Rory McTurk (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Poems, Krákumál 27’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 772.
Hjuggu vér með hjörvi.
Harðla líðr at ævi:
grimt stendr grand af naðri;
góinn byggvir sal hjarta.
Væntum hins, at Viðris
vöndr í Ellu standi;
sonum mínum mun svella
sinn föður ráðinn verða.
Ei munu snarpir sveinar
sitt kyrt vera láta.
Hjuggu vér með hjörvi. Líðr harðla at ævi: grimt grand stendr af naðri; góinn byggvir {sal hjarta}. Væntum hins, at {vöndr Viðris} standi í Ellu; mun svella sonum mínum föður sinn verða ráðinn. Snarpir sveinar munu ei láta sitt vera kyrt.
‘We hewed with the sword. My life is drawing very much to to its end: grim danger emanates from the serpent; the snake occupies the hall of my heart [BREAST]. We expect this, that the staff of Viðrir <= Óðinn> [SPEAR] will become lodged in Ella <Northumbrian king>; the slaying of their father will cause my sons’ hearts to swell with rage. Those bold boys will not let this concern of theirs rest. ’
On the interlocking in 147 of the present stanza with st. 28, see Note to ll. 7-10 below. — [7-8]: These lines are lit. translated: ‘(Rage) will swell for my sons at their father being slain’; cf. LP: svella 1 (2). Line 8 contains an acc. and inf. construction, with sinn föður ‘their father’ as the subject acc., verða as the inf., and the p. p. ráðinn, m. acc. sg. ‘slain’, referring predicatively to the subject acc. (with ráða used here in the sense ‘contrive sby’s death’; see LP: ráða 9). The construction is dependent on the verb svella ‘swell’ in l. 7, used impersonally with dat. pl. sonum mínum ‘my sons’ as its ‘logical subject’ (‘my sons will swell’, i.e. their hearts will swell with anger), to which the refl. poss. adj. sinn ‘their’ in l. 8 refers (cf. Stefán Einarsson 1945, 169-70; NS §333). — [7-10]: In 147, the last three words of l. 10 (‘k(yr)t vera lat[…]’ (?)) occur at the end of l. 20 of fol. 103r, the earlier part of this line being taken up with ll. 1-3 of st. 28. The previous line (19) on fol. 103r is occupied by ll. 7-10 of the present stanza, from and including mun svella down to and including sitt. Line 10 of the present stanza is thus interrupted in 147 between sitt and kyrt by the first three lines of st. 28. — [8]: Only ms. 6ˣ has the reading föður presented here, while the other mss have some form of móðir ‘mother’, which is implausible in context, together with roðinn ‘reddened’ instead of ráðinn ‘slain’. Föður is also recorded by Árni Magnússon in 761bˣ(557r) and has been adopted in virtually all eds.
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.
.
Harðla líðr at arfi:
grimt stendr grand af nöðru;
góinn byggvir sal hjarta.
Væntum hins, at †vidris†
vöndr í Ellu standi;
sonum mínum mun svella
†sinn modr rodin verda:† .
Ei munu snarpir sveinar
†setkyrt† vera láta.
.
†har(d)la† líðr at †(arfi)†:
†grim(t) (stend[…] grand af)† †(nad)[...]†;
†(goinn) bygir s[…] hiarta† .
†(v)[…]u(m) híns at† , †(vidris)†
†vaund[...]† í Ella standi;
†sonum m[...]† mun †(s)v(el)la†
†(s)in(n) mod[…]† .
†(eigi munu sn)ar(p)ir sueinar†
†sitt k(yr)t† vera †lat[...]†.
Hjuggum vér með hjörvi .
Harðla líðr at †arfe†:
grimt stendr grand af naðri;
góinn byggvir sal hjarta.
Væntum hins, at Viðris
vöndr í Ellu standi;
sonum mínum man svella
sinn föður ráðinn verða.
Ei munu snarpir sveinar
sitt kyrt vera láta.
Hjuggum vér með hjörvi .
Harðla líðr at †arfue†:
grimt stendr grand af nöðru;
góinn byggvir sal hjarta.
Væntum hins, at Viðris
vöndr í Ellu standi;
sonum mínum †mune† svella
†sin modur rodinn verda† .
Ei munu snarpir sveinar
†sett kyrt† vera láta.
Hjuggum vér með hjörvi .
Harðla líðr at †árfve†:
grimt stendr grand af nöðru;
†Goin ́(m)† byggvir sal hjarta.
Væntum hins, at Viðris
vöndr í Ellu standi;
sonum mínum †mune† svella
†sin modur rodinn verda† .
Ei munu snarpir sveinar
†setkÿrt† vera láta.
Skj: Anonyme digte og vers [XII], H. Krákumál 27: AI, 648-9, BI, 655, Skald I, 320; Rafn 1826, 22-3, 148-50, Pfeiffer 1860, 127, CPB II, 344-5, Wisén 1886-9, I, 66, Krm 1891, 228, Finnur Jónsson 1893b, 90, Finnur Jónsson 1905, 156-7; Ragn 1906-8, 189.
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