Anon Krm 1^VIII

Rory McTurk (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Poems, Krákumál 1’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 717.

introduction

The speaker of the poem, readily identifiable as the legendary viking hero Ragnarr loðbrók, first states that he came to be known as Loðbrók ‘Hairy-breeches’ as a result of slaying a serpent in Gautland (Götaland) and so winning his first wife Þóra in marriage. He then goes on to describe battles in which he has fought on the continent of Europe, mainly but not exclusively (sts 3, 10) in the Scandinavian and Baltic areas, and on one occasion (st. 6) in the Farne Islands, off the north-east coast of England.

text and translation

notes and context

[1]: This line functions as a refrain in Krm, occurring as the first line in every stanza of the poem except the final one, st. 29, and alliterating with l. 2 of each of those stanzas in which it occurs. It shows skothending (on ‑ér and ‑ǫr-). On the pl. vér ‘we’, see the Introduction. — [2-10]: These lines refer to the winning in marriage of Þóra, the daughter of a jarl in Götaland, by the legendary Danish viking Ragnarr, as a result of his slaying a serpent and in doing so wearing hairy trousers for protection, so that he acquired the nickname loðbrók ‘Hairy-breeches’. The other main versions of the story are found in Book IX of Saxo’s Gesta Danorum (Saxo 2015, I, ix. 4. 4-8, pp. 634-7), in the two surviving redactions of Ragn (Ragn 1906-8, 116-21, 176-7), and in RagnSon, preserved in Hb (Hb 1892-6, 458-9); see further McTurk (1991a, 71-82). Although the pers. n. Ragnarr is not mentioned in Krm, it may be assumed that behind the poem lies an awareness of the application of loðbrók to Ragnarr as a nickname, and that the legendary figure Ragnarr loðbrók is meant to be understood as the speaker of the poem. — [6-8]: The present edn follows Kock (NN §2817; Skald) and others in regarding the phrase at því vígi ‘in that fight’ as belonging adverbially with the clause þá er ek lagða(k) lyngölun ‘when I stabbed the heather-fish [SNAKE] to death’. Finnur Jónsson (1893b; 1905; Skj B) takes it with Fyrðar hétu mik Loðbrók ‘people have called me Loðbrók (“Hairy-breeches”)’. — [9-10]: In 147 (108v, l. 1) these lines (apart from the final word of l. 10) appear in abbreviated form between sts 13 and 14; see Ragn 1906-8, and Note to [All] in each of those two stanzas. Line 9 (apart from its final word) also appears in 147 (108v, l. 15), interrupting st. 20/7; see the first Note to that line. The first two words of l. 9, stakk ek ‘I thrust’, also appear in abbreviated form in 147 (108v, l. 25) between sts 22 and 23; see st. 23 Note to [All]. — [9-10]: This couplet is one of the nine final couplets in Krm that show regular skothending and aðalhending in ll. 9 and 10 respectively, the others being the final couplets of sts 2-4, 7, 12, 15-17; see Introduction. — [10]: This line is paralleled in RvHbreiðm Hl 66/1, 4^III lét … bráðmôl stála lituð sveita ‘caused … welded patterns of swords to be coloured with blood’; cf. de Vries (1938, 722 n. 78).

readings

• [1] Hjuggu: Hjuggum 6ˣ, R693ˣ, ‘hiuggur’ LR
• [1] með: ‘met’ 6ˣ
• [2] var: ‘væ’ R702ˣ
• [2] ei: ‘æi’ with ei above line R702ˣ, ‘aei’ LR, ‘æi’ R693ˣ
• [3] gengum: so all others, gengu 1824b
• [4] grafvitnis: so 6ˣ, R702ˣ, R693ˣ, ‘grauítnis’ 1824b, ‘graf vitins’ LR
• [5] fengu: fengum R702ˣ, LR, R693ˣ
• [6] fyrðar: ‘firdar’ LR, R693ˣ
• [7] lyngölun (‘lyngaulun’): so R702ˣ, ‘lungolun’ 1824b, ‘lyngaal vm’ 6ˣ, ‘lingaulum’ LR, ‘lingauluin’ R693ˣ
• [8] Loðbrók (‘Lodbrok’): so all others, ‘lodbork’ 1824b
• [8] vígi: so all others, ‘vig.’ 1824b
• [9] storðar: ‘storear’ LR
• [9] lykkju: ‘lyckiu’ 147, R693ˣ, ‘lykiu’ LR
• [10] stáli bjartra: ‘stali biar(t)’(?) 147

sources

Text is based on reconstruction from the base text and variant apparatus and may contain alternative spellings and other normalisations not visible in the manuscript text. Transcriptions may not have been checked and should not be cited.

• NKS 1824 b 4° (1824b) — 79r - 79r

  Hjuggu vér með hjörvi.
  Hitt var ei fyr löngu,
  er á Gautlandi gengu
  at †grauítnis† morði.
  Þá fengu vér Þóru;
  þaðan hétu mik fyrðar,
  þá er ek †lungolun† lagðak,
  †lodbork†, at því †vig.†.
  Stakk ek á storðar lykkju
  stáli bjartra mála.

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• AM 147 4° (147) — 108v/9 - 108v/10 [9-10]

  Hjuggu vér með hjörvi.
  Hitt var ei fyr löngu,
  er á Gautlandi gengum
  at grafvitnis morði.
  Þá fengu vér Þóru;
  þaðan hétu mik fyrðar,
  þá er ek lyngölun lagðak,
  Loðbrók, at því vígi.
  Stakk ek á storðar †lyckiu†
  †stali biar(t)† mála.

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• AM 6 folx (6x) — 86r/1 - 86r/10

  Hjuggum vér †met† hjörvi.
  Hitt var ei fyr löngu,
  er á Gautlandi gengum
  at grafvitnis morði.
  Þá fengu vér Þóru;
  þaðan hétu mik fyrðar,
  þá er ek †lyngaal vm† lagðak,
  Loðbrók, at því vígi.
  Stakk ek á storðar lykkju
  stáli bjartra mála.

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• UppsUB R 702x (R702x) — 29r - 29r

  Hjuggu vér með hjörvi.
  Hitt †væ æi† fyr löngu,
  er á Gautlandi gengum
  at grafvitnis morði.
  Þá fengum vér Þóru;
  þaðan hétu mik fyrðar,
  þá er ek lyngölun lagðak,
  Loðbrók, at því vígi.
  Stakk ek á storðar lykkju
  stáli bjartra mála.

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• Worm 1636 (LR) — 197 - 197

  †hiuggur† vér með hjörvi.
  Hitt var †aei† fyr löngu,
  er á Gautlandi gengum
  at †graf vitins† morði.
  Þá fengum vér Þóru;
  þaðan hétu mik †firdar†,
  þá er ek †lingaulum† lagðak,
  Loðbrók, at því vígi.
  Stakk ek á †storear lykiu†
  stáli bjartra mála.

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• UppsUB R 693x (R693x) — 4v - 4v

  Hjuggum vér með hjörvi.
  Hitt var †æi† fyr löngu,
  er á Gautlandi gengum
  at grafvitnis morði.
  Þá fengum vér Þóru;
  þaðan hétu mik †firdar†,
  þá er ek †lingauluin† lagðak,
  Loðbrók, at því vígi.
  Stakk ek á storðar †lyckiu†
  stáli bjartra mála.

editions and texts