Cookies on our website

We use cookies on this website, mainly to provide a secure browsing experience but also to collect statistics on how the website is used. You can find out more about the cookies we set, the information we store and how we use it on the cookies page.

Continue

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

Menu Search

Close

Mark Eirdr 19^II

Jayne Carroll (ed.) 2009, ‘Markús Skeggjason, Eiríksdrápa 19’ 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. 448-9.

Markús Skeggjason Eiríksdrápa

Heiðinn ‘The heathen’

(not checked:)
heiðinn (adj.): heathen

[1] Heiðinn: heiðnum 180b

notes

[1, 2] heiðinn herr hǫmlu vígs ‘the heathen host of the staff of battle [SPEAR]’: I.e., a troop armed with spears. So Skald, ÍF 35. For an alternative interpretation, see Note to l. 4 below.

vildi ‘wished’

(not checked:)
vilja (verb): want, intend

notes

[1] vildi ‘wished [to escape]’: Here, as is common in both prose and poetry, vilja is used elliptically, with the inf. verb of motion understood (and conveyed, in part, in ór ‘out of’).

herr ‘host’

(not checked:)
herr (noun m.; °-s/-jar, dat. -; -jar, gen. -ja/herra): army, host

notes

[1, 2] heiðinn herr hǫmlu vígs ‘the heathen host of the staff of battle [SPEAR]’: I.e., a troop armed with spears. So Skald, ÍF 35. For an alternative interpretation, see Note to l. 4 below.

of ‘at’

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

[1] of síðir: ‘[…]’ 20b I

síðir ‘last’

(not checked:)
1. síð (noun f.; °; -ir): um síðir: in the end

[1] of síðir: ‘[…]’ 20b I

hǫmlu ‘of the staff’

(not checked:)
1. hamla (noun f.; °*-u; *-ur): rowing position

[2] hǫmlu vígs ór porti gǫmlu: ‘[…]’ 20b I

kennings

hǫmlu vígs
‘of the staff of battle ’
= SPEAR
the staff of battle → SPEAR

notes

[1, 2] heiðinn herr hǫmlu vígs ‘the heathen host of the staff of battle [SPEAR]’: I.e., a troop armed with spears. So Skald, ÍF 35. For an alternative interpretation, see Note to l. 4 below.

vígs ‘of battle’

(not checked:)
víg (noun n.; °-s; -): battle

[2] hǫmlu vígs ór porti gǫmlu: ‘[…]’ 20b I

kennings

hǫmlu vígs
‘of the staff of battle ’
= SPEAR
the staff of battle → SPEAR

notes

[1, 2] heiðinn herr hǫmlu vígs ‘the heathen host of the staff of battle [SPEAR]’: I.e., a troop armed with spears. So Skald, ÍF 35. For an alternative interpretation, see Note to l. 4 below.

ór ‘from’

(not checked:)
3. ór (prep.): out of

[2] hǫmlu vígs ór porti gǫmlu: ‘[…]’ 20b I

porti ‘stronghold’

(not checked:)
port (noun n.; °; -): [stronghold, town]

[2] hǫmlu vígs ór porti gǫmlu: ‘[…]’ 20b I

notes

[2] porti ‘stronghold’: Port (n.) seems here to be used in the sense ‘stronghold’, or more specifically, ‘a citadel, fortified castle by a harbour’ (see LP: port), derived from OE port (< Lat. portus ‘harbour’; see AEW: port 2). If so, it could denote the viking stronghold in Wollin (cf. Saxo 2005, II, 12, 4, 2, pp. 72-3 and Note to st. 13 [All]). In poetry, the word occurs in this meaning only here. More commonly port means ‘gate’ (see Fritzner: port), derived from OE port (< Lat. porta ‘gate, door’; see AEW: port 1).

gǫmlu ‘the old’

(not checked:)
gamall (adj.; °gamlan; compar. & superl. ellri adj.): old

[2] hǫmlu vígs ór porti gǫmlu: ‘[…]’ 20b I

urðu ‘had’

(not checked:)
1. verða (verb): become, be

[3] urðu þeir es virki vǫrðu: ‘[…]’ 20b I

þeir ‘those’

(not checked:)
1. sá (pron.; °gen. þess, dat. þeim, acc. þann; f. sú, gen. þeirrar, acc. þá; n. þat, dat. því; pl. m. þeir, f. þǽ---): that (one), those

[3] urðu þeir es virki vǫrðu: ‘[…]’ 20b I

es ‘who’

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

[3] urðu þeir es virki vǫrðu: ‘[…]’ 20b I

virki ‘the fort’

(not checked:)
virki (noun n.; °-s; -): stronghold

[3] urðu þeir es virki vǫrðu: ‘[…]’ 20b I

vǫrðu ‘defended’

(not checked:)
1. verða (verb): become, be

[3] urðu þeir es virki vǫrðu: ‘[…]’ 20b I

vangi ‘the plain’

(not checked:)
1. vangr (noun m.): field, plain

[4] vangi: vængi 180b

notes

[4] vangi ‘the plain’: In Skj B this is taken as the base-word in a kenning for ‘shield’, vangi hǫmlu vígs ‘plain of the stake of battle [SPEAR > SHIELD]’ (ll. 2, 4) which functions instrumentally with the verb phrase vǫrðu virki ‘defended the fort (with the shield)’ (l. 3). Given Markús’s apparent preference for syntactic units corresponding to single ll. or couplets, and his sparing use of tvíkennt kennings, the reading offered above (as in ÍF 35 and Skald; see NN §917) is preferable.

næst ‘nearest’

(not checked:)
nærri (adj. comp.; °superl. nǽstr): near, nearer, next

á ‘’

(not checked:)
3. á (prep.): on, at

hǫnd ‘’

(not checked:)
hǫnd (noun f.; °handar, dat. hendi; hendr (hendir StatPáll³ 752¹²)): hand

[4] hǫnd at ganga: ‘he[…]’ 20b I; hǫnd at: hendr 180b

at ‘to’

(not checked:)
5. at (nota): to (with infinitive)

[4] hǫnd at ganga: ‘he[…]’ 20b I; hǫnd at: hendr 180b

ganga ‘submit’

(not checked:)
2. ganga (verb; geng, gekk, gengu, genginn): walk, go

[4] hǫnd at ganga: ‘he[…]’ 20b I

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

As sts 14-18 above. After fierce attacks by the Danes, the Wends who had sought refuge in the strongholds submitted to Eiríkr’s army.

log in home page info previous up a level next archive and create persistent link on archive.org

© Skaldic Project Academic Body and Brepols, unless otherwise noted. Database structure and interface developed by Tarrin Wills. All users of material on this database are reminded that its content may be either subject to copyright restrictions or is the property of the custodians of linked databases that have given permission for members of the skaldic project to use their material for research purposes. Those users who have been given access to as yet unpublished material are further reminded that they may not use, publish or otherwise manipulate such material except with the express permission of the individual editor of the material in question and the General Editor of the volume in which the material is to be published. Applications for permission to use such material should be made in the first instance to the General Editor of the volume in question. All information that appears in the published volumes has been thoroughly reviewed. If you believe some information here is incorrect please contact Tarrin Wills with full details.

Close

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.