Anon Krm 22^VIII

Rory McTurk (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Poems, Krákumál 22’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 762.

introduction

This second part of Krm is more reflective in character than the first. The speaker advocates courage and heroism in battle (sts 22-3); says that he had not expected that King Ælle would be the cause of his death, and speaks of having fought extensively in Scotland’s firths (st. 24); rejoices in the knowledge that he will soon (after death) be feasting with the god Óðinn (st. 25); claims that his sons by Áslaug would take up arms if they knew how many poisonous snakes were tearing at him (st. 26); says that his end is near, that a snake has entered his heart, and that he expects his sons, in their anger at his death, to take vengeance on Ælle (st. 27); claims to have engaged in fifty-one battles during his lifetime, after beginning his martial career at an early age, and to have expected least of all that another king would defeat him, though he declares that the gods will invite him to join them, and that death gives no cause for anxiety (st. 28). Finally, he says that he wishes to end his recital, since the handmaids of Óðinn, the dísir, are inviting him to Óðinn’s hall; that he will be happy to drink ale in the high seat with the gods; that all hope of life is gone; and that he will die laughing (st. 29).

text and translation

notes and context

Ms. 1824b concludes with the first part of l. 5 of st. 22; thereafter R702ˣ is taken as base ms. for this edn. — [2-4]: The sentiment expressed here may at first sight seem at variance with the ready, even cheerful acceptance of death that is so much a characteristic of heroes in the face of death as portrayed in Germanic literature, witness for example st. 29/8 below and the cases of Hǫgni Gjúkason and his brother Gunnarr (the latter another snake-pit victim) in Akv 24-7. The lines may however be read as an ironic exhortation to people of cowardly disposition of the type described in ll. 5-10 of the present stanza, meaning: ‘you are no more likely to die in the front line than in other situations into which the fortunes of war might lead you, so you may as well pluck up your courage and join the fray’. In other words, death is altogether likely in any case, so why not meet that likelihood with courage rather than cowardice? — [3]: The line is unmetrical, with hann being extrametrical, but, if hann were deleted, at is unlikely to be able to carry full stress and there would be three alliterating staves. — [7-8]: Line 7, treated as an intercalary clause by the present ed. and by previous eds from Finnur Jónsson (1893b) onwards (i.e. Finnur Jónsson and Kock), contains an acc. and inf. construction with the subject acc. (qualified by ilt ‘troublesome’) and the inf. vera ‘be’ omitted, meaning literally ‘they declare it (subject acc., omitted) (to be) troublesome (ilt n. acc. sg.) to egg on a coward’. Previous eds, while recognising this construction, had read l. 7 as running on syntactically to l. 8, understanding the two lines to mean: ‘they say it’s a troublesome business egging on a coward to the brisk game of battle’. For the sense ‘brisk’, see Note to l. 8. — [9-10]: The lit. sense of these lines is ‘to a cowardly man his heart is never of any use’.

readings

• [1] Hjuggu vér með hjörvi: abbrev. as ‘H[…]n. h᷎’ 1824b, (?) abbrev. as ‘H[…] (v’) m(’) h(’)’ 147, Hjuggum vér með hjörvi 6ˣ, LR, R693ˣ, abbrev. as ‘H v m h:’ R702ˣ
• [2] Hví: ‘[…]’ 147, hvé 6ˣ, hvat R702ˣ, LR, R693ˣ
• [2] sé: er LR, R693ˣ
• [2] drengr: so R702ˣ, 6ˣ, LR, R693ˣ, ‘dr[…]ng[…]’ 1824b, ‘dreng’ 147
• [2] at: ‘[…]’ 1824b, ‘(at)’(?) 147
• [2] feigri: ‘f[...]gri’ 147
• [3] hann: so R702ˣ, 6ˣ, ‘[...]’ 1824b, 147, ‘hun’ LR, ‘han’ R693ˣ
• [3] í odda: ‘(j) [...](dda)’(?) 147
• [3] éli: so R702ˣ, 6ˣ, LR, R693ˣ, ‘elium’ 1824b, ‘[...]’ 147
• [4] öndurðr: so R702ˣ, 6ˣ, LR, R693ˣ, ‘a[...]d[...]dr’ 1824b, ‘[...]’ 147
• [4] látinn verði: so R702ˣ, 6ˣ, LR, R693ˣ, ‘[...]erdi’ 1824b, ‘(latinn ver)di’(?) 147
• [5] Opt sýtir sá ævi: so all others, ‘vpt [...]t[...]’ 1824b
• [6] nistir: ‘nester’ LR, corrected from ‘nester’ R693ˣ
• [7] argan eggja: om. 147
• [8] örn: ‘a(u)rn’(?) 147, ‘aurum’ 6ˣ, ‘auru’ LR
• [9] Hugblauðum kemr hvergi: ‘h+’ with ‘hugblaudum kemr huergi’ written at the bottom of the page 147
• [9] Hugblauðum: ‘hugblaudum’ with caret between b and a indicating l written above the line R693ˣ
• [9] hvergi: ‘hvorge’ LR, R693ˣ
• [10] hjarta: ‘hiar(ta)d’(?) 147, ‘hiarte’ LR

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 [1-5]

  .
  Hví sé †dr[…]ng[…] […]† feigri,
  at †[...]† í odda †elium†
  †a[...]d[...]dr [...]erdi† ?
  †vpt [...]t[...]† ,
  er aldrigi nistir
  — ilt kveða argan eggja —
  örn at sverða leiki.
  Hugblauðum kemr hvergi
  hjarta sitt at gagni.

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• AM 147 4° (147) — 108v - 108v

  .
  †[…]† sé †dreng (at) f[...]gri†,
  at †[...] (j) [...](dda)†
  †[...] (latinn ver)di† ?
  Opt sýtir sá ævi,
  er aldrigi nistir
  — ilt kveða —
  †a(u)rn† at sverða leiki.
  †h+†
  †hiar(ta)d† sitt at gagni.

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• AM 6 folx (6x) — 90r/21 - 90v/5

  Hjuggum vér með hjörvi .
  hvé sé drengr at feigri,
  at hann í odda éli
  öndurðr látinn verði?
  Opt sýtir sá ævi,
  er aldrigi nistir
  — ilt kveða argan eggja —
  †aurum† at sverða leiki.
  Hugblauðum kemr hvergi
  hjarta sitt at gagni.

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• UppsUB R 702x (R702x) — 31r - 31r [5-10]

  .
  hvat sé drengr at feigri,
  at hann í odda éli
  öndurðr látinn verði?
  Opt sýtir sá ævi,
  er aldrigi nistir
  — ilt kveða argan eggja —
  örn at sverða leiki.
  Hugblauðum kemr hvergi
  hjarta sitt at gagni.

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• Worm 1636 (LR) — 219 - 220

  Hjuggum vér með hjörvi .
  hvat er drengr at feigri,
  at †hun† í odda éli
  öndurðr látinn verði?
  Opt sýtir sá ævi,
  er aldrigi †nester†
  — ilt kveða argan eggja —
  †auru† at sverða leiki.
  Hugblauðum kemr †hvorge†
  †hiarte† sitt at gagni.

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• UppsUB R 693x (R693x) — 15r - 15r

  Hjuggum vér með hjörvi .
  hvat er drengr at feigri,
  at †han† í odda éli
  öndurðr látinn verði?
  Opt sýtir sá ævi,
  er aldrigi
  — ilt kveða argan eggja —
  örn at sverða leiki.
  †hugblaudum† kemr †hvorge†
  hjarta sitt at gagni.

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