Kate Heslop (ed.) 2012, ‘Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld Óttarsson, Erfidrápa Óláfs Tryggvasonar 28’ 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. 440.
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1. auðr (noun m.; °-s/-ar, dat. -i/-): wealth
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nú (adv.): now
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
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allr (adj.): all
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land (noun n.; °-s; *-): land
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4. of (particle): (before verb)
[1] of: lǫnd 177ˣ, lǫnd deleted by same hand 100ˣ
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1. verða (verb): become, be
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ætla (verb): intend, mean, think
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strǫnd (noun f.; °strandar, dat. -u/-; strandir/strendr): beach, shore
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land (noun n.; °-s; *-): land
[2] auð lǫnd at: ‘ętlo᷎nðum’ Flat; lǫnd: strǫnd 177ˣ
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3. of (prep.): around, from; too
[2] at dauðan gram ‘by the king’s death’: Lit. ‘by/at the dead king’, or ‘by the king [being] dead’.
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1. gramr (noun m.): ruler
[2] at dauðan gram ‘by the king’s death’: Lit. ‘by/at the dead king’, or ‘by the king [being] dead’.
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2. dauðr (adj.): dead
[2] at dauðan gram ‘by the king’s death’: Lit. ‘by/at the dead king’, or ‘by the king [being] dead’.
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allr (adj.): all
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gleðja (verb): gladden, rejoice
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lemja (verb): beat, make lame
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glepja (verb): [is confounded]
[3] glepsk: so 177ˣ, 100ˣ, Holm18, Flat, gleðsk 178ˣ, lemsk M
[3] glepsk ‘is confounded’: This reading is supported by glepsk (ms. ‘glæps’) in the corresponding line of the stef in st. 23/7. The main ms. reading gleðsk ‘rejoices’ is unlikely purely by virtue of its semantics and could have originated in a misreading of glepz as gleþz. M’s lemsk ‘is ruined, crushed’ is close in meaning to glepsk (see Fritzner: lemja 3) and an acceptable alternative reading,
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friðr (noun m.): peace
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3. at (prep.): at, to
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fall (noun n.; °-s; *-): fall
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folk (noun n.): people < folkstyggr (adj.)
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fjǫl- ((prefix)): very- < fjǫlstyggr (adj.): very shunning
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2. flug (noun n.): flight, ?precipice < flugstyggr (adj.): flight-shunning
[4] flug‑: so M, folk‑ 178ˣ, 177ˣ, 100ˣ, flyg‑ Holm18, fjǫl‑ Flat
[4] flugstyggs ‘flight-shunning’: Comparison with st. 23/8 once again decides among strongly divergent readings here.
[4] flugstyggs ‘flight-shunning’: Comparison with st. 23/8 once again decides among strongly divergent readings here.
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sonr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. syni; synir, acc. sonu, syni): son
[4] sonar: ‘Son[…]’ 177ˣ
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Tryggvi (noun m.): Tryggvi
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Hallfr recounts that Hallfreðr sails via Orkney to Norway where, learning the details of Óláfr Tryggvason’s death, he composes a memorial poem, Óláfsdrápa, for him, from which this is a refrain (stef). The ÓT redaction of Hallfr reports that Hallfreðr composed a drápa straight away (þegar), but only Flat quotes the stef. In ÓTOdd, this follows sts 18 and 19; after the stanza it is explained that auð ‘desolate’ has the sense that norðrlǫnd ‘the Nordic lands’ are bereft of a leader who will never be matched. The prologue to Þiðreks saga cites this stanza as an example of hyperbole in praise poetry.
The helmingr is a stef ‘refrain’, according to Hallfr (see Context). The grandiose content makes all four lines suitable for a stef, but only ll. 3-4 appear elsewhere in the extant poem (st. 23/7-8).
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