Kate Heslop (ed.) 2012, ‘Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld Óttarsson, Erfidrápa Óláfs Tryggvasonar 23’ 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. 433.
(not checked:)
Norðmaðr (noun m.): Norwegian
(not checked:)
2. hyggja (verb): think, consider
(not checked:)
nenninn (adj.): vigorous
(not checked:)
nú (adv.): now
(not checked:)
þengill (noun m.): prince, ruler
(not checked:)
1. framganga (noun f.): [has passed on]
[2] framgenginn ‘passed on’: Previous eds have framm genginn, although it is clearly written as one word in both mss. In its literal sense of ‘go, move forward’ ganga framm is common in skaldic poetry, e.g. in battle-descriptions, but the extended sense ‘go on [into death]’, and this cpd, seem otherwise to be found only in poetry in eddic metres (Vsp 39/8, Skí 12/2, Herv Lv 2/3VIII (Heiðr 15)).
(not checked:)
dýrr (adj.; °compar. -ri/-ari, superl. -str/-astr): precious
[3] dýrr: dýr all
[3] dýrr ‘worthy’: The mss have ‘dyr’, i.e. dýr, but that form (f. nom. sg. or n. nom./acc. pl.) cannot fit here.
(not checked:)
hníga (verb): sink, fall
(not checked:)
1. drótt (noun f.): troop
(not checked:)
stjóri (noun m.; °-a; -ar): steerer
(not checked:)
dróttinn (noun m.; °dróttins, dat. dróttni (drottini [$1049$]); dróttnar): lord, master
[4] dróttin*: dróttinn all
[4] dróttin* ‘lord’: The mss have ‘drottinn’ (the second n abbreviated), but acc. sg. dróttin is required as object to hykk ‘I think’.
(not checked:)
3. und (prep.): under, underneath
[4] sóttan und lok ‘gone to his end’: Kiil (1953) suggests that the phrase sœkja und lok (or fara und lok, cf. Kveld Lv 1/4V (Eg 1)) has roots in Germanic and Saami burial customs, since lok can mean ‘cover, lid’. However, the fact that lok (sg. or pl.) can mean ‘end, conclusion’ (Fritzner: lok 6) seems sufficient to explain its use in circumlocutions for death.
(not checked:)
1. lok (noun n.; °-s; -): end
[4] sóttan und lok ‘gone to his end’: Kiil (1953) suggests that the phrase sœkja und lok (or fara und lok, cf. Kveld Lv 1/4V (Eg 1)) has roots in Germanic and Saami burial customs, since lok can mean ‘cover, lid’. However, the fact that lok (sg. or pl.) can mean ‘end, conclusion’ (Fritzner: lok 6) seems sufficient to explain its use in circumlocutions for death.
(not checked:)
sœkja (verb): seek, attack
[4] sóttan und lok ‘gone to his end’: Kiil (1953) suggests that the phrase sœkja und lok (or fara und lok, cf. Kveld Lv 1/4V (Eg 1)) has roots in Germanic and Saami burial customs, since lok can mean ‘cover, lid’. However, the fact that lok (sg. or pl.) can mean ‘end, conclusion’ (Fritzner: lok 6) seems sufficient to explain its use in circumlocutions for death.
(not checked:)
1. gramr (noun m.): ruler
[5] dauði ... grams ‘the death of the ... ruler’: Cf. gram dauðan ‘the dead ruler’, st. 28/2.
(not checked:)
dauði (noun m.; °-a; -ar): death
[5] dauði ... grams ‘the death of the ... ruler’: Cf. gram dauðan ‘the dead ruler’, st. 28/2.
(not checked:)
bregða (verb; °bregðr/brigðr; brá, brugðu; brugðinn/brogðinn): pull, jerk, break; change
(not checked:)
gœði (noun n.): wellbeing
[5] gœði ‘the well-being’: The only other secure instance of gœði in the skaldic corpus is Anon Líkn 49/5VII, where it signifies wealth in the Christian spiritual sense of ‘good things, blessings’; it also appears as a variant in the eddic Grí 51/4 (NK 67 and n.), where it seems to mean ‘goodwill’ (LT 96). The related agent-nouns gœðir and gœðingr ‘bestower, benefactor’ are, however, common in skaldic verse of all periods, the latter appearing in st. 27/6.
(not checked:)
góðr (adj.): good
(not checked:)
ófár (adj.): not a few
(not checked:)
þjóð (noun f.; °-ar, dat. -/-u; -ir): people
(not checked:)
allr (adj.): all
(not checked:)
af (prep.): from
(not checked:)
1. fjall (noun n.): mountain
(not checked:)
styggr (adj.): shy < flugstyggr (adj.): flight-shunning
[8] ‑styggs: ‘‑tygs’ FskAˣ, 301ˣ, ‑tyggs 52ˣ
(not checked:)
sonr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. syni; synir, acc. sonu, syni): son
(not checked:)
Tryggvi (noun m.): Tryggvi
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Norðmanna hykk nenninn |
I think the energetic lord of Norwegians [= Óláfr] has gone to his end; now the prince has passed on; the worthy steerer of the retinue [RULER] fell. The death of the good ruler snatched away the well-being of not a few peoples; all peace is confounded by the fall of the flight-shunning son of Tryggvi [= Óláfr].
This follows st. 22 (Fsk only), finishing the sequence of quotations from Hfr ErfÓl in the chapter.
[7-8]: These lines, though quite corrupt in the surviving Fsk tradition, form the stef ‘refrain’ of the drápa (cf. st. 28/3-4). Line 8 participates in a pattern of rhymes on Óláfr’s patronym which extends through much of the poem (see Note to st. 13/2), and is echoed in Sigv ErfÓl 3/2.
Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.
The text and translation are given here, with buttons to toggle whether the text is shown in the verse order or prose word order. Clicking on indiviudal words gives dictionary links, variant readings, kennings and notes, where relevant.
This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.
This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.