Anon Krm 2^VIII

Hjuggu ‘hewed’

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hǫggva (verb): to strike, put to death, cut, hew

[1] Hjuggu: Hjuggum 6ˣ, LR, R693ˣ

vér ‘We’

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vér (pron.; °gen. vár, dat./acc. oss): we, us, our

með ‘with’

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með (prep.): with

[1] með hjörvi: so 6ˣ, LR, R693ˣ, ‘med h᷎’ 1824b

hjörvi ‘the sword’

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hjǫrr (noun m.): sword

[1] með hjörvi: so 6ˣ, LR, R693ˣ, ‘med h᷎’ 1824b

Heldr ‘very’

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heldr (adv.): rather

[2] Heldr: so all others, ‘[...]elldr’ 1824b

notes

[2] ek var heldr ungr ‘I was very young’: On the possible implications of this statement, see Note to st. 1/2 above.

var ‘was’

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

notes

[2] ek var heldr ungr ‘I was very young’: On the possible implications of this statement, see Note to st. 1/2 above.

ek ‘I’

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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me

notes

[2] ek var heldr ungr ‘I was very young’: On the possible implications of this statement, see Note to st. 1/2 above.

ungr ‘young’

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ungr (adj.): young

notes

[2] ek var heldr ungr ‘I was very young’: On the possible implications of this statement, see Note to st. 1/2 above.

þá ‘when’

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2. þá (adv.): then

[2] þá er skífðum: er fengum so all others

er ‘’

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2. er (conj.): who, which, when

[2] þá er skífðum: er fengum so all others

skífðum ‘we chopped up’

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2. skífa (verb)

[2] þá er skífðum: er fengum so all others

austr ‘east’

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3. austr (adv.; °compar. -ar, superl. -ast): east, in the east

notes

[3] austr í Eyrasundi ‘east in the Øresund’: This is the strait separating the Danish island of Sjælland from what is now the southern Swedish province of Skåne. The fact that the speaker, here reciting his death-song, refers to the Øresund as being in the east is consistent with the fact that, according to Ragn (Ragn 1906-8, 156-9, 186-9), RagnSon (Hb 1892-6, 462-3), and Saxo (Saxo 2015, I, ix. 4. 38, pp. 660-3), Ragnarr loðbrók died in the British Isles (in Ragn and RagnSon in England, in Saxo’s account apparently in Ireland).

í ‘in’

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í (prep.): in, into

[3] í Eyrasundi (‘j eyra sunde’): á Eyrasundi 6ˣ, í Eyrarsundi R702ˣ, LR, R693ˣ

notes

[3] austr í Eyrasundi ‘east in the Øresund’: This is the strait separating the Danish island of Sjælland from what is now the southern Swedish province of Skåne. The fact that the speaker, here reciting his death-song, refers to the Øresund as being in the east is consistent with the fact that, according to Ragn (Ragn 1906-8, 156-9, 186-9), RagnSon (Hb 1892-6, 462-3), and Saxo (Saxo 2015, I, ix. 4. 38, pp. 660-3), Ragnarr loðbrók died in the British Isles (in Ragn and RagnSon in England, in Saxo’s account apparently in Ireland).

Eyrasundi ‘the Øresund’

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eyrasund (noun n.; °-s)

[3] í Eyrasundi (‘j eyra sunde’): á Eyrasundi 6ˣ, í Eyrarsundi R702ˣ, LR, R693ˣ

notes

[3] austr í Eyrasundi ‘east in the Øresund’: This is the strait separating the Danish island of Sjælland from what is now the southern Swedish province of Skåne. The fact that the speaker, here reciting his death-song, refers to the Øresund as being in the east is consistent with the fact that, according to Ragn (Ragn 1906-8, 156-9, 186-9), RagnSon (Hb 1892-6, 462-3), and Saxo (Saxo 2015, I, ix. 4. 38, pp. 660-3), Ragnarr loðbrók died in the British Isles (in Ragn and RagnSon in England, in Saxo’s account apparently in Ireland).

undurn ‘a breakfast’

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undorn (noun m.; °dat. -i): [afternoon]

[4] undurn: so 6ˣ, ‘vnd [...]rn’ 1824b, ‘undarn’ R702ˣ, R693ˣ, ‘undarm’ LR

notes

[4] undurn ‘a breakfast’: This seems the most satisfactory translation for undurn, meaning lit. ‘(time) in between’ and referring to the time between rising and mid-day, during which the first meal of the day was taken, around 9 a.m. (see ÍO: undorn, undarn; cf. CVC: dagmál ‘day-meal’). It is a relatively uncommon word (cf. LP: undurn; Fritzner, Fritzner IV: undorn; Ótt Óldr 4/1^III and Note there).

frekum ‘for the greedy’

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2. frekr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): greedy

vargi ‘wolf’

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vargr (noun m.; °dat. -i; -ar): wolf

ok ‘and’

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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also

fótgulum ‘for the yellow-footed’

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fótgulr (adj.)

[5, 6] fótgulum fugli fengu vér þar er sungu: corrected from ‘főtgulum fengu ver þar er svngu’ R702ˣ

notes

[5] fótgulum fugli ‘for the yellow-footed bird’: Probably the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos).

fugli ‘bird’

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fugl (noun m.): bird

[5, 6] fótgulum fugli fengu vér þar er sungu: corrected from ‘főtgulum fengu ver þar er svngu’ R702ˣ

notes

[5] fótgulum fugli ‘for the yellow-footed bird’: Probably the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos). — [5-6, 8] fengu vér … fugli mikils verðar ‘we provided a massive meal for the … bird’: Fugli ‘the bird’ is here the dat. indirect object of fengum, 1st pers. pl. pret. of fá in the sense of ‘provide, supply’, with its direct object mikils verðar ‘a massive meal’ in the gen., a construction by no means infrequent in Old Norse poetry (see LP: 2. fáa 2, and cf. Note to st. 26/9-10 below).

fugli ‘bird’

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fugl (noun m.): bird

[5, 6] fótgulum fugli fengu vér þar er sungu: corrected from ‘főtgulum fengu ver þar er svngu’ R702ˣ

notes

[5] fótgulum fugli ‘for the yellow-footed bird’: Probably the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos). — [5-6, 8] fengu vér … fugli mikils verðar ‘we provided a massive meal for the … bird’: Fugli ‘the bird’ is here the dat. indirect object of fengum, 1st pers. pl. pret. of fá in the sense of ‘provide, supply’, with its direct object mikils verðar ‘a massive meal’ in the gen., a construction by no means infrequent in Old Norse poetry (see LP: 2. fáa 2, and cf. Note to st. 26/9-10 below).

fengu ‘provided’

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2. fá (verb; °fǽr; fekk, fengu; fenginn): get, receive

[5, 6] fótgulum fugli fengu vér þar er sungu: corrected from ‘főtgulum fengu ver þar er svngu’ R702ˣ

notes

[5-6, 8] fengu vér … fugli mikils verðar ‘we provided a massive meal for the … bird’: Fugli ‘the bird’ is here the dat. indirect object of fengum, 1st pers. pl. pret. of fá in the sense of ‘provide, supply’, with its direct object mikils verðar ‘a massive meal’ in the gen., a construction by no means infrequent in Old Norse poetry (see LP: 2. fáa 2, and cf. Note to st. 26/9-10 below).

vér ‘we’

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vér (pron.; °gen. vár, dat./acc. oss): we, us, our

[5, 6] fótgulum fugli fengu vér þar er sungu: corrected from ‘főtgulum fengu ver þar er svngu’ R702ˣ

notes

[5-6, 8] fengu vér … fugli mikils verðar ‘we provided a massive meal for the … bird’: Fugli ‘the bird’ is here the dat. indirect object of fengum, 1st pers. pl. pret. of fá in the sense of ‘provide, supply’, with its direct object mikils verðar ‘a massive meal’ in the gen., a construction by no means infrequent in Old Norse poetry (see LP: 2. fáa 2, and cf. Note to st. 26/9-10 below).

þar ‘where’

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þar (adv.): there

[5, 6] fótgulum fugli fengu vér þar er sungu: corrected from ‘főtgulum fengu ver þar er svngu’ R702ˣ

er ‘’

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2. er (conj.): who, which, when

[5, 6] fótgulum fugli fengu vér þar er sungu: corrected from ‘főtgulum fengu ver þar er svngu’ R702ˣ

sungu ‘sang’

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syngja (verb): sing

[5, 6] fótgulum fugli fengu vér þar er sungu: corrected from ‘főtgulum fengu ver þar er svngu’ R702ˣ

við ‘on’

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2. við (prep.): with, against

háseymða ‘rivet-studded’

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háseymðr (adj./verb p.p.)

notes

[7] háseymða hjálma ‘rivet-studded helmets’: Háseymðr, p. p., means lit. ‘nailed high up’ (LP: hôseymðr). What seem to be in question here are helmets of the type illustrated by Thordeman (1941, 93), of which fragments dating from the C5th and C6th have been found at Tuna on Gotland. This type of helmet, not commonly found in Scandinavia, appears to have consisted of a circlet from which four or six metal strips shaped like upturned Ts curve upwards and inwards, forming a conical shape, and meet at a rounded top where they are held together by a boss, the spaces between the strips being filled by convex metal plates attached from below to the strips by rivets, the heads of which appear on the exterior of the helmet.

hjálma ‘helmets’

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1. hjalmr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): helmet

notes

[7] háseymða hjálma ‘rivet-studded helmets’: Háseymðr, p. p., means lit. ‘nailed high up’ (LP: hôseymðr). What seem to be in question here are helmets of the type illustrated by Thordeman (1941, 93), of which fragments dating from the C5th and C6th have been found at Tuna on Gotland. This type of helmet, not commonly found in Scandinavia, appears to have consisted of a circlet from which four or six metal strips shaped like upturned Ts curve upwards and inwards, forming a conical shape, and meet at a rounded top where they are held together by a boss, the spaces between the strips being filled by convex metal plates attached from below to the strips by rivets, the heads of which appear on the exterior of the helmet.

hörð ‘tough’

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harðr (adj.; °comp. -ari; superl. -astr): hard, harsh

járn ‘swords’

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járn (noun n.; °-s; -): iron, weapon

mikils ‘a massive’

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mikill (adj.; °mikinn): great, large

notes

[5-6, 8] fengu vér … fugli mikils verðar ‘we provided a massive meal for the … bird’: Fugli ‘the bird’ is here the dat. indirect object of fengum, 1st pers. pl. pret. of fá in the sense of ‘provide, supply’, with its direct object mikils verðar ‘a massive meal’ in the gen., a construction by no means infrequent in Old Norse poetry (see LP: 2. fáa 2, and cf. Note to st. 26/9-10 below).

verðar ‘meal’

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1. verðr (noun m.; °dat. -i): food

notes

[5-6, 8] fengu vér … fugli mikils verðar ‘we provided a massive meal for the … bird’: Fugli ‘the bird’ is here the dat. indirect object of fengum, 1st pers. pl. pret. of fá in the sense of ‘provide, supply’, with its direct object mikils verðar ‘a massive meal’ in the gen., a construction by no means infrequent in Old Norse poetry (see LP: 2. fáa 2, and cf. Note to st. 26/9-10 below).

Allr ‘All’

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allr (adj.): all

var ‘was’

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

notes

[9] ægir var sollinn ‘the sea was troubled’: Occurring here with sollinn, p. p. of svella ‘swell’ (of the sea), the word ægir, used here as a poetic word for ‘sea’, as often elsewhere, also occurs frequently in poetry and in Skm as the name (Ægir) of a mythical sea-giant, sometimes personifying the sea (see LP: ægir; SnE 1998, II, 439, 527). Cf. the second Note to st. 5/5 below.

ægir ‘the sea’

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2. ægir (noun m.): ocean, sea

notes

[9] ægir var sollinn ‘the sea was troubled’: Occurring here with sollinn, p. p. of svella ‘swell’ (of the sea), the word ægir, used here as a poetic word for ‘sea’, as often elsewhere, also occurs frequently in poetry and in Skm as the name (Ægir) of a mythical sea-giant, sometimes personifying the sea (see LP: ægir; SnE 1998, II, 439, 527). Cf. the second Note to st. 5/5 below.

sollinn ‘troubled’

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1. svella (verb): swell

[9] sollinn: ‘sollium’ LR, R693ˣ

notes

[9] ægir var sollinn ‘the sea was troubled’: Occurring here with sollinn, p. p. of svella ‘swell’ (of the sea), the word ægir, used here as a poetic word for ‘sea’, as often elsewhere, also occurs frequently in poetry and in Skm as the name (Ægir) of a mythical sea-giant, sometimes personifying the sea (see LP: ægir; SnE 1998, II, 439, 527). Cf. the second Note to st. 5/5 below.

óð ‘waded’

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vaða (verb): advance, wade

rafn ‘the raven’

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rafn (noun m.)

[10] rafn (‘Rafn’): so R702ˣ, LR, R693ˣ, ‘rrann’ 1824b, ‘rrafn’ with Rán in margin 6ˣ

notes

[10] rafn ‘the raven’: From the ms. readings this word could be taken in various ways. (a) As a variant spelling of hrafn ‘raven’ (cf. the ramn ‘raven’ of Anon Leið 16/2^VII); so most eds, printing either rafn or hrafn. The absence of <h> before <r> (or before <l>), which occurs elsewhere (though not consistently) in Krm, is a characteristic of Old Norwegian spelling (see ANG §289; cf. Finlay 2011 65) and has contributed to the view, most notably in Storm (1878, 196-9), that the poem is not originally Icelandic; see the Introduction and cf. also Olsen (1935, 79) and de Vries (1964-7, II, 39). Assuming ‘raven’ here allows all three of the beasts of battle of Old Norse poetry – wolf, eagle, and raven – to appear in one stanza, thus giving a representative view of them early in a poem very largely concerned with battles. (b) As Rafn (variant of Hrafn), a proper name, but nothing is known of the person so named (unless it is the king named Rafn in st. 6/8, below), and no previous ed. has adopted this. (c) The 6ˣ and 1824b readings might suggest Rán, the name of the sea-goddess, consort of Ægir (see LP: Rôn; SnE 1998, II, 499; SnE 2007, 13, 161), though only Valdimar Ásmundarson (Krm 1891) adopts this.

í ‘in’

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í (prep.): in, into

notes

[10] í valblóði ‘in corpse-blood’: The same phrase occurs in Ghv 4/10; cf. de Vries (1964-7, II, 40 n. 69).

valblóði ‘corpse-blood’

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valblóð (noun n.)

notes

[10] í valblóði ‘in corpse-blood’: The same phrase occurs in Ghv 4/10; cf. de Vries (1964-7, II, 40 n. 69).