Anon Krm 11VIII
Rory McTurk (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Poems, Krákumál 11’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 738.
Hjuggu ‘hewed’
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hǫggva (verb): to strike, put to death, cut, hew
[1] Hjuggu vér með hjörvi: abbrev. as ‘Hiug. ver m. h᷎.’ 1824b, ‘[…]’ 147, Hjuggum vér með hjörvi 6ˣ, LR, R693ˣ, abbrev. as ‘H v med h:’ R702ˣ
vér ‘We’
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vér (pron.; °gen. vár, dat./acc. oss): we, us, our
[1] Hjuggu vér með hjörvi: abbrev. as ‘Hiug. ver m. h᷎.’ 1824b, ‘[…]’ 147, Hjuggum vér með hjörvi 6ˣ, LR, R693ˣ, abbrev. as ‘H v med h:’ R702ˣ
með ‘with’
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með (prep.): with
[1] Hjuggu vér með hjörvi: abbrev. as ‘Hiug. ver m. h᷎.’ 1824b, ‘[…]’ 147, Hjuggum vér með hjörvi 6ˣ, LR, R693ˣ, abbrev. as ‘H v med h:’ R702ˣ
hjörvi ‘the sword’
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hjǫrr (noun m.): sword
[1] Hjuggu vér með hjörvi: abbrev. as ‘Hiug. ver m. h᷎.’ 1824b, ‘[…]’ 147, Hjuggum vér með hjörvi 6ˣ, LR, R693ˣ, abbrev. as ‘H v med h:’ R702ˣ
Hundruðum ‘in hundreds’
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hundrað (noun n.; °-s; hundruð/-): hundred
[2] Hundruðum: ‘[…]’ 147
notes
[2] hundruðum (dat. pl.) ‘in hundreds’: Here adverbial, modifying the inf. liggja ‘lie’ in an acc. and inf. construction dependent on frá ek ‘I heard’, lit. ‘I heard [them] to lie’.
ek ‘I’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
[2] frá ek: ‘[…]’ 147, sá ek LR, R693ˣ
Eynæfis ‘of Eynæfir’
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Eynæfir (noun m.): Eynæfir
[3] Eynæfis (‘eynefís’): ‘[…]’ 147, ‘eyræ fis’ R702ˣ, ‘eireis’ LR
kennings
öndrum Eynæfis,‘the skis of Eynæfir ’
= SHIPS
the skis of Eynæfir → SHIPS
notes
[3] öndrum Eynæfis ‘the skis of Eynæfir <sea-king> [SHIPS]’: The name Eynæfir, meaning apparently ‘the fortunate, clever one’ and here functioning in the gen. as the determinant in a ship-kenning, is a conventional sea-king name (Björn Sigfússon 1934, 129). The same ship-kenning occurs in Bragi Þórr 2/3III (which according to de Vries 1964-7, II, 40 n. 68 may well have influenced its adoption here), and Eynæfir is listed as a sea-king name in Þul Sækonunga 2/1III.
kennings
öndrum Eynæfis,‘the skis of Eynæfir ’
= SHIPS
the skis of Eynæfir → SHIPS
notes
[3] öndrum Eynæfis ‘the skis of Eynæfir <sea-king> [SHIPS]’: The name Eynæfir, meaning apparently ‘the fortunate, clever one’ and here functioning in the gen. as the determinant in a ship-kenning, is a conventional sea-king name (Björn Sigfússon 1934, 129). The same ship-kenning occurs in Bragi Þórr 2/3III (which according to de Vries 1964-7, II, 40 n. 68 may well have influenced its adoption here), and Eynæfir is listed as a sea-king name in Þul Sækonunga 2/1III.
notes
[4] Englanes: The tentative suggestion of Langenfelt (1920, 84 n. 1), that this refers to Caithness in north-eastern Scotland cannot be corroborated, nor is the name included in Townend’s (1998, 19 n. 30) list of names in Scotland mentioned in skaldic verse. The first element Engla- gen. pl. could mean either ‘of the Angles’ (i.e. the English) or ‘of angels’, though the latter is unlikely. The second element is nes ‘ness, headland’. Preference is given here to the old suggestion, adopted by Rafn (1826, 116) from Suhm et al. 1782-1828, I, 556; (cf. Johnstone 1782, 98; Depping 1839, 359), that it is Kent, or a part of it, that is referred to here. While the majority of the earliest Germanic settlers of Kent seem to have been Jutes rather than Angles (Collingwood and Myres 1937, 363), there is a strong case for saying that their first leaders, Hengest and Horsa, whose landing in Kent at Ypwines fleot (in all probability Ebbsfleet) is recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle s. a. 449 (ASC I, 12-13), were of Anglian descent (see Bliss 1998, 168-80). If so, and if it is borne in mind that in medieval times Ebbsfleet was at the neck of a peninsula on the south coast of what was then the Isle of Thanet, now the easternmost tip of Kent (see Lewis 1736, I, 9-10 and map facing p. viii; cf. Moody 2008, 36-42), it is quite possible that it was remembered by some as Englanes ‘the headland of the Angles’.
heitir ‘named’
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2. heita (verb): be called, promise
[4] heitir: so with first i corrected from e R693ˣ, ‘[…]’ 147
Siglðu ‘were sailing’
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2. sigla (verb): sail
[5] Siglðu (‘sigldv’): ‘[…]’ 147, sigldum 6ˣ, LR, R693ˣ
vér ‘We’
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vér (pron.; °gen. vár, dat./acc. oss): we, us, our
[5] vér: ‘[…]’ 147, om. R702ˣ
til ‘into’
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til (prep.): to
[5] til snerru: ‘[…]’ 147, til snerru with ‘snæru W.’ in margin 6ˣ, ‘til sneru’ R702ˣ, ‘til snaeru’ LR, R693ˣ
snerru ‘battle’
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1. snerra (noun f.; °-u): onslaught
[5] til snerru: ‘[…]’ 147, til snerru with ‘snæru W.’ in margin 6ˣ, ‘til sneru’ R702ˣ, ‘til snaeru’ LR, R693ˣ
notes
[6] sex dægr ‘three days’: The word dœgr is normally understood to mean ‘half a (twenty-four hour) day, whether day or night’ (cf. LP: dœgr and Introduction to Þul DœgraIII).
dægr ‘days’
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dœgr (noun n.; °-s; -): day and night; 24h period
[6] dægr: ‘[…]’ 147, ‘dæg’ 6ˣ
notes
[6] sex dægr ‘three days’: The word dœgr is normally understood to mean ‘half a (twenty-four hour) day, whether day or night’ (cf. LP: dœgr and Introduction to Þul DœgraIII).
áttum ‘we conducted’
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2. eiga (verb; °á/eigr (præs. pl. 3. pers. eigu/eiga); átti, áttu; átt): own, have
[7] áttum odda messu: ‘[…] odda (m)essu’(?) 147
odda ‘of sword-points’
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oddr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): point of weapon
[7] áttum odda messu: ‘[…] odda (m)essu’(?) 147
kennings
messu odda‘a chant of sword-points ’
= BATTLE
a chant of sword-points → BATTLE
notes
[7] messu odda ‘a chant of sword-points [BATTLE]’: This kenning, with its connotations of divine service, is paralleled in RvHbreiðm Hl 25/6III, where the kenning hjǫrsalma ‘of sword-psalms [BATTLE]’ occurs, cf. de Vries (1938, 722 n. 78).
messu ‘a chant’
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1. messa (noun f.; °-u; -ur): mass
[7] áttum odda messu: ‘[…] odda (m)essu’(?) 147
kennings
messu odda‘a chant of sword-points ’
= BATTLE
a chant of sword-points → BATTLE
notes
[7] messu odda ‘a chant of sword-points [BATTLE]’: This kenning, with its connotations of divine service, is paralleled in RvHbreiðm Hl 25/6III, where the kenning hjǫrsalma ‘of sword-psalms [BATTLE]’ occurs, cf. de Vries (1938, 722 n. 78).
uppruna ‘the rising’
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uppruni (noun m.)
[8] uppruna sólar: ‘[…]pp r[…]a sol[…]’ 147, ‘uprunna Sólar’ R693ˣ
sólar ‘of the sun’
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sól (noun f.; °-ar, dat. -u/-; -ir): sun
[8] uppruna sólar: ‘[…]pp r[…]a sol[…]’ 147, ‘uprunna Sólar’ R693ˣ
Varð ‘had’
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1. verða (verb): become, be
[9] Varð fyr várum sverðum: ‘vard fyrir […] (s)uerd[…]’(?) 147
fyr ‘before’
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fyr (prep.): for, over, because of, etc.
[9] Varð fyr várum sverðum: ‘vard fyrir […] (s)uerd[…]’(?) 147
várum ‘our’
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várr (pron.; °f. ór/vár; pl. órir/várir): our
[9] Varð fyr várum sverðum: ‘vard fyrir […] (s)uerd[…]’(?) 147
sverðum ‘swords’
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sverð (noun n.; °-s; -): sword
[9] Varð fyr várum sverðum: ‘vard fyrir […] (s)uerd[…]’(?) 147
Valþjófr ‘Valþjófr’
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Valþjófr (noun m.): [lay]
[10] Valþjófr í styr hníga: ‘[…]fur i st[…]’ 147
notes
[10] Valþjófr: This Valþjófr, lit. ‘Slain-men-thief’, seems to be a purely legendary figure of whom nothing is known, though his name is identical with that of Earl Waltheof (Valþjófr), d. 1076 (mentioned in ÞSkall Valfl 2/1II and Anon Harst 1/3II) and with one of the pseudonyms adopted by the disguised Friðþjófr in Frið 36/13.
styr ‘battle’
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styrr (noun m.; °dat. -): battle
[10] Valþjófr í styr hníga: ‘[…]fur i st[…]’ 147
hníga ‘to fall’
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hníga (verb): sink, fall
[10] Valþjófr í styr hníga: ‘[…]fur i st[…]’ 147
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
We hewed with the sword. I heard that they lay in hundreds on the skis of Eynæfir <sea-king> [SHIPS] at the place named Englanes. We were sailing into battle for three days before the troop fell; we conducted a chant of sword-points [BATTLE] at the rising of the sun. Valþjófr had to fall in battle before our swords.
Of those Krm stanzas of which traces can now be read in the fragmentary text of 147, this is the one stanza of which Olsen (Ragn 1906-8, 187-9), in his diplomatic edn, was apparently unable to read any part. His reading ‘pruna solar’ (Ragn 1906-8, 187; cf. l. 8 of the present stanza) in fact reflects l. 8 of st. 13 as preserved in 147, where ll. 7-8 of st. 8 appear to be repeated as ll. 7-8 of st. 13, in place of st. 13/7-8 as preserved in all other mss. See the Readings and Notes to st. 8/7-8 above, and st. 13/7-8 below. — [5-7]: For Olsen’s (1933a) questionable argument that these lines, taken together with sts 15/10 and 18/7-8, show the influence of Sigv NesvI and Anon DarrV (Nj) and carry hints of Palm Sunday, see the Introduction.
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