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Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Hfr Hákdr 8^III

Kate Heslop (ed.) 2017, ‘Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld Óttarsson, Hákonardrápa 8’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 224.

Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld Óttarsson Hákonardrápa

Breiðleita ‘the broad-faced’

(not checked:)
breiðleitr (adj.): [broad-faced]

kennings

breiðleita brúði Báleygs
‘the broad-faced bride of Báleygr ’
= Jǫrð (jǫrð ‘earth’)
the broad-faced bride of Báleygr → Jǫrð (jǫrð ‘earth’)

notes

[1] breiðleita ‘broad-faced’: This epithet, otherwise unattested in poetry, probably suggests the expanse of Hákon’s realm (LP: breiðleitr). It seems nowhere else to be applied to a female being (ONP: breiðleitr); contra Steinsland (1991, 124) it is not used of giants, male or female. This disjunctiveness, albeit mild in comparison to the ‘hair/foliage’ epithets in sts 5 and 7, like them hints that the subject is not an ordinary human or divine woman. Frank’s (1978, 64) suggestion that Jǫrð is portrayed here as a ‘broadfaced peasant girl’ is not convincing; the stereotyped female peasants in Rþ 10 and 13, for example, are quite different, and the epithet is always used positively.

gat ‘managed’

(not checked:)
2. geta (verb): to beget, give birth to, mention, speak of; to think well of, like, love

notes

[1, 2] gat teygja ‘managed to allure’: All mss but R have the p. p. teygða ‘lured, seduced’. This is also possible and has been preferred by most eds, but inf. after geta is common and makes good sense (see Fritzner: geta v. 6; LP: 3. geta 4).

brúði ‘bride’

(not checked:)
brúðr (noun f.; °brúðar, dat. & acc. brúði; brúðir): woman, bride

kennings

breiðleita brúði Báleygs
‘the broad-faced bride of Báleygr ’
= Jǫrð (jǫrð ‘earth’)
the broad-faced bride of Báleygr → Jǫrð (jǫrð ‘earth’)

Báleygs ‘of Báleygr’

(not checked:)
Báleygr (noun m.): Báleygr

[2] Báleygs: ‘baleugs’ Tˣ

kennings

breiðleita brúði Báleygs
‘the broad-faced bride of Báleygr ’
= Jǫrð (jǫrð ‘earth’)
the broad-faced bride of Báleygr → Jǫrð (jǫrð ‘earth’)

notes

[2] Báleygs ‘of Báleygr <= Óðinn>’: Lit. ‘fiery-eyed one’ (cf. Note to Þul Óðins 6/3), a comparatively rare Óðinn-heiti.

at ‘to’

(not checked:)
3. at (prep.): at, to

sér ‘himself’

(not checked:)
sik (pron.; °gen. sín, dat. sér): (refl. pron.)

teygja ‘to allure’

(not checked:)
teygja (verb): lead, entice

[2] teygja: teygða Tˣ, W, B

notes

[1, 2] gat teygja ‘managed to allure’: All mss but R have the p. p. teygða ‘lured, seduced’. This is also possible and has been preferred by most eds, but inf. after geta is common and makes good sense (see Fritzner: geta v. 6; LP: 3. geta 4).

stefnir ‘The steerer’

(not checked:)
stefnir (noun m.): commander

[3] stefnir: ‘strefnir’ W

kennings

Stefnir Hrafna stǫðvar
‘The steerer of the Hrafnar of the harbour ’
= SEAFARER
the Hrafnar of the harbour → SHIPS
The steerer of SHIPS → SEAFARER

stǫðvar ‘of the harbour’

(not checked:)
stǫð (noun f.; °; -var): harbour

kennings

Stefnir Hrafna stǫðvar
‘The steerer of the Hrafnar of the harbour ’
= SEAFARER
the Hrafnar of the harbour → SHIPS
The steerer of SHIPS → SEAFARER

stǫðvar ‘of the harbour’

(not checked:)
stǫð (noun f.; °; -var): harbour

kennings

Stefnir Hrafna stǫðvar
‘The steerer of the Hrafnar of the harbour ’
= SEAFARER
the Hrafnar of the harbour → SHIPS
The steerer of SHIPS → SEAFARER

Hrafna ‘of the Hrafnar’

(not checked:)
Hrafn (noun m.): Hrafn

kennings

Stefnir Hrafna stǫðvar
‘The steerer of the Hrafnar of the harbour ’
= SEAFARER
the Hrafnar of the harbour → SHIPS
The steerer of SHIPS → SEAFARER

notes

[3] Hrafna ‘of the Hrafnar <legendary horses>’: Hrafn is the horse of the legendary King Áli (cf. Note to Anon Kálfv 3 [All], as well as Þul Hesta 3/2 and Anon Þorgþ I 1/1). The base-word could alternatively be hrafn ‘raven’, although ship-kennings based on birds are rare (cf. Meissner 210, 216). For another instance in which the horse-name occurs in the pl. in a kenning, see Eskál Vell 9/1, 3, 4^I and Note there.

Hrafna ‘of the Hrafnar’

(not checked:)
Hrafn (noun m.): Hrafn

kennings

Stefnir Hrafna stǫðvar
‘The steerer of the Hrafnar of the harbour ’
= SEAFARER
the Hrafnar of the harbour → SHIPS
The steerer of SHIPS → SEAFARER

notes

[3] Hrafna ‘of the Hrafnar <legendary horses>’: Hrafn is the horse of the legendary King Áli (cf. Note to Anon Kálfv 3 [All], as well as Þul Hesta 3/2 and Anon Þorgþ I 1/1). The base-word could alternatively be hrafn ‘raven’, although ship-kennings based on birds are rare (cf. Meissner 210, 216). For another instance in which the horse-name occurs in the pl. in a kenning, see Eskál Vell 9/1, 3, 4^I and Note there.

stála ‘of swords’

(not checked:)
1. stál (noun n.; °-s; -): steel, weapon, prow

kennings

ríkismôlum stála.
‘with sovereign speeches of swords. ’
= BATTLE
with sovereign speeches of swords. → BATTLE

ríkis ‘sovereign’

(not checked:)
ríki (noun n.; °-s; -): kingdom, power < ríkismál (noun n.)

[4] ríkis‑: ‘[…]íki[…]’ W, ríks at B

kennings

ríkismôlum stála.
‘with sovereign speeches of swords. ’
= BATTLE
with sovereign speeches of swords. → BATTLE

môlum ‘speeches ’

(not checked:)
1. mál (noun n.; °-s; -): speech, matter < ríkismál (noun n.)

kennings

ríkismôlum stála.
‘with sovereign speeches of swords. ’
= BATTLE
with sovereign speeches of swords. → BATTLE

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

Cited in Skm straight after st. 7, this half-stanza also exemplifies kennings for jǫrð ‘earth’, in this case brúðr Báleygs ‘bride of Báleygr’.

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