Cookies on our website

We use cookies on this website, mainly to provide a secure browsing experience but also to collect statistics on how the website is used. You can find out more about the cookies we set, the information we store and how we use it on the cookies page.

Continue

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

Menu Search

Close

Hfr Hákdr 7^III

Kate Heslop (ed.) 2017, ‘Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld Óttarsson, Hákonardrápa 7’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 223.

Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld Óttarsson Hákonardrápa

Rôð ‘The marriage ’

(not checked:)
ráð (noun n.; °-s; -): advice, plan, control, power

notes

[1] rôð ‘the marriage’: See Fritzner: ráð 13. Rôð (here pl.) could alternatively mean ‘extra-marital sexual relations’, ‘counsel’, ‘strategy’ or ‘agreement’ (CVC: ráð; Fritzner: ráð). The skald exploits this polysemousness to continue the metaphor of Jǫrð as both a goddess, possessed sexually by Hákon, and as the land (jǫrð) of Norway, which he rules.

lukusk ‘was concluded’

(not checked:)
1. lúka (verb): end, close

[1] lukusk: lauksk B

notes

[1] lukusk ‘was concluded’: This disyllabic pl. form must undergo resolution if the line is to scan (Gade 1995a, 63). Ms. B’s lauksk (sg.) is an acceptable alternative solution, as ráð occurs in both sg. and pl. in most of its senses, but is most probably scribal.

at ‘so’

(not checked:)
4. at (conj.): that

sá ‘that’

(not checked:)
1. sá (pron.; °gen. þess, dat. þeim, acc. þann; f. sú, gen. þeirrar, acc. þá; n. þat, dat. því; pl. m. þeir, f. þǽ---): that (one), those

kennings

sá snjallráðr spjalli konungs
‘that shrewdly-advising king’s intimate ’
= RULER
that shrewdly-advising king’s intimate → RULER

síðan ‘afterward’

(not checked:)
síðan (adv.): later, then

snjall ‘shrewdly’

(not checked:)
snjallr (adj.): quick, resourceful, bold < snjallráðr (adj.)

kennings

sá snjallráðr spjalli konungs
‘that shrewdly-advising king’s intimate ’
= RULER
that shrewdly-advising king’s intimate → RULER

ráðr ‘advising’

(not checked:)
-ráðr (adj.): -ful < snjallráðr (adj.)

[2] ‑ráðr: so Tˣ(27r), W(56), U(29v), U(35v), B, ‑aðr R(26r), ‑mælt R(36v), ‑mæltr Tˣ(38r), W(82)

kennings

sá snjallráðr spjalli konungs
‘that shrewdly-advising king’s intimate ’
= RULER
that shrewdly-advising king’s intimate → RULER

konungs ‘king’s’

(not checked:)
konungr (noun m.; °dat. -i, -s; -ar): king

kennings

sá snjallráðr spjalli konungs
‘that shrewdly-advising king’s intimate ’
= RULER
that shrewdly-advising king’s intimate → RULER

notes

[2] spjalli konungs ‘king’s intimate [RULER]’: The prose introduction to the first citation of this half-stanza makes it clear that Snorri regards this kenning as referring to a ruler of lower rank than a king (SnE 1998, I, 35).

spjalli ‘intimate’

(not checked:)
spjalli (noun m.): confidant

kennings

sá snjallráðr spjalli konungs
‘that shrewdly-advising king’s intimate ’
= RULER
that shrewdly-advising king’s intimate → RULER

notes

[2] spjalli konungs ‘king’s intimate [RULER]’: The prose introduction to the first citation of this half-stanza makes it clear that Snorri regards this kenning as referring to a ruler of lower rank than a king (SnE 1998, I, 35).

átti ‘possessed’

(not checked:)
2. eiga (verb; °á/eigr (præs. pl. 3. pers. eigu/eiga); átti, áttu; átt): own, have

einga ‘the only’

(not checked:)
(non-lexical) < eingadóttir (noun f.): °only daughter; own (beloved) daughter

[3] einga‑: enga Tˣ(38r), ‘o᷎nga’ B

kennings

eingadóttur Ónars,
‘the only daughter of Ónarr, ’
= Jǫrð (jǫrð ‘earth’)
the only daughter of Ónarr, → Jǫrð (jǫrð ‘earth’)

notes

[3] eingadóttur ‘the only daughter’: Hallfreðr calls his beloved Kolfinna eingadóttir Ávalds ‘only daughter of Ávaldr’ (Hfr Lv 2/3-4^V (Hallfr 3)), perhaps implying, as Davidson (1983, 509) suggests, that she is Ávaldr’s (prose Ávaldi; cf. ÍF 8, 147 n.) sole heir and so an especially desirable prize.

dóttur ‘daughter’

(not checked:)
dóttir (noun f.; °dóttur, dat. dóttur/dǿtr/dóttir, acc. dóttur/dóttir, nom. dóttir/dóttur; dǿtr, gen. dǿtra (cf. [$1592$])): daughter < eingadóttir (noun f.): °only daughter; own (beloved) daughter

kennings

eingadóttur Ónars,
‘the only daughter of Ónarr, ’
= Jǫrð (jǫrð ‘earth’)
the only daughter of Ónarr, → Jǫrð (jǫrð ‘earth’)

notes

[3] eingadóttur ‘the only daughter’: Hallfreðr calls his beloved Kolfinna eingadóttir Ávalds ‘only daughter of Ávaldr’ (Hfr Lv 2/3-4^V (Hallfr 3)), perhaps implying, as Davidson (1983, 509) suggests, that she is Ávaldr’s (prose Ávaldi; cf. ÍF 8, 147 n.) sole heir and so an especially desirable prize.

Ónars ‘of Ónarr’

(not checked:)
Ónarr (noun m.): Ónarr

[4] Ónars: Ánars Tˣ(27r), Tˣ(38r), ‘anas’ U(29v), annars B

kennings

eingadóttur Ónars,
‘the only daughter of Ónarr, ’
= Jǫrð (jǫrð ‘earth’)
the only daughter of Ónarr, → Jǫrð (jǫrð ‘earth’)

notes

[4] Ónars ‘of Ónarr <giant>’: The name Ónarr (or Ánarr, Annarr, cf. ms readings; see Note to Þul Dverga 3/6, AEW: Ónarr and SnE 2005, 163 for word forms and etymology) appears in several earth-kennings. He is said in Gylf (SnE 2005, 13) to be the second husband of Nótt, perhaps owing to association of his name with the ordinal annarr ‘second’, and father of Jǫrð; a figure of the same name appears in lists of dwarfs (Vsp 11; Þul Dverga 3/6). Frank (2007, 180 n. 23) suggests that Ónarr is an Óðinn-name (although this is not stated in SnE as she implies), as Jǫrð is described in kennings both as Ónarr’s daughter and as his wife, and Gylf (SnE 2005, 13) says of Óðinn, Jǫrðin var dóttir hans ok kona hans ‘The earth was his [Óðinn’s] daughter and his wife’; see the Note to Gsind Hákdr 5/1, 2-3^I for an alternative explanation.

viði ‘with forest’

(not checked:)
1. viðr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. -i/-; -ir, acc. -u/-i): wood, tree

[4] viði: vini R(36v), viðr U(29v)

notes

[4] gróna viði ‘grown with forest’: The image of Jǫrð’s hair as vegetation also occurs in st. 5/3-4, and (in a line very similar to the present stanza’s l. 4) in Gsind Hákdr 5/3^I, a poem for Hákon góði ‘the Good’ Haraldsson.

gróna ‘grown’

(not checked:)
2. gróa (verb): grow

[4] gróna: om. Tˣ(27r), græna Tˣ(38r), U(29v), ‘gra[…]a’ B, ‘granna’ 744ˣ

notes

[4] gróna viði ‘grown with forest’: The image of Jǫrð’s hair as vegetation also occurs in st. 5/3-4, and (in a line very similar to the present stanza’s l. 4) in Gsind Hákdr 5/3^I, a poem for Hákon góði ‘the Good’ Haraldsson.

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

This helmingr is quoted twice in Skm, the first time in a series of six citations exemplifying kennings for ‘earth’ (jǫrð), and the second as an example of the ruler-kenning spjalli konungs ‘king’s intimate’.

log in home page info previous up a level next archive and create persistent link on archive.org

© Skaldic Project Academic Body and Brepols, unless otherwise noted. Database structure and interface developed by Tarrin Wills. All users of material on this database are reminded that its content may be either subject to copyright restrictions or is the property of the custodians of linked databases that have given permission for members of the skaldic project to use their material for research purposes. Those users who have been given access to as yet unpublished material are further reminded that they may not use, publish or otherwise manipulate such material except with the express permission of the individual editor of the material in question and the General Editor of the volume in which the material is to be published. Applications for permission to use such material should be made in the first instance to the General Editor of the volume in question. All information that appears in the published volumes has been thoroughly reviewed. If you believe some information here is incorrect please contact Tarrin Wills with full details.

Close

Stanza/chapter/text segment

Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.

Information tab

text: if the stanza has been published, the edited text of the stanza and translation are here; if it hasn't been published an old edition (usually Skj) is given for reference
sources: a list of the manuscripts or inscriptions containing this stanza, with page and line references and links (eye button) to images where available, and transcription where available
readings: a list of variant manuscript readings of words in the main text
editions and texts: a list of editions of the stanza with links to the bibliography; and a list of prose works in which the stanza occurs, allowing you to navigate within the prose context
notes and context: notes not linked to individual words are given here, along with the account of the prose context for the stanza, where relevant

Interactive tab

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.

Full text tab

This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.

Chapter/text segment

This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.