RvHbreiðm Hl 77III
Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Rǫgnvaldr jarl and Hallr Þórarinsson, Háttalykill 77’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1087.
Haraldr ‘Haraldr’
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Haraldr (noun m.): Haraldr
var ‘was’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
notes
[1] var ‘was’: The first rhyme in this line could technically fall in metrical positions 1 (on the resolved Haraldr) or 2 (on var). The latter is more likely since the first rhyme in all other lines falls in metrical position 2. For the rhotacised form var (earlier vas), see Note to st. 13/1. For a line of a similar structure, see st. 78/3 below.
herr ‘the army’
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herr (noun m.; °-s/-jar, dat. -; -jar, gen. -ja/herra): army, host
[1] herr: ‘hęr’ papp25ˣ, ‘hær’ R683ˣ
notes
[1] herr ‘the army’: The mss have ‘hęr’ (papp25ˣ) or ‘hær’ (R683ˣ), which could be m. acc. or dat. sg. and has been emended to herr (nom. sg.) with Skj B and Holtsmark (Hl 1941). For the possible loss of final -r, see Note to st. 5/2. Kock (NN §§2083, 2990F) emends to hers (gen. sg.) ‘of the army’ as a genitival attributive to egg sverðs ‘the sword’s edge’ (l. 4), taking egg ‘edge’ as a nom. sg. to avoid the instrumental dat. (a possibility also entertained by Jón Helgason in Hl 1941).
skar ‘cut’
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skera (verb): cut
harðráðr ‘Hard-ruling’
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harðráðr (adj.): hard-ruling
notes
[2] harðráðr ‘hard-ruling’: Haraldr’s nickname was harðráði ‘Hard-rule’, i.e. ‘one who makes decisive judgements and follows them through’ (see Finnur Jónsson 1907, 252; LP: harðráðr). The nickname does not appear in early prose, but it is found in the heading of ch. 25 of Theodoricus’s history of the Norwegian kings (MHN 50, ‘Hardrad’r’, ‘Hardradr’). It is not clear whether we are dealing with the nickname or an adjectival epithet in the present stanza.
sigrs ‘victory’
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sigr (noun m.; °sigrs/sigrar, dat. sigri; sigrar): victory
[2] sigrs: sigr R683ˣ
bráðr ‘quick’
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bráðr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): quick(ly)
snart ‘the keen’
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snarr (adj.): gallant, bold
lið ‘company’
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lið (noun n.; °-s; -): retinue, troop
frið ‘the peace’
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friðr (noun m.): peace
sverðs ‘with the sword’s’
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sverð (noun n.; °-s; -): sword
egg ‘edge’
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1. egg (noun f.; °-jar, dat. -ju/-): edge, blade
manns ‘a man’s’
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maðr (noun m.): man, person
legg ‘leg’
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leggja (verb): put, lay
Bargsk ‘saved themselves’
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1. bjarga (verb; °bergr (biærgr Alk619 77⁹; biargr ÓH619 119¹); barg, burgu; borginn): to save, preserve
[5] Bargsk: ‘bargs’ papp25ˣ, R683ˣ
ǫld ‘People’
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ǫld (noun f.; °; aldir): people, age
beit ‘bit’
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bíta (verb; °bítr; beit, bitu; bitinn): bite
skjǫld ‘a shield’
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skjǫldr (noun m.; °skjaldar/skildar, dat. skildi; skildir, acc. skjǫldu): shield
brandr ‘blade’
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brandr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): sword, prow; fire
þuðr ‘a slender’
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þunnr (adj.): slender, thin
óx ‘increased’
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vaxa (verb): grow, increase
guðr ‘battle’
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guðr (noun f.): battle
skaut ‘shot’
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skjóta (verb): shoot
gramr ‘lord’
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1. gramr (noun m.): ruler
geðframr ‘the outstanding-minded’
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geðframr (adj.)
gnast ‘cracked’
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gnesta (verb): emit crashing sound
almr ‘an elm-bow’
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almr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): bow, elm-bow
malmr ‘an arrow’
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malmr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): metal
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
The heading is hálfhnept (‘Halnæfst’ papp25ˣ; ‘Half-næfst’ R683ˣ) ‘half-curtailed’ (cf. SnSt Ht 77 and sts 49-50 above), but the stanza is metrically similar to alhnept ‘completely curtailed’ (SnSt Ht 78), except that the odd lines have aðalhending rather than skothending. Konráð Gíslason (1895-7, II, 88) suggested that Rugman misread alhnept as hálfhnept.
Other than in the claves metricae, this metre is attested in Ótt Óldr 1/4, 2/2, 5/2, 4 and 6/4. — The king is Haraldr harðráði ‘Hard-rule’ Sigurðarson, half-brother of Óláfr Haraldsson (S. Óláfr; see sts 73-4 above) and king of Norway 1046-66. He died at the battle of Stamford Bridge, England (25 September 1066). See Anon Nkt 38-9II and his Biography in SkP II. — [5]: This line is identical to st. 69/5. In the mss, the final -k in m. v. bargsk (‘bargs’) has been lost (cf. ‘rauds’ for hrauzk ‘discharged itself’ (so papp25ˣ) in st. 78/7; see Hl 1941, 114). In st. 69/5 the verb is rendered as ‘barsc’ in both mss.
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