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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Ǫlv Lv 1I

Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2012, ‘Ǫlvir hnúfa, Lausavísa 1’ 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. 126.

Ǫlvir hnúfaLausavísa1

text and translation

Lǫgðis hefr of lagða
lauk-Frigg dáin augna
skjalvald á þar skalda
skíðgarðr — saman hvarma.
Ok bandvaniðr blundar
bekkjar hjǫrtr í rekkju
— því hefk fúr-Gnáar fýris
fjón — golfdáinn sjónum.

{Dáin lauk-Frigg lǫgðis} hefr of lagða saman hvarma augna; skíðgarðr á þar skjalvald skalda. Ok {bandvaniðr golfdáinn hjǫrtr bekkjar} blundar sjónum í rekkju; því hefk fjón {fýris fúr-Gnáar}.
 
‘The torpid leek-Frigg <goddess> of the sword [WOMAN] has placed together the lids of [her] eyes; the paling fence there has gossip-authority over [lit. of] the poets. And the ribbon-accustomed floor-sluggish hart of the bench [WOMAN] shuts [her] eyes in bed; therefore I have the hatred of the Gná <goddess> of the pine-fire [(lit. ‘of the fire-Gná of pine’) WOMAN].

notes and context

For the full context, see Introduction to Auðunn Lv 2. Ǫlvir and two other poets, Auðunn illskælda and Þorbjǫrn hornklofi, have been tricked out of a night’s sexual enjoyment with a handsome widow, and have been forced to spend the night outdoors in a yard surrounded by a paling fence, whose gate has been locked. Each man composes a stanza about his plight.

On the use of early printed eds in the Readings above, see Introduction. As with the stanzas of Auðunn and Þorbjǫrn, Ǫlvir’s stanza is partly illegible in the ms. and difficult to construe. Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) hazarded the following summary: Kvinden har lukket sine öjne og jeg holdes fast (indesluttet) i skigærdet; hun blunder nu i sin sæng, medens jeg … ‘The woman has closed her eyes and I am kept firmly (locked up) in the fenced yard; she is now dozing in her bed, while I …’.

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: Ǫlvir hnúfa, 2. Lausavísa: AI, 6, BI, 6, Skald I, 4, NN §§2210B, 2985C; Hb 1892-6, 447, Fms 3, n. p., Fms 3, 69 (Skáld); SnE 1848-87, III, 415.

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