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Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Rv Lv 35III

Judith Jesch (ed.) 2017, ‘Rǫgnvaldr jarl Kali Kolsson, Lausavísur 35’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 345.

Rǫgnvaldr jarl Kali KolssonLausavísur
3435

Eigi ‘don’t’

(not checked:)
3. eigi (adv.): not

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veitk ‘know’

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1. vita (verb): know

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nær ‘when’

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nær (adv.): near, almost; when

[1] nær: ‘hyr’ 2368ˣ

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ægi ‘the ocean [= (marr ‘horse’)]’

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ægi (noun n.): ocean

notes

[1] ægi ‘the ocean [= (marr ‘horse’)]’: Another word for ‘ocean’ is marr, which also means ‘horse’.

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óð ‘the poem’

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1. óðr (noun m.): poem < óðflýtir (noun m.)

kennings

óðflýtir
‘the poem-conveyer ’
   = POET

the poem-conveyer → POET

notes

[2] óðflýtir ‘the poem-conveyer [POET]’: Óð- can be an intensifying prefix but is also a noun meaning ‘poem’. Flýtir is an agent noun formed from the weak verb flýta ‘hasten’, but also carries a range of meanings including ‘conveyor, deliverer’ (LP: flýtir). Here, ‘poem-conveyor’ is chosen for the translation since the intensifying prefix óð- is normally only found with adjectives. Even if it could be prefixed to a noun, it would seem to demand an object that is not expressed here. There is a possible parallel in the nominal cpd óðsemjandi ‘composer of poetry’ (Kálf Kátr 2/8VII), though this depends on an emendation. The proposed translation is also consonant with Rǫgnvaldr’s express awareness of himself as a poet (cf. Rv Lv 1II, 11II, 29II). An alternative explanation, according to Bibire (1988), is that ‘the óðflýtir “frenzied fleeter” of a horse is its rider who makes it gallop’, which is more consonant with the speaker’s wish to bridle the horse. Given the extent of word-play in this quatrain, it is possible that both meanings are to be understood.

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flýtir ‘conveyer’

(not checked:)
flýtir (noun m.): hastener < óðflýtir (noun m.)

kennings

óðflýtir
‘the poem-conveyer ’
   = POET

the poem-conveyer → POET

notes

[2] óðflýtir ‘the poem-conveyer [POET]’: Óð- can be an intensifying prefix but is also a noun meaning ‘poem’. Flýtir is an agent noun formed from the weak verb flýta ‘hasten’, but also carries a range of meanings including ‘conveyor, deliverer’ (LP: flýtir). Here, ‘poem-conveyor’ is chosen for the translation since the intensifying prefix óð- is normally only found with adjectives. Even if it could be prefixed to a noun, it would seem to demand an object that is not expressed here. There is a possible parallel in the nominal cpd óðsemjandi ‘composer of poetry’ (Kálf Kátr 2/8VII), though this depends on an emendation. The proposed translation is also consonant with Rǫgnvaldr’s express awareness of himself as a poet (cf. Rv Lv 1II, 11II, 29II). An alternative explanation, according to Bibire (1988), is that ‘the óðflýtir “frenzied fleeter” of a horse is its rider who makes it gallop’, which is more consonant with the speaker’s wish to bridle the horse. Given the extent of word-play in this quatrain, it is possible that both meanings are to be understood.

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‘will be able’

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mega (verb): may, might

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knýta ‘to bridle’

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knýta (verb): [to bridle]

notes

[2] knýta ‘to bridle’: Lit. ‘to knot’.

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dýr ‘the animal’

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1. dýr (noun n.; °-s (spec.: dyʀiɴs KonrA 66⁴‡, etc., cf. Seip 1955 188-189); -): animal

kennings

dýr fiskifœra,
‘the animal of fishing-gear [= (taumar ‘reins’)] ’
   = HORSE

the animal of fishing-gear [= (taumar ‘reins’)] → HORSE
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fiski ‘of fishing’

(not checked:)
1. fiski (noun f.): fishing < fiskifœri (noun n.)

[3] fiski‑: fiska 2368ˣ, 743ˣ

kennings

dýr fiskifœra,
‘the animal of fishing-gear [= (taumar ‘reins’)] ’
   = HORSE

the animal of fishing-gear [= (taumar ‘reins’)] → HORSE

notes

[3] fiskifœra ‘of fishing-gear [= (taumar ‘reins’)]’: Cf. veiðarfœri ‘fishing-gear’ in EVald Þórr 1, and see Note to [All], above.

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fœra ‘gear [= (taumar ‘reins’)]’

(not checked:)
fœri (noun n.): opportunity; tool, gear < fiskifœri (noun n.)

kennings

dýr fiskifœra,
‘the animal of fishing-gear [= (taumar ‘reins’)] ’
   = HORSE

the animal of fishing-gear [= (taumar ‘reins’)] → HORSE

notes

[3] fiskifœra ‘of fishing-gear [= (taumar ‘reins’)]’: Cf. veiðarfœri ‘fishing-gear’ in EVald Þórr 1, and see Note to [All], above.

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feigligt ‘dying’

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feigligr (adj.): [dying]

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þats ‘which’

(not checked:)
þats (conj.): that, which

[4] þats: þat all

notes

[4] þats ‘which’: This emendation (first found in Skj B) is required by the syntax (omission of the rel. particle is characteristic of C14th poetry).

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See Context for Lv 34, above.

See Note to Lv 34  [All] above. Although the import of this quatrain is obscure, it plays with and inverts the common trope in which a ship is figured as a horse of the sea (cf. Rv Lv 31II), conjuring up parallel meanings by means of ofljóst. LaufE (LaufE 1979, 294) goes on to explain Þad er allt eitt og taumdyr, þui ad bædi h(eita) taumar fiski færi, og vidlóg hesta þessum figurum er marga vega breitt j skälldskap ‘It is all the same as a reined animal, because taumar means both fishing-gear and horses’ tackle; this figure is varied in many ways in poetry’.

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