Hfr Hákdr 1III
Kate Heslop (ed.) 2017, ‘Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld Óttarsson, Hákonardrápa 1’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 215.
Ask ‘ship’
(not checked:)
askr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i/-; -ar): ash, ash-tree, ash-ship < askþollr (noun m.)
[1] Askþollum: so Tˣ, W, A, C, ‘[…]skþollvm’ R, ‘Alþol[…]’ U
kennings
Ullar askþollum‘Ullr’s ship-firs’
= WARRIORS
Ullr’s ship → SHIELD
firs of the SHIELD → WARRIORS
notes
[1] Ullar askþollum ‘of firs of Ullr’s <god’s> ship [(lit. ‘Ullr’s ship-firs’) SHIELD > WARRIORS]’: Askr ‘ash’ (tree of the genus Fraxinus) here refers to a ship made of ash-wood, a meaning occasionally attested in prose (ONP: askr 4), and found in verse in Eskál Vell 4/2I and ǪrvOdd Lv 2/4VIII (Ǫrv 8); cf. Jesch (2001a, 135-6), Note to Þul Skipa 1/4 and OE æsc ‘ash-ship, viking ship’. ‘Ullr’s ship’ is a reasonably common kenning for ‘shield’ (LP: Ullr; Meissner 166), as noted in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 67, 167-8, 194), although the reasons for this association (he is also called áss skjaldar ‘god of the shield’ in Skm, SnE 1998, I, 19) are obscure. See also Hallv Knútdr 3/5, 7, 8 and Note there.
Ask ‘ship’
(not checked:)
askr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i/-; -ar): ash, ash-tree, ash-ship < askþollr (noun m.)
[1] Askþollum: so Tˣ, W, A, C, ‘[…]skþollvm’ R, ‘Alþol[…]’ U
kennings
Ullar askþollum‘Ullr’s ship-firs’
= WARRIORS
Ullr’s ship → SHIELD
firs of the SHIELD → WARRIORS
notes
[1] Ullar askþollum ‘of firs of Ullr’s <god’s> ship [(lit. ‘Ullr’s ship-firs’) SHIELD > WARRIORS]’: Askr ‘ash’ (tree of the genus Fraxinus) here refers to a ship made of ash-wood, a meaning occasionally attested in prose (ONP: askr 4), and found in verse in Eskál Vell 4/2I and ǪrvOdd Lv 2/4VIII (Ǫrv 8); cf. Jesch (2001a, 135-6), Note to Þul Skipa 1/4 and OE æsc ‘ash-ship, viking ship’. ‘Ullr’s ship’ is a reasonably common kenning for ‘shield’ (LP: Ullr; Meissner 166), as noted in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 67, 167-8, 194), although the reasons for this association (he is also called áss skjaldar ‘god of the shield’ in Skm, SnE 1998, I, 19) are obscure. See also Hallv Knútdr 3/5, 7, 8 and Note there.
þollum ‘of firs’
(not checked:)
þollr (noun m.): fir-tree < askþollr (noun m.)
[1] Askþollum: so Tˣ, W, A, C, ‘[…]skþollvm’ R, ‘Alþol[…]’ U
kennings
Ullar askþollum‘Ullr’s ship-firs’
= WARRIORS
Ullr’s ship → SHIELD
firs of the SHIELD → WARRIORS
notes
[1] Ullar askþollum ‘of firs of Ullr’s <god’s> ship [(lit. ‘Ullr’s ship-firs’) SHIELD > WARRIORS]’: Askr ‘ash’ (tree of the genus Fraxinus) here refers to a ship made of ash-wood, a meaning occasionally attested in prose (ONP: askr 4), and found in verse in Eskál Vell 4/2I and ǪrvOdd Lv 2/4VIII (Ǫrv 8); cf. Jesch (2001a, 135-6), Note to Þul Skipa 1/4 and OE æsc ‘ash-ship, viking ship’. ‘Ullr’s ship’ is a reasonably common kenning for ‘shield’ (LP: Ullr; Meissner 166), as noted in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 67, 167-8, 194), although the reasons for this association (he is also called áss skjaldar ‘god of the shield’ in Skm, SnE 1998, I, 19) are obscure. See also Hallv Knútdr 3/5, 7, 8 and Note there.
Ullar ‘of Ullr’s’
(not checked:)
Ullr (noun m.): Ullr
kennings
Ullar askþollum‘Ullr’s ship-firs’
= WARRIORS
Ullr’s ship → SHIELD
firs of the SHIELD → WARRIORS
notes
[1] Ullar askþollum ‘of firs of Ullr’s <god’s> ship [(lit. ‘Ullr’s ship-firs’) SHIELD > WARRIORS]’: Askr ‘ash’ (tree of the genus Fraxinus) here refers to a ship made of ash-wood, a meaning occasionally attested in prose (ONP: askr 4), and found in verse in Eskál Vell 4/2I and ǪrvOdd Lv 2/4VIII (Ǫrv 8); cf. Jesch (2001a, 135-6), Note to Þul Skipa 1/4 and OE æsc ‘ash-ship, viking ship’. ‘Ullr’s ship’ is a reasonably common kenning for ‘shield’ (LP: Ullr; Meissner 166), as noted in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 67, 167-8, 194), although the reasons for this association (he is also called áss skjaldar ‘god of the shield’ in Skm, SnE 1998, I, 19) are obscure. See also Hallv Knútdr 3/5, 7, 8 and Note there.
Ullar ‘of Ullr’s’
(not checked:)
Ullr (noun m.): Ullr
kennings
Ullar askþollum‘Ullr’s ship-firs’
= WARRIORS
Ullr’s ship → SHIELD
firs of the SHIELD → WARRIORS
notes
[1] Ullar askþollum ‘of firs of Ullr’s <god’s> ship [(lit. ‘Ullr’s ship-firs’) SHIELD > WARRIORS]’: Askr ‘ash’ (tree of the genus Fraxinus) here refers to a ship made of ash-wood, a meaning occasionally attested in prose (ONP: askr 4), and found in verse in Eskál Vell 4/2I and ǪrvOdd Lv 2/4VIII (Ǫrv 8); cf. Jesch (2001a, 135-6), Note to Þul Skipa 1/4 and OE æsc ‘ash-ship, viking ship’. ‘Ullr’s ship’ is a reasonably common kenning for ‘shield’ (LP: Ullr; Meissner 166), as noted in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 67, 167-8, 194), although the reasons for this association (he is also called áss skjaldar ‘god of the shield’ in Skm, SnE 1998, I, 19) are obscure. See also Hallv Knútdr 3/5, 7, 8 and Note there.
austr ‘in the east’
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3. austr (adv.; °compar. -ar, superl. -ast): east, in the east
at ‘in’
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3. at (prep.): at, to
miklu ‘firm’
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mikill (adj.; °mikinn): great, large
trausti ‘support’
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traust (noun n.; °-s/-): support, protection
rœki ‘heeding’
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rœkja (verb): care, look after < rœkilundr (noun m.)
[3] rœki‑: so U, A, C, ‘reyki‑’ R, ‘reuki’ Tˣ, ‘ræyki’ W
kennings
Inn ríki rœkilundr randfárs,‘The mighty heeding-tree of shield-harm, ’
= WARRIOR
shield-harm, → SWORD
The mighty heeding-tree of the SWORD → WARRIOR
notes
[3] rœkilundr ‘heeding-tree’: The first element of this cpd, rœki- (from rœkja ‘heed, take care of’), is apt in a stanza celebrating the traust n. ‘support, protection’ that the ruler offers his subjects. The cpd is only otherwise attested in Eskál Vell 8/4I.
lundr ‘tree’
(not checked:)
1. lundr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. -i/-; -ar): grove, tree < rœkilundr (noun m.)
kennings
Inn ríki rœkilundr randfárs,‘The mighty heeding-tree of shield-harm, ’
= WARRIOR
shield-harm, → SWORD
The mighty heeding-tree of the SWORD → WARRIOR
notes
[3] rœkilundr ‘heeding-tree’: The first element of this cpd, rœki- (from rœkja ‘heed, take care of’), is apt in a stanza celebrating the traust n. ‘support, protection’ that the ruler offers his subjects. The cpd is only otherwise attested in Eskál Vell 8/4I.
kennings
Inn ríki rœkilundr randfárs,‘The mighty heeding-tree of shield-harm, ’
= WARRIOR
shield-harm, → SWORD
The mighty heeding-tree of the SWORD → WARRIOR
notes
[3] inn ríki ‘the mighty’: Hákon’s nickname.
kennings
Inn ríki rœkilundr randfárs,‘The mighty heeding-tree of shield-harm, ’
= WARRIOR
shield-harm, → SWORD
The mighty heeding-tree of the SWORD → WARRIOR
notes
[3] inn ríki ‘the mighty’: Hákon’s nickname.
rand ‘of shield’
(not checked:)
rǫnd (noun f.; °dat. -/-u; rendr/randir): shield, shield-rim < randfár (noun n.): [shield-harm]
[4] randfárs: ‘[…]ndfars’ U
kennings
Inn ríki rœkilundr randfárs,‘The mighty heeding-tree of shield-harm, ’
= WARRIOR
shield-harm, → SWORD
The mighty heeding-tree of the SWORD → WARRIOR
rand ‘of shield’
(not checked:)
rǫnd (noun f.; °dat. -/-u; rendr/randir): shield, shield-rim < randfár (noun n.): [shield-harm]
[4] randfárs: ‘[…]ndfars’ U
kennings
Inn ríki rœkilundr randfárs,‘The mighty heeding-tree of shield-harm, ’
= WARRIOR
shield-harm, → SWORD
The mighty heeding-tree of the SWORD → WARRIOR
fárs ‘harm’
(not checked:)
2. fár (noun n.; °-s): harm, danger < randfár (noun n.): [shield-harm]
[4] randfárs: ‘[…]ndfars’ U
kennings
Inn ríki rœkilundr randfárs,‘The mighty heeding-tree of shield-harm, ’
= WARRIOR
shield-harm, → SWORD
The mighty heeding-tree of the SWORD → WARRIOR
fárs ‘harm’
(not checked:)
2. fár (noun n.; °-s): harm, danger < randfár (noun n.): [shield-harm]
[4] randfárs: ‘[…]ndfars’ U
kennings
Inn ríki rœkilundr randfárs,‘The mighty heeding-tree of shield-harm, ’
= WARRIOR
shield-harm, → SWORD
The mighty heeding-tree of the SWORD → WARRIOR
notes
[4] brumaðr hári ‘budded with hair’: The verb bruma ‘bud’ is otherwise unknown, but brum n. ‘buds, shoots; (in later prose) beginnings’ (ONP: 1 brum 1-2; LP: brum) and brumr m. ‘point in time’ (ONP, LP: brumr) are fairly well attested. As Finnur Jónsson (LP: hár n.) points out, this is an extended metaphor, in which Hákon is a tree, whose buds are his hair. This organic metaphor thus includes his relationship to his subjects, who are called þollar ‘firs’: the mighty tree shelters them. Davidson (1983, 469-71) suggests this is also an image of dynastic fruitfulness, traditionally symbolised by luxuriant hair (cf. Hálfdan svarti’s dream, ÍF 26, 90-1). The sense of a beginning inherent in brumaðr ‘budded’ could be regarded as appropriate to the opening section of the poem, though there is no external evidence to support such a placement of this helmingr.
notes
[4] brumaðr hári ‘budded with hair’: The verb bruma ‘bud’ is otherwise unknown, but brum n. ‘buds, shoots; (in later prose) beginnings’ (ONP: 1 brum 1-2; LP: brum) and brumr m. ‘point in time’ (ONP, LP: brumr) are fairly well attested. As Finnur Jónsson (LP: hár n.) points out, this is an extended metaphor, in which Hákon is a tree, whose buds are his hair. This organic metaphor thus includes his relationship to his subjects, who are called þollar ‘firs’: the mighty tree shelters them. Davidson (1983, 469-71) suggests this is also an image of dynastic fruitfulness, traditionally symbolised by luxuriant hair (cf. Hálfdan svarti’s dream, ÍF 26, 90-1). The sense of a beginning inherent in brumaðr ‘budded’ could be regarded as appropriate to the opening section of the poem, though there is no external evidence to support such a placement of this helmingr.
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
This helmingr is quoted in Skm in a series of examples of man-kennings with names for trees as base-words, here lundr ‘tree’.
The sg. warrior-kenning (rœkilundr randfárs ‘heeding-tree of shield-harm’) refers to the subject of the poem; so, presumably, Hákon jarl, while the reference to austr ‘east’ here indicates Norway (LP: 2 austr 1). The stanza shares much of its vocabulary with Eskál Vell 8I, redistributed around the helmingr in a witty recapitulation of Einarr’s stanza.
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