Rv Lv 30II
Judith Jesch (ed.) 2009, ‘Rǫgnvaldr jarl Kali Kolsson, Lausavísur 30’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 606-7.
Villat ‘does not wish’
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vilja (verb): want, intend
vinr ‘friend’
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vinr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. -/(-i OsvReyk 92.17); -ir): friend
minn ‘My’
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minn (pron.; °f. mín, n. mitt): my
kalla ‘to call out’
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kalla (verb): call
allr ‘’
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allr (adj.): all
í ‘in’
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í (prep.): in, into
drit ‘the shit’
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drit (noun n.): [shit, dirt]
falla ‘’
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falla (verb): fall
nær ‘nearly’
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nær (adv.): near, almost; when
í ‘in’
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í (prep.): in, into
œrin ‘enough’
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œrr (adj.): raging
ógæfa ‘bad luck’
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ógæfa (noun f.): bad luck, misfortune
‘miðhæfi’ ‘‘miðhæfi’’
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miðhæfi (noun n.): ?
notes
[4] ‘miðhæfi’: This is not an ON word (and is duly not recorded in Fritzner, while LP paraphrases the saga explanation). Summaries of possible Gk expressions it could represent can be found in ÍF 34, 233-4 n. 4 and McDougall 1987-8, 219-20. These suggestions depend of course on the location of Imbólum (see Note to l. 8 below) and whether the language spoken there was Gk. CVC suggests an expression that means ‘go away’, while Sigfús Blöndal (1978, 155-6) advocates a suggestion that it means ‘do not cross’, which may be relevant to Erlingr’s situation on the gangplank, but is less likely for the more general custom.
hykk ‘I think’
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2. hyggja (verb): think, consider
at ‘that’
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4. at (conj.): that
þá ‘then’
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2. þá (adv.): then
þœtti ‘seemed’
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2. þykkja (verb): seem, think
þengils ‘of the prince [= Erlingr]’
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þengill (noun m.): prince, ruler
notes
[6] mágr þengils ‘the in-law of the prince [= Erlingr]’: Erlingr was married to Kristín, the daughter of King Sigurðr jórsalafari Magnússon.
mágr ‘the in-law’
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mágr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i/-; -ar): brother-, father-, or son-in-law
notes
[6] mágr þengils ‘the in-law of the prince [= Erlingr]’: Erlingr was married to Kristín, the daughter of King Sigurðr jórsalafari Magnússon.
es ‘when’
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2. er (conj.): who, which, when
rengðisk ‘he mis-stepped’
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rengja (verb): mis-step, reject
notes
[7] fellr ‘falls’: If the saga-context is correct that Rǫgnvaldr composed this st. the following morning, then R702ˣ’s variant fell ‘fell’ is to be preferred.
grár ‘grey’
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grár (adj.; °gráan/grán): grey
gauri ‘the ruffian’
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gaurr (noun m.): rascal, ruffian
[7] af gauri: so R702ˣ, of geira Flat
góligr ‘attractive’
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góligr (adj.): splendid
í ‘in’
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í (prep.): in, into
notes
[8] í Imbólum ‘in Imbólum’: Suggestions for where this was include Ampipholis in Macedonia and the Isle of Imbros in the Dardanelles (ÍF 34, 233 n. 2). McDougall (1987-8, 228 n. 38) concludes that the most likely place is Neochori, the harbour of Ampipholis. Meissner (1925, 183-4) did not think it was a p. n., though the author of Orkn, at any rate, clearly thought it was a town by this name (ÍF 34, 233). He also interpreted it as a nom. form, although in the st. it appears to have a dat. pl. ending.
Imbólum ‘Imbólum’
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Imbólur (noun f.): [Imbólum]
notes
[8] í Imbólum ‘in Imbólum’: Suggestions for where this was include Ampipholis in Macedonia and the Isle of Imbros in the Dardanelles (ÍF 34, 233 n. 2). McDougall (1987-8, 228 n. 38) concludes that the most likely place is Neochori, the harbour of Ampipholis. Meissner (1925, 183-4) did not think it was a p. n., though the author of Orkn, at any rate, clearly thought it was a town by this name (ÍF 34, 233). He also interpreted it as a nom. form, although in the st. it appears to have a dat. pl. ending.
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
In a place called Imbólum, it was apparently the custom for people to shout miðhæfi when they wanted someone coming in the opposite direction in a narrow place to give way. On one occasion when he was very drunk, Erlingr skakki failed to give way to some townspeople shouting this on a gangplank and fell into the mud of the harbour. The st. is Rǫgnvaldr’s response when he heard about this the next day.
[3]: This l. lacks the first alliterating stave. Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) adopts the variant er ‘is’ (for vas ‘was’) from R702ˣ, but this is not metrically satisfactory, as noted by Kock (NN §2068) who prefers to take the same ms.’s ‘no᷎r’ as an error for ‘uo᷎r’, i.e. (v)ór ‘our’. While this would solve the metrical problem, it does not explain the Flat variant (nær ‘nearly’), nor is it at all clear why Rǫgnvaldr would see Erlingr’s fall as his own or their joint misfortune. It is probably best to accept that the l. (or possibly even the whole couplet) has been corrupted from an original which cannot now be reconstructed.
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