Oddi Lv 3II
Judith Jesch (ed.) 2009, ‘Oddi inn litli Glúmsson, Lausavísur 3’ 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. 616-17.
Hafði ‘has had’
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hafa (verb): have
hollvinr ‘The loyal friend’
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hollvinr (noun m.): loyal friend
notes
[1] hollvinr lofða ‘the loyal friend of men [I, the poet]’: The adj. hollr can imply either ‘gracious’, of a lord, or ‘loyal’, of a retainer (Jesch 2001a, 261). In this context, the phrase would apply to the speaking poet, and the variant reading hollvinr jǫfra ‘loyal friend of chieftains’ may make more sense semantically but the l. would then have a less exact skothending (NN §2087).
notes
[1] hollvinr lofða ‘the loyal friend of men [I, the poet]’: The adj. hollr can imply either ‘gracious’, of a lord, or ‘loyal’, of a retainer (Jesch 2001a, 261). In this context, the phrase would apply to the speaking poet, and the variant reading hollvinr jǫfra ‘loyal friend of chieftains’ may make more sense semantically but the l. would then have a less exact skothending (NN §2087).
hinn ‘who’
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2. inn (art.): the
s ‘’
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2. er (conj.): who, which, when
mjǫð ‘mead’
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mjǫðr (noun m.; °dat. miði): mead
drekkr ‘drinks’
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2. drekka (verb; °drekkr; drakk, drukku; drukkinn/drykkinn): drink
inni ‘indoors’
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2. inni (adv.): in, inside, indoors
sunda ‘of straits’
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sund (noun n.; °-s; -): sound, strait; swimming
kennings
sveigi logs sunda,‘the bender of the fire of straits, ’
= GENEROUS MAN = Rǫgnvaldr
the fire of straits, → GOLD
the bender of the GOLD → GENEROUS MAN = Rǫgnvaldr
sunda ‘of straits’
(not checked:)
sund (noun n.; °-s; -): sound, strait; swimming
kennings
sveigi logs sunda,‘the bender of the fire of straits, ’
= GENEROUS MAN = Rǫgnvaldr
the fire of straits, → GOLD
the bender of the GOLD → GENEROUS MAN = Rǫgnvaldr
kennings
sveigi logs sunda,‘the bender of the fire of straits, ’
= GENEROUS MAN = Rǫgnvaldr
the fire of straits, → GOLD
the bender of the GOLD → GENEROUS MAN = Rǫgnvaldr
notes
[3] logs ‘of the fire’: Whereas in l. 1 the main ms. had a metrically superior (if semantically inferior) reading, here its reading (lauks ‘of the leek’) is both unmetrical and provides a kenning difficult, though not impossible, to construe. Sveigir lauks sunda ‘bender of the leek of the strait’ could conceivably be a kenning for a ‘seafarer’, as laukr can be used for masts (Jesch 2001a, 160), but a kenning meaning ‘generous man’ is more appropriate in this context in which the poet is expressing his loyalty to his lord despite the hardships. Skj B emends logs to leygs (with the same meaning), presumably to avoid a skothending between a short vowel and a diphthong.
kennings
sveigi logs sunda,‘the bender of the fire of straits, ’
= GENEROUS MAN = Rǫgnvaldr
the fire of straits, → GOLD
the bender of the GOLD → GENEROUS MAN = Rǫgnvaldr
notes
[3] logs ‘of the fire’: Whereas in l. 1 the main ms. had a metrically superior (if semantically inferior) reading, here its reading (lauks ‘of the leek’) is both unmetrical and provides a kenning difficult, though not impossible, to construe. Sveigir lauks sunda ‘bender of the leek of the strait’ could conceivably be a kenning for a ‘seafarer’, as laukr can be used for masts (Jesch 2001a, 160), but a kenning meaning ‘generous man’ is more appropriate in this context in which the poet is expressing his loyalty to his lord despite the hardships. Skj B emends logs to leygs (with the same meaning), presumably to avoid a skothending between a short vowel and a diphthong.
með ‘with’
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með (prep.): with
sveigi ‘the bender’
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sveigir (noun m.): brandisher
kennings
sveigi logs sunda,‘the bender of the fire of straits, ’
= GENEROUS MAN = Rǫgnvaldr
the fire of straits, → GOLD
the bender of the GOLD → GENEROUS MAN = Rǫgnvaldr
notes
[4] sjau dœgr ‘seven days’: The prose context specifies that the sailors lay at anchor for three days to sit out a storm (ÍF 34, 219) but gives no further details about the length of their journey past Spain. The comp. contrasts the journey with unspecified periods of seven days in the past which were more comfortable.
dœgr ‘days’
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dœgr (noun n.; °-s; -): day and night; 24h period
notes
[4] sjau dœgr ‘seven days’: The prose context specifies that the sailors lay at anchor for three days to sit out a storm (ÍF 34, 219) but gives no further details about the length of their journey past Spain. The comp. contrasts the journey with unspecified periods of seven days in the past which were more comfortable.
muni ‘considerably’
hœgri ‘more comfortable’
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hœgri (adj. comp.): higher, highest
En ‘And’
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2. en (conj.): but, and
ríklundaðr ‘mighty-spirited’
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ríklundaðr (adj./verb p.p.): proud-minded
Rǫgnvaldr ‘Rǫgnvaldr’
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Rǫgnvaldr (noun m.): Rǫgnvaldr
með ‘with’
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með (prep.): with
lið ‘troop’
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lið (noun n.; °-s; -): retinue, troop
skjaldat ‘a shield-equipped’
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skjalda (verb): shield
hesti ‘the horse’
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hestr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): horse, stallion
kennings
hesti hlunns,‘the horse of the roller, ’
= SHIP
the horse of the roller, → SHIP
halli ‘with paint’
glæstum ‘adorned’
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glæsa (verb): adorn
hlunns ‘of the roller’
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hlunnr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): roller
kennings
hesti hlunns,‘the horse of the roller, ’
= SHIP
the horse of the roller, → SHIP
at ‘to’
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3. at (prep.): at, to
Nǫrvasundum ‘the Straits of Gibraltar’
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nǫrvasund (noun n.): Straits of Gibraltar
[8] Nǫrvasundum: so R702ˣ, Njǫrvasundum Flat
notes
[8] Nǫrvasundum ‘the Straits of Gibraltar’: This form of this name is also found in the majority of mss of Hskv Útdr 6/4.
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
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Hafði hollvinr lofða, |
The loyal friend of men [I, the poet], who drinks mead indoors with the bender of the fire of straits [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN = Rǫgnvaldr], has had seven considerably more comfortable days. And mighty-spirited Rǫgnvaldr ran the horse of the roller [SHIP], adorned with paint, with a shield-equipped troop, to the Straits of Gibraltar.
Oddi is said to have recited this st. after a difficult passage along the coast of Spain, as the crusaders furled their sail and beat to windward into the Straits of Gibraltar.
This st. is cited in Orkn between Rv Lv 21-2 (ÍF 34, 219-20), all three of them referring to difficult sailing along the coast of Spain and into the Straits of Gibraltar.
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