Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 16

Kari Ellen Gade

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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SnSt Ht 16^III

Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 16’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1120.

Snorri Sturluson Háttatal

15 16 17

Setr ‘sets up’

(not checked:)
setja (verb): place, set, establish

notes

[1] setr ‘sets up’: According to the prose commentaries of Snorri and Óláfr, this word ought to be the same as the last word in st. 15, but, as Finnur Jónsson points out (TGT 1927, 103), that is technically incorrect because setri ‘seat’ (st. 15/8) is a n. dat. sg. noun and setr is 3rd pers. sg. pres. indic. of the weak verb setja.

of ‘around’

(not checked:)
3. of (prep.): around, from; too

[1] of: ‘[…]f’ W(141)

vísa ‘leader’

(not checked:)
vísi (noun m.; °-a): leader

[1] vísa: vísi U(47r)

[3] ýr: ‘vr’ U

notes

[3] ýr ‘the yew-bow’: See Note to st. 11/1 above.

dregsk ‘is pulled’

(not checked:)
2. draga (verb; °dregr; dró, drógu; dreginn/droget(Hirð NKS 1642 4° 146v²⁹; cf. [$962$])): drag, pull, draw

við ‘against’

(not checked:)
2. við (prep.): with, against

skot ‘of shots’

(not checked:)
skot (noun n.; °-s; -): shot < skotskúr (noun f.)

skúrum ‘the showers’

(not checked:)
1. skúr (noun f.; °; -ir): shower < skotskúr (noun f.)

[3] ‑skúrum: ‘scuro’ Tˣ

skjaldborg ‘a shield-wall’

(not checked:)
skjaldborg (noun f.): shield-wall

notes

[4] skjaldborg ‘a shield-wall’: Lit. ‘shield-fortification’. For the practice of protecting a king or war-leader in battle by surrounding him with a wall of shields, see Falk (1914b, 151).

í ‘in’

(not checked:)
í (prep.): in, into

gras ‘the grass’

(not checked:)
gras (noun n.): grass

aldir ‘people’

(not checked:)
ǫld (noun f.; °; aldir): people, age

[4] aldir: so all others, aldri R

notes

[4] aldir ‘people’: So all other mss. Aldri ‘never’ (R) makes no sense in the context and has been altered to aldir (R*).

Vápn ‘The weapon’

(not checked:)
vápn (noun n.; °-s; -): weapon < vápnrjóðr (noun m.): [weapon-reddener]

kennings

Vápnrjóðr
‘The weapon-reddener ’
= WARRIOR = Hákon
The weapon-reddener → WARRIOR = Hákon

rjóðr ‘reddener’

(not checked:)
1. rjóðr (noun m.): reddener < vápnrjóðr (noun m.): [weapon-reddener]

kennings

Vápnrjóðr
‘The weapon-reddener ’
= WARRIOR = Hákon
The weapon-reddener → WARRIOR = Hákon

stikar ‘encloses’

(not checked:)
2. stika (verb): enclose, barricade

víða ‘the wide’

(not checked:)
víðr (adj.): far

notes

[5] víða ‘wide’: Taken as an adj. (m. acc. pl.) here, but it could also be the adv. víða ‘far and wide’.

vell ‘gold’

(not checked:)
vell (noun n.): gold < vellbrjótr (noun m.): [gold-breaker]

kennings

sóknharðr vellbrjótr
‘the battle-strong gold-breaker ’
= GENEROUS MAN
the battle-strong gold-breaker → GENEROUS MAN

brjótr ‘breaker’

(not checked:)
brjótr (noun m.): breaker < vellbrjótr (noun m.): [gold-breaker]

[6] ‑brjótr: brjót W

kennings

sóknharðr vellbrjótr
‘the battle-strong gold-breaker ’
= GENEROUS MAN
the battle-strong gold-breaker → GENEROUS MAN

á ‘on’

(not checked:)
3. á (prep.): on, at

lǫg ‘the ocean’

(not checked:)
lǫgr (noun m.; °lagar, dat. legi): sea

spjótum ‘with spears’

(not checked:)
spjót (noun n.; °-s; -): spear

þryngr ‘advances’

(not checked:)
þrøngva (verb): press, throng

[7] þryngr: so Tˣ, W, þungr R, ‘þravngr’ U

notes

[7] þryngr ‘advances’: So Tˣ, W. Þungr ‘heavy’ has been altered in R to þryngr (R*).

at ‘towards’

(not checked:)
3. at (prep.): at, to

sverða ‘of swords’

(not checked:)
sverð (noun n.; °-s; -): sword

[7] sverða: ‘[…]ða’ W

kennings

sǫngvi sverða.
‘the song of swords. ’
= BATTLE
the song of swords. → BATTLE

sǫngvi ‘the song’

(not checked:)
sǫngr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -vi/-; -var): song

kennings

sǫngvi sverða.
‘the song of swords. ’
= BATTLE
the song of swords. → BATTLE

sókn ‘the battle’

(not checked:)
sókn (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): attack, fight < sóknharðr (adj.)

kennings

sóknharðr vellbrjótr
‘the battle-strong gold-breaker ’
= GENEROUS MAN
the battle-strong gold-breaker → GENEROUS MAN

notes

[8] sóknharðr ‘battle-strong’: This adj. could also qualify vápnrjóðr ‘weapon-reddener’ (l. 5; so Skj B, Skald and SnE 2007).

harðr ‘strong’

(not checked:)
harðr (adj.; °comp. -ari; superl. -astr): hard, harsh < sóknharðr (adj.)

[8] ‑harðr: ‘h[…]ðr’ U

kennings

sóknharðr vellbrjótr
‘the battle-strong gold-breaker ’
= GENEROUS MAN
the battle-strong gold-breaker → GENEROUS MAN

notes

[8] sóknharðr ‘battle-strong’: This adj. could also qualify vápnrjóðr ‘weapon-reddener’ (l. 5; so Skj B, Skald and SnE 2007).

þrǫmu ‘edges’

(not checked:)
þrǫmr (noun m.; °dat. þremi; gen. þrama): rail, rim

[8] þrǫmu: þrumu W(141), þrimu U

jarðar ‘of the earth’

(not checked:)
jǫrð (noun f.; °jarðar, dat. -u; jarðir/jarðar(DN I (1367) 304)): ground, earth

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

verse
prose

The stanza illustrates the syntactic variation drǫgur ‘drawings’, in which the first word (setr ‘sets’) echoes the last word in the preceding stanza (setri ‘seat’; st. 15/8 above). In TGT, l. 1 is used to exemplify anadiplosis, which is the same figure (see st. 15 above).

The heading is drǫgur (U(47r) and added in R (R*)). This device is also known from Old French, Middle English, and Old Irish poetry, but it is very rare in Old Norse poetry (see Hl 1941, 129, SnE 2007, 53 and the literature cited there).

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SnSt Ht 16III

Setr ‘sets up’

notes

of ‘around’

vísa ‘leader’

vitran ‘the wise’

vígdrótt ‘The battle-retinue’

en ‘and’

þar ‘there’

hníga ‘sink down’

ýr ‘the yew-bow’

notes

dregsk ‘is pulled’

við ‘against’

skot ‘of shots’

skúrum ‘the showers’

skjaldborg ‘a shield-wall’

notes

í ‘in’

gras ‘the grass’

aldir ‘people’

notes

Vápn ‘The weapon’

kennings

rjóðr ‘reddener’

kennings

stikar ‘encloses’

víða ‘the wide’

notes

vell ‘gold’

kennings

brjótr ‘breaker’

kennings

á ‘on’

lǫg ‘the ocean’

spjótum ‘with spears’

þryngr ‘advances’

notes

at ‘towards’

sverða ‘of swords’

kennings

sǫngvi ‘the song’

kennings

sókn ‘the battle’

kennings

notes

harðr ‘strong’

kennings

notes

þrǫmu ‘edges’

jarðar ‘of the earth’

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SnSt Ht 16^III