Mgóð Lv 1II
Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Magnús inn góði Óláfsson, Lausavísur 1’ 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. 5-6.
Enn ‘Yet’
(not checked:)
2. enn (adv.): still, yet, again
þótt ‘even though’
(not checked:)
þótt (conj.): although
héti ‘was called’
(not checked:)
2. heita (verb): be called, promise
Hvinn ‘Hvinn’
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2. hvinn (noun n.): hvinn < Hvinngestr (noun m.): Thief-guest
notes
[2] Hvinngestr ‘(“Thief-guest”)’: The identity of Þórir’s father is not known, but the nickname had derogatory connotations. Hvinn was a person guilty of petty theft (NGL I, 253), which was considered a shameful crime. The unsubstantiated allegation of petty theft carried the penalty of outlawry (NGL I, 273, 311, 331) or fines (NGL II, 70, V: hvinn).
gestr ‘gestr’
(not checked:)
gestr (noun m.): guest, stranger < Hvinngestr (noun m.): Thief-guest
notes
[2] Hvinngestr ‘(“Thief-guest”)’: The identity of Þórir’s father is not known, but the nickname had derogatory connotations. Hvinn was a person guilty of petty theft (NGL I, 253), which was considered a shameful crime. The unsubstantiated allegation of petty theft carried the penalty of outlawry (NGL I, 273, 311, 331) or fines (NGL II, 70, V: hvinn).
faðir ‘father’
(not checked:)
faðir (noun m.): father
minn ‘my’
(not checked:)
minn (pron.; °f. mín, n. mitt): my
gerði ‘put’
(not checked:)
1. gera (verb): do, make
[3] gerði eigi sá: so Mork, Flat, þá gerði hann aldri H, þá gerði hann þó aldri Hr
eigi ‘never’
(not checked:)
3. eigi (adv.): not
[3] gerði eigi sá: so Mork, Flat, þá gerði hann aldri H, þá gerði hann þó aldri Hr
sá ‘he’
[3] gerði eigi sá: so Mork, Flat, þá gerði hann aldri H, þá gerði hann þó aldri Hr
garð ‘a fence’
(not checked:)
garðr (noun m.): enclosure, yard
notes
[4] garð of hestreðr ‘a fence around horse-phalli’: According to LP: garðr 6, this apparently meant ‘wrap the phallus of a horse so that it could not mate’. A more practical explanation is that it refers to the custom of separating the stallions from the mares by putting them in a separate, fenced-off pasture. Erik Noreen’s attempt to connect the phrase with a pagan phallus cult is not persuasive (Noreen 1922, 51). The l. may allude to Sigurðr sýr’s fondness for farm activities (see Flat 1860-8, II, 12; ÍF 27, 41), but the veiled insult is clearly of a sexual nature (making a fence, a ‘ring’ around horse-phalli), implying that Sigurðr sýr, in keeping with his feminised nickname, had been the passive partner in sexual intercourse with stallions (see SnH Lv 11; see also Hjǫrtr Lv 1-3). For legal punishments incurred by poetic insults, see Andersson and Gade 2000, 474.
of ‘around’
(not checked:)
3. of (prep.): around, from; too
notes
[4] garð of hestreðr ‘a fence around horse-phalli’: According to LP: garðr 6, this apparently meant ‘wrap the phallus of a horse so that it could not mate’. A more practical explanation is that it refers to the custom of separating the stallions from the mares by putting them in a separate, fenced-off pasture. Erik Noreen’s attempt to connect the phrase with a pagan phallus cult is not persuasive (Noreen 1922, 51). The l. may allude to Sigurðr sýr’s fondness for farm activities (see Flat 1860-8, II, 12; ÍF 27, 41), but the veiled insult is clearly of a sexual nature (making a fence, a ‘ring’ around horse-phalli), implying that Sigurðr sýr, in keeping with his feminised nickname, had been the passive partner in sexual intercourse with stallions (see SnH Lv 11; see also Hjǫrtr Lv 1-3). For legal punishments incurred by poetic insults, see Andersson and Gade 2000, 474.
hest ‘horse’
(not checked:)
hestr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): horse, stallion < hestreðr (noun n.)
notes
[4] garð of hestreðr ‘a fence around horse-phalli’: According to LP: garðr 6, this apparently meant ‘wrap the phallus of a horse so that it could not mate’. A more practical explanation is that it refers to the custom of separating the stallions from the mares by putting them in a separate, fenced-off pasture. Erik Noreen’s attempt to connect the phrase with a pagan phallus cult is not persuasive (Noreen 1922, 51). The l. may allude to Sigurðr sýr’s fondness for farm activities (see Flat 1860-8, II, 12; ÍF 27, 41), but the veiled insult is clearly of a sexual nature (making a fence, a ‘ring’ around horse-phalli), implying that Sigurðr sýr, in keeping with his feminised nickname, had been the passive partner in sexual intercourse with stallions (see SnH Lv 11; see also Hjǫrtr Lv 1-3). For legal punishments incurred by poetic insults, see Andersson and Gade 2000, 474.
reðr ‘phalli’
(not checked:)
2. reðr (noun n.): prick, phallus, penis < hestreðr (noun n.)
notes
[4] garð of hestreðr ‘a fence around horse-phalli’: According to LP: garðr 6, this apparently meant ‘wrap the phallus of a horse so that it could not mate’. A more practical explanation is that it refers to the custom of separating the stallions from the mares by putting them in a separate, fenced-off pasture. Erik Noreen’s attempt to connect the phrase with a pagan phallus cult is not persuasive (Noreen 1922, 51). The l. may allude to Sigurðr sýr’s fondness for farm activities (see Flat 1860-8, II, 12; ÍF 27, 41), but the veiled insult is clearly of a sexual nature (making a fence, a ‘ring’ around horse-phalli), implying that Sigurðr sýr, in keeping with his feminised nickname, had been the passive partner in sexual intercourse with stallions (see SnH Lv 11; see also Hjǫrtr Lv 1-3). For legal punishments incurred by poetic insults, see Andersson and Gade 2000, 474.
sem ‘like’
(not checked:)
sem (conj.): as, which
notes
[5] sem Sigurðr sýr ‘like Sigurðr sýr (“Sow”)’: The l. is unmetrical, and Magnús may have used the older form of the name Sigurðr (Sigvǫrðr), which would give a regular fornyrðislag l.
Sigurðr ‘Sigurðr’
(not checked:)
Sigurðr (noun m.): Sigurðr
notes
[5] sem Sigurðr sýr ‘like Sigurðr sýr (“Sow”)’: The l. is unmetrical, and Magnús may have used the older form of the name Sigurðr (Sigvǫrðr), which would give a regular fornyrðislag l.
sýrr ‘’
(not checked:)
sýrr (noun m.; °-s/-ar/-, dat. -): sow
sýr ‘sýr’
(not checked:)
2. sýr (noun f.; °sýr/sýrar/sýrs(i cogn.), acc. sú): sow, Sýr
[5] sýr: so Mork, Flat, sýrr H, Hr
notes
[5] sýr (f. nom. sg.) ‘(‘‘Sow’’)’: The noun is f., but when used as a male nickname it could occur as a m. (cf. sýrr m. nom. sg.; so H, Hr) (see LP: sýrr). — [5] sem Sigurðr sýr ‘like Sigurðr sýr (“Sow”)’: The l. is unmetrical, and Magnús may have used the older form of the name Sigurðr (Sigvǫrðr), which would give a regular fornyrðislag l.
sýr ‘sýr’
(not checked:)
2. sýr (noun f.; °sýr/sýrar/sýrs(i cogn.), acc. sú): sow, Sýr
[5] sýr: so Mork, Flat, sýrr H, Hr
notes
[5] sýr (f. nom. sg.) ‘(‘‘Sow’’)’: The noun is f., but when used as a male nickname it could occur as a m. (cf. sýrr m. nom. sg.; so H, Hr) (see LP: sýrr). — [5] sem Sigurðr sýr ‘like Sigurðr sýr (“Sow”)’: The l. is unmetrical, and Magnús may have used the older form of the name Sigurðr (Sigvǫrðr), which would give a regular fornyrðislag l.
vas ‘was’
(not checked:)
2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
þinn ‘your’
(not checked:)
þinn (pron.; °f. þín, n. þitt): your
faðir ‘father’
(not checked:)
faðir (noun m.): father
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
The st. was composed by Magnús and recited by his half-brother, Þórir, in response to a taunting lv. by Haraldr harðráði (Hharð Lv 3).
[3]: The H, Hr variants are hypermetrical. Skj B and Skald emend to gerði hann aldri lit. ‘did he never’. — [4] hestreðr ‘horse-phalli’: This n. noun could be either acc. pl. or sg.
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