Anon Krm 3VIII
Rory McTurk (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Poems, Krákumál 3’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 722.
Hjuggu ‘hewed’
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hǫggva (verb): to strike, put to death, cut, hew
[1] Hjuggu vér með hjörvi: abbrev. as ‘H. ver ḿ. h’ 1824b, Hjuggum vér með hjörvi 6ˣ, LR, R693ˣ, abbrev. as ‘H. vier med hiórvi’ R702ˣ
vér ‘We’
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vér (pron.; °gen. vár, dat./acc. oss): we, us, our
[1] Hjuggu vér með hjörvi: abbrev. as ‘H. ver ḿ. h’ 1824b, Hjuggum vér með hjörvi 6ˣ, LR, R693ˣ, abbrev. as ‘H. vier med hiórvi’ R702ˣ
með ‘with’
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með (prep.): with
[1] Hjuggu vér með hjörvi: abbrev. as ‘H. ver ḿ. h’ 1824b, Hjuggum vér með hjörvi 6ˣ, LR, R693ˣ, abbrev. as ‘H. vier med hiórvi’ R702ˣ
hjörvi ‘the sword’
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hjǫrr (noun m.): sword
[1] Hjuggu vér með hjörvi: abbrev. as ‘H. ver ḿ. h’ 1824b, Hjuggum vér með hjörvi 6ˣ, LR, R693ˣ, abbrev. as ‘H. vier med hiórvi’ R702ˣ
Hátt ‘aloft’
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3. hár (adj.; °-van; compar. hǽrri, superl. hǽstr): high
bárum ‘We bore’
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3. bera (verb; °berr; bar, báru; borinn): bear, carry
[2] bárum: so all others, ‘bar[…]’ 1824b
þá ‘when’
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2. þá (adv.): then
geira ‘spears’
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geirr (noun m.): spear
er ‘we’
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2. er (conj.): who, which, when
tvítugir ‘twenty years of age’
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tvítugsessa (noun f.)
tölðumz ‘reached’
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telja (verb): tell, count
[3] tölðumz: ‘tauldunst’ 6ˣ, ‘toldunst’ LR, R693ˣ
ok ‘and’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
tjör ‘the sword’
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tjǫrr (noun m.): sword
[4] tjör: tír 1824b, 6ˣ, R702ˣ, ‘tyr’ LR, ‘tÿr’ R693ˣ
notes
[4] ruðum tjör ‘we reddened the sword’: The present ed. emends the mss’ ‘tír’ (variants ‘tyr’, ‘tÿr’) to tjör, taking this as acc. sg. of tjörr m. ‘sword’ (so Falk 1925c, 126; Heggstad et al. 2008: tjǫrr m.; and most eds) rather than as tjör f. ‘spear’ (as suggested in LP: 2. tjǫr). Whether m. acc. sg. tjör ‘the sword’ is here to be understood as having pl. (collective) or sg. reference depends on whether ruðum ‘we reddened’ is taken as referring to the speaker and his companions, or solely to the speaker. Rafn (1826) avoided emendation by assuming an acc. sg. form Týr of the god-name Týr, thought of as spelt Týrr m. nom., but this does not make sense in context. There is little evidence for Rafn’s further suggestion that the name is here a poetic word for ‘sword’.
ruðum ‘we reddened’
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rjóða (verb): to redden
notes
[4] ruðum tjör ‘we reddened the sword’: The present ed. emends the mss’ ‘tír’ (variants ‘tyr’, ‘tÿr’) to tjör, taking this as acc. sg. of tjörr m. ‘sword’ (so Falk 1925c, 126; Heggstad et al. 2008: tjǫrr m.; and most eds) rather than as tjör f. ‘spear’ (as suggested in LP: 2. tjǫr). Whether m. acc. sg. tjör ‘the sword’ is here to be understood as having pl. (collective) or sg. reference depends on whether ruðum ‘we reddened’ is taken as referring to the speaker and his companions, or solely to the speaker. Rafn (1826) avoided emendation by assuming an acc. sg. form Týr of the god-name Týr, thought of as spelt Týrr m. nom., but this does not make sense in context. There is little evidence for Rafn’s further suggestion that the name is here a poetic word for ‘sword’.
víða ‘far and wide’
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1. víða (adv.): widely
átta ‘eight’
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átta (num. cardinal): eight
jarla ‘jarls’
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jarl (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): poet, earl
austr ‘out east’
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3. austr (adv.; °compar. -ar, superl. -ast): east, in the east
notes
[6] Dínu ‘of the Dvina’: Since the reference here is to one of the Russian rivers known as Dvina, it is no surprise to find it located in the east. The mynni Dínu (spelt Dýnu by Pfeiffer 1860 and Wisén 1886-9) ‘mouth of the Dvina’ could be either the Gulf of Riga, into which the Western Dvina flows in Latvia, or the White Sea, on the north-west coast of Russia, where the Northern Dvina finds its outlet. The latter possibility is perhaps marginally more likely than the former, since according to Saxo (Saxo 2015, I, ix. 4. 22-3, pp. 648-51) Regnerus Lothbrog (i.e. Ragnarr loðbrók) fought against the Biarmians, who, albeit having a name related to that of modern Perm (cf. CVC: Bjarmi, m.; ÍO: Bjarmar) in central Russia, evidently lived in Northern Russia, east of the White Sea, according to Saxo’s geography (Saxo 2015, II, 1707).
mynni ‘the mouth’
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mynni (noun n.; °-s; gen. -a): mouth
gera ‘the greedy one <wolf>’
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Geri (noun m.): Geri
[7] gera: ‘(G)era’(?) with caret indicating ‘G’ written above the line, and with Gera in margin R693ˣ
notes
[7] gera ‘the greedy one <wolf>’: Although Geri is listed in one of the þulur (Þul Hrafns 1/8III) as a name for ‘raven’, and in Fj 14/2 (Bugge 1867, 345) appears as the name of a watchdog, it is listed in another þula (Þul Vargs 1/1III) as a name for ‘wolf’, and there can be little doubt that it is the wolf as a beast of battle that is meant here. The word occurs frequently in poetry as a common noun meaning ‘wolf’ (see LP: geri), and Geri and Freki, whom Herjafǫðr (‘Father of Armies’, i.e. Óðinn) is said to feed in Grí 19/1 are identified as wolves in Gylf (SnE 2005, 32). The phrase fengum gera gnóga gisting ‘we gave the greedy one <wolf> ample sustenance’ finds a close parallel in ÞjóðA Sex 31/1-2II Gera vas gisting byrjuð | gnóg ‘Plentiful hospitality was initiated for Geri <wolf>’.
fengum ‘we gave’
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2. fá (verb; °fǽr; fekk, fengu; fenginn): get, receive
[7] fengum: ‘feigum’ LR
þá ‘then’
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2. þá (adv.): then
gnóga ‘ample’
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gnógr (adj.; °compar. gnógari/gnǿgri, superl. gnógastr/gnǿgstr): abundant
gisting ‘sustenance’
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gisting (noun f.): accommodation, hospitality
[8] gisting: ‘Gisting’ with ‘Gisting’ also in margin R693ˣ
at ‘in’
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3. at (prep.): at, to
vígi ‘battle’
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víg (noun n.; °-s; -): battle
Sveiti ‘Blood’
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sveiti (noun m.; °-a): blood
fell ‘fell’
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falla (verb): fall
í ‘into’
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í (prep.): in, into
sollinn ‘a troubled’
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1. svella (verb): swell
[9] sollinn: ‘sollin’ R702ˣ, ‘sollium’ LR, R693ˣ
sæ ‘sea’
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sjór (noun m.): sea
[10] sæ týndi lið ævi: ‘sæ tynde lid æfe’ corrected from ‘sa̋ir, rænde lid arfi’ R702ˣ
týndi ‘lost’
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týna (verb): lose, destroy
[10] sæ týndi lið ævi: ‘sæ tynde lid æfe’ corrected from ‘sa̋ir, rænde lid arfi’ R702ˣ
lið ‘troops’
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lið (noun n.; °-s; -): retinue, troop
[10] sæ týndi lið ævi: ‘sæ tynde lid æfe’ corrected from ‘sa̋ir, rænde lid arfi’ R702ˣ
ævi ‘lives’
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ævi (noun f.; °-/-ar): life
[10] sæ týndi lið ævi: ‘sæ tynde lid æfe’ corrected from ‘sa̋ir, rænde lid arfi’ R702ˣ
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
We hewed with the sword. We bore spears aloft when we reached twenty years of age, and we reddened the sword far and wide. We vanquished eight jarls out east off the mouth of the Dvina; then we gave the greedy one <wolf> ample sustenance in that battle. Blood fell into a troubled sea; troops lost their lives.
[5]: Nothing is known of the eight jarls mentioned here. — [7-8]: Fengum, 1st pers. pl. pret. of fá in the sense of ‘provide, supply’, here takes m. dat. sg. gera ‘the greedy one <wolf>’ as its indirect object, and gisting ‘sustenance’ in the acc. as its direct object; whereas two similar constructions in Krm have the direct object in the gen. (st. 2/8 mikils verðar ‘a massive meal’ and st. 26/9 móðernis ‘mother, maternal origin, motherhood’ (see also LP: 2. fáa 2). — [9-10]: Line 10 exemplifies the consonantless internal rhyme (aðalhending, here on <æ>) that may occur in lines in which the vowel or diphthong in the cadence is followed by a glide, <j> or <v>, see Kuhn (1983, 78) and cf. Notes to sts 5/9, 21/5 (first Note), 23/7 (first Note), and 29/8 (first Note).
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