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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Ólhelg Lv 5I

Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Óláfr inn helgi Haraldsson, Lausavísur 5’ 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. 523.

Óláfr inn helgi HaraldssonLausavísur
456

text and translation

Nærs, sem upp ór eisu
— innar lítk til kvinna —
— snót, hver svá mjǫk láti,
seg mér — loga bregði.
Mik hefr máli sykvinn
mest á skǫmmu fresti
— gekk’k of golf at drekka —
gramr ok brattir hamrar.

Nærs, sem loga bregði upp ór eisu; lítk innar til kvinna; seg mér, snót, hver láti svá mjǫk. Gramr ok brattir hamrar hefr sykvinn mik máli mest á skǫmmu fresti; gekk’k of golf at drekka.
 
‘It is almost as if flame shot up from embers; I look further in towards the women; tell me, lady, who puts on airs so much. The king and steep crags [Ingibjǫrg] have cheated me of speech most in a short time; I went across the floor to drink.

notes and context

The stanza, which follows Lv 3 in ÓH and Sigv Lv 19 in ÓHLeg, is prefaced by a bare remark that some say that King Óláfr composed it about Ingibjǫrg Finnsdóttir (see Note to l. 8).

[2]: Some medieval Scandinavian halls were constructed with partitioned-off apartments at the gable ends, the main entrance(s) being at the middle of the long sides of the building (cf. Foote and Wilson 1980, 152-6; Niles 2007, 42, 46). The speaker can be envisaged as at one of these entrances, while the women are in or near one of the apartments. The speaker’s placement is similar to that of Kormákr on his first sight of Steingerðr (KormǪ Lv 1-4V (Korm 1-4)).

readings

sources

Text is based on reconstruction from the base text and variant apparatus and may contain alternative spellings and other normalisations not visible in the manuscript text. Transcriptions may not have been checked and should not be cited.

editions and texts

Skj: Óláfr Haraldsson enn helgi, Lausavísur 8: AI, 221, BI, 211, Skald I, 110; ÓHLeg 1922, 57, ÓHLeg 1982, 134-5; Fms 5, 178, Fms 12, 110, ÓH 1941, II, 687, 701, Flat 1860-8, III, 241.

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