Anon Krm 20^VIII

Rory McTurk (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Poems, Krákumál 20’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 757.

text and translation

notes and context

In 147, R702ˣ, LR, R693ˣ and 6ˣ the present stanza and st. 19 appear in reverse order. — [2-7]: Lines 2-4, with their possible implication that dalliance with women leads to weakness in battle, prepare the way for the implied contrast in ll. 5-7 of fighting in battle with having hot baths prepared for one by women, a contrast which early translators of Krm failed to notice; see further the Note to l. 5 below.  There is a similarity with Frið 6 and 9 (see Notes to [All] in both stanzas), which may be due to influence from Krm. — [3-4]: Whereas in l. 9 below, the word ekkja ‘widow’ probably means little more than ‘woman’, its use here with reference to a widow’s ‘close friends’ (málvinir), i.e. ‘speech-friends, lovers’, following the reference to ‘the young knight of a maiden’ (drengr meyjar) in l. 2, is probably intended to give the impression that warriors both young and old are in question. The kennings drengr meyjar ‘the young knight of a maiden’ and má́lvinr ekkju ‘close friend of a widow’ are two of the three cases, listed by Meissner 351, as unique in skaldic poetry, of kennings meaning ‘lover’ being used where warrior-kennings would be expected. The third is ástvinr meyja ‘dear friend of maidens [LOVER]’, at st. 23/7 below; see Note there. — [5-6]: For parallels to these lines in Krm and elsewhere in skaldic poetry, see the Introduction. — [7]: In 147 (108v, ll. 15-16) the ‘su’ of Álasundi appears in l. 15 and what can be read of the remainder of the word (‘[…]i’, see Readings, above) appears at the beginning of l. 16. Thus interrupted by a line break, the word is also interrupted by the words Stakk ek á storðar … ‘I thrust at the earth’s…’ (i.e. all but the final word of st. 1/9), which appear at the end of l. 15. See first Note to st. 1/9-10. — [9-10]: As the Readings above indicate, R702ˣ, LR and 6ˣ have, in place of these two lines as preserved in 1824b and 147, what are printed in the present edn (with some modification in l. 9) as ll. 9-10 of st. 14; see the Notes to those lines, above, and the Introduction.

readings

• [1] Hjuggu vér með hjörvi: (?) abbrev. as ‘H . (v) m[…]’ 1824b, (?) abbrev. as ‘(h’) v(’) (m’ h)[…]’ 147, Hjuggum vér með hjörvi 6ˣ, LR, R693ˣ, abbrev. as ‘H v. m h:’ R702ˣ
• [2] Hárfagran sá ek: ‘[…] (sa eg)’(?) 147
• [2] røkkva (‘hrauckva’): ‘(hr)auckva’(?) 147, ‘raukkva’ R702ˣ, ‘rankva’ LR, ‘ranckua’ R693ˣ
• [3] meyjar dreng at morni: ‘meyiar d[...] at mornj’ 1824b, ‘meyiar […]eíng at mo[…]i’ 147, meyjar dreng enn at morni 6ˣ, ‘Meyar dreing enn vm Morgin’ R702ˣ, ‘meiardreng enn um morgum’ LR, ‘Meÿar dreng enn vm Morgun’ R693ˣ
• [4] ok: so all others, ‘o[…]’ 1824b
• [4] málvini: málvin 147, 6ˣ, R702ˣ, LR, R693ˣ
• [4] ekkju: ‘[…]kíu’ 147
• [5] Varat: vara R702ˣ
• [5] sem varmar laugar: ‘s(em v)ar(m)ar […]ugar’(?) 147, ‘sem vormar laugur’ LR, R693ˣ
• [6] vínkers: ‘(vínk[…]rs)’(?) 147, ‘vinkiors’ LR
• [6] Njörun: so R702ˣ, LR, R693ˣ, ‘níurn’ 1824b, ‘[…]n’ 147, ‘niurn’ with ‘niorun W.’ in margin 6ˣ
• [7] oss í: ‘os[…]’ 147
• [7] Ála‑: ‘[…]a’ 147, ‘ila‑’ R702ˣ, LR, ‘Ila’ R693ˣ
• [7] ‑sundi: ‘su[…]i’ 147
• [8] en: om. 6ˣ, R702ˣ, LR, R693ˣ
• [8] Örn (‘aurn’): ‘[…]’ 147, ‘auru’ LR
• [8] konungr felli: ‘(konungur f)[…]lli’(?) 147
• [9, 10] Varat sem unga ekkju í öndvegi kyssa: ‘vara[...] (s)em u(n)ga eckíu [...]g kyssa’(?) 147, ‘Baud ma̋na sa ek bresta Bra þad fi̋ra lide’ 6ˣ, ‘bꜽd mana sa ek bresta bra þad fira lifi’ R702ˣ, LR, R693ˣ

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.

• NKS 1824 b 4° (1824b) — 80v - 80v

  .
  Hárfagran sá ek røkkva
  †meyiar d[...] at mornj†
  †o[…]† málvini ekkju.
  Varat, sem varmar laugar
  vínkers †níurn† bæri
  oss í Álasundi,
  áðr en Örn konungr felli.
  Varat, sem unga ekkju
  í öndvegi kyssa.

  images
Close

• AM 147 4° (147) — 108v - 108v

  .
  †[…] (sa eg)† †(hr)auckva†
  †meyiar […]eíng at mo[…]i†
  ok málvin †[…]kíu†.
  Varat, †s(em v)ar(m)ar […]ugar†
  †(vínk[…]rs) […]n† bæri
  †os[…]† †[…]a††su[…]i†,
  áðr en †[…] (konungur f)[…]lli† .
  †vara[...] (s)em u(n)ga eckíu [...]g kyssa†,
  .

  images
Close

• AM 6 folx (6x) — 89v/17 - 89v/16

  Hjuggum vér með hjörvi .
  Hárfagran sá ek røkkva
  meyjar dreng enn at morni
  ok málvin ekkju.
  Varat, sem varmar laugar
  vínkers †niurn† bæri
  oss í Álasundi,
  áðr Örn konungr felli.
  †Baud ma̋na sa ek bresta Bra þad fi̋ra lide†,
  .

  images
Close

• UppsUB R 702x (R702x) — 31r - 31r

  .
  Hárfagran sá ek †raukkva†
  †Meyar dreing enn vm Morgin†
  ok málvin ekkju.
  vara, sem varmar laugar
  vínkers Njörun bæri
  oss í †ila-†sundi,
  áðr Örn konungr felli.
  †bꜽd mana sa ek bresta bra þad fira lifi†,
  .

  images
Close

• Worm 1636 (LR) — 216 - 217

  Hjuggum vér með hjörvi .
  Hárfagran sá ek †rankva†
  †meiardreng enn um morgum†
  ok málvin ekkju.
  Varat, †sem vormar laugur†
  †vinkiors† Njörun bæri
  oss í †ila-†sundi,
  áðr †auru† konungr felli.
  †bꜽd mana sa ek bresta bra þad fira lifi†,
  .

  images
Close

• UppsUB R 693x (R693x) — 13v - 13v

  Hjuggum vér með hjörvi .
  Hárfagran sá ek †ranckua†
  †Meÿar dreng enn vm Morgun†
  ok málvin ekkju.
  Varat, †sem vormar laugur†
  vínkers Njörun bæri
  oss í †Ila†sundi,
  áðr Örn konungr felli.
  †bꜽd mana sa ek bresta bra þad fira lifi†,
  .

editions and texts