): army, host

[7] her: heldr H, Hr

fyr ‘to the’

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fyr (prep.): for, over, because of, etc.

vestan ‘west’

Hallandi ‘of Halland’

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Halland (noun n.): Halland

[8] Hallandi: Halland Hr

framm ‘forwards’

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fram (adv.): out, forth, forwards, away

[8] framm: framit Hr

brandar ‘The stems’

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brandr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): sword, prow; fire

[8] brandar: branda H, brandi Hr

notes

[5, 8] brandar, golli glæstir ‘the stems, encrusted with gold’: The meaning of brandr has not been fully established. Suggested is ‘curved gunwale fore and aft’ (Foote and Wilson 1970, 234; cf. Jesch 2001a, 147) but while mast-tops apparently would be gilded (Jesch 2001a, 161) it is dubious whether such decoration would have been applied to the timbers of the hull. That may favour a pars pro toto interpretation of brandr as ‘ships’ (Jesch 2001a, 147).