Anon Krm 5VIII
Rory McTurk (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Poems, Krákumál 5’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 726.
Hjuggu ‘hewed’
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hǫggva (verb): to strike, put to death, cut, hew
[1] Hjuggu vér með hjörvi: abbrev. as ‘[…]iugg v᷎ m᷎ h᷎.’ 1824b, Hjuggum vér með hjörvi 6ˣ, LR, R693ˣ, abbrev. as ‘H v m h.’ R702ˣ
vér ‘We’
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vér (pron.; °gen. vár, dat./acc. oss): we, us, our
[1] Hjuggu vér með hjörvi: abbrev. as ‘[…]iugg v᷎ m᷎ h᷎.’ 1824b, Hjuggum vér með hjörvi 6ˣ, LR, R693ˣ, abbrev. as ‘H v m h.’ R702ˣ
með ‘with’
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með (prep.): with
[1] Hjuggu vér með hjörvi: abbrev. as ‘[…]iugg v᷎ m᷎ h᷎.’ 1824b, Hjuggum vér með hjörvi 6ˣ, LR, R693ˣ, abbrev. as ‘H v m h.’ R702ˣ
hjörvi ‘the sword’
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hjǫrr (noun m.): sword
[1] Hjuggu vér með hjörvi: abbrev. as ‘[…]iugg v᷎ m᷎ h᷎.’ 1824b, Hjuggum vér með hjörvi 6ˣ, LR, R693ˣ, abbrev. as ‘H v m h.’ R702ˣ
Hygg ‘I reckon’
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2. hyggja (verb): think, consider
[2] Hygg (‘hygg ek’): so all others, ‘hy[…]’ 1824b
notes
[2] hygg engan þá frýðu ‘no one found fault with us then, I reckon’: Lit. ‘I consider no one to have found fault then’, an acc. with inf. construction. Frýðu here, which implies a taunt about cowardice, is pret. inf. and, as LP: frýja notes, is used absolutely, i.e. without a direct object, which, if present, would be in the dat.; ‘with us’ in the translation is understood.
engan ‘No one’
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2. engi (pron.): no, none
notes
[2] hygg engan þá frýðu ‘no one found fault with us then, I reckon’: Lit. ‘I consider no one to have found fault then’, an acc. with inf. construction. Frýðu here, which implies a taunt about cowardice, is pret. inf. and, as LP: frýja notes, is used absolutely, i.e. without a direct object, which, if present, would be in the dat.; ‘with us’ in the translation is understood.
þá ‘before’
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2. þá (adv.): then
notes
[2, 3] þá … áðr en ‘then … before’: The adv. þá ‘then, at that time’ is here used correlatively with the adverbial clause introducer áðr en ‘before …, earlier than when …’. — [2] hygg engan þá frýðu ‘no one found fault with us then, I reckon’: Lit. ‘I consider no one to have found fault then’, an acc. with inf. construction. Frýðu here, which implies a taunt about cowardice, is pret. inf. and, as LP: frýja notes, is used absolutely, i.e. without a direct object, which, if present, would be in the dat.; ‘with us’ in the translation is understood.
þá ‘before’
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2. þá (adv.): then
notes
[2, 3] þá … áðr en ‘then … before’: The adv. þá ‘then, at that time’ is here used correlatively with the adverbial clause introducer áðr en ‘before …, earlier than when …’. — [2] hygg engan þá frýðu ‘no one found fault with us then, I reckon’: Lit. ‘I consider no one to have found fault then’, an acc. with inf. construction. Frýðu here, which implies a taunt about cowardice, is pret. inf. and, as LP: frýja notes, is used absolutely, i.e. without a direct object, which, if present, would be in the dat.; ‘with us’ in the translation is understood.
frýðu ‘found fault with us then’
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2. frýja (verb): reproach, complain
[2] frýðu (‘frydo’): ‘fryde’ with ‘fly̋de W.’ in margin 6ˣ, ‘flyde’ R702ˣ, LR, ‘flýde’ R693ˣ
notes
[2] hygg engan þá frýðu ‘no one found fault with us then, I reckon’: Lit. ‘I consider no one to have found fault then’, an acc. with inf. construction. Frýðu here, which implies a taunt about cowardice, is pret. inf. and, as LP: frýja notes, is used absolutely, i.e. without a direct object, which, if present, would be in the dat.; ‘with us’ in the translation is understood.
áðr ‘’
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áðr (adv.; °//): before
notes
[2, 3] þá … áðr en ‘then … before’: The adv. þá ‘then, at that time’ is here used correlatively with the adverbial clause introducer áðr en ‘before …, earlier than when …’.
notes
[2, 3] þá … áðr en ‘then … before’: The adv. þá ‘then, at that time’ is here used correlatively with the adverbial clause introducer áðr en ‘before …, earlier than when …’.
á ‘on’
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3. á (prep.): on, at
Heflis ‘of Heflir’
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Heflir (noun m.)
[3] Heflis: heflis with ‘Hemlis W.’ in margin 6ˣ, hemlis R702ˣ, LR, R693ˣ
kennings
hestum Heflis.‘the horses of Heflir. ’
= SHIPS
the horses of Heflir. → SHIPS
notes
[3] hestum Heflis ‘the horses of Heflir <sea-king> [SHIPS]’: This makes sense as a ship-kenning, given that Heflir, listed by Björn Sigfússon (1934, 131, cf. 132) as a sea-king name, means ‘he who furls the sail’, cf. hefla ‘furl the sail’. It is apparently found as a kenning determinant only in the present instance, however (see LP: Heflir, hestr), and it is possible, as Björn suggests, that the 1824b reading here is a scribal blunder either for hestum hefils ‘horses of the clew-line [SHIPS]’ (the reading adopted in Wisén 1886-9, I and Finnur Jónsson 1893b) or for hestum Hemlis ‘horses of Hemlir <sea-king> [SHIPS]’, Hemlir being listed as a sea-king name in Þul Sækonunga 2/3III and meaning ‘he who pulls backward’, cf. hamla, ‘pull backwards, stern foremost’, hamla ‘oar-thong’, hömlumaðr ‘oarsman’ (so Björn Sigfússon 1934, 132). The latter reading (hestum Hemlis), which is adopted by Pfeiffer (1860), finds support in R702ˣ and 6ˣ. Hestum Heflis is adopted in all other previous eds, though in CPB heflis (sic) is given a lower case initial.
hestum ‘the horses’
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hestr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): horse, stallion
kennings
hestum Heflis.‘the horses of Heflir. ’
= SHIPS
the horses of Heflir. → SHIPS
notes
[3] hestum Heflis ‘the horses of Heflir <sea-king> [SHIPS]’: This makes sense as a ship-kenning, given that Heflir, listed by Björn Sigfússon (1934, 131, cf. 132) as a sea-king name, means ‘he who furls the sail’, cf. hefla ‘furl the sail’. It is apparently found as a kenning determinant only in the present instance, however (see LP: Heflir, hestr), and it is possible, as Björn suggests, that the 1824b reading here is a scribal blunder either for hestum hefils ‘horses of the clew-line [SHIPS]’ (the reading adopted in Wisén 1886-9, I and Finnur Jónsson 1893b) or for hestum Hemlis ‘horses of Hemlir <sea-king> [SHIPS]’, Hemlir being listed as a sea-king name in Þul Sækonunga 2/3III and meaning ‘he who pulls backward’, cf. hamla, ‘pull backwards, stern foremost’, hamla ‘oar-thong’, hömlumaðr ‘oarsman’ (so Björn Sigfússon 1934, 132). The latter reading (hestum Hemlis), which is adopted by Pfeiffer (1860), finds support in R702ˣ and 6ˣ. Hestum Heflis is adopted in all other previous eds, though in CPB heflis (sic) is given a lower case initial.
Herruðr ‘Herruðr’
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herruðr (noun m.)
[4] Herruðr: ‘Herraudur’ 6ˣ, Herþjófr R702ˣ, ‘heraudur’ LR, R693ˣ
notes
[4] Herruðr: According to RagnSon, where it occurs as Herrauðr (see Hb 1892-6, 458), Saxo’s account, where it occurs as Herothus (see Saxo 2015, I, ix. 4. 4-5 and 4. 17, pp. 634-5, 644-5), and Ragn, where it has the form Herruðr (see Ragn 1906-8, 116-17), this is the name of the jarl in Götaland (so Ragn; in Västergötland, RagnSon) or, as Saxo has it, the king of the Swedes (rex Sueonum), who offers his daughter Þóra/Thora in marriage to the man who can destroy a hypertrophic serpent (two such serpents in Saxo’s account). Ragnarr succeeds in doing so, thus winning Þóra as his first wife (so Ragn and RagnSon; Thora as his second wife in Saxo). Cf. st. 1, Note to ll. 2-10 above. Only in Saxo’s account (Saxo 2015, I, ix. 4. 17, pp. 644-5) is the death of Herothus mentioned, and then only in passing, with no mention of the manner of his death: thus it cannot be said for certain whether it is the Herr(a)uðr/Herothus of these accounts who is mentioned here.
í ‘in’
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í (prep.): in, into
styr ‘battle’
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styrr (noun m.; °dat. -): battle
felli ‘fell’
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falla (verb): fall
Klýfr ‘cleave’
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1. klyfja (verb): [cleaves, cloven]
eigi ‘will ever’
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3. eigi (adv.): not
ægis ‘of the sea’
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2. ægir (noun m.): ocean, sea
[5] ægis: so R702ˣ, LR, R693ˣ, ‘eigils’ 1824b, ‘eigils’ with ‘aegis Worm’ in margin 6ˣ
kennings
öndrum ægis,‘with skis of the sea, ’
= SHIPS
with skis of the sea, → SHIPS
notes
[5] öndrum ægis ‘with skis of the sea [SHIPS]’: Here ægis is not the name of the sea-giant Ægir, seeing that sea-kings rather than giants form the determinants of ship-kennings, but is the common noun ægis ‘of the sea’, as understood by Finnur Jónsson (1893b; 1905; Skj B). Mss 1824b and 6ˣ have Egils instead of Ægis, but Egill is not recorded as a sea-king name (cf. Björn Sigfússon 1934). Rafn (1826), Pfeiffer (1860), the eds of CPB, Krm 1891 and Wisén (1886-9) nevertheless all read Egils here. Alone among previous eds, Kock (NN §2274) substitutes Ekkils, gen. sg. of Ekkill, an acceptable sea-king name (Björn Sigfússon 1934, 128), and de Vries (1964-7, II, 40 n. 68), apparently accepting this reading, cites as a parallel Sigv Austv 10/5, 7I hestar Ekkils ‘the horses of Ekkill <sea-king> [SHIPS]’, while also citing Eskál Lv 2a/7-8I andra (acc. pl. of ǫndurr ‘ski’) Endils ‘the skis of Endill <sea-king> [SHIPS]’. However, emendation is unnecessary.
öndrum ‘with skis’
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andr (noun m.; °; andrar): ski
kennings
öndrum ægis,‘with skis of the sea, ’
= SHIPS
with skis of the sea, → SHIPS
notes
[5] öndrum ægis ‘with skis of the sea [SHIPS]’: Here ægis is not the name of the sea-giant Ægir, seeing that sea-kings rather than giants form the determinants of ship-kennings, but is the common noun ægis ‘of the sea’, as understood by Finnur Jónsson (1893b; 1905; Skj B). Mss 1824b and 6ˣ have Egils instead of Ægis, but Egill is not recorded as a sea-king name (cf. Björn Sigfússon 1934). Rafn (1826), Pfeiffer (1860), the eds of CPB, Krm 1891 and Wisén (1886-9) nevertheless all read Egils here. Alone among previous eds, Kock (NN §2274) substitutes Ekkils, gen. sg. of Ekkill, an acceptable sea-king name (Björn Sigfússon 1934, 128), and de Vries (1964-7, II, 40 n. 68), apparently accepting this reading, cites as a parallel Sigv Austv 10/5, 7I hestar Ekkils ‘the horses of Ekkill <sea-king> [SHIPS]’, while also citing Eskál Lv 2a/7-8I andra (acc. pl. of ǫndurr ‘ski’) Endils ‘the skis of Endill <sea-king> [SHIPS]’. However, emendation is unnecessary.
annarr ‘No other’
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1. annarr (pron.; °f. ǫnnur, n. annat; pl. aðrir): (an)other, second
jarl ‘jarl’
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jarl (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): poet, earl
[6] jarl in frægri: ‘Jarlinn fręgri’ 6ˣ, ‘jallin frægri’ R702ˣ, ‘iarlin faegre’ LR, ‘Jarlium fægre’ R693ˣ
in ‘more’
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2. inn (art.): the
[6] jarl in frægri: ‘Jarlinn fręgri’ 6ˣ, ‘jallin frægri’ R702ˣ, ‘iarlin faegre’ LR, ‘Jarlium fægre’ R693ˣ
notes
[6] in frægri ‘more famous’: The present ed. follows all previous eds apart from Krm 1891 in taking in (spelt enn by Rafn 1826, 6ˣ, and Wisén 1886-9) as an intensive adv. preceding the comp. frægri ‘more famous’ and meaning ‘still, even’, though hardly translatable in the present instance. Krm 1891 reads it as the nom. sg. m. form of the suffixed def. article, linking it to the m. noun preceding it: jarlinn ‘the jarl’.
frægri ‘famous’
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frægr (adj.; °-jan/-an; compar. -ri, superl. -jastr/-astr/-str): famous, renowned
[6] jarl in frægri: ‘Jarlinn fręgri’ 6ˣ, ‘jallin frægri’ R702ˣ, ‘iarlin faegre’ LR, ‘Jarlium fægre’ R693ˣ
notes
[6] in frægri ‘more famous’: The present ed. follows all previous eds apart from Krm 1891 in taking in (spelt enn by Rafn 1826, 6ˣ, and Wisén 1886-9) as an intensive adv. preceding the comp. frægri ‘more famous’ and meaning ‘still, even’, though hardly translatable in the present instance. Krm 1891 reads it as the nom. sg. m. form of the suffixed def. article, linking it to the m. noun preceding it: jarlinn ‘the jarl’.
lunda ‘of puffins’
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lundi (noun m.; °-a): puffin
[7] lunda völl: so R702ˣ, LR, R693ˣ, ‘lyndar voll’ 1824b, ‘lyndar vaull’ with ‘lundar vaull. Worm.’ in margin 6ˣ
kennings
völl lunda‘the plain of puffins ’
= SEA
the plain of puffins → SEA
völl ‘the plain’
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vǫllr (noun m.; °vallar, dat. velli; vellir acc. vǫllu/velli): plain, field
[7] lunda völl: so R702ˣ, LR, R693ˣ, ‘lyndar voll’ 1824b, ‘lyndar vaull’ with ‘lundar vaull. Worm.’ in margin 6ˣ
kennings
völl lunda‘the plain of puffins ’
= SEA
the plain of puffins → SEA
til ‘heading’
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til (prep.): to
lægis ‘into harbour’
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lægi (noun n.; °-s): sea
á ‘on’
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3. á (prep.): on, at
notes
[8] á langskipum ‘on longships’: The commas on either side of this phrase in the Prose order and Translation reflect Kock’s (NN §1274) view, accepted here, that this prepositional phrase is to be read as an appositive parallel to the dat. pl. ship-kenning in l. 5, specifying what is referred to by the kenning.
langskipum ‘longships’
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langskip (noun n.): longship
notes
[8] á langskipum ‘on longships’: The commas on either side of this phrase in the Prose order and Translation reflect Kock’s (NN §1274) view, accepted here, that this prepositional phrase is to be read as an appositive parallel to the dat. pl. ship-kenning in l. 5, specifying what is referred to by the kenning.
síðan ‘again’
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síðan (adv.): later, then
bar ‘carried’
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3. bera (verb; °berr; bar, báru; borinn): bear, carry
siklingr ‘leader’
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siklingr (noun m.; °; -ar): king, ruler
[9] siklingr: ‘siklungur’ LR, ‘sik linngur’ R693ˣ
víða ‘far and wide’
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1. víða (adv.): widely
snart ‘a stout’
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snarr (adj.): gallant, bold
fram ‘forward’
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fram (adv.): out, forth, forwards, away
í ‘into’
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í (prep.): in, into
styr ‘battle’
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styrr (noun m.; °dat. -): battle
hjarta ‘heart’
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hjarta (noun n.; °-; *-u): heart
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
We hewed with the sword. No one found fault with us then, I reckon, before Herruðr fell in battle on the horses of Heflir <sea-king> [SHIPS]. No other, more famous jarl will ever again cleave the plain of puffins [SEA] with skis of the sea [SHIPS], on longships, heading into harbour. That leader carried a stout heart far and wide forward into battle.
[5]: This line is hypermetrical as it stands, with eigi ‘not’ in what should be metrical position 2. That can be remedied by substituting eigi with ei or affixing the suffixed negative particle –at to the verb klýfr ‘cleave’. Skj B and Skald both have klýfrat. — [9]: Line 9 here finds a close metrical parallel in Sigv Austv 6/5I Þó séumk hitt, at hlœðir … ‘However, I fear this: that (every) loader …’, which Höskuldur Þráinsson (1970, 20) and Kristján Árnason (1991, 99) seem to regard as a case of consonantless skothending, with the <ó> of þó ‘however’ making half-rhyme with the <œ> of hlœðir ‘loader’ (cf. Note to Sigv Austv 6/5I). It might seem that in the present instance the <á> of sá ‘that’ would make half-rhyme with the <í> of víða ‘far and wide’. The impression given by Kuhn (1983, 78), however, is that such consonantless skothendingar are only possible when the vowel or diphthong in the cadence (in these cases hlœðir and víða) is followed by a glide, <j> or <v>; cf. Note to st 3/9-10, above.
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