Hókr Eirfl 6I
Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2012, ‘Halldórr ókristni, Eiríksflokkr 6’ 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. 481.
Hét ‘called’
(not checked:)
2. heita (verb): be called, promise
á ‘on’
(not checked:)
3. á (prep.): on, at
heiptar ‘battle’
(not checked:)
heift (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): hatred, enmity < heiftarnýtr (adj.)
neyta ‘’
(not checked:)
neyta (verb): use, enjoy
nýta ‘worthy’
(not checked:)
nýtr (adj.; °compar. -ri, superl. nýztr/nýtastr): useful, able < heiftarnýtr (adj.)
[1] ‑nýta: neyta Bb
hug ‘The glad’
(not checked:)
hugr (noun m.): mind, thought, courage < hugreifr (adj.): glad-hearted
reifr ‘hearted’
(not checked:)
2. reifr (adj.): happy < hugreifr (adj.): glad-hearted
[2] ‑reifr: ‘reif[…]’ 325VIII 1
Ôleifi ‘Óláfr’
(not checked:)
Óláfr (noun m.): Óláfr
aptr ‘aft’
(not checked:)
aptr (adv.; °compar. -ar): back
hneig ‘’
(not checked:)
hníga (verb): sink, fall
hné ‘’
(not checked:)
hníga (verb): sink, fall
stauk ‘’
(not checked:)
1. støkkva (verb): (str.) leap, spring; scatter
stǫkk ‘sprang’
(not checked:)
1. støkkva (verb): (str.) leap, spring; scatter
[3] stǫkk: ‘stauk’ J1ˣ, ‘hné’ 310, hneig 4‑7
þjóð ‘men’
(not checked:)
þjóð (noun f.; °-ar, dat. -/-u; -ir): people
á ‘’
(not checked:)
3. á (prep.): on, at
þoptur ‘the rowing-benches’
(not checked:)
þofta (noun f.; °-u; -ur): thwart, rowing-bench
þengill ‘ruler [Eiríkr]’
(not checked:)
þengill (noun m.): prince, ruler
sína ‘his’
(not checked:)
3. sinn (pron.; °f. sín, n. sitt): (refl. poss. pron.)
[4] sína: ‘[…]’ 325VIII 1
drengi ‘warriors’
(not checked:)
drengr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -; -ir, gen. -ja): man, warrior
þás ‘when’
(not checked:)
þás (conj.): when
haf ‘of the ocean’
(not checked:)
haf (noun n.; °-s; *-): sea < hafviti (noun m.)haf (noun n.; °-s; *-): sea < hafurta (noun f.)
kennings
hallands hafvita‘of the diminisher of the ocean-beacon ’
= GENEROUS MAN = Eiríkr
the ocean-beacon → GOLD
the diminisher of the GOLD → GENEROUS MAN = Eiríkr
notes
[5, 6] hallands hafvita ‘of the diminisher of the ocean-beacon [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN = Eiríkr]’: This kenning is problematic. Hafvita ‘of the ocean-beacon’ (l. 5) can only be a kenning for ‘gold’ functioning as the determinant of a another kenning (or qualifying another noun), and the only apparent candidate for a base-word is hallands (l. 6), a word that can either denote the (then) Danish district of Halland or mean ‘of the rocky, mountainous land’. (a) Finnur Jónsson (Skj B; following Konráð Gíslason 1892, 144) emends to hallendr (m. nom. pl.), a nomen agentis from the verb halla ‘pour out, lean to one side’ (see LP: halla), which he construes as the subject of hǫfðu ‘had’ (l. 5). Kock (Skald) adopts that emendation, but argues (NN §1975) that hallendr is used in the more general sense ‘diminishers’ (-förminskare). (b) Because all mss have a form of this word that ends in a gen. sg. ‑s, Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson (ÍF 26; followed by ÍF 29 and, tentatively, the present edn), takes hallands as the gen. sg. of the agent noun hallandi (cf. the pl. hallendr above). The usual gen. sg. form of that noun is hallanda, but forms ending in ‑nds are attested in compounds (see ANG §422 Anm. 4). (c) Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson also suggests tentatively that hallands could mean ‘of the rocky land [NORWAY]’ which could qualify gram ‘lord’ (l. 6) and refer to Óláfr as king of Norway. If so, the gold-kenning hafvita ‘of the ocean-beacon’ can only be construed with skeiðum ‘with warships’ (l. 8), i.e. skeiðum hafvita ‘with warships of gold’, but that interpretation is at best tenuous.
haf ‘of the ocean’
(not checked:)
haf (noun n.; °-s; *-): sea < hafviti (noun m.)haf (noun n.; °-s; *-): sea < hafurta (noun f.)
kennings
hallands hafvita‘of the diminisher of the ocean-beacon ’
= GENEROUS MAN = Eiríkr
the ocean-beacon → GOLD
the diminisher of the GOLD → GENEROUS MAN = Eiríkr
notes
[5, 6] hallands hafvita ‘of the diminisher of the ocean-beacon [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN = Eiríkr]’: This kenning is problematic. Hafvita ‘of the ocean-beacon’ (l. 5) can only be a kenning for ‘gold’ functioning as the determinant of a another kenning (or qualifying another noun), and the only apparent candidate for a base-word is hallands (l. 6), a word that can either denote the (then) Danish district of Halland or mean ‘of the rocky, mountainous land’. (a) Finnur Jónsson (Skj B; following Konráð Gíslason 1892, 144) emends to hallendr (m. nom. pl.), a nomen agentis from the verb halla ‘pour out, lean to one side’ (see LP: halla), which he construes as the subject of hǫfðu ‘had’ (l. 5). Kock (Skald) adopts that emendation, but argues (NN §1975) that hallendr is used in the more general sense ‘diminishers’ (-förminskare). (b) Because all mss have a form of this word that ends in a gen. sg. ‑s, Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson (ÍF 26; followed by ÍF 29 and, tentatively, the present edn), takes hallands as the gen. sg. of the agent noun hallandi (cf. the pl. hallendr above). The usual gen. sg. form of that noun is hallanda, but forms ending in ‑nds are attested in compounds (see ANG §422 Anm. 4). (c) Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson also suggests tentatively that hallands could mean ‘of the rocky land [NORWAY]’ which could qualify gram ‘lord’ (l. 6) and refer to Óláfr as king of Norway. If so, the gold-kenning hafvita ‘of the ocean-beacon’ can only be construed with skeiðum ‘with warships’ (l. 8), i.e. skeiðum hafvita ‘with warships of gold’, but that interpretation is at best tenuous.
urta ‘’
(not checked:)
urta (noun f.) < hafurta (noun f.)
vita ‘beacon’
(not checked:)
viti (noun m.; °-a; -ar): beacon, marker < hafviti (noun m.)
[5] ‑vita: ‘‑urta’ 54, ‘‑vrta’ Bb
kennings
hallands hafvita‘of the diminisher of the ocean-beacon ’
= GENEROUS MAN = Eiríkr
the ocean-beacon → GOLD
the diminisher of the GOLD → GENEROUS MAN = Eiríkr
notes
[5, 6] hallands hafvita ‘of the diminisher of the ocean-beacon [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN = Eiríkr]’: This kenning is problematic. Hafvita ‘of the ocean-beacon’ (l. 5) can only be a kenning for ‘gold’ functioning as the determinant of a another kenning (or qualifying another noun), and the only apparent candidate for a base-word is hallands (l. 6), a word that can either denote the (then) Danish district of Halland or mean ‘of the rocky, mountainous land’. (a) Finnur Jónsson (Skj B; following Konráð Gíslason 1892, 144) emends to hallendr (m. nom. pl.), a nomen agentis from the verb halla ‘pour out, lean to one side’ (see LP: halla), which he construes as the subject of hǫfðu ‘had’ (l. 5). Kock (Skald) adopts that emendation, but argues (NN §1975) that hallendr is used in the more general sense ‘diminishers’ (-förminskare). (b) Because all mss have a form of this word that ends in a gen. sg. ‑s, Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson (ÍF 26; followed by ÍF 29 and, tentatively, the present edn), takes hallands as the gen. sg. of the agent noun hallandi (cf. the pl. hallendr above). The usual gen. sg. form of that noun is hallanda, but forms ending in ‑nds are attested in compounds (see ANG §422 Anm. 4). (c) Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson also suggests tentatively that hallands could mean ‘of the rocky land [NORWAY]’ which could qualify gram ‘lord’ (l. 6) and refer to Óláfr as king of Norway. If so, the gold-kenning hafvita ‘of the ocean-beacon’ can only be construed with skeiðum ‘with warships’ (l. 8), i.e. skeiðum hafvita ‘with warships of gold’, but that interpretation is at best tenuous.
vita ‘beacon’
(not checked:)
viti (noun m.; °-a; -ar): beacon, marker < hafviti (noun m.)
[5] ‑vita: ‘‑urta’ 54, ‘‑vrta’ Bb
kennings
hallands hafvita‘of the diminisher of the ocean-beacon ’
= GENEROUS MAN = Eiríkr
the ocean-beacon → GOLD
the diminisher of the GOLD → GENEROUS MAN = Eiríkr
notes
[5, 6] hallands hafvita ‘of the diminisher of the ocean-beacon [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN = Eiríkr]’: This kenning is problematic. Hafvita ‘of the ocean-beacon’ (l. 5) can only be a kenning for ‘gold’ functioning as the determinant of a another kenning (or qualifying another noun), and the only apparent candidate for a base-word is hallands (l. 6), a word that can either denote the (then) Danish district of Halland or mean ‘of the rocky, mountainous land’. (a) Finnur Jónsson (Skj B; following Konráð Gíslason 1892, 144) emends to hallendr (m. nom. pl.), a nomen agentis from the verb halla ‘pour out, lean to one side’ (see LP: halla), which he construes as the subject of hǫfðu ‘had’ (l. 5). Kock (Skald) adopts that emendation, but argues (NN §1975) that hallendr is used in the more general sense ‘diminishers’ (-förminskare). (b) Because all mss have a form of this word that ends in a gen. sg. ‑s, Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson (ÍF 26; followed by ÍF 29 and, tentatively, the present edn), takes hallands as the gen. sg. of the agent noun hallandi (cf. the pl. hallendr above). The usual gen. sg. form of that noun is hallanda, but forms ending in ‑nds are attested in compounds (see ANG §422 Anm. 4). (c) Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson also suggests tentatively that hallands could mean ‘of the rocky land [NORWAY]’ which could qualify gram ‘lord’ (l. 6) and refer to Óláfr as king of Norway. If so, the gold-kenning hafvita ‘of the ocean-beacon’ can only be construed with skeiðum ‘with warships’ (l. 8), i.e. skeiðum hafvita ‘with warships of gold’, but that interpretation is at best tenuous.
hǫfðu ‘they had’
(not checked:)
hafa (verb): have
hallz ‘’
halldz ‘’
(not checked:)
hald (noun n.; °-s; *-): support
lands ‘’
(not checked:)
land (noun n.; °-s; *-): land
hall ‘’
(not checked:)
1. hallr (noun m.): skree hill
hallands ‘of the diminisher’
(not checked:)
hallandi (noun m.): [diminisher]
[6] hallands: hall lands F, ‘hallz’ J2ˣ, ‘halldz’ 325VIII 1
kennings
hallands hafvita‘of the diminisher of the ocean-beacon ’
= GENEROUS MAN = Eiríkr
the ocean-beacon → GOLD
the diminisher of the GOLD → GENEROUS MAN = Eiríkr
notes
[5, 6] hallands hafvita ‘of the diminisher of the ocean-beacon [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN = Eiríkr]’: This kenning is problematic. Hafvita ‘of the ocean-beacon’ (l. 5) can only be a kenning for ‘gold’ functioning as the determinant of a another kenning (or qualifying another noun), and the only apparent candidate for a base-word is hallands (l. 6), a word that can either denote the (then) Danish district of Halland or mean ‘of the rocky, mountainous land’. (a) Finnur Jónsson (Skj B; following Konráð Gíslason 1892, 144) emends to hallendr (m. nom. pl.), a nomen agentis from the verb halla ‘pour out, lean to one side’ (see LP: halla), which he construes as the subject of hǫfðu ‘had’ (l. 5). Kock (Skald) adopts that emendation, but argues (NN §1975) that hallendr is used in the more general sense ‘diminishers’ (-förminskare). (b) Because all mss have a form of this word that ends in a gen. sg. ‑s, Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson (ÍF 26; followed by ÍF 29 and, tentatively, the present edn), takes hallands as the gen. sg. of the agent noun hallandi (cf. the pl. hallendr above). The usual gen. sg. form of that noun is hallanda, but forms ending in ‑nds are attested in compounds (see ANG §422 Anm. 4). (c) Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson also suggests tentatively that hallands could mean ‘of the rocky land [NORWAY]’ which could qualify gram ‘lord’ (l. 6) and refer to Óláfr as king of Norway. If so, the gold-kenning hafvita ‘of the ocean-beacon’ can only be construed with skeiðum ‘with warships’ (l. 8), i.e. skeiðum hafvita ‘with warships of gold’, but that interpretation is at best tenuous.
of ‘around’
(not checked:)
3. of (prep.): around, from; too
gram ‘lord [Óláfr]’
(not checked:)
1. gramr (noun m.): ruler
snjallan ‘the valiant’
(not checked:)
snjallr (adj.): quick, resourceful, bold
[6] snjallan: ‘[…]an’ 325VIII 1
varð ‘took place’
(not checked:)
1. verða (verb): become, be
of ‘’
(not checked:)
3. of (prep.): around, from; too
af ‘’
(not checked:)
af (prep.): from
um ‘’
(not checked:)
1. um (prep.): about, around
fyr ‘before’
(not checked:)
fyr (prep.): for, over, because of, etc.
[7] fyr: af Holm18, of 310, um FskAˣ, 4‑7
Vinða ‘of Wends’
(not checked:)
Vinðr (noun m.; °; vinðr/-ir): the Wends
kennings
myrði Vinða.‘the murderer of Wends. ’
= Eiríkr
the murderer of Wends. → Eiríkr
myrði ‘the murderer’
(not checked:)
myrðir (noun m.): killer
kennings
myrði Vinða.‘the murderer of Wends. ’
= Eiríkr
the murderer of Wends. → Eiríkr
vápn ‘a weapon’
(not checked:)
vápn (noun n.; °-s; -): weapon < vápneiðr (noun m.)
kennings
vápneiðr‘a weapon-oath ’
= BATTLE
a weapon-oath → BATTLE
notes
[8] vápneiðr ‘a weapon-oath [BATTLE]’: This is a somewhat untraditional kenning for ‘battle’ but, as Kock (NN §1976) points out, words denoting ‘speech, song’ etc. do occur as base-words in battle-kennings (see, e.g., senna fráns leggbita ‘the flyting of the glittering leg-biter’, st. 4/6, 7 above, and senna vápna ‘the flyting of weapons’, Hfr ErfÓl 3/2). Skj B adopts the FskAˣ variant vápnreið ‘weapon-motion [BATTLE]’.
reið ‘’
(not checked:)
4. reiðr (adj.; °superl. -astr): angry
eiðr ‘oath’
(not checked:)
eiðr (noun m.; °-s/-ar, dat. -i/-: -ar): oath < vápneiðr (noun m.)
[8] ‑eiðr: ‘eirðr’ Holm18, reið FskAˣ
kennings
vápneiðr‘a weapon-oath ’
= BATTLE
a weapon-oath → BATTLE
notes
[8] vápneiðr ‘a weapon-oath [BATTLE]’: This is a somewhat untraditional kenning for ‘battle’ but, as Kock (NN §1976) points out, words denoting ‘speech, song’ etc. do occur as base-words in battle-kennings (see, e.g., senna fráns leggbita ‘the flyting of the glittering leg-biter’, st. 4/6, 7 above, and senna vápna ‘the flyting of weapons’, Hfr ErfÓl 3/2). Skj B adopts the FskAˣ variant vápnreið ‘weapon-motion [BATTLE]’.
lokit ‘enclosed’
(not checked:)
1. lúka (verb): end, close
skeiðum ‘the warships’
(not checked:)
1. skeið (noun f.; °-ar; -r/-ar/-ir): ship
[8] skeiðum: ‘ske[…]’ 325VIII 1
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
|
Hét á heiptarnýta |
The glad-hearted ruler [Eiríkr] called on his battle-worthy warriors — men sprang aft across the rowing-benches with Óláfr —, when they had enclosed the warships of the diminisher of the ocean-beacon [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN = Eiríkr] around the valiant lord [Óláfr]; a weapon-oath [BATTLE] took place before the murderer of Wends [= Eiríkr].
According to Hkr and ÓT, so many men have fallen on board Ormr inn langi that the ship is almost empty, and Eiríkr jarl’s men begin to board it. The remaining defenders retreat towards the stern of the ship where Óláfr is standing. The stanza is cited for its description of Eiríkr urging his men on. The narrative is briefer in Fsk and ÓTOdd: Óláfr’s men have retreated to the raised after-deck (lypting) of the ship, and Eiríkr’s men board and attack Óláfr from all sides.
[2]: The line recalls Hfr ErfÓl 27/2 hugreifum Ôleifi. — [7]: This line recalls both Eskál Vell 23/1 Varð fyr Vinða myrði and Hfr ErfÓl 7/1 varð of Vinða myrði. As in the latter poem, it is not quite clear whether myrði Vinða ‘the murderer of Wends’ refers to Óláfr or Eiríkr (see Note to Hfr ErfÓl 7/1). Von See (1977a, 116) argues that Halldórr could well have used the kenning consciously to eulogise Eiríkr by comparing him to his father Hákon (see Introduction above), and that interpretation has been adopted in the present edn.
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.