Kálf Kátr 51VII
Kirsten Wolf (ed.) 2007, ‘Kálfr Hallsson, Kátrínardrápa 51’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 963-4.
Káterín ‘Catherine’
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Kátrína (noun f.): [Catherine]
við ‘in’
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2. við (prep.): with, against
óði ‘poem’
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1. óðr (noun m.): poem
mætum ‘costly’
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mætr (adj.; °compar. -ri/-ari, superl. -astr): honoured, respected
efni ‘materials’
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efni (noun n.; °-s; -): material
gless ‘Rejoice’
[2] gless: glers all
með ‘with’
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með (prep.): with
söguna ‘story’
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1. saga (noun f.; °*-u; *-ur): story, saga
Vítulus ‘Kálfur’
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Vítulus (noun m.): [Kálfur]
[3] Vítulus: ‘vitblus’ 713, ‘Vítilús’ 399a‑bˣ, ‘Víthlag’ with ‘Vítblás’ written in margin 920ˣ
notes
[3] Vítulus: Lat. word meaning ‘calf’ = Kálfr, name of the poet (cf. 49/1); Jón Þorkelsson (1888, 236) and Kock (NN §2969) draw attention to the fact that the name Vítulus vátes also appears in Völsungs rímur hins óborna and believe that Kátrínar drápa and Völsungs rímur were composed by the same poet.
gaf ‘gave’
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gefa (verb): give
honum ‘it’
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hann (pron.; °gen. hans, dat. honum; f. hon, gen. hennar, acc. hana): he, she, it, they, them...
viðarins ‘of the tree’
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1. viðr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. -i/-; -ir, acc. -u/-i): wood, tree
notes
[3] viðarins heiti ‘the name of the tree’: Sperber suggests the emendation of viðarins heiti to viðurheiti ‘nickname’, but admits that this reading causes metrical problems.
heiti ‘name’
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heiti (noun n.): name, promise
notes
[3] viðarins heiti ‘the name of the tree’: Sperber suggests the emendation of viðarins heiti to viðurheiti ‘nickname’, but admits that this reading causes metrical problems.
vátes ‘the poet’
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vates: [poet]
notes
[4] vátes ... fráter ‘poet ... monk’: Lit. ‘brother’. Neither of these Lat. words poses a problem of interpretation.
†bernit† ‘†bernit†’
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(unknown)
notes
[4] †bernit†: This word has not been convincingly explained. Jón Þorkelsson (1888, 236) thinks that bernit (which is written with the er/ir-abbreviation in all three mss) is a corruption for í bernsku ‘in childhood’, and Sperber suggests the emendation of bernit to barnið ‘the child’. Accordingly, Sperber proposes the following reconstruction of ll. 1-4: [Uni] Kátrín, við óði mætum, | efnis glers, með söguna þessa, | Vítúlús gaf honum viðurheiti | vátes, barnið, nú er fráter. The prose order would be as follows: [Uni] Kátrín með söguna þessa; barnið efnis glers, Vítúlús, er nú fráter; gaf honum viðurheiti vátes við óði mætum ‘May Catherine rejoice in this story; the child of the material from which glass is made [STONE = Hallur], Vítulus, is now a monk; he was given the nickname vátes [poet] for the great poem’.
en ‘but’
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2. en (conj.): but, and
nú ‘now’
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nú (adv.): now
er ‘is’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
hann ‘he’
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hann (pron.; °gen. hans, dat. honum; f. hon, gen. hennar, acc. hana): he, she, it, they, them...
fráter ‘monk’
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frater (noun ?): [monk]
notes
[4] vátes ... fráter ‘poet ... monk’: Lit. ‘brother’. Neither of these Lat. words poses a problem of interpretation.
Líttu ‘Look’
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líta (verb): look, see; appear
maðr ‘man’
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maðr (noun m.): man, person
á ‘at’
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3. á (prep.): on, at
letrið ‘writing’
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letr (noun n.; °letrs; letr): [writing, record]
[5] letrið: so 399a‑bˣ, 920ˣ, ‘l[...]rit’ 713
landi ‘a countryman’
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land (noun n.; °-s; *-): land
reit ‘wrote’
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rita (verb): write
segir ‘says’
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segja (verb): say, tell
óðar ‘of the poem’
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1. óðr (noun m.): poem
kennings
veitir óðar;‘the giver of the poem; ’
= POET
the giver of the poem; → POET
veitir ‘the giver’
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veitir (noun m.): giver
kennings
veitir óðar;‘the giver of the poem; ’
= POET
the giver of the poem; → POET
Laufa ‘of Laufi’
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Laufi (noun m.; °-a): Laufi
kennings
þollr Laufa,‘fir-tree of Laufi, ’
= WARRIOR
fir-tree of Laufi, → WARRIOR
þollr ‘fir-tree’
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þollr (noun m.): fir-tree
kennings
þollr Laufa,‘fir-tree of Laufi, ’
= WARRIOR
fir-tree of Laufi, → WARRIOR
í ‘in’
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í (prep.): in, into
læstu ‘closed’
briefi ‘letter’
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bréf (noun n.; °-s; -): letter
leita ‘search’
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leita (verb): seek, look for, attack
[8] leita: ‘[...]’ 713, 920ˣ, ‘(leita)’(?) 399a‑bˣ
máttu ‘you can’
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mega (verb): may, might
að ‘for’
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3. at (prep.): at, to
váru ‘our [my]’
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várr (pron.; °f. ór/vár; pl. órir/várir): our
[8] váru heiti: ‘voru he[...]’ 713, ‘váru he(iti)’(?) 399a‑bˣ, ‘v[...] öllum’ 920ˣ
heiti ‘name’
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heiti (noun n.): name, promise
[8] váru heiti: ‘voru he[...]’ 713, ‘váru he(iti)’(?) 399a‑bˣ, ‘v[...] öllum’ 920ˣ
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Rejoice, Catherine, in the poem with costly materials with this story; Kálfur the poet †bernit† gave it the name of the tree, but now he is a monk. Look, man, at this writing; a countryman wrote it, says the giver of the poem [POET]; you can search, fir-tree of Laufi <sword> [WARRIOR], for our [my] name in the closed letter.
The word ‘Amen’ is added at the end of the poem in 713 and 399a-bˣ. — [2]: Jón Þorkelsson (1888, 235) and Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) emend glers, gen. sg. of gler ‘glass’, to gless ‘rejoice’, otherwise there is no verb in ll. 1-2, assuming it is an independent cl. Kock (Skald; NN §1777) emends to gletts ‘amusement’ (which creates problems with the internal rhyme) and sees in við a form of the verb vinna ‘work, create’ the object of which is efni; accordingly, he proposes the following interpretation: Káterín, við óði mætum efni gletts með söguna þessa ‘Catherine, [create] with the great poem an amusement with this statement’. Sperber considers efni glers ‘material from which glass is made’) as an ofljóst kenning for ‘stone’ (= Hallur, the father of the poet Kálfr, see st. 1/8). — [7]: As suggested by Sperber and Finnur Jónsson (Skj B), í læstu briefi presumably refers to the obscure meaning of the first half-st. The phrase must be an Icel. calque on Lat. litterae clausae, letters close, that is, private letters, addressed to one or two individuals only and closed or folded and sealed, by contrast with letters patent, open letters or documents affixed with a royal or other seal, issued by a monarch or government.
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