Ólhelg Lv 8I
Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Óláfr inn helgi Haraldsson, Lausavísur 8’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 527.
fjǫgur ‘’
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fjórir (num. cardinal): four
Fagr ‘handsome’
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fagr (adj.; °fagran; compar. fegri, superl. fegrstr): fair, beautiful
[1] Fagr: so Flat, fjǫgur 61, Tóm
stóð ‘’
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standa (verb): stand
er ‘’
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2. er (conj.): who, which, when
bar ‘bore’
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3. bera (verb; °berr; bar, báru; borinn): bear, carry
brúði ‘the bride’
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brúðr (noun f.; °brúðar, dat. & acc. brúði; brúðir): woman, bride
blakkr ‘dark horse’
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1. blakkr (noun m.): horse
sat ‘’
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sitja (verb): sit
sýndisk ‘’
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sýna (verb): show, seem
sák ‘I gazed’
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2. sjá (verb): see
[2] ok sák á sprakka: sýndisk mér sprakki Flat; sák: sat Tóm
mér ‘’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
sprakki ‘’
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sprakki (noun m.): woman, lively one
sprakka ‘the lady’
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sprakki (noun m.): woman, lively one
[2] ok sák á sprakka: sýndisk mér sprakki Flat
oss ‘us [me]’
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vér (pron.; °gen. vár, dat./acc. oss): we, us, our
notes
[3, 4] kona lét oss missa ynðis ‘the woman caused us [me] to forfeit happiness’: Parentheses in mansǫngr stanzas often generalise about the speaker’s situation in this way.
lét ‘caused’
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láta (verb): let, have sth done
notes
[3, 4] kona lét oss missa ynðis ‘the woman caused us [me] to forfeit happiness’: Parentheses in mansǫngr stanzas often generalise about the speaker’s situation in this way.
ynðis ‘happiness’
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ynði (noun n.; °-s): pleasure
notes
[3, 4] kona lét oss missa ynðis ‘the woman caused us [me] to forfeit happiness’: Parentheses in mansǫngr stanzas often generalise about the speaker’s situation in this way.
missa ‘to forfeit’
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2. missa (verb): lose, lack
notes
[3, 4] kona lét oss missa ynðis ‘the woman caused us [me] to forfeit happiness’: Parentheses in mansǫngr stanzas often generalise about the speaker’s situation in this way.
augfǫgr ‘the handsome-eyed’
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augfagr (adj.): [handsome-eyed]
kona ‘woman’
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kona (noun f.; °-u; -ur/-r(KlmA1980 116¹¹), gen. pl. kvenna/kvinna): woman
notes
[3, 4] kona lét oss missa ynðis ‘the woman caused us [me] to forfeit happiness’: Parentheses in mansǫngr stanzas often generalise about the speaker’s situation in this way.
á ‘’
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3. á (prep.): on, at
notes
[4] af haugi ‘from the mound’: Some burial place connected with the garðr ‘yard’ (l. 5) is envisaged. Aristocratic residences were often established in the neighbourhood of much older burial mounds, perhaps as a mark of status or of cultural continuity (Niles 2007, 181-2, 189-90).
haugi ‘the mound’
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haugr (noun m.; °-s, -i; -ar): mound, cairn
notes
[4] af haugi ‘from the mound’: Some burial place connected with the garðr ‘yard’ (l. 5) is envisaged. Aristocratic residences were often established in the neighbourhood of much older burial mounds, perhaps as a mark of status or of cultural continuity (Niles 2007, 181-2, 189-90).
þeynar ‘’
gefit ‘’
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gefa (verb): give
gerðr ‘’
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Gerðr (noun f.): Gerðr
kennings
Góðlôt Gefn slóðar vala,‘The courteous Gefn of the track of falcons, ’
= WOMAN
the track of falcons, → ARM
The courteous Gefn of the ARM → WOMAN
ór ‘out of’
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3. ór (prep.): out of
gǫrðum ‘’
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garðr (noun m.): enclosure, yard
góðlôt ‘The courteous’
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góðlátr (adj.): [courteous]
kennings
Góðlôt Gefn slóðar vala,‘The courteous Gefn of the track of falcons, ’
= WOMAN
the track of falcons, → ARM
The courteous Gefn of the ARM → WOMAN
vala ‘of falcons’
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2. valr (noun m.; °-s): falcon
kennings
Góðlôt Gefn slóðar vala,‘The courteous Gefn of the track of falcons, ’
= WOMAN
the track of falcons, → ARM
The courteous Gefn of the ARM → WOMAN
vala ‘of falcons’
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2. valr (noun m.; °-s): falcon
kennings
Góðlôt Gefn slóðar vala,‘The courteous Gefn of the track of falcons, ’
= WOMAN
the track of falcons, → ARM
The courteous Gefn of the ARM → WOMAN
slóðir ‘’
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slóð (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): path, track
kennings
Góðlôt Gefn slóðar vala,‘The courteous Gefn of the track of falcons, ’
= WOMAN
the track of falcons, → ARM
The courteous Gefn of the ARM → WOMAN
kennings
Góðlôt Gefn slóðar vala,‘The courteous Gefn of the track of falcons, ’
= WOMAN
the track of falcons, → ARM
The courteous Gefn of the ARM → WOMAN
eik ‘’
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eik (noun f.; °eikr/eikar; eikr): oak
eyk ‘her mount’
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eykr (noun m.; °-s/-jar, dat. -; -ir, dat. -jum): draught animal
[7] eyk (‘eyk ek’): eik Flat, om. Tóm
en ‘but’
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2. en (conj.): but, and
eitt ‘’
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2. einn (pron.; °decl. cf. einn num.): one, alone
ein ‘one’
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2. einn (pron.; °decl. cf. einn num.): one, alone
[7] ein glǫp: so Flat, eitt mein 61, Tóm
notes
[7-8] ein glǫp sœkir hvern jarl ‘one error afflicts every jarl’: This is the sole attestation of glǫp ‘error’ in poetry (LP: glǫp), and its reference is not clear. In the context of the stanza, impropriety or a susceptibility to women would be appropriate, and glap n. is recorded in prose referring to inappropriate attentiveness to a woman (Fritzner: glap), while glǫp f. refers to a flaw in legal procedure (Fritzner: glǫp). Glœpr ‘misdeed, sin’ (Fritzner: glœpr) in the prose context to the stanza gives a stronger Christian and moralistic emphasis to the narrative, but it is not clear whether this is present in the stanza’s use of glǫp.
mein ‘’
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mein (noun n.; °-s; -): harm, injury
notes
[7-8] ein glǫp sœkir hvern jarl ‘one error afflicts every jarl’: This is the sole attestation of glǫp ‘error’ in poetry (LP: glǫp), and its reference is not clear. In the context of the stanza, impropriety or a susceptibility to women would be appropriate, and glap n. is recorded in prose referring to inappropriate attentiveness to a woman (Fritzner: glap), while glǫp f. refers to a flaw in legal procedure (Fritzner: glǫp). Glœpr ‘misdeed, sin’ (Fritzner: glœpr) in the prose context to the stanza gives a stronger Christian and moralistic emphasis to the narrative, but it is not clear whether this is present in the stanza’s use of glǫp.
sœkir ‘afflicts’
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sœkja (verb): seek, attack
notes
[7-8] ein glǫp sœkir hvern jarl ‘one error afflicts every jarl’: This is the sole attestation of glǫp ‘error’ in poetry (LP: glǫp), and its reference is not clear. In the context of the stanza, impropriety or a susceptibility to women would be appropriate, and glap n. is recorded in prose referring to inappropriate attentiveness to a woman (Fritzner: glap), while glǫp f. refers to a flaw in legal procedure (Fritzner: glǫp). Glœpr ‘misdeed, sin’ (Fritzner: glœpr) in the prose context to the stanza gives a stronger Christian and moralistic emphasis to the narrative, but it is not clear whether this is present in the stanza’s use of glǫp.
jarl ‘jarl’
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jarl (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): poet, earl
notes
[7-8] ein glǫp sœkir hvern jarl ‘one error afflicts every jarl’: This is the sole attestation of glǫp ‘error’ in poetry (LP: glǫp), and its reference is not clear. In the context of the stanza, impropriety or a susceptibility to women would be appropriate, and glap n. is recorded in prose referring to inappropriate attentiveness to a woman (Fritzner: glap), while glǫp f. refers to a flaw in legal procedure (Fritzner: glǫp). Glœpr ‘misdeed, sin’ (Fritzner: glœpr) in the prose context to the stanza gives a stronger Christian and moralistic emphasis to the narrative, but it is not clear whether this is present in the stanza’s use of glǫp.
hvern ‘every’
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2. hverr (pron.): who, whom, each, every
notes
[7-8] ein glǫp sœkir hvern jarl ‘one error afflicts every jarl’: This is the sole attestation of glǫp ‘error’ in poetry (LP: glǫp), and its reference is not clear. In the context of the stanza, impropriety or a susceptibility to women would be appropriate, and glap n. is recorded in prose referring to inappropriate attentiveness to a woman (Fritzner: glap), while glǫp f. refers to a flaw in legal procedure (Fritzner: glǫp). Glœpr ‘misdeed, sin’ (Fritzner: glœpr) in the prose context to the stanza gives a stronger Christian and moralistic emphasis to the narrative, but it is not clear whether this is present in the stanza’s use of glǫp.
konur ‘’
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kona (noun f.; °-u; -ur/-r(KlmA1980 116¹¹), gen. pl. kvenna/kvinna): woman
kona ‘woman’
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kona (noun f.; °-u; -ur/-r(KlmA1980 116¹¹), gen. pl. kvenna/kvinna): woman
[8] kona: konur Flat
notes
[8] snarlig kona ‘quick-witted woman’: This is taken here as a nom. in apposition to the woman-kenning based on Gefn. It could alternatively be construed as a vocative.
allar ‘’
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allr (adj.): all
notes
[8] snarlig kona ‘quick-witted woman’: This is taken here as a nom. in apposition to the woman-kenning based on Gefn. It could alternatively be construed as a vocative.
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
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Fagr stóðk, meðan bar brúði |
I stood, handsome, as the dark horse bore the bride, and I gazed on the lady from the mound; the handsome-eyed woman caused us [me] to forfeit happiness. The courteous Gefn <= Freyja> of the track of falcons [ARM > WOMAN], quick-witted woman, spurred her mount out of the yard, but one error afflicts every jarl.
In Flat it is told briefly that on one occasion when Óláfr was in Garðaríki (north-west Russia) the princess Ingigerðr went off on a journey. Seeing this, Óláfr spoke the stanza; Lv 9 follows. The version contained in 61 and Tóm locates the episode within the story that a marriage arrangement between Óláfr and Ingigerðr, daughter of Óláfr sœnski ‘the Swede’ Eiríksson, broke down when her father instead gave her to Jarizleifr (Jaroslav), ruler of Russia. Seeing Óláfr outraged at this breach of faith, Ingigerðr’s sister Ástríðr pleads with him not to sacrifice the lives of Christian men and instead to accept her hand in marriage. When he proves intransigent, she rebukes him and rides off. The king climbs a nearby burial mound and speaks the stanza, reflecting that Ástríðr is right that it is a terrible misdeed (mikill glæpr) to sacrifice the lives of many Christian men for the sake of the difference between two sisters. He then accepts Ástríðr in marriage.
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