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Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Hfr Hákdr 4III

Kate Heslop (ed.) 2017, ‘Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld Óttarsson, Hákonardrápa 4’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 219.

Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld ÓttarssonHákonardrápa
345

Grams ‘prince’s’

(not checked:)
1. gramr (noun m.): ruler

[1] Grams: gramr U

kennings

Gunnríkr rúni grams,
‘The battle-powerful prince’s confidant, ’
   = RULER

The battle-powerful prince’s confidant, → RULER
Close

rúni ‘confidant’

(not checked:)
rúni (noun m.; °; -ar): confidant

kennings

Gunnríkr rúni grams,
‘The battle-powerful prince’s confidant, ’
   = RULER

The battle-powerful prince’s confidant, → RULER
Close

lætr ‘makes’

(not checked:)
láta (verb): let, have sth done

notes

[1, 4] lætr … glymja of sik ‘makes … ring around him’: This could refer to the mail-shirt jangling when it is put on (so Skj B; SnE 1998, II, 290-1), or when blows are struck against it in battle (so Ohlmarks 1958, 248; Davidson 1983). Alternatively, Marold (2005a, 110-18) suggests that this phrase refers to a specific episode in the battle of Hjǫrungavágr (Liavågen) also described in Tindr Hákdr 1I and 3I, when Hákon’s mail-shirt becomes so badly damaged in the course of the battle that he discards it. Especially given the other echoes of Tindr’s poem in Hfr Hákdr, this is an attractive interpretation, but as parallels can be found for all three motifs, the Translation aims to leave all possibilities open.

Close

glymja ‘ring’

(not checked:)
glymja (verb): resound

notes

[1, 4] lætr … glymja of sik ‘makes … ring around him’: This could refer to the mail-shirt jangling when it is put on (so Skj B; SnE 1998, II, 290-1), or when blows are struck against it in battle (so Ohlmarks 1958, 248; Davidson 1983). Alternatively, Marold (2005a, 110-18) suggests that this phrase refers to a specific episode in the battle of Hjǫrungavágr (Liavågen) also described in Tindr Hákdr 1I and 3I, when Hákon’s mail-shirt becomes so badly damaged in the course of the battle that he discards it. Especially given the other echoes of Tindr’s poem in Hfr Hákdr, this is an attractive interpretation, but as parallels can be found for all three motifs, the Translation aims to leave all possibilities open.

Close

gunn ‘The battle’

(not checked:)
gunnr (noun f.): battle < gunnríkr (adj.)

kennings

Gunnríkr rúni grams,
‘The battle-powerful prince’s confidant, ’
   = RULER

The battle-powerful prince’s confidant, → RULER
Close

ríkr ‘powerful’

(not checked:)
ríkr (adj.): mighty, powerful, rich < gunnríkr (adj.)

[2] ‑ríkr: líkr U

kennings

Gunnríkr rúni grams,
‘The battle-powerful prince’s confidant, ’
   = RULER

The battle-powerful prince’s confidant, → RULER
Close

hinns ‘the one who’

(not checked:)
2. er (conj.): who, which, when

[2] hinns (‘hinn er’): sá er U

Close

hvǫt ‘boldness’

(not checked:)
hvǫt (noun f.; °; dat. -um): boldness

Close

líkar ‘likes’

(not checked:)
4. líka (verb): please

Close

Hǫgna ‘of Hǫgni’

(not checked:)
Hǫgni (noun m.): [Hǫgni, Högni]

[3] Hǫgna: ‘havgnar’ U

kennings

váðir Hǫgna,
‘the clothes of Hǫgni, ’
   = MAIL-SHIRT

the clothes of Hǫgni, → MAIL-SHIRT
Close

slegnar ‘pounded’

(not checked:)
2. slá (verb): strike, cut

Close

heiptbráðr ‘quick to enmity’

(not checked:)
heiftbráðr (adj.): quick-tempered

Close

of ‘around’

(not checked:)
3. of (prep.): around, from; too

[4] of: und U

notes

[1, 4] lætr … glymja of sik ‘makes … ring around him’: This could refer to the mail-shirt jangling when it is put on (so Skj B; SnE 1998, II, 290-1), or when blows are struck against it in battle (so Ohlmarks 1958, 248; Davidson 1983). Alternatively, Marold (2005a, 110-18) suggests that this phrase refers to a specific episode in the battle of Hjǫrungavágr (Liavågen) also described in Tindr Hákdr 1I and 3I, when Hákon’s mail-shirt becomes so badly damaged in the course of the battle that he discards it. Especially given the other echoes of Tindr’s poem in Hfr Hákdr, this is an attractive interpretation, but as parallels can be found for all three motifs, the Translation aims to leave all possibilities open.

Close

sik ‘him’

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

notes

[1, 4] lætr … glymja of sik ‘makes … ring around him’: This could refer to the mail-shirt jangling when it is put on (so Skj B; SnE 1998, II, 290-1), or when blows are struck against it in battle (so Ohlmarks 1958, 248; Davidson 1983). Alternatively, Marold (2005a, 110-18) suggests that this phrase refers to a specific episode in the battle of Hjǫrungavágr (Liavågen) also described in Tindr Hákdr 1I and 3I, when Hákon’s mail-shirt becomes so badly damaged in the course of the battle that he discards it. Especially given the other echoes of Tindr’s poem in Hfr Hákdr, this is an attractive interpretation, but as parallels can be found for all three motifs, the Translation aims to leave all possibilities open.

Close

váðir ‘the clothes’

(not checked:)
váð (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): clothes

kennings

váðir Hǫgna,
‘the clothes of Hǫgni, ’
   = MAIL-SHIRT

the clothes of Hǫgni, → MAIL-SHIRT
Close

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

Skm cites this helmingr as the first in a set of instances of ruler-kennings, here rúni grams ‘prince’s confidant’.

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