Hjǫrtr Lv 2^II

Hafr es úti        hvítr í túni;
skúmir augum,        hefr skegg mikit,
brestir klaufum,        vill bǫrn taka;
sás geitarson        gerr við erru.

Hafr es úti, hvítr í túni; skúmir augum, hefr skegg mikit, brestir klaufum, vill taka bǫrn; sás geitarson, gerr við erru.

A billy-goat is outside, white, in the yard; he grows dark in the eyes, has a huge beard, bangs his hoofs, wants to take children; he is a goat’s son, ready for a quarrel.

Mss: 326bˣ(23r) (Hb)

Editions: Skj AI, 403, Skj BI, 372, Skald I, 185; Hb 1892-6, 332, Fellows Jensen 1962, 38 (Hem).

Context: King Haraldr asks Hjǫrtr how the mission to Russian has gone, and Hjǫrtr replies with this st.

Notes: [All]: Heusler (1923, 99) identifies this st. as a nursery rhyme, and, indeed, it does resemble Skaufhalabálkur ‘Tassle-tail Bálkur’, a C14th nursery rhyme (barngælur) of forty-two sts by Svartur á Hofstöðum (Svart Skauf^VIII). See also Anon (Ldn) 3^IV. — [1] hafr ‘billy-goat’: This alludes to the bag of goat-skin filled with gold that Hjǫrtr has brought back from Russia. The bag is also referred to at the beginning of Hem in Hr and Flat, and must have been part of the original þáttr, although the sts are only preserved in the Hb version (see Fellows Jensen 1962, cix-cx, 1). — [3] skúmir ‘grows dark’: The weak verb skúma ‘grow dark’ is otherwise unattested in ON, but it is related to skúmi ‘twilight’, skúmr ‘unfriendly person’ and ModNorw. skuma, ModSwed. skymma ‘grow dark’ (see AEW: skúma). See also the nickname skúma ‘Dusky’ (Þskúm) in the Introduction to Eskál Lv 1-3^I. Finnur Jónsson suggests the conjectural translation ‘squint’ (Skj B; LP: skúma). — [7] geitarson ‘a goat’s son’: For the loss of the final -r in the nom. sg. of such compounds, see ANG §395.1. See also sonr Sýrar ‘Sýr’s son’ in Lv 1/3 above, and the implied comparison between Haraldr’s (the sow’s son’s) passivity and parsimony (see Lv 1 above) and the virility of the ‘goat’s son’ filled with gold. For possible sexual innuendos, see Notes to Mgóð Lv 1/4 and SnH Lv 11/1. See also Note to Lv 3/3 below. — [8]: The l. has internal rhyme (-err : -err-) as in tøglag.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
5. LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
6. ANG = Noreen, Adolf. 1923. Altnordische Grammatik I: Altisländische und altnorwegische Grammatik (Laut- und Flexionslehre) unter Berücksichtigung des Urnordischen. 4th edn. Halle: Niemeyer. 1st edn. 1884. 5th unrev. edn. 1970. Tübingen: Niemeyer.
7. Fellows Jensen, Gillian, ed. 1962. Hemings þáttr Áslákssonar. EA B 3. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
8. Hb 1892-6 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1892-6. Hauksbók udgiven efter de Arnamagnæanske håndskrifter no. 371, 544 og 675, 4° samt forskellige papirshåndskrifter. Copenhagen: Det kongelige nordiske oldskrift-selskab.
9. Heusler, Andreas. 1923. Die altgermanische Dichtung. Berlin-Neubabelsberg: Athenaion.
10. Internal references
11. Margaret Clunies Ross 2012, ‘ Einarr skálaglamm Helgason, Lausavísur’ 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. 330. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1182> (accessed 23 April 2024)
12. Not published: do not cite (Anon (Ldn) 3^IV)
13. Kari Ellen Gade 2017, ‘ Svartr á Hofstöðum, Skaufhala bálkr’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 948. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=3349> (accessed 23 April 2024)
14. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Magnús inn góði Óláfsson, Lausavísur 1’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 5-6.
15. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Sneglu-Halli, Lausavísur 11’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 331-2.
16. Not published: do not cite ()