Ólhelg Lv 4^I

Vandfœrra ‘harder’

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vandfœrr (adj.): [harder]

es ‘It is’

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

várrar ‘our [my]’

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várr (pron.; °f. ór/vár; pl. órir/várir): our

kennings

var ‘’

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1. vǫr (noun f.; °varar; varir/varar): landing-stage < varblik (noun n.)

varr ‘of the wake’

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1. vǫrr (noun m.; °dat. verri; acc. vǫrru): oar-stroke < varrblik (noun n.)

[2] varr‑: ‘var‑’ Flat

kennings

notes

[2, 3] eyjar varrbliks ‘island of the wake-glitter [GOLD > WOMAN]’: (a) Adopted here, following Kock (NN §597), is the minor emendation or normalisation of ms. ‘var’ to varr-, the combination form of vǫrr ‘wake of a ship, oar-stroke’, which is quite common in kennings (see LP: 2. vǫrr). (b) Finnur Jónsson appears to take the word as vǫr ‘landing-place, land’, forming a sea-kenning with aurborðs ‘ship’s plank’ (LP: 1. aurborð, ey, varblik), though this stanza is not cited in LP: 2. vǫr f. ‘landing-place’; see further Note to l. 4. 

varr ‘of the wake’

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1. vǫrr (noun m.; °dat. verri; acc. vǫrru): oar-stroke < varrblik (noun n.)

[2] varr‑: ‘var‑’ Flat

kennings

notes

[2, 3] eyjar varrbliks ‘island of the wake-glitter [GOLD > WOMAN]’: (a) Adopted here, following Kock (NN §597), is the minor emendation or normalisation of ms. ‘var’ to varr-, the combination form of vǫrr ‘wake of a ship, oar-stroke’, which is quite common in kennings (see LP: 2. vǫrr). (b) Finnur Jónsson appears to take the word as vǫr ‘landing-place, land’, forming a sea-kenning with aurborðs ‘ship’s plank’ (LP: 1. aurborð, ey, varblik), though this stanza is not cited in LP: 2. vǫr f. ‘landing-place’; see further Note to l. 4. 

bliks ‘glitter’

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blik (noun n.): gleam < varrblik (noun n.)blik (noun n.): gleam < varblik (noun n.)

kennings

notes

[2, 3] eyjar varrbliks ‘island of the wake-glitter [GOLD > WOMAN]’: (a) Adopted here, following Kock (NN §597), is the minor emendation or normalisation of ms. ‘var’ to varr-, the combination form of vǫrr ‘wake of a ship, oar-stroke’, which is quite common in kennings (see LP: 2. vǫrr). (b) Finnur Jónsson appears to take the word as vǫr ‘landing-place, land’, forming a sea-kenning with aurborðs ‘ship’s plank’ (LP: 1. aurborð, ey, varblik), though this stanza is not cited in LP: 2. vǫr f. ‘landing-place’; see further Note to l. 4. 

bliks ‘glitter’

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blik (noun n.): gleam < varrblik (noun n.)blik (noun n.): gleam < varblik (noun n.)

kennings

notes

[2, 3] eyjar varrbliks ‘island of the wake-glitter [GOLD > WOMAN]’: (a) Adopted here, following Kock (NN §597), is the minor emendation or normalisation of ms. ‘var’ to varr-, the combination form of vǫrr ‘wake of a ship, oar-stroke’, which is quite common in kennings (see LP: 2. vǫrr). (b) Finnur Jónsson appears to take the word as vǫr ‘landing-place, land’, forming a sea-kenning with aurborðs ‘ship’s plank’ (LP: 1. aurborð, ey, varblik), though this stanza is not cited in LP: 2. vǫr f. ‘landing-place’; see further Note to l. 4. 

fyr ‘to pass in front of’

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

Stað ‘Stad’

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3. Staðr (noun m.): [Stad]

notes

[2] Stað ‘Stad’: Presumably Stad, or Stadlandet, a headland in Sogn og Fjordane, Norway, close to a notoriously dangerous passage for ships. The localisation of the girl in this story (Steinvǫr) is not entirely consistent. Anon Liðs 9/8, also preserved in the Styrmir extracts (Flat 1860-8, III, 238), places her to the north of Staðr when she is residing with her father or guardian, whereas Styrmir’s prose narrative has her moving to reside there after her marriage (ibid., 237). Taken in itself, the present stanza dwells on the separation of lovers without specifying the exact geography.

miklu ‘much’

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mikill (adj.; °mikinn): great, large

þreyk ‘I yearn’

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þreyja (verb): yearn

notes

[3] þreyk of aldr ‘I yearn through my lifetime’: Utterances similar to this are encountered frequently in skaldic mansǫngr (love-song; cf. the citations by Bjarni Einarsson 1961, 23-37).

of ‘through’

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3. of (prep.): around, from; too

notes

[3] þreyk of aldr ‘I yearn through my lifetime’: Utterances similar to this are encountered frequently in skaldic mansǫngr (love-song; cf. the citations by Bjarni Einarsson 1961, 23-37).

aldr ‘my lifetime’

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aldr (noun m.; °aldrs, dat. aldri; aldrar): life, age

notes

[3] þreyk of aldr ‘I yearn through my lifetime’: Utterances similar to this are encountered frequently in skaldic mansǫngr (love-song; cf. the citations by Bjarni Einarsson 1961, 23-37).

til ‘to’

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til (prep.): to

eyjar ‘island’

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1. ey (noun f.; °-jar, dat. -ju/-; -jar): island

kennings

notes

[2, 3] eyjar varrbliks ‘island of the wake-glitter [GOLD > WOMAN]’: (a) Adopted here, following Kock (NN §597), is the minor emendation or normalisation of ms. ‘var’ to varr-, the combination form of vǫrr ‘wake of a ship, oar-stroke’, which is quite common in kennings (see LP: 2. vǫrr). (b) Finnur Jónsson appears to take the word as vǫr ‘landing-place, land’, forming a sea-kenning with aurborðs ‘ship’s plank’ (LP: 1. aurborð, ey, varblik), though this stanza is not cited in LP: 2. vǫr f. ‘landing-place’; see further Note to l. 4. 

aur ‘’

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aurr (noun m.): sand or gravel bank, ford < aurborð (noun n.): ship-board

notes

[4] aurborðs ‘for the plank [ship]’: Lit. ‘gravel-plank’, apparently the strake of a ship’s hull that ‘rests on the ground when a ship is beached’ (Jesch 2001a, 141, cf. LP: aurborð), hence ‘ship’ by pars pro toto. (a) This is taken here as an adverbial gen. dependent on the comp. adj. vandfœrra ‘harder to pass’ (cf. NS §136-8). It could alternatively be an adverbial gen. of place, ‘on the ship’. (b) Finnur Jónsson takes aurborðs together with eyjar varbliks to obtain ‘island (eyjar) of the glitter (-bliks) of the landing-place (var-) of the ship (aurborðs) [SEA > GOLD > WOMAN]’ (Skj B; LP: 1. aurborð, ey, varblik). This is also possible. Kock’s construal (NN §597) is similar, though since he understands var- as ‘oar-stroke, wake’, aurborðs ‘(ship’s) plank’ is superfluous in the kenning.

borðs ‘for the plank [ship]’

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borð (noun n.; °-s; -): side, plank, board; table < aurborð (noun n.): ship-board

notes

[4] aurborðs ‘for the plank [ship]’: Lit. ‘gravel-plank’, apparently the strake of a ship’s hull that ‘rests on the ground when a ship is beached’ (Jesch 2001a, 141, cf. LP: aurborð), hence ‘ship’ by pars pro toto. (a) This is taken here as an adverbial gen. dependent on the comp. adj. vandfœrra ‘harder to pass’ (cf. NS §136-8). It could alternatively be an adverbial gen. of place, ‘on the ship’. (b) Finnur Jónsson takes aurborðs together with eyjar varbliks to obtain ‘island (eyjar) of the glitter (-bliks) of the landing-place (var-) of the ship (aurborðs) [SEA > GOLD > WOMAN]’ (Skj B; LP: 1. aurborð, ey, varblik). This is also possible. Kock’s construal (NN §597) is similar, though since he understands var- as ‘oar-stroke, wake’, aurborðs ‘(ship’s) plank’ is superfluous in the kenning.

an ‘than’

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2. an (conj.): than

vas ‘it was’

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

forðum ‘formerly’

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forðum (adv.): formerly, once

Nús ‘Now’

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nú (adv.): now

fyr ‘in front’

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

hǫfn ‘of the harbour’

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1. hǫfn (noun f.; °hafnar; hafnir(/hafnar(Streng 234³²)): haven, harbour

þás ‘when’

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þás (conj.): when

hafna ‘beach’

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1. hafna (verb): abandon, reject

hlunn ‘’

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hlunnr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): roller

hlyn* ‘the maple’

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hlynr (noun m.; °-s): maple

[6] hlyn*: hlunn Flat

kennings

notes

[6] hlyn* sævar ‘the maple of the sea [SHIP]’: Sveinbjörn Egilsson’s emendation of ms. hlunn (LP (1860): hlunr), to yield a kenning for ‘ship’, has been adopted by all subsequent eds.

sævar ‘of the sea’

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sjór (noun m.): sea

kennings

notes

[6] hlyn* sævar ‘the maple of the sea [SHIP]’: Sveinbjörn Egilsson’s emendation of ms. hlunn (LP (1860): hlunr), to yield a kenning for ‘ship’, has been adopted by all subsequent eds.

mák ‘I can’

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mega (verb): may, might

æva ‘never’

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æva (adv.): (n)ever

gunn ‘’

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Gunn- ((prefix)): [battle-] < gunnhvítingr (noun m.): battle-drinking-horn

Gunnr ‘Gunnr’

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Gunnr (noun f.): Gunnr

[7] Gunnr: gunn‑ Flat

kennings

notes

[7] Gunnr hvítinga ‘Gunnr <valkyrie> of drinking-horns [WOMAN]’: Interpretation has been hampered by the wide variety of possible meanings for the heiti hvítingr. (a) Sveinbjörn Egilsson retains the Flat reading ‘gunn huítínga’ (where the line break falls after ‘gunn’), taking Gunn hvítinga as ‘valkyrie of swords’. He explains the r-less nom. Gunn as an apocopated form (LP (1860): gunnhvítínga); see also LP (1860): hvítíngr 3, 7. (b) In this edn, gunn is emended to gunnr (i.e. the proper name Gunnr) and construed as vocative in a standard poetic address to a woman, here no doubt the inaccessible beloved. In view of the use of a valkyrie-heiti for a woman, rather than the more usual heiti for an ordinary female deity, one might be tempted by Sveinbjörn Egilsson’s interpretation of hvítinga as ‘swords’. But valkyrie-names do occur in kennings for ordinary women (Meissner 406) and the most straightforward interpretation of hvítinga in context is as ‘drinking-horns’ (cf. LP: hvítingr 2). This would evoke the traditional reception of the returning warrior by a woman bearing a horn, perhaps ironically here, since the lover is in fact being prevented from making his return and receiving a welcome. (c) Finnur Jónsson in Skj B emends to gný-hvítinga ‘clamour-fish’, which he combines with geirþorps boði (emended from boða) to obtain geirþorps hvítinga gný-boði ‘messenger of the fish of the clamour of the spear-settlement [(lit. ‘clamour-messenger of the fish of the spear-settlement’) SHIELD > SWORDS > BATTLE > WARRIOR]’, construed as a vocative (see LP: 2. boði, geirþorp, gnýhvítingr). (d) Kock (NN §1110; cf. Bjarni Einarsson 1961, 25) interprets gunnhvítinga as gen. pl. ‘of swords’, apparently governing grjóti ‘rock’, but does not explain the meaning of this phrase.

hvítinga ‘of drinking-horns’

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hvítingr (noun m.; °; -ar): drinking horn < gunnhvítingr (noun m.): battle-drinking-horn

kennings

notes

[7] Gunnr hvítinga ‘Gunnr <valkyrie> of drinking-horns [WOMAN]’: Interpretation has been hampered by the wide variety of possible meanings for the heiti hvítingr. (a) Sveinbjörn Egilsson retains the Flat reading ‘gunn huítínga’ (where the line break falls after ‘gunn’), taking Gunn hvítinga as ‘valkyrie of swords’. He explains the r-less nom. Gunn as an apocopated form (LP (1860): gunnhvítínga); see also LP (1860): hvítíngr 3, 7. (b) In this edn, gunn is emended to gunnr (i.e. the proper name Gunnr) and construed as vocative in a standard poetic address to a woman, here no doubt the inaccessible beloved. In view of the use of a valkyrie-heiti for a woman, rather than the more usual heiti for an ordinary female deity, one might be tempted by Sveinbjörn Egilsson’s interpretation of hvítinga as ‘swords’. But valkyrie-names do occur in kennings for ordinary women (Meissner 406) and the most straightforward interpretation of hvítinga in context is as ‘drinking-horns’ (cf. LP: hvítingr 2). This would evoke the traditional reception of the returning warrior by a woman bearing a horn, perhaps ironically here, since the lover is in fact being prevented from making his return and receiving a welcome. (c) Finnur Jónsson in Skj B emends to gný-hvítinga ‘clamour-fish’, which he combines with geirþorps boði (emended from boða) to obtain geirþorps hvítinga gný-boði ‘messenger of the fish of the clamour of the spear-settlement [(lit. ‘clamour-messenger of the fish of the spear-settlement’) SHIELD > SWORDS > BATTLE > WARRIOR]’, construed as a vocative (see LP: 2. boði, geirþorp, gnýhvítingr). (d) Kock (NN §1110; cf. Bjarni Einarsson 1961, 25) interprets gunnhvítinga as gen. pl. ‘of swords’, apparently governing grjóti ‘rock’, but does not explain the meaning of this phrase.

grjóti ‘rock’

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grjót (noun n.): rock, stone

notes

[7] grjóti ‘rock’: This mention of stones that have blocked off the harbour may indirectly allude to Steinvǫr’s name (‘stone landing-place’ (?), and see Note to Lv 2 [All]), or alternatively her name may have been inferred from this and related motifs. The idea of blocked access may also have sexual connotations.

geir ‘of the spear’

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geirr (noun m.): spear < geirþorp (noun n.): [spear-settlement]

kennings

notes

[8] boða geirþorps ‘the messenger of the spear-settlement [SHIELD > WARRIOR]’: Cf. NN §1110, and see Note to l. 7 Gunnr hvítinga for Finnur Jónsson’s interpretation. The selection of boði as base-word of the warrior-kenning, rather than the usual ôrr ‘envoy, messenger’ (Meissner 272-3), together with the overall setting and context of the stanza, may suggest paronomasia on boði ‘breaker, wave breaking at shore-line’.

geir ‘of the spear’

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geirr (noun m.): spear < geirþorp (noun n.): [spear-settlement]

kennings

notes

[8] boða geirþorps ‘the messenger of the spear-settlement [SHIELD > WARRIOR]’: Cf. NN §1110, and see Note to l. 7 Gunnr hvítinga for Finnur Jónsson’s interpretation. The selection of boði as base-word of the warrior-kenning, rather than the usual ôrr ‘envoy, messenger’ (Meissner 272-3), together with the overall setting and context of the stanza, may suggest paronomasia on boði ‘breaker, wave breaking at shore-line’.

þorps ‘settlement’

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þorp (noun n.; °-s; -): village < geirþorp (noun n.): [spear-settlement]

kennings

notes

[8] boða geirþorps ‘the messenger of the spear-settlement [SHIELD > WARRIOR]’: Cf. NN §1110, and see Note to l. 7 Gunnr hvítinga for Finnur Jónsson’s interpretation. The selection of boði as base-word of the warrior-kenning, rather than the usual ôrr ‘envoy, messenger’ (Meissner 272-3), together with the overall setting and context of the stanza, may suggest paronomasia on boði ‘breaker, wave breaking at shore-line’.

þorps ‘settlement’

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þorp (noun n.; °-s; -): village < geirþorp (noun n.): [spear-settlement]

kennings

notes

[8] boða geirþorps ‘the messenger of the spear-settlement [SHIELD > WARRIOR]’: Cf. NN §1110, and see Note to l. 7 Gunnr hvítinga for Finnur Jónsson’s interpretation. The selection of boði as base-word of the warrior-kenning, rather than the usual ôrr ‘envoy, messenger’ (Meissner 272-3), together with the overall setting and context of the stanza, may suggest paronomasia on boði ‘breaker, wave breaking at shore-line’.

boða ‘against the messenger’

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boði (noun m.; °-a; -ar): messenger, breaker

kennings

notes

[8] boða geirþorps ‘the messenger of the spear-settlement [SHIELD > WARRIOR]’: Cf. NN §1110, and see Note to l. 7 Gunnr hvítinga for Finnur Jónsson’s interpretation. The selection of boði as base-word of the warrior-kenning, rather than the usual ôrr ‘envoy, messenger’ (Meissner 272-3), together with the overall setting and context of the stanza, may suggest paronomasia on boði ‘breaker, wave breaking at shore-line’.

orpit ‘is dumped’

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1. verpa (verb): to throw, cast (up)