Anon Krm 1^VIII

Hjuggu ‘hewed’

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hǫggva (verb): to strike, put to death, cut, hew

[1] Hjuggu: Hjuggum 6ˣ, R693ˣ, ‘hiuggur’ LR

vér ‘We’

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vér (pron.; °gen. vár, dat./acc. oss): we, us, our

með ‘with’

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með (prep.): with

[1] með: ‘met’ 6ˣ

hjörvi ‘the sword’

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hjǫrr (noun m.): sword

Hitt ‘It’

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2. inn (art.): the

var ‘was’

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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am

[2] var: ‘væ’ R702ˣ

ei ‘not’

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3. ei (adv.): not

[2] ei: ‘æi’ with ei above line R702ˣ, ‘aei’ LR, ‘æi’ R693ˣ

notes

[2] ei fyr löngu ‘not long ago’: With many previous eds this ed. takes the mss’ ‘ei’ or ‘æi’ as the negative ei ‘not’. Wisén (1886-9) and Finnur Jónsson (1893b) have vasa, vasat ‘was not’ (for var ei ‘was not’) respectively, producing a metrically short line. The poet is here allowing the speaker to present himself as dying relatively young, in accordance with the conventions of an internationally attested heroic biographical pattern (de Vries 1963, 216; Ó Cathasaigh 1977, 2-7; McTurk 1991a, 86-9). The eds of CPB and Finnur Jónsson (1905; Skj B) read the ms. forms as æ ‘always, ever’, in the sense of ‘ever so long ago’ (so CPB), while Kock (NN §2273), who is evidently troubled by the juxtaposition of æ ‘always’ and fyr löngu ‘long ago’, emends to æfar löngu ‘exceedingly long ago’, but this is hardly justified.

fyr ‘’

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fyr (prep.): for, over, because of, etc.

notes

[2] ei fyr löngu ‘not long ago’: With many previous eds this ed. takes the mss’ ‘ei’ or ‘æi’ as the negative ei ‘not’. Wisén (1886-9) and Finnur Jónsson (1893b) have vasa, vasat ‘was not’ (for var ei ‘was not’) respectively, producing a metrically short line. The poet is here allowing the speaker to present himself as dying relatively young, in accordance with the conventions of an internationally attested heroic biographical pattern (de Vries 1963, 216; Ó Cathasaigh 1977, 2-7; McTurk 1991a, 86-9). The eds of CPB and Finnur Jónsson (1905; Skj B) read the ms. forms as æ ‘always, ever’, in the sense of ‘ever so long ago’ (so CPB), while Kock (NN §2273), who is evidently troubled by the juxtaposition of æ ‘always’ and fyr löngu ‘long ago’, emends to æfar löngu ‘exceedingly long ago’, but this is hardly justified.

löngu ‘long ago’

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langr (adj.; °compar. lengri, superl. lengstr): long

notes

[2] ei fyr löngu ‘not long ago’: With many previous eds this ed. takes the mss’ ‘ei’ or ‘æi’ as the negative ei ‘not’. Wisén (1886-9) and Finnur Jónsson (1893b) have vasa, vasat ‘was not’ (for var ei ‘was not’) respectively, producing a metrically short line. The poet is here allowing the speaker to present himself as dying relatively young, in accordance with the conventions of an internationally attested heroic biographical pattern (de Vries 1963, 216; Ó Cathasaigh 1977, 2-7; McTurk 1991a, 86-9). The eds of CPB and Finnur Jónsson (1905; Skj B) read the ms. forms as æ ‘always, ever’, in the sense of ‘ever so long ago’ (so CPB), while Kock (NN §2273), who is evidently troubled by the juxtaposition of æ ‘always’ and fyr löngu ‘long ago’, emends to æfar löngu ‘exceedingly long ago’, but this is hardly justified.

er ‘when’

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2. er (conj.): who, which, when

á ‘in’

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3. á (prep.): on, at

Gautlandi ‘Götaland’

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Gautland (noun n.): [Götaland]

gengum ‘we set about’

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2. ganga (verb; geng, gekk, gengu, genginn): walk, go

[3] gengum: so all others, gengu 1824b

notes

[3, 5] gengum; fengu vér ‘we set about; we married’: These are instances, not infrequent in Krm, of 1st pers. pl. forms (whether of verbs or pronouns) seeming to have singular reference to the speaker of the poem. On the treatment of such instances in the present edn, see the Introduction. Cf. also Helgi Guðmundsson (1972, 34-44) and McTurk (2011a).

at ‘the’

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3. at (prep.): at, to

graf ‘of the digging’

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grǫf (noun f.): grave < grafvitnir (noun m.): grafvitnir

[4] grafvitnis: so 6ˣ, R702ˣ, R693ˣ, ‘grauítnis’ 1824b, ‘graf vitins’ LR

kennings

notes

[4] grafvitnis ‘of the digging-wolf [SNAKE]’: This kenning, meaning literally either ‘digging-wolf’ or ‘grave-wolf’ (see LP: grafvitnir) and endowing the snake with worm-like characteristics, is well established in Old Norse poetry (cf. Meissner 113), occurring as a proper name (for a serpent) in Grí 34/5, as one in a list of poetic terms for ‘snake’ in Þul Orma 2/1^III, and as the determinant in kennings for ‘gold’ in Esk Øxfl 6/4^III and Anon Bjark 4/8^III.

vitnis ‘wolf’

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vitnir (noun m.): wolf < grafvitnir (noun m.): grafvitnir

[4] grafvitnis: so 6ˣ, R702ˣ, R693ˣ, ‘grauítnis’ 1824b, ‘graf vitins’ LR

kennings

notes

[4] grafvitnis ‘of the digging-wolf [SNAKE]’: This kenning, meaning literally either ‘digging-wolf’ or ‘grave-wolf’ (see LP: grafvitnir) and endowing the snake with worm-like characteristics, is well established in Old Norse poetry (cf. Meissner 113), occurring as a proper name (for a serpent) in Grí 34/5, as one in a list of poetic terms for ‘snake’ in Þul Orma 2/1^III, and as the determinant in kennings for ‘gold’ in Esk Øxfl 6/4^III and Anon Bjark 4/8^III.

morði ‘slaying’

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1. morð (noun n.; °-s; -): killing, battle

notes

[4] morði ‘the slaying’: Kock (NN §2817) takes morð ‘slaying, battle’ here as synonymous with víg ‘fight, (hostile) encounter’ in l. 8, making the point that the phrase at því vígi ‘in that fight’ refers back to the serpent-slaying of l. 4. He further takes grafvitnis as a descriptive (or a def.?) gen. (cf. NS §§127, 123) rather than simply (as in the translation above, cf. CPB II, 341) an objective gen. (cf. NS §125), understanding it as ‘the fight (to the death) with the serpent, the serpent-fight’, comparing it with OE wyrmes wīġ ‘the fight with the dragon, the dragon-fight’, in Beowulf ll. 2316 and 2348.

Þá ‘That was’

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2. þá (adv.): then

fengu ‘married’

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2. fá (verb; °fǽr; fekk, fengu; fenginn): get, receive

[5] fengu: fengum R702ˣ, LR, R693ˣ

notes

[3, 5] gengum; fengu vér ‘we set about; we married’: These are instances, not infrequent in Krm, of 1st pers. pl. forms (whether of verbs or pronouns) seeming to have singular reference to the speaker of the poem. On the treatment of such instances in the present edn, see the Introduction. Cf. also Helgi Guðmundsson (1972, 34-44) and McTurk (2011a).

vér ‘we’

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vér (pron.; °gen. vár, dat./acc. oss): we, us, our

notes

[3, 5] gengum; fengu vér ‘we set about; we married’: These are instances, not infrequent in Krm, of 1st pers. pl. forms (whether of verbs or pronouns) seeming to have singular reference to the speaker of the poem. On the treatment of such instances in the present edn, see the Introduction. Cf. also Helgi Guðmundsson (1972, 34-44) and McTurk (2011a).

Þóru ‘Þóra’

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Þóra (noun f.): Þóra

notes

[5] Þóru ‘Þóra’: Þóru is here gen. (sg.), the case required for the object of fengum ‘we married’.

þaðan ‘from the time’

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þaðan (adv.): from there

notes

[6, 7] þaðan, þá er ‘from the time when’: This phrasing illustrates the use of þaðan ‘thence, from there’, an adv. of place, being used in a temporal sense (cf. NN §2817; Fritzner: þaðan 2).

hétu ‘have called’

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2. heita (verb): be called, promise

mik ‘me’

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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me

fyrðar ‘people’

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2. fyrðr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -): man

[6] fyrðar: ‘firdar’ LR, R693ˣ

þá ‘when’

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2. þá (adv.): then

notes

[6, 7] þaðan, þá er ‘from the time when’: This phrasing illustrates the use of þaðan ‘thence, from there’, an adv. of place, being used in a temporal sense (cf. NN §2817; Fritzner: þaðan 2).

er ‘’

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2. er (conj.): who, which, when

notes

[6, 7] þaðan, þá er ‘from the time when’: This phrasing illustrates the use of þaðan ‘thence, from there’, an adv. of place, being used in a temporal sense (cf. NN §2817; Fritzner: þaðan 2).

ek ‘I’

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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me

notes

[7] ek lagðak lyngölun ‘I stabbed the heather-fish [SNAKE] to death’: The first element lyng- seems clear from the majority ms. readings ‘lyng’, ‘ling’, while ‘-olun’ 1824b, ‘-aulum’ LR and perhaps ‘-auluin’ R693ˣ point to -ölun, acc. sg. of ölunn ‘(a kind of) fish, mackerel’ (see LP: ǫlunn; Nordgaard 1912, 56-7), hence lyngölun, adopted in Skj B, Skald and by Finnur Jónsson (1905). The 6ˣ reading ‘lyngaal vm’ has been taken as lyngál ‘heather-eel [SNAKE]’ with um/of evidently understood as the expletive particle (so CPB; Wisén 1886-9; Krm 1891; Finnur Jónsson 1893b).

lyng ‘the heather’

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lyng (noun n.; °dat. -vi/-i; -): heather < lyngǫlunn (noun m.)

[7] lyngölun (‘lyngaulun’): so R702ˣ, ‘lungolun’ 1824b, ‘lyngaal vm’ 6ˣ, ‘lingaulum’ LR, ‘lingauluin’ R693ˣ

kennings

notes

[7] ek lagðak lyngölun ‘I stabbed the heather-fish [SNAKE] to death’: The first element lyng- seems clear from the majority ms. readings ‘lyng’, ‘ling’, while ‘-olun’ 1824b, ‘-aulum’ LR and perhaps ‘-auluin’ R693ˣ point to -ölun, acc. sg. of ölunn ‘(a kind of) fish, mackerel’ (see LP: ǫlunn; Nordgaard 1912, 56-7), hence lyngölun, adopted in Skj B, Skald and by Finnur Jónsson (1905). The 6ˣ reading ‘lyngaal vm’ has been taken as lyngál ‘heather-eel [SNAKE]’ with um/of evidently understood as the expletive particle (so CPB; Wisén 1886-9; Krm 1891; Finnur Jónsson 1893b).

ölun ‘fish’

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ǫlunn (noun m.): [fish] < lyngǫlunn (noun m.)

[7] lyngölun (‘lyngaulun’): so R702ˣ, ‘lungolun’ 1824b, ‘lyngaal vm’ 6ˣ, ‘lingaulum’ LR, ‘lingauluin’ R693ˣ

kennings

notes

[7] ek lagðak lyngölun ‘I stabbed the heather-fish [SNAKE] to death’: The first element lyng- seems clear from the majority ms. readings ‘lyng’, ‘ling’, while ‘-olun’ 1824b, ‘-aulum’ LR and perhaps ‘-auluin’ R693ˣ point to -ölun, acc. sg. of ölunn ‘(a kind of) fish, mackerel’ (see LP: ǫlunn; Nordgaard 1912, 56-7), hence lyngölun, adopted in Skj B, Skald and by Finnur Jónsson (1905). The 6ˣ reading ‘lyngaal vm’ has been taken as lyngál ‘heather-eel [SNAKE]’ with um/of evidently understood as the expletive particle (so CPB; Wisén 1886-9; Krm 1891; Finnur Jónsson 1893b).

lagðak ‘stabbed’

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leggja (verb): put, lay

notes

[7] ek lagðak lyngölun ‘I stabbed the heather-fish [SNAKE] to death’: The first element lyng- seems clear from the majority ms. readings ‘lyng’, ‘ling’, while ‘-olun’ 1824b, ‘-aulum’ LR and perhaps ‘-auluin’ R693ˣ point to -ölun, acc. sg. of ölunn ‘(a kind of) fish, mackerel’ (see LP: ǫlunn; Nordgaard 1912, 56-7), hence lyngölun, adopted in Skj B, Skald and by Finnur Jónsson (1905). The 6ˣ reading ‘lyngaal vm’ has been taken as lyngál ‘heather-eel [SNAKE]’ with um/of evidently understood as the expletive particle (so CPB; Wisén 1886-9; Krm 1891; Finnur Jónsson 1893b).

Loðbrók ‘Loðbrók’

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loðbrók (noun f.): loðbrók

[8] Loðbrók (‘Lodbrok’): so all others, ‘lodbork’ 1824b

notes

[8] Loðbrók ‘Loðbrók (“Hairy-breeches”)’: For a survey of theories of the origin of this appellation, see McTurk (1991a, 6-39). There it is suggested that it was originally a woman’s (or goddess’s) name, Loðbróka, which came to be regarded, in the form Loðbrók, as a man’s name or nickname; see further Note to Ragn 39/4. More recently Rowe (2012, 155-7, 164-6) suggested that it was originally a nickname deriving from a memory of the state of the nether garments of the viking Reginheri, a likely historical prototype for Ragnarr loðbrók, as a result of his suffering from dysentery when attacking Paris in 845 (as recorded in a near-contemporary source, the anonymous Miracula Sancti Germani c. 849-58, see Waitz 1887, 16; cf. Skyum-Nielsen 1967, 23, 38). The 1824b spelling lodbork is of interest in resembling that of Lodparchi in the reference by Adam of Bremen (c. 1076) to ‘Inguar, son of Lodparch(us)’ (Inguar filius Lodparchi) (Trillmich 1961, 208), for whom the viking leader Inwære, mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle s. a. 878 (ASC I, 74, 75), is almost certainly a historical prototype. The forms of the (nick)name loðbrókar/Loðbróku/loðbork as it appears in 1824b (cf. Ragn 37, Note to [All] and Ragn 39, Note to l. 4) seem to reflect doubt on the part of the 1824b scribe as to how it should be spelt.

at ‘in’

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3. at (prep.): at, to

því ‘that’

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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

vígi ‘fight’

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víg (noun n.; °-s; -): battle

[8] vígi: so all others, ‘vig.’ 1824b

Stakk ‘thrust’

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stinga (verb): stab, poke

ek ‘I’

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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me

á ‘at’

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3. á (prep.): on, at

notes

[9] á lykkju storðar ‘at the loop of the earth [SNAKE]’: Cf. kennings for the World Serpent, Miðgarðsormr in ÚlfrU Húsdr 3/4^III men storðar ‘the necklace of the earth’ and Húsdr 4/1, 2^III stirðþinull … storðar ‘stiff cord ... of the earth’.

storðar ‘of the earth’

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2. storð (noun f.): young wood, earth

[9] storðar: ‘storear’ LR

kennings

notes

[9] á lykkju storðar ‘at the loop of the earth [SNAKE]’: Cf. kennings for the World Serpent, Miðgarðsormr in ÚlfrU Húsdr 3/4^III men storðar ‘the necklace of the earth’ and Húsdr 4/1, 2^III stirðþinull … storðar ‘stiff cord ... of the earth’.

lykkju ‘the loop’

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1. lykkja (noun f.; °-u; -ur): [a knot]

[9] lykkju: ‘lyckiu’ 147, R693ˣ, ‘lykiu’ LR

kennings

notes

[9] á lykkju storðar ‘at the loop of the earth [SNAKE]’: Cf. kennings for the World Serpent, Miðgarðsormr in ÚlfrU Húsdr 3/4^III men storðar ‘the necklace of the earth’ and Húsdr 4/1, 2^III stirðþinull … storðar ‘stiff cord ... of the earth’.

stáli ‘the blade’

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1. stál (noun n.; °-s; -): steel, weapon, prow

[10] stáli bjartra: ‘stali biar(t)’(?) 147

bjartra ‘with bright’

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bjartr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): bright

[10] stáli bjartra: ‘stali biar(t)’(?) 147

notes

[10] bjartra mála ‘with bright ornaments’: Mál n. pl. are inlaid patterns on sword-blades (see LP: 3. mál; Falk 1914b, 32, and cf. RvHbreiðm Hl 66/4^III bráðmôl stála ‘welded patterns of swords’ (see previous Note and NN §2080). The gen. bjartra mála is here descriptive (NS §127) rather than def. (NS §123).

mála ‘ornaments’

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1. mál (noun n.; °-s; -): speech, matter

notes

[10] bjartra mála ‘with bright ornaments’: Mál n. pl. are inlaid patterns on sword-blades (see LP: 3. mál; Falk 1914b, 32, and cf. RvHbreiðm Hl 66/4^III bráðmôl stála ‘welded patterns of swords’ (see previous Note and NN §2080). The gen. bjartra mála is here descriptive (NS §127) rather than def. (NS §123).