Rǫgnvaldr jarl and Hallr Þórarinsson, Háttalykill 17

Kari Ellen Gade

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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RvHbreiðm Hl 17^III

Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Rǫgnvaldr jarl and Hallr Þórarinsson, Háttalykill 17’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1024.

Rǫgnvaldr jarl and Hallr Þórarinsson Háttalykill

16 17 18

notes

[1] bræddi ‘fed’: See also Anon Krm 9/3^VIII.

fjǫrnis ‘of the helmet’

(not checked:)
fjǫrnir (noun m.): helmet

[1] fjǫrnis: fjǫrni papp25ˣ, R683ˣ

kennings

reit fjǫrnis
‘land of the helmet; ’
= HEAD
land of the helmet; → HEAD

notes

[1, 2] fjǫrnis; firum ‘of the helmet; men’s’: These emendations were first suggested by Sveinbjörn Egilsson (SnE 1848, 240), and they have been adopted by all subsequent eds. Firum ‘men’s’ is a poss. dat.

beit ‘bit’

(not checked:)
bíta (verb; °bítr; beit, bitu; bitinn): bite

reit ‘land’

(not checked:)
reitr (noun m.; °dat. -; -ar/-ir, acc. -a/-u): path, land

kennings

reit fjǫrnis
‘land of the helmet; ’
= HEAD
land of the helmet; → HEAD

firum ‘men’s’

(not checked:)
firar (noun m.): men

[2] firum: ‘firo’ papp25ˣ, R683ˣ

notes

hneitir ‘the sword’

(not checked:)
hneitir (noun m.): sword

notes

[2] hneitir ‘the sword’: Lit. ‘cutter’. A heiti for ‘sword’ (Þul Sverða 2/7) and the name of Óláfr Haraldsson’s sword (see ESk Geisl 43/1^VII and Note to [All]).

bauðsk ‘was offered’

(not checked:)
bjóða (verb; °býðr; bauð, buðu; boðinn (buð- Thom¹ 5²n.)): offer, order, invite

[3] bauðsk: baugs papp25ˣ, braut by later correction in the hand of Rugman R683ˣ

rauðsk ‘was reddened’

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

[3] rauðsk: rautt papp25ˣ, þaut by later correction in the hand of Rugman R683ˣ

brynju ‘of the byrnie’

(not checked:)
1. brynja (noun f.; °-u (dat. brynnoni Gibb 38⁹); -ur): mailcoat

kennings

váði brynju
‘the danger of the byrnie ’
= SWORD
the danger of the byrnie → SWORD

váði ‘the danger’

(not checked:)
váði (noun m.; °-a): danger

[3] váði: ‘…’ papp25ˣ, ‘nautur’ or ‘nauti’ by later correction in the hand of Rugman R683ˣ

kennings

váði brynju
‘the danger of the byrnie ’
= SWORD
the danger of the byrnie → SWORD

notes

[3] váði ‘the danger’: This reconstruction, which follows Hl 1941, is conjectural, which is also the case with bauðsk ‘was offered’ and rauðsk ‘was reddened’, but with more support from the ms. witnesses. The original reading of this line in papp25ˣ and R683ˣ, baugs rautt brynju ... ‘of the ring you reddened the byrnie’ (?), provides no internal rhyme and cannot be construed to make any sense in the context.

bjǫrg ‘nourishment’

(not checked:)
bjǫrg (noun f.; °bjargar; bjargir): help, deliverance

[4] bjǫrg mǫrg: bjarg marg by later correction in the hand of Rugman R683ˣ

mǫrg ‘much’

(not checked:)
2. margr (adj.; °-an): many

[4] bjǫrg mǫrg: bjarg marg by later correction in the hand of Rugman R683ˣ

frekum ‘to the greedy’

(not checked:)
2. frekr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): greedy

vargi ‘wolf’

(not checked:)
vargr (noun m.; °dat. -i; -ar): wolf

Ypt ‘The drawn’

(not checked:)
yppa (verb): extol, lift up

[5] Ypt: opt papp25ˣ, R683ˣ

notes

[5] ypt, lypt ‘the drawn, uplifted’: With most earlier eds, opt ‘often’ has been emended to ypt ‘drawn’ and ‘lijst’ (papp25ˣ) or ‘list’ (R683ˣ) has been emended to lypt ‘uplifted’ to restore the aðalhending.

lypt ‘uplifted’

(not checked:)
lyfta (verb): lift, raise

[5] lypt: ‘lijst’ papp25ˣ, ‘list’ R683ˣ

notes

átti ‘’

(not checked:)
2. eiga (verb; °á/eigr (præs. pl. 3. pers. eigu/eiga); átti, áttu; átt): own, have

at ‘’

(not checked:)
5. at (nota): to (with infinitive)

skipta ‘divided’

(not checked:)
skipta (verb): share, divide, exchange

egg ‘edge’

(not checked:)
1. egg (noun f.; °-jar, dat. -ju/-): edge, blade

legg ‘legs’

(not checked:)
leggr (noun m.; °-jar, dat. -; -ir): limb

notes

[6] legg ‘legs’: Lit. ‘leg’ (sg.).

í ‘in’

(not checked:)
í (prep.): in, into

tvau ‘two’

(not checked:)
tveir (num. cardinal): two

seggja ‘men’s’

(not checked:)
seggr (noun m.; °; -ir): man

hrátt ‘raw’

(not checked:)
hrár (adj.): raw

brátt ‘quickly’

(not checked:)
bráðr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): quick(ly)

hafði ‘had’

(not checked:)
hafa (verb): have

at ‘to’

(not checked:)
5. at (nota): to (with infinitive)

slíta ‘tear’

(not checked:)
slíta (verb): to tear

[7] slíta: slátra by later correction in the hand of Rugman R683ˣ

hrafn ‘the raven’

(not checked:)
hrafn (noun m.; °hrafns; dat. hrafni; hrafnar): raven

tafn ‘food’

(not checked:)
tafn (noun n.; °-s; *-): carrion

af ‘because’

(not checked:)
af (prep.): from

því ‘of that’

(not checked:)
1. sá (pron.; °gen. þess, dat. þeim, acc. þann; f. sú, gen. þeirrar, acc. þá; n. þat, dat. því; pl. m. þeir, f. þǽ---): that (one), those

jafnan ‘always’

(not checked:)
jafnan (adv.): always

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

verse
prose

The metre is called inn dýri háttr (‘hinn Dijri hattʀ’) ‘the ornate form’ (cf. SnSt Ht 37). It is a variant of dróttkvætt, not attested outside the two claves metricae, in which all lines have three internal rhymes in positions 1, 2 and 5. The even lines have three aðalhendingar, and the odd lines two aðalhendingar in positions 1 and 3, which can form either aðalhending or skothending with the syllable in position 5 (see Hl 1941, 129). In Ht 37, all internal rhymes are aðalhendingar.

Rugman’s later corrections in R683ˣ represent attempts to create aðalhendingar and must be disregarded. — The hero commemorated is Bjǫrn járnsíða ‘Ironside’, another of Ragnarr loðbrók’s sons (see sts 11-16). — [3-4]: (a) In the present edn, which follows Hl 1941, váði ‘danger’ (l. 3) is taken as the base-word in a kenning for ‘sword’ (váði brynju ‘danger of the byrnie’), which functions as the subject in a passive construction with rauðsk ‘was reddened’ (l. 3). Bauðsk ‘was offered’ is taken as the verb in a passive construction with mǫrg bjǫrg (f. nom. sg.) ‘much nourishment’ as the subject. (b) The texts in Skj B and Skald are based on Rugman’s later corrections in R683ˣ and they provide the following reading: brátt, þrátt, brynju neytir | barg margfrekum vargi. Skj B places the adv. þrátt ‘often, persistently’ (l. 3) in the first clause of the helmingr (bræddi þrátt ‘fed often’) and the second adv. brátt ‘quickly’ (l. 3) in the second clause (beit brátt ‘bit quickly’. Kock (NN §1159) objected to that tortuous syntax and construed brátt, þrátt, brynju neytir barg margfrekum vargi, translated as snabbt, beständigt brynjebärarn räddade den glupske varj ‘quickly, stubbornly, the byrnie’s wearer (i.e. warrior) saved the greedy wolf’.

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RvHbreiðm Hl 17III

Bjǫrn ‘Bjǫrn’

ǫrn ‘the eagle’

bræddi ‘fed’

notes

fjǫrnis ‘of the helmet’

kennings

notes

beit ‘bit’

reit ‘land’

kennings

firum ‘men’s’

notes

hneitir ‘the sword’

notes

bauðsk ‘was offered’

rauðsk ‘was reddened’

brynju ‘of the byrnie’

kennings

váði ‘the danger’

kennings

notes

bjǫrg ‘nourishment’

mǫrg ‘much’

frekum ‘to the greedy’

vargi ‘wolf’

Ypt ‘The drawn’

notes

lypt ‘uplifted’

notes

átti ‘’

at ‘’

skipta ‘divided’

egg ‘edge’

legg ‘legs’

notes

í ‘in’

tvau ‘two’

seggja ‘men’s’

hrátt ‘raw’

brátt ‘quickly’

hafði ‘had’

at ‘to’

slíta ‘tear’

hrafn ‘the raven’

tafn ‘food’

af ‘because’

því ‘of that’

jafnan ‘always’

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RvHbreiðm Hl 17^III