Ótt Knútdr 5I
Matthew Townend (ed.) 2012, ‘Óttarr svarti, Knútsdrápa 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. 772.
Gunni ‘battle’
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gunnr (noun f.): battle
lézt ‘you caused’
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láta (verb): let, have sth done
í ‘in’
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í (prep.): in, into
grœnni ‘green’
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2. grœnn (adj.; °superl. grǿnastr/grǿnstr): green
gramr ‘King’
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1. gramr (noun m.): ruler
Lindisey ‘Lindsey’
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Lindisey (noun f.): [Lindsey]
notes
[2] Lindisey ‘Lindsey’: OE Lindesey, a district of Lincolnshire.
framða ‘to be fought’
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fremja (verb): advance, perform
belldu ‘used’
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1. bella (verb; °præt. sg. ball): deal with
viðr ‘in opposition’
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2. við (prep.): with, against
notes
[3] viðr ‘in opposition’: This is in stressed and alliterating position, and hence likely to be the adv. (see LP: 1. við, viðr), with the fuller form viðr. Kock (NN §2218C) takes it as the prep. governing ríki, hence víkingar belldu viðr því ríki ‘the vikings proceeded against that power’ (i.e. the force of Knútr’s attack). However, dat. sg. ríki can equally well be the object of belldu ‘used’, as assumed here.
vildu ‘wished’
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vilja (verb): want, intend
víkingar ‘the vikings’
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víking (noun f.; °dat./acc. -/-u): viking journey
notes
[4] víkingar ‘the vikings’: It is uncertain whether these are Knútr’s supporters or his enemies. Jesch (2001a, 44-54, especially 52-3), following Kock (NN §2218C), argues that belldu viðr has the sense ‘resisted’, and that the víkingar are Knútr’s enemies. However, although Kock’s interpretation avoids emendation in l. 4 it involves emendation of þvís to þeirs ‘(those) who’ in l. 3. For further ambiguous uses of víkingar, see Note to Sigv Víkv 3/6.
ríki ‘the strength’
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ríki (noun n.; °-s; -): kingdom, power
Bíða ‘to experience’
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bíða (verb; °bíðr; beið, biðu; beðit): wait, suffer, experience
notes
[5, 6] bíða sorgir ‘to experience sorrows’: This verb takes the gen. when meaning ‘to wait for’ but the acc. when meaning ‘to experience’. The ms. readings suggest that scribes took the meaning here to be ‘to wait for’ (hence gen. sg. sorgar), but ‘to experience’ gives much better sense, hence the emendation here and in all previous eds to acc. pl. sorgir.
lézt ‘caused’
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láta (verb): let, have sth done
í ‘in’
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í (prep.): in, into
breiðri ‘broad’
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breiðr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): broad, wide
notes
[5] breiðri ‘broad’: As Jesch (2001a, 61) notes, Óttarr collocates this adj. with the noun borg elsewhere: see Ótt Hfl 10/3-4 breiða borg Kantara ‘broad Canterbury’ and Note.
borg ‘brough’
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borg (noun f.; °-ar, dat. -; -ir): city, stronghold < Hemingaborg (noun f.)
notes
[6] borg Hemminga ‘Hemingbrough’: OE *Hem(m)ingaburh, probably Hemingbrough in East Yorkshire, though there are problems with the identification, in that Hemingbrough is to the north-east of the Ouse, rather than to the west. A battle there is not mentioned in the ASC, though it is plausible (see Poole 1987, 272-3; Townend 1998, 34-6). The p. n. is positioned with mild tmesis (cf. Ótt Hfl 10/4 and Note), and the form Hemm- rather than Hem- is required by the metre.
Hemminga ‘Heming’
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Hemingr (noun m.): [Heming, Hemingr] < Hemingaborg (noun f.)
[6] Hemminga‑: Heminga JÓ, 20dˣ, 873ˣ, helminga 41ˣ
notes
[6] borg Hemminga ‘Hemingbrough’: OE *Hem(m)ingaburh, probably Hemingbrough in East Yorkshire, though there are problems with the identification, in that Hemingbrough is to the north-east of the Ouse, rather than to the west. A battle there is not mentioned in the ASC, though it is plausible (see Poole 1987, 272-3; Townend 1998, 34-6). The p. n. is positioned with mild tmesis (cf. Ótt Hfl 10/4 and Note), and the form Hemm- rather than Hem- is required by the metre.
notes
[5, 6] bíða sorgir ‘to experience sorrows’: This verb takes the gen. when meaning ‘to wait for’ but the acc. when meaning ‘to experience’. The ms. readings suggest that scribes took the meaning here to be ‘to wait for’ (hence gen. sg. sorgar), but ‘to experience’ gives much better sense, hence the emendation here and in all previous eds to acc. pl. sorgir.
œst ‘angrily’
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œst (adv.): [angrily, madly]
notes
[7] œst ‘angrily’: The p. p. of œsa ‘to stir up, set in motion’, taken here as an adverbial use of the n. form (cf. LP: œsa). If adjectival it could grammatically qualify (engst) folk ‘(English) people’, though if, as is most usual, the connotations are of vigour or ferocity, it is more likely to be attributed to Knútr. Skj B, Skald, and Knýtl 1919-25 all emend to the m. form œstr ‘angered’, to agree with þrøngvir ‘oppressor’ (ÍF 35 prints œst in the main text, but œstr in a footnote, and the latter seems intended).
fyr ‘to the’
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fyr (prep.): for, over, because of, etc.
Úsu ‘of the Ouse’
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Úsa (noun f.): River Ouse
notes
[7] Úsu ‘the Ouse’: The Yorkshire river, which joins the Trent to form the Humber.
vestan ‘west’
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vestan (prep.): from the west
engst ‘the English’
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engskr (adj.): [English]
folk ‘people’
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folk (noun n.): people
Svía ‘of the Swedes’
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Svíar (noun m.): Swedes
kennings
Þrøngvir Svía,‘Oppressor of the Swedes, ’
= Knútr
Oppressor of the Swedes, → Knútr
notes
[8] þrøngvir Svía ‘oppressor of the Swedes [= Knútr]’: This term would seem to allude to the battle of Á in helga (Helgeå, Skåne) c. 1026, and together with st. 11 may therefore supply a terminus post quem for the composition of the poem (see Introduction).
þrøngvir ‘Oppressor’
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þrøngvir (noun m.): forcer
kennings
Þrøngvir Svía,‘Oppressor of the Swedes, ’
= Knútr
Oppressor of the Swedes, → Knútr
notes
[8] þrøngvir Svía ‘oppressor of the Swedes [= Knútr]’: This term would seem to allude to the battle of Á in helga (Helgeå, Skåne) c. 1026, and together with st. 11 may therefore supply a terminus post quem for the composition of the poem (see Introduction).
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
This stanza is quoted after a brief statement that Knútr had his first battles in England in Lindisey (Lindsey) and Hemingaborg (Hemingbrough).
The ASC (s.a. 1016) records that early in 1016 Knútr took his army north through Lincolnshire into Northumbria. — [3-4]: These are difficult lines, and some form of emendation seems necessary. Knýtl 1919-25 and ÍF 35 (followed here) prefer to emend því to þar in l. 4, while Skj B and Skald emend þvís to þeirs in l. 3, resulting in the sense ‘the vikings who wished used in opposition that strength’. The former interpretation seems preferable from a scribal point of view, as the second því could have arisen through dittography, perhaps encouraged by agreement with the following ríki.
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