Rv Lv 35^III

Eigi veitk, nær ægi
óðflýtir má knýta;
dýr es fiskifœra
feigligt, þats vér eigum.

Eigi veitk, nær {óðflýtir} má knýta ægi; {dýr fiskifœra}, þats vér eigum, es feigligt.

I don’t know when {the poem-conveyer} [POET] will be able to bridle the ocean [= (marr ‘horse’)]; {the animal of fishing-gear [= (taumar ‘reins’)]} [HORSE] which we [I] own is dying.

Mss: papp10ˣ(48v), 1494ˣ(62r), 2368ˣ(118), 743ˣ(90r) (LaufE)

Readings: [1] nær: ‘hyr’ 2368ˣ    [3] fiski‑: fiska 2368ˣ, 743ˣ    [4] þats: þat all

Editions: Skj AI, 512, Skj BI, 487, Skald I, 239; SnE 1848-87, II, 633, III, 203-4; LaufE 1979, 294, 378; Bibire 1988, 239-40.

Context: See Context for Lv 34, above.

Notes: [All]: 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 31^II), 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’. — [1] ægi ‘the ocean [= (marr ‘horse’)]’: Another word for ‘ocean’ is marr, which also means ‘horse’. — [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 2/8^VII), 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 1^II, 11^II, 29^II). 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. — [2] knýta ‘to bridle’: Lit. ‘to knot’. — [3] fiskifœra ‘of fishing-gear [= (taumar ‘reins’)]’: Cf. veiðarfœri ‘fishing-gear’ in EVald Þórr 1, and see Note to [All], above. — [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).

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. SnE 1848-87 = Snorri Sturluson. 1848-87. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar: Edda Snorronis Sturlaei. Ed. Jón Sigurðsson et al. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Legatum Arnamagnaeanum. Rpt. Osnabrück: Zeller, 1966.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. LaufE 1979 = Faulkes, Anthony, ed. 1979. Edda Magnúsar Ólafssonar (Laufás Edda). RSÁM 13. Vol. I of Two Versions of Snorra Edda from the 17th Century. Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar, 1977-9.
6. LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
7. Bibire, Paul. 1988. ‘The Poetry of Earl Rǫgnvaldr’s Court’. In Crawford 1988, 208-40.
8. Internal references
9. Kirsten Wolf (ed.) 2007, ‘Kálfr Hallsson, Kátrínardrápa 2’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 933.
10. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Eysteinn Valdason, Poem about Þórr 1’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 185.
11. Judith Jesch (ed.) 2009, ‘Rǫgnvaldr jarl Kali Kolsson, Lausavísur 1’ 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. 576-7.
12. Judith Jesch (ed.) 2009, ‘Rǫgnvaldr jarl Kali Kolsson, Lausavísur 31’ 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. 607-8.
13. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Laufás Edda’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=10928> (accessed 1 May 2024)