Rǫgnvaldr jarl and Hallr Þórarinsson, Háttalykill 59

Kari Ellen Gade

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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RvHbreiðm Hl 59^III

Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Rǫgnvaldr jarl and Hallr Þórarinsson, Háttalykill 59’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1068.

Rǫgnvaldr jarl and Hallr Þórarinsson Háttalykill

58 59 60

kennings

gný bendags;
‘clamour of the wound-daylight; ’
= BATTLE
the wound-daylight; → SWORD
clamour of the SWORD → BATTLE

gerva ‘create’

(not checked:)
1. gera (verb): do, make

gekk ‘went’

(not checked:)
2. ganga (verb; geng, gekk, gengu, genginn): walk, go

hilmis ‘of the ruler’

(not checked:)
hilmir (noun m.): prince, protector

lið ‘the troop’

(not checked:)
lið (noun n.; °-s; -): retinue, troop

vekja ‘to stir up’

(not checked:)
1. vekja (verb): awaken, rouse

menn ‘men’

(not checked:)
maðr (noun m.): man, person

ruðu ‘reddened’

(not checked:)
rjóða (verb): to redden

geir ‘the spear’

(not checked:)
geirr (noun m.): spear

at ‘in’

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

gunni ‘battle’

(not checked:)
gunnr (noun f.): battle

gráp ‘a hail-storm’

(not checked:)
gráp (noun n.): hail

kennings

gráp smíðaðra vápna;
‘a hail-storm of forged weapons; ’
= BATTLE
a hail-storm of forged weapons; → BATTLE

smíðaðra ‘of forged’

(not checked:)
smíða (verb): craft

kennings

gráp smíðaðra vápna;
‘a hail-storm of forged weapons; ’
= BATTLE
a hail-storm of forged weapons; → BATTLE

vápna ‘weapons’

(not checked:)
vápn (noun n.; °-s; -): weapon

kennings

gráp smíðaðra vápna;
‘a hail-storm of forged weapons; ’
= BATTLE
a hail-storm of forged weapons; → BATTLE

háði ‘waged’

(not checked:)
2. heyja (verb): fight, wage (battle)

herr ‘the army’

(not checked:)
herr (noun m.; °-s/-jar, dat. -; -jar, gen. -ja/herra): army, host

við ‘with’

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

prýði ‘honour’

(not checked:)
prýði (noun f.): finery, honour

hjǫr ‘sword’

(not checked:)
hjǫrr (noun m.): sword < hjǫrþing (noun n.): sword-assembly

kennings

hjǫrþing
‘sword-assemblies ’
= BATTLES
sword-assemblies → BATTLES

þing ‘assemblies’

(not checked:)
þing (noun n.; °-s; -): meeting, assembly < hjǫrþing (noun n.): sword-assembly

kennings

hjǫrþing
‘sword-assemblies ’
= BATTLES
sword-assemblies → BATTLES

með ‘alongside’

(not checked:)
með (prep.): with

dǫglingi ‘the leader’

(not checked:)
dǫglingr (noun m.; °; -ar): king, ruler

hinns ‘the one who’

(not checked:)
2. er (conj.): who, which, when

notes

[7] hinns ‘the one who’: Jón Helgason (Hl 1941) suggests the possible emendation to þeims ‘he who’, which is not necessary since the word in position 1 carries secondary stress in this type of line (Type XE3; see Gade 1995a, 85-7).

skyndi* ‘hastened’

(not checked:)
2. skynda (verb): rush, hasten

[7] skyndi*: skyndir papp25ˣ, ‘scijndr’ R683ˣ

notes

[7] skyndi* (3rd pers. sg. pret. indic.) ‘hastened’: Emended from skyndir (3rd pers. sg. pres. indic.) ‘hastens’ (‘scijndr’ R683ˣ) in keeping with all earlier eds. For the possible addition of the inorganic final <r>, see Note to st. 8/4.

byr ‘the fair breeze’

(not checked:)
byrr (noun m.; °-jar/-s; -ir, acc. -i/-u(SigrVal 188¹³)): favourable wind

kennings

byr branda.
‘the fair breeze of blades. ’
= BATTLE
the fair breeze of blades. → BATTLE

branda ‘of blades’

(not checked:)
brandr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): sword, prow; fire

kennings

byr branda.
‘the fair breeze of blades. ’
= BATTLE
the fair breeze of blades. → BATTLE

ben ‘of the wound’

(not checked:)
1. ben (noun f.; °-jar, dat. -; -jar , gen. -a(var. EiðKrC 402¹³: AM 77 4° D)): wound < bendagr (noun m.): [wound-daylight]

kennings

gný bendags;
‘clamour of the wound-daylight; ’
= BATTLE
the wound-daylight; → SWORD
clamour of the SWORD → BATTLE

notes

[8] bendags ‘of the wound-daylight [SWORD]’: The spelling of this word in the mss, ‘Bændax’, shows that Rugman mistook the cpd for a pers. n.

ben ‘of the wound’

(not checked:)
1. ben (noun f.; °-jar, dat. -; -jar , gen. -a(var. EiðKrC 402¹³: AM 77 4° D)): wound < bendagr (noun m.): [wound-daylight]

kennings

gný bendags;
‘clamour of the wound-daylight; ’
= BATTLE
the wound-daylight; → SWORD
clamour of the SWORD → BATTLE

notes

[8] bendags ‘of the wound-daylight [SWORD]’: The spelling of this word in the mss, ‘Bændax’, shows that Rugman mistook the cpd for a pers. n.

dags ‘daylight’

(not checked:)
dagr (noun m.; °-s, dat. degi/dag/dagi(Thom¹ 332¹n.); -ar): day < bendagr (noun m.): [wound-daylight]

kennings

gný bendags;
‘clamour of the wound-daylight; ’
= BATTLE
the wound-daylight; → SWORD
clamour of the SWORD → BATTLE

notes

[8] bendags ‘of the wound-daylight [SWORD]’: The spelling of this word in the mss, ‘Bændax’, shows that Rugman mistook the cpd for a pers. n.

dags ‘daylight’

(not checked:)
dagr (noun m.; °-s, dat. degi/dag/dagi(Thom¹ 332¹n.); -ar): day < bendagr (noun m.): [wound-daylight]

kennings

gný bendags;
‘clamour of the wound-daylight; ’
= BATTLE
the wound-daylight; → SWORD
clamour of the SWORD → BATTLE

notes

[8] bendags ‘of the wound-daylight [SWORD]’: The spelling of this word in the mss, ‘Bændax’, shows that Rugman mistook the cpd for a pers. n.

inn ‘inn’

(not checked:)
2. inn (art.): the

hárfagri ‘hárfagri’

(not checked:)
hárfagr (adj.): fine-haired

Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses

verse
prose

The heading is langlokum (‘Lang lokom’) ‘with late closures’ (cf. SnSt Ht 14). The metre is dróttkvætt, and it is characterised by the syntactic peculiarity that the clause beginning in l. 1 is concluded in l. 8. Otherwise attested in Old Norse poetry only in sts 59-60 of Hl and Ht 14.

Haraldr hárfagri ‘Fair-hair’ Hálfdanarson (Hhárf^I) was the consolidator of Norway (r. c. 860-932). The poem now begins to commemorate the (historical) kings of Norway. The topic of this and the next stanza is the famous battle of Hafrsfjorden (c. 885-90), after which the victorious Haraldr gained sovereignty over all of Norway (see HhárfHkr ch. 18, ÍF 26, 114-17; ÍF 29, 66-70; Þhorn Harkv 1-12^I; Þhorn Gldr^I; Anon Nkt 3-9^II). See also his Biography in SkP I. — [1, 8]: Repeated as st. 60/1, 8 below, which gives the impression that the poets consciously attempted to create the effect of a refrain reminiscent of the repetition of the first line in all of the stanzas of Anon Krm^VIII, Hjoggum vér með hjǫrvi ‘We struck with the sword’; see Holtsmark, Hl 1941, 133-4. — [5]: The line recalls Hskv Útdr 11/3^II.

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RvHbreiðm Hl 59III

Haraldr ‘Haraldr’

kunni ‘could’

gný ‘clamour’

kennings

gerva ‘create’

gekk ‘went’

hilmis ‘of the ruler’

lið ‘the troop’

vekja ‘to stir up’

menn ‘men’

ruðu ‘reddened’

geir ‘the spear’

at ‘in’

gunni ‘battle’

gráp ‘a hail-storm’

kennings

smíðaðra ‘of forged’

kennings

vápna ‘weapons’

kennings

háði ‘waged’

herr ‘the army’

við ‘with’

prýði ‘honour’

hjǫr ‘sword’

kennings

þing ‘assemblies’

kennings

með ‘alongside’

dǫglingi ‘the leader’

hinns ‘the one who’

notes

skyndi* ‘hastened’

notes

byr ‘the fair breeze’

kennings

branda ‘of blades’

kennings

ben ‘of the wound’

kennings

notes

ben ‘of the wound’

kennings

notes

dags ‘daylight’

kennings

notes

dags ‘daylight’

kennings

notes

inn ‘inn’

hárfagri ‘hárfagri’

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RvHbreiðm Hl 59^III