Rv Lv 4^II

Sextán ‘sixteen [women]’

(not checked:)
sextán (num. cardinal): sixteen

hefik ‘I have’

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hafa (verb): have

[1] hefik (‘hefe ek’): so R702ˣ, ‘hefir ek’ Flat

sénar ‘seen’

(not checked:)
2. sjá (verb): see

notes

[1, 3] sénar; firrðar ‘seen; denuded of’: The f. acc. pl. endings on both of these inflected past participles indicate that the sixteen persons are figured as female based on their being clean-shaven, unarmed, and (presumably) because they are wearing long robes.

senn ‘all at once’

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senn (adv.): at once

ok ‘and [they had]’

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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also

notes

[2] ok topp ‘and [they had] a fringe’: Kock (NN §2061) suggests this is an example of an adverbial acc.

topp ‘a fringe’

(not checked:)
toppr (noun m.; °; -ar): tuft of hair, fringe

notes

[2] ok topp ‘and [they had] a fringe’: Kock (NN §2061) suggests this is an example of an adverbial acc. — [2, 8] topp í enni; kollóttar ‘a fringe on their forehead; bald’: This appears to describe the standard Western coronal tonsure (which leaves the hair in a ring on the head), rather than the insular tonsure, as suggested in ÍF 34. The form of the latter has recently been thoroughly discussed in McCarthy 2003, who argues that it had a triangular shape. The coronal tonsure is similar to male-pattern baldness and is thus the clue that the people being observed are not women after all. The st. plays on various gender ambiguities to explain how a group of men can be both unarmed and bald.

topp ‘a fringe’

(not checked:)
toppr (noun m.; °; -ar): tuft of hair, fringe

notes

[2] ok topp ‘and [they had] a fringe’: Kock (NN §2061) suggests this is an example of an adverbial acc. — [2, 8] topp í enni; kollóttar ‘a fringe on their forehead; bald’: This appears to describe the standard Western coronal tonsure (which leaves the hair in a ring on the head), rather than the insular tonsure, as suggested in ÍF 34. The form of the latter has recently been thoroughly discussed in McCarthy 2003, who argues that it had a triangular shape. The coronal tonsure is similar to male-pattern baldness and is thus the clue that the people being observed are not women after all. The st. plays on various gender ambiguities to explain how a group of men can be both unarmed and bald.

í ‘on their’

(not checked:)
í (prep.): in, into

notes

[2, 8] topp í enni; kollóttar ‘a fringe on their forehead; bald’: This appears to describe the standard Western coronal tonsure (which leaves the hair in a ring on the head), rather than the insular tonsure, as suggested in ÍF 34. The form of the latter has recently been thoroughly discussed in McCarthy 2003, who argues that it had a triangular shape. The coronal tonsure is similar to male-pattern baldness and is thus the clue that the people being observed are not women after all. The st. plays on various gender ambiguities to explain how a group of men can be both unarmed and bald.

enni ‘forehead’

(not checked:)
enni (noun n.; °-s; -): forehead, brow

notes

[2, 8] topp í enni; kollóttar ‘a fringe on their forehead; bald’: This appears to describe the standard Western coronal tonsure (which leaves the hair in a ring on the head), rather than the insular tonsure, as suggested in ÍF 34. The form of the latter has recently been thoroughly discussed in McCarthy 2003, who argues that it had a triangular shape. The coronal tonsure is similar to male-pattern baldness and is thus the clue that the people being observed are not women after all. The st. plays on various gender ambiguities to explain how a group of men can be both unarmed and bald.

jarðar ‘of the ground of’

(not checked:)
jǫrð (noun f.; °jarðar, dat. -u; jarðir/jarðar(DN I (1367) 304Š)): ground, earth

kennings

notes

[3-4] firrðar elli jarðar ormvangs ‘denuded of the old age of the ground of the serpent-field [GOLD > WOMAN > BEARD]’: The kenning refers to the fact that old women sometimes grow facial hair; these monks are clean-shaven. Skj B emends jarðar (gen. sg.) to jarðir (acc. pl.) and interprets the main statement of ll. 1-4 as Hefk sénar sextán ormvangs jarðir, elli firðar translated as Jeg har set 16 kvinder, fjærnt fra alderdommen ‘I have seen sixteen women [grounds of the serpent-field], far from old age’, i.e. young women. This has the virtue of agreeing with meyjar ‘maidens’ (l. 8) and avoids an awkward transition in the kenning from an abstraction (elli ‘old age’) to a physical entity (a beard). However, as well as requiring an emendation, it seems an odd way of referring to young women—firrðar specifically means ‘removed’ rather than just ‘far’, and it is not clear in what way they have been ‘removed’ from old age. Skj B does not, of course, explain how a st. about women is to be understood in the saga context; the present interpretation, while admittedly requiring an awkward kenning, at least provides a clue.

jarðar ‘of the ground of’

(not checked:)
jǫrð (noun f.; °jarðar, dat. -u; jarðir/jarðar(DN I (1367) 304Š)): ground, earth

kennings

notes

[3-4] firrðar elli jarðar ormvangs ‘denuded of the old age of the ground of the serpent-field [GOLD > WOMAN > BEARD]’: The kenning refers to the fact that old women sometimes grow facial hair; these monks are clean-shaven. Skj B emends jarðar (gen. sg.) to jarðir (acc. pl.) and interprets the main statement of ll. 1-4 as Hefk sénar sextán ormvangs jarðir, elli firðar translated as Jeg har set 16 kvinder, fjærnt fra alderdommen ‘I have seen sixteen women [grounds of the serpent-field], far from old age’, i.e. young women. This has the virtue of agreeing with meyjar ‘maidens’ (l. 8) and avoids an awkward transition in the kenning from an abstraction (elli ‘old age’) to a physical entity (a beard). However, as well as requiring an emendation, it seems an odd way of referring to young women—firrðar specifically means ‘removed’ rather than just ‘far’, and it is not clear in what way they have been ‘removed’ from old age. Skj B does not, of course, explain how a st. about women is to be understood in the saga context; the present interpretation, while admittedly requiring an awkward kenning, at least provides a clue.

elli ‘the old age’

(not checked:)
elli (noun f.; °-): old age

[3] elli: so R702ˣ, eldi Flat

kennings

notes

[3-4] firrðar elli jarðar ormvangs ‘denuded of the old age of the ground of the serpent-field [GOLD > WOMAN > BEARD]’: The kenning refers to the fact that old women sometimes grow facial hair; these monks are clean-shaven. Skj B emends jarðar (gen. sg.) to jarðir (acc. pl.) and interprets the main statement of ll. 1-4 as Hefk sénar sextán ormvangs jarðir, elli firðar translated as Jeg har set 16 kvinder, fjærnt fra alderdommen ‘I have seen sixteen women [grounds of the serpent-field], far from old age’, i.e. young women. This has the virtue of agreeing with meyjar ‘maidens’ (l. 8) and avoids an awkward transition in the kenning from an abstraction (elli ‘old age’) to a physical entity (a beard). However, as well as requiring an emendation, it seems an odd way of referring to young women—firrðar specifically means ‘removed’ rather than just ‘far’, and it is not clear in what way they have been ‘removed’ from old age. Skj B does not, of course, explain how a st. about women is to be understood in the saga context; the present interpretation, while admittedly requiring an awkward kenning, at least provides a clue.

firrðar ‘denuded of’

(not checked:)
2. firra (verb): keep (from), remove

notes

[1, 3] sénar; firrðar ‘seen; denuded of’: The f. acc. pl. endings on both of these inflected past participles indicate that the sixteen persons are figured as female based on their being clean-shaven, unarmed, and (presumably) because they are wearing long robes. — [3-4] firrðar elli jarðar ormvangs ‘denuded of the old age of the ground of the serpent-field [GOLD > WOMAN > BEARD]’: The kenning refers to the fact that old women sometimes grow facial hair; these monks are clean-shaven. Skj B emends jarðar (gen. sg.) to jarðir (acc. pl.) and interprets the main statement of ll. 1-4 as Hefk sénar sextán ormvangs jarðir, elli firðar translated as Jeg har set 16 kvinder, fjærnt fra alderdommen ‘I have seen sixteen women [grounds of the serpent-field], far from old age’, i.e. young women. This has the virtue of agreeing with meyjar ‘maidens’ (l. 8) and avoids an awkward transition in the kenning from an abstraction (elli ‘old age’) to a physical entity (a beard). However, as well as requiring an emendation, it seems an odd way of referring to young women—firrðar specifically means ‘removed’ rather than just ‘far’, and it is not clear in what way they have been ‘removed’ from old age. Skj B does not, of course, explain how a st. about women is to be understood in the saga context; the present interpretation, while admittedly requiring an awkward kenning, at least provides a clue.

firrðar ‘denuded of’

(not checked:)
2. firra (verb): keep (from), remove

notes

[1, 3] sénar; firrðar ‘seen; denuded of’: The f. acc. pl. endings on both of these inflected past participles indicate that the sixteen persons are figured as female based on their being clean-shaven, unarmed, and (presumably) because they are wearing long robes. — [3-4] firrðar elli jarðar ormvangs ‘denuded of the old age of the ground of the serpent-field [GOLD > WOMAN > BEARD]’: The kenning refers to the fact that old women sometimes grow facial hair; these monks are clean-shaven. Skj B emends jarðar (gen. sg.) to jarðir (acc. pl.) and interprets the main statement of ll. 1-4 as Hefk sénar sextán ormvangs jarðir, elli firðar translated as Jeg har set 16 kvinder, fjærnt fra alderdommen ‘I have seen sixteen women [grounds of the serpent-field], far from old age’, i.e. young women. This has the virtue of agreeing with meyjar ‘maidens’ (l. 8) and avoids an awkward transition in the kenning from an abstraction (elli ‘old age’) to a physical entity (a beard). However, as well as requiring an emendation, it seems an odd way of referring to young women—firrðar specifically means ‘removed’ rather than just ‘far’, and it is not clear in what way they have been ‘removed’ from old age. Skj B does not, of course, explain how a st. about women is to be understood in the saga context; the present interpretation, while admittedly requiring an awkward kenning, at least provides a clue.

orm ‘the serpent’

(not checked:)
ormr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): serpent < ormvangr (noun m.)

kennings

notes

[3-4] firrðar elli jarðar ormvangs ‘denuded of the old age of the ground of the serpent-field [GOLD > WOMAN > BEARD]’: The kenning refers to the fact that old women sometimes grow facial hair; these monks are clean-shaven. Skj B emends jarðar (gen. sg.) to jarðir (acc. pl.) and interprets the main statement of ll. 1-4 as Hefk sénar sextán ormvangs jarðir, elli firðar translated as Jeg har set 16 kvinder, fjærnt fra alderdommen ‘I have seen sixteen women [grounds of the serpent-field], far from old age’, i.e. young women. This has the virtue of agreeing with meyjar ‘maidens’ (l. 8) and avoids an awkward transition in the kenning from an abstraction (elli ‘old age’) to a physical entity (a beard). However, as well as requiring an emendation, it seems an odd way of referring to young women—firrðar specifically means ‘removed’ rather than just ‘far’, and it is not clear in what way they have been ‘removed’ from old age. Skj B does not, of course, explain how a st. about women is to be understood in the saga context; the present interpretation, while admittedly requiring an awkward kenning, at least provides a clue.

orm ‘the serpent’

(not checked:)
ormr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): serpent < ormvangr (noun m.)

kennings

notes

[3-4] firrðar elli jarðar ormvangs ‘denuded of the old age of the ground of the serpent-field [GOLD > WOMAN > BEARD]’: The kenning refers to the fact that old women sometimes grow facial hair; these monks are clean-shaven. Skj B emends jarðar (gen. sg.) to jarðir (acc. pl.) and interprets the main statement of ll. 1-4 as Hefk sénar sextán ormvangs jarðir, elli firðar translated as Jeg har set 16 kvinder, fjærnt fra alderdommen ‘I have seen sixteen women [grounds of the serpent-field], far from old age’, i.e. young women. This has the virtue of agreeing with meyjar ‘maidens’ (l. 8) and avoids an awkward transition in the kenning from an abstraction (elli ‘old age’) to a physical entity (a beard). However, as well as requiring an emendation, it seems an odd way of referring to young women—firrðar specifically means ‘removed’ rather than just ‘far’, and it is not clear in what way they have been ‘removed’ from old age. Skj B does not, of course, explain how a st. about women is to be understood in the saga context; the present interpretation, while admittedly requiring an awkward kenning, at least provides a clue.

orm ‘the serpent’

(not checked:)
ormr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): serpent < ormvangr (noun m.)

kennings

notes

[3-4] firrðar elli jarðar ormvangs ‘denuded of the old age of the ground of the serpent-field [GOLD > WOMAN > BEARD]’: The kenning refers to the fact that old women sometimes grow facial hair; these monks are clean-shaven. Skj B emends jarðar (gen. sg.) to jarðir (acc. pl.) and interprets the main statement of ll. 1-4 as Hefk sénar sextán ormvangs jarðir, elli firðar translated as Jeg har set 16 kvinder, fjærnt fra alderdommen ‘I have seen sixteen women [grounds of the serpent-field], far from old age’, i.e. young women. This has the virtue of agreeing with meyjar ‘maidens’ (l. 8) and avoids an awkward transition in the kenning from an abstraction (elli ‘old age’) to a physical entity (a beard). However, as well as requiring an emendation, it seems an odd way of referring to young women—firrðar specifically means ‘removed’ rather than just ‘far’, and it is not clear in what way they have been ‘removed’ from old age. Skj B does not, of course, explain how a st. about women is to be understood in the saga context; the present interpretation, while admittedly requiring an awkward kenning, at least provides a clue.

vangs ‘field’

(not checked:)
1. vangr (noun m.): field, plain < ormvangr (noun m.)

kennings

notes

[3-4] firrðar elli jarðar ormvangs ‘denuded of the old age of the ground of the serpent-field [GOLD > WOMAN > BEARD]’: The kenning refers to the fact that old women sometimes grow facial hair; these monks are clean-shaven. Skj B emends jarðar (gen. sg.) to jarðir (acc. pl.) and interprets the main statement of ll. 1-4 as Hefk sénar sextán ormvangs jarðir, elli firðar translated as Jeg har set 16 kvinder, fjærnt fra alderdommen ‘I have seen sixteen women [grounds of the serpent-field], far from old age’, i.e. young women. This has the virtue of agreeing with meyjar ‘maidens’ (l. 8) and avoids an awkward transition in the kenning from an abstraction (elli ‘old age’) to a physical entity (a beard). However, as well as requiring an emendation, it seems an odd way of referring to young women—firrðar specifically means ‘removed’ rather than just ‘far’, and it is not clear in what way they have been ‘removed’ from old age. Skj B does not, of course, explain how a st. about women is to be understood in the saga context; the present interpretation, while admittedly requiring an awkward kenning, at least provides a clue.

vangs ‘field’

(not checked:)
1. vangr (noun m.): field, plain < ormvangr (noun m.)

kennings

notes

[3-4] firrðar elli jarðar ormvangs ‘denuded of the old age of the ground of the serpent-field [GOLD > WOMAN > BEARD]’: The kenning refers to the fact that old women sometimes grow facial hair; these monks are clean-shaven. Skj B emends jarðar (gen. sg.) to jarðir (acc. pl.) and interprets the main statement of ll. 1-4 as Hefk sénar sextán ormvangs jarðir, elli firðar translated as Jeg har set 16 kvinder, fjærnt fra alderdommen ‘I have seen sixteen women [grounds of the serpent-field], far from old age’, i.e. young women. This has the virtue of agreeing with meyjar ‘maidens’ (l. 8) and avoids an awkward transition in the kenning from an abstraction (elli ‘old age’) to a physical entity (a beard). However, as well as requiring an emendation, it seems an odd way of referring to young women—firrðar specifically means ‘removed’ rather than just ‘far’, and it is not clear in what way they have been ‘removed’ from old age. Skj B does not, of course, explain how a st. about women is to be understood in the saga context; the present interpretation, while admittedly requiring an awkward kenning, at least provides a clue.

vangs ‘field’

(not checked:)
1. vangr (noun m.): field, plain < ormvangr (noun m.)

kennings

notes

[3-4] firrðar elli jarðar ormvangs ‘denuded of the old age of the ground of the serpent-field [GOLD > WOMAN > BEARD]’: The kenning refers to the fact that old women sometimes grow facial hair; these monks are clean-shaven. Skj B emends jarðar (gen. sg.) to jarðir (acc. pl.) and interprets the main statement of ll. 1-4 as Hefk sénar sextán ormvangs jarðir, elli firðar translated as Jeg har set 16 kvinder, fjærnt fra alderdommen ‘I have seen sixteen women [grounds of the serpent-field], far from old age’, i.e. young women. This has the virtue of agreeing with meyjar ‘maidens’ (l. 8) and avoids an awkward transition in the kenning from an abstraction (elli ‘old age’) to a physical entity (a beard). However, as well as requiring an emendation, it seems an odd way of referring to young women—firrðar specifically means ‘removed’ rather than just ‘far’, and it is not clear in what way they have been ‘removed’ from old age. Skj B does not, of course, explain how a st. about women is to be understood in the saga context; the present interpretation, while admittedly requiring an awkward kenning, at least provides a clue.

saman ‘together’

(not checked:)
saman (adv.): together

ganga ‘walking’

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2. ganga (verb; geng, gekk, gengu, genginn): walk, go

Þat ‘’

(not checked:)
1. sá (pron.; °gen. þess, dat. þeim, acc. þann; f. sú, gen. þeirrar, acc. þá; n. þat, dat. því; pl. m. þeir, f. þǽ---): that (one), those

bôrum ‘bore’

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3. bera (verb; °berr; bar, báru; borinn): bear, carry

[5] bôrum: ‘baru’ R702ˣ

vér ‘We’

(not checked:)
vér (pron.; °gen. vár, dat./acc. oss): we, us, our

vitni ‘witness’

(not checked:)
2. vitni (noun n.; °-s; -): witness

vestr ‘in the west’

(not checked:)
2. vestr (adv.): west, in the west

notes

[6, 7, 8] hér vestr; sjá ey ‘here in the west; that island’: The saga-author clearly understood this st. to refer to Westray which, as the westernmost of the Orkneys, does indeed lie ‘out in the direction of storms’. If there was a monastic community in this area at the time, it is more likely to have been on the small island of Papa Westray, but both the saga-context and the st. suggest that Rǫgnvaldr and his men saw the monks on Westray itself.

at ‘to the fact that’

(not checked:)
3. at (prep.): at, to

hér ‘here’

(not checked:)
hér (adv.): here

notes

[6, 7, 8] hér vestr; sjá ey ‘here in the west; that island’: The saga-author clearly understood this st. to refer to Westray which, as the westernmost of the Orkneys, does indeed lie ‘out in the direction of storms’. If there was a monastic community in this area at the time, it is more likely to have been on the small island of Papa Westray, but both the saga-context and the st. suggest that Rǫgnvaldr and his men saw the monks on Westray itself.

sé ‘are’

(not checked:)
2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am

flestar ‘most’

(not checked:)
fleiri (adj. comp.; °superl. flestr): more, most

sjá ‘that’

(not checked:)
1. sjá (pron.; °gen. þessa dat. þessum/þeima, acc. þenna; f. sjá/þessi; n. þetta, dat. þessu/þvísa; pl. þessir): this

notes

[6, 7, 8] hér vestr; sjá ey ‘here in the west; that island’: The saga-author clearly understood this st. to refer to Westray which, as the westernmost of the Orkneys, does indeed lie ‘out in the direction of storms’. If there was a monastic community in this area at the time, it is more likely to have been on the small island of Papa Westray, but both the saga-context and the st. suggest that Rǫgnvaldr and his men saw the monks on Westray itself.

liggr ‘lies’

(not checked:)
liggja (verb): lie

út ‘out’

(not checked:)
út (adv.): out(side)

við ‘in the direction of’

(not checked:)
2. við (prep.): with, against

élum ‘storms’

(not checked:)
él (noun n.; °; dat. -um): storm

[7] élum: ‘elon’ Flat, ‘elu’ R702ˣ

notes

[7] élum ‘storms’: The emendation was first suggested in Orkn 1887. It is likely that the scribe of R702ˣ merely omitted or missed the abbreviation mark for ‘m’, as he did with ‘baru’ in l. 5.

ey ‘island’

(not checked:)
1. ey (noun f.; °-jar, dat. -ju/-; -jar): island

notes

[6, 7, 8] hér vestr; sjá ey ‘here in the west; that island’: The saga-author clearly understood this st. to refer to Westray which, as the westernmost of the Orkneys, does indeed lie ‘out in the direction of storms’. If there was a monastic community in this area at the time, it is more likely to have been on the small island of Papa Westray, but both the saga-context and the st. suggest that Rǫgnvaldr and his men saw the monks on Westray itself.

kollóttar ‘bald’

(not checked:)
kollóttr (adj.): bald, ?without horns

notes

[2, 8] topp í enni; kollóttar ‘a fringe on their forehead; bald’: This appears to describe the standard Western coronal tonsure (which leaves the hair in a ring on the head), rather than the insular tonsure, as suggested in ÍF 34. The form of the latter has recently been thoroughly discussed in McCarthy 2003, who argues that it had a triangular shape. The coronal tonsure is similar to male-pattern baldness and is thus the clue that the people being observed are not women after all. The st. plays on various gender ambiguities to explain how a group of men can be both unarmed and bald.

meyjar ‘maidens’

(not checked:)
mær (noun f.; °meyjar, dat. meyju; meyjar): maiden