R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Austrfararvísur 6’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 592.
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nú (adv.): now
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hafa (verb): have
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hnekkja (verb): drive off, reject
[1] hnekkt: ‘hnek[…]’ R686ˣ
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2. er (conj.): who, which, when
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hnakki (noun m.; °-a): neck
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hein (noun f.; °-ar): whetstone < heinflet (noun n.)hein (noun f.; °-ar): whetstone < heinfell (noun n.)
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hein (noun f.; °-ar): whetstone < heinflet (noun n.)hein (noun f.; °-ar): whetstone < heinfell (noun n.)
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fell (noun n.; °-s; -) < heinfell (noun n.)
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flet (noun n.): platform, floor < heinflet (noun n.)
[2] ‑flets: ‘fellz’ Flat
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flet (noun n.): platform, floor < heinflet (noun n.)
[2] ‑flets: ‘fellz’ Flat
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2. við (prep.): with, against
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
[2] mér ‘me’: Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) sets the word off by commas, indicating that he takes it to be the expressed object of hafa hnekkt ‘have driven away’ in l. 1, and the implied object of við ‘against’ in l. 2. Mér is similarly assumed to have a dual role in this edn, though a less disjointed word order is proposed. Cf. Noreen (1923, 37-8), and Kock, NN §1112.
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setja (verb): place, set, establish
[3, 4] þeygi bella … tíri ‘not at all do … display praiseworthiness’: This is the sense normally assumed, i.e. that the three Ǫlvirs have acted badly. Konráð Gíslason (1892, 178) cites parallel instances of tírr in this concrete sense. Kock (NN §2218B) compiles poetic instances of bella in an attempt to show that with an instr. object (including the present context) it means ‘go about, perform, be intent upon’, while with a dat. one it means ‘hit, get at’, i.e. ‘reach one’s mark’ (though of course dat. and instr. objects are formally indistinguishable).
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1. bella (verb; °præt. sg. ball): deal with
[3, 4] þeygi bella … tíri ‘not at all do … display praiseworthiness’: This is the sense normally assumed, i.e. that the three Ǫlvirs have acted badly. Konráð Gíslason (1892, 178) cites parallel instances of tírr in this concrete sense. Kock (NN §2218B) compiles poetic instances of bella in an attempt to show that with an instr. object (including the present context) it means ‘go about, perform, be intent upon’, while with a dat. one it means ‘hit, get at’, i.e. ‘reach one’s mark’ (though of course dat. and instr. objects are formally indistinguishable).
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þollr (noun m.): fir-tree
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samr (adj.; °compar. -ari): same < samnafni (noun m.): [namesake]
[4] sam‑: ‘san’ 325VI
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jafn (adj.; °comp. -ari, superl. -astr): even, just
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nafni (noun m.; °-a; -ar): namesake < samnafni (noun m.): [namesake]nafni (noun m.; °-a; -ar): namesake
[4] ‑nafnar: jafnir 75a, Bb
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fleiri (adj. comp.; °superl. flestr): more, most
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eir (noun n.): copper coin?
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1. tíð (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): time
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tírr (noun m.; °-s): glory, honour
[4] tíri: fleiri 75a, eiri 68, tíði Flat
[3, 4] þeygi bella … tíri ‘not at all do … display praiseworthiness’: This is the sense normally assumed, i.e. that the three Ǫlvirs have acted badly. Konráð Gíslason (1892, 178) cites parallel instances of tírr in this concrete sense. Kock (NN §2218B) compiles poetic instances of bella in an attempt to show that with an instr. object (including the present context) it means ‘go about, perform, be intent upon’, while with a dat. one it means ‘hit, get at’, i.e. ‘reach one’s mark’ (though of course dat. and instr. objects are formally indistinguishable).
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nú (adv.): now
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2. sjá (verb): see
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2. sjá (verb): see
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2. sjá (verb): see
[5] séumk: sé ek 75a, 73aˣ, sjám Flat, sáum Tóm
[5] séumk ‘I fear’: The skothending consists of long vowels (or diphthongs) without any consonant rhyme here, in Sigv Lv 24/1, and in six even lines by Sigvatr: see Höskuldur Þráinsson (1970, 12, 20); Kristján Árnason (1991, 99). Kock (NN §2923) suggests emending to þéumk, taking this to mean ‘I torment myself’ (producing a skothending of þó þ- : hlœð-), and other emendations were proposed by Jón Þorkelsson (1884, 68) and Gering (1912, 138).
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2. inn (art.): the
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4. at (conj.): that
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hlœðir (noun m.): loader
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hlœðir (noun m.): loader
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haf (noun n.; °-s; *-): sea < hafskíð (noun n.)haf (noun n.; °-s; *-): sea < hafskíð (noun n.)
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haf (noun n.; °-s; *-): sea < hafskíð (noun n.)haf (noun n.; °-s; *-): sea < hafskíð (noun n.)
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skíð (noun n.; °; -): ski < hafskíð (noun n.)
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mœnir (noun m.; °-s): [roof-ridge, ridge]
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síðla (adv.): late
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út (adv.): out(side)
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2. hverr (pron.): who, whom, each, every
[7] hverrs (‘hverr er’): hverr 325VI, Flat
[7] Ǫlvir: Hollander favours an etymology of *aluwīhaz ‘guardian, or priest, of a fane’ and suggests an ironic allusion to the nearly homonymous ǫlværr ‘hospitable’ (Hollander 1945, 155 n., following de Vries 1932-3, 171-2, 176-8, who argued that coincidence was implausible). The incident is thus to that extent fictitious and the name chosen solely for its entertainment value. For objections to this view see Ellekilde (1933-4, 183-5) and for a reply, see de Vries (1933-4, 292-3).
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heitr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): hot, ardent
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allr (adj.): all
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meiri (adj. comp.; °meiran; superl. mestr): more, most
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2. reka (verb): drive, force
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Nú hafa hnekkt, þeirs hnakka |
Now three namesakes have driven [me] away, they who turned their backs on me; not at all do the firs of the whetstone-platform [SWORD > MEN] display praiseworthiness. However, I fear this above all, that every loader of the ocean-ski [SHIP > SEAFARER] who is named Ǫlvir will henceforth chase strangers away.
The next evening Sigvatr comes to three farmers, each named Ǫlvir, and all turn him away. Sigvatr speaks this stanza.
[1, 2] settu hnakka við mér ‘turned their backs on me’: Lit. ‘set the napes of their necks against me’. — [2] heinflets ‘of the whetstone-platform [SWORD]’: The word flet referred originally to the floor of a house (cf. flatr ‘flat’), though it is attested only in the metaphorical senses ‘set of rooms, house, raised platform, bed (on the floor)’. It may be the last of these meanings that is intended, given the parallel sword-kenning beðr ryðfjónar ‘bed of the rust-enemy [WHETSTONE > SWORD]’ (Anon (ÓT) 6/1, 3; see Meissner 155, 163). In view of the kenning gætir grefs ‘minder of the hoe [FARMER]’ in st. 7/5, de Vries (1932-3, 172) suggests that heinflet may refer not to a sword but to a sickle, but this fits expected patterns less well.
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