Hjǫrtr Lv 3II
Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Hjǫrtr, Lausavísur 3’ 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, p. 347.
Munat í vári vestr langskipum
hugragr of haf Haraldr fara.
Því mun lengi lafhræddr konungr
alls andvani Englands ok vegs.
Hugragr Haraldr munat fara langskipum vestr of haf í vári. Því mun lafhræddr konungr lengi andvani alls Englands ok vegs.
Cowardly-minded Haraldr will not travel on long-ships west across the sea this spring. Therefore the terror-stricken king will long be bereft of all England and of honour.
Mss: 326bˣ(23v) (Hb)
Readings: [8] vegs: ‘vex’ 326bˣ
Editions: Skj AI, 403, Skj BI, 373, Skald I, 185-6; Hb 1892-6, 332-3, Fellows Jensen 1962, 39 (Hem).
Context: King Haraldr asks Hjǫrtr whether Queen Ellisif (Elizabeth) has sent a message for him. Hjǫrtr replies that she recited the following st.
Notes: [3] hugragr ‘cowardly-minded’: Lit. ‘mind-perverse’. For the sexual implications of the second element of this cpd, see Fritzner: ragr 2 and Gade 1986 (and the bibliography cited there). See also Note to Lv 2/7 above. — [4]: Note the internal rhyme (-ar- : -ar-) which renders the l. tøglag rather than fornyrðislag. — [6] lafhræddr ‘terror-stricken’: This lit. means ‘be so afraid that the hands are dangling by the side’ (see Fritzner: lafhræddr and Note to Lv 1/6 above). — [8] vegs ‘of honour’: For the ms. spelling ‘vex’, see ANG §239.1.b.
References
- Bibliography
- Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
- 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.
- Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
- Fellows Jensen, Gillian, ed. 1962. Hemings þáttr Áslákssonar. EA B 3. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
- 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.
- Gade, Kari Ellen. 1986. ‘Homosexuality and Rape of Males in Old Norse Law and Literature’. In Early Law and Society, ed. Carol J. Clover, 124-41. SS, 58.
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