Skúli Svǫlðr 4III
Kate Heslop (ed.) 2017, ‘Skúli Þorsteinsson, Poem about Svǫlðr 4’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 364.
Þás ‘When’
(not checked:)
þás (conj.): when
ræfr ‘of the roof ’
(not checked:)
2. ræfr (noun n.): roof < ræfrviti (noun m.)
kennings
Reifnis ræfrvita‘roof-beacon of Reifnir’
= SWORD
the roof of Reifnir → SHIELD
the beacon of the SHIELD → SWORD
ræfr ‘of the roof ’
(not checked:)
2. ræfr (noun n.): roof < ræfrviti (noun m.)
kennings
Reifnis ræfrvita‘roof-beacon of Reifnir’
= SWORD
the roof of Reifnir → SHIELD
the beacon of the SHIELD → SWORD
vita ‘the beacon’
(not checked:)
viti (noun m.; °-a; -ar): beacon, marker < ræfrviti (noun m.)
[1] ‑vita: ‘vica’ Tˣ
kennings
Reifnis ræfrvita‘roof-beacon of Reifnir’
= SWORD
the roof of Reifnir → SHIELD
the beacon of the SHIELD → SWORD
Reifnis ‘of Reifnir’
(not checked:)
Reifnir (noun m.): Reifnir
kennings
Reifnis ræfrvita‘roof-beacon of Reifnir’
= SWORD
the roof of Reifnir → SHIELD
the beacon of the SHIELD → SWORD
Reifnis ‘of Reifnir’
(not checked:)
Reifnir (noun m.): Reifnir
kennings
Reifnis ræfrvita‘roof-beacon of Reifnir’
= SWORD
the roof of Reifnir → SHIELD
the beacon of the SHIELD → SWORD
notes
[2] fyr Svǫlð ‘off Svolder’: See Note to st. 2/7 above.
Svǫlð ‘Svolder’
(not checked:)
Svǫldr (noun f.): [Svǫlðr, Svolder]
[2] fyr Svǫlð til auðar: ‘[…]’ U; Svǫlð: Svǫlðr A, B, C
notes
[2] fyr Svǫlð ‘off Svolder’: See Note to st. 2/7 above.
auðar ‘riches’
(not checked:)
1. auðr (noun m.; °-s/-ar, dat. -i/-): wealth
[2] fyr Svǫlð til auðar: ‘[…]’ U
her ‘of host’
(not checked:)
herr (noun m.; °-s/-jar, dat. -; -jar, gen. -ja/herra): army, host < herfylginn (adj./verb p.p.)
[3] her‑: om. C
kennings
haugþak herfylgins Hǫlga‘barrow-thatch of host-accompanying Hǫlgi ’
= GOLD
barrow-thatch of host-accompanying Hǫlgi → GOLD
notes
[3-4] haugþak herfylgins Hǫlga ‘barrow-thatch of host-accompanying Hǫlgi <legendary king> [GOLD]’: Hǫlgi was a legendary king of Hålogaland in northern Norway and father of Þorgerðr Hǫlgabrúðr (see SnE 1998, I, 60 and Note to Þul Trollkvenna 2/8). While Þorgerðr appears elsewhere as an object of pagan worship (Simek 1993, 326-7; Guðrún Nordal 2001, 49), almost all our information on Hǫlgi is in this stanza and its introductory prose, where Snorri describes how his grave-mound comprised a layer of offerings (blótféit) of gold or silver, and a layer of dirt and gravel (cf. also Þhorn Harkv 14/4I and ÞorlJ ch. 7, ÍF 9, 226).
fylgins ‘-accompanying’
(not checked:)
fylginn (adj.; °compar. fylgnari): [-accompanying] < herfylginn (adj./verb p.p.)
[3] ‑fylgins: so Tˣ, W, A, B, fylgnis R, U, C
kennings
haugþak herfylgins Hǫlga‘barrow-thatch of host-accompanying Hǫlgi ’
= GOLD
barrow-thatch of host-accompanying Hǫlgi → GOLD
notes
[3-4] haugþak herfylgins Hǫlga ‘barrow-thatch of host-accompanying Hǫlgi <legendary king> [GOLD]’: Hǫlgi was a legendary king of Hålogaland in northern Norway and father of Þorgerðr Hǫlgabrúðr (see SnE 1998, I, 60 and Note to Þul Trollkvenna 2/8). While Þorgerðr appears elsewhere as an object of pagan worship (Simek 1993, 326-7; Guðrún Nordal 2001, 49), almost all our information on Hǫlgi is in this stanza and its introductory prose, where Snorri describes how his grave-mound comprised a layer of offerings (blótféit) of gold or silver, and a layer of dirt and gravel (cf. also Þhorn Harkv 14/4I and ÞorlJ ch. 7, ÍF 9, 226).
bark ‘I gathered’
(not checked:)
3. bera (verb; °berr; bar, báru; borinn): bear, carry
[3] bark (‘bar ek’): so Tˣ, W, U, A, B, bað ek R, haug ok C
Hǫlga ‘Hǫlgi’
(not checked:)
Hǫlgi (noun m.): Hǫlgi
kennings
haugþak herfylgins Hǫlga‘barrow-thatch of host-accompanying Hǫlgi ’
= GOLD
barrow-thatch of host-accompanying Hǫlgi → GOLD
notes
[3-4] haugþak herfylgins Hǫlga ‘barrow-thatch of host-accompanying Hǫlgi <legendary king> [GOLD]’: Hǫlgi was a legendary king of Hålogaland in northern Norway and father of Þorgerðr Hǫlgabrúðr (see SnE 1998, I, 60 and Note to Þul Trollkvenna 2/8). While Þorgerðr appears elsewhere as an object of pagan worship (Simek 1993, 326-7; Guðrún Nordal 2001, 49), almost all our information on Hǫlgi is in this stanza and its introductory prose, where Snorri describes how his grave-mound comprised a layer of offerings (blótféit) of gold or silver, and a layer of dirt and gravel (cf. also Þhorn Harkv 14/4I and ÞorlJ ch. 7, ÍF 9, 226).
haug ‘barrow’
(not checked:)
haugr (noun m.; °-s, -i; -ar): mound, cairn < haugþak (noun n.)
kennings
haugþak herfylgins Hǫlga‘barrow-thatch of host-accompanying Hǫlgi ’
= GOLD
barrow-thatch of host-accompanying Hǫlgi → GOLD
notes
[3-4] haugþak herfylgins Hǫlga ‘barrow-thatch of host-accompanying Hǫlgi <legendary king> [GOLD]’: Hǫlgi was a legendary king of Hålogaland in northern Norway and father of Þorgerðr Hǫlgabrúðr (see SnE 1998, I, 60 and Note to Þul Trollkvenna 2/8). While Þorgerðr appears elsewhere as an object of pagan worship (Simek 1993, 326-7; Guðrún Nordal 2001, 49), almost all our information on Hǫlgi is in this stanza and its introductory prose, where Snorri describes how his grave-mound comprised a layer of offerings (blótféit) of gold or silver, and a layer of dirt and gravel (cf. also Þhorn Harkv 14/4I and ÞorlJ ch. 7, ÍF 9, 226).
þak ‘thatch’
(not checked:)
þak (noun n.; °-s; *-): [roof, thatch] < haugþak (noun n.)
[4] ‑þak: so U, A, B, C, ‑þǫk R, Tˣ, W
kennings
haugþak herfylgins Hǫlga‘barrow-thatch of host-accompanying Hǫlgi ’
= GOLD
barrow-thatch of host-accompanying Hǫlgi → GOLD
notes
[3-4] haugþak herfylgins Hǫlga ‘barrow-thatch of host-accompanying Hǫlgi <legendary king> [GOLD]’: Hǫlgi was a legendary king of Hålogaland in northern Norway and father of Þorgerðr Hǫlgabrúðr (see SnE 1998, I, 60 and Note to Þul Trollkvenna 2/8). While Þorgerðr appears elsewhere as an object of pagan worship (Simek 1993, 326-7; Guðrún Nordal 2001, 49), almost all our information on Hǫlgi is in this stanza and its introductory prose, where Snorri describes how his grave-mound comprised a layer of offerings (blótféit) of gold or silver, and a layer of dirt and gravel (cf. also Þhorn Harkv 14/4I and ÞorlJ ch. 7, ÍF 9, 226).
baugum ‘with rings’
(not checked:)
baugr (noun m.; °dat. -i/-; -ar): ring
[4] baugum: ‘[…]’ U, bauga C
notes
[4] baugum ‘with rings’: Dat. is taken here as indicating ‘accompanying circumstances’ (cf. Heusler 1967, 116), but the usage is unusual. An alternative would be to read sama ‘befit, suit’ (R, Tˣ, W) for saman in l. 4 and construe bark haugþak herfylgins Hǫlga sama baugum ‘I carried the barrow-thatch of host-accompanying Hǫlgi <legendary king> [GOLD] to befit rings’, but it is difficult to find parallels for either the combination bera + inf. or sama with dat. rei; nor is it entirely clear what the phrase would mean. Other solutions proposed by previous eds are taking C’s bauga (gen. pl.) as part of the shield-kenning (Wood 1964, 183), giving the pleonastic Reifnis bauga ræfrviti ‘beacon of Reifnir’s rings’ roof’ [SHIELD > SWORD]; or taking baugum as ‘with shields’, i.e. ‘by means of fighting’ (NN §2264), although baugr is not used as a shield-heiti elsewhere in early poetry (LP: baugr 4).
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
This helmingr is cited in Skm’s discussion of kennings for ‘gold’, presumably to exemplify the kenning haugþak Hǫlga ‘barrow-thatch of Hǫlgi’.
[1-2]: The first, subordinate clause in this half-stanza must have depended syntactically on a clause that was a part of the previous, now-lost helmingr.
Stanza/chapter/text segment
Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.
Information tab
- text: if the stanza has been published, the edited text of the stanza and translation are here; if it hasn't been published an old edition (usually Skj) is given for reference
- sources: a list of the manuscripts or inscriptions containing this stanza, with page and line references and links (eye button) to images where available, and transcription where available
- readings: a list of variant manuscript readings of words in the main text
- editions and texts: a list of editions of the stanza with links to the bibliography; and a list of prose works in which the stanza occurs, allowing you to navigate within the prose context
- notes and context: notes not linked to individual words are given here, along with the account of the prose context for the stanza, where relevant
Interactive tab
The text and translation are given here, with buttons to toggle whether the text is shown in the verse order or prose word order. Clicking on indiviudal words gives dictionary links, variant readings, kennings and notes, where relevant.
Full text tab
This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.
Chapter/text segment
This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.