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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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SnSt Ht 20III

Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 20’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1125.

Snorri SturlusonHáttatal
192021

text and translation

Hélir hlýr at stáli;
hafit fellr, en svífr þelli
— ferð dvǫl firrisk — harða
framm mót lagar glammi.
Vindr réttr váðir bendir;
vefr rekr á haf snekkjur;
— veðr þyrr — vísa iðjur
— varar fýsir skip — lýsa.

Hlýr hélir at stáli; hafit fellr, en þelli svífr harða framm mót glammi lagar; ferð firrisk dvǫl. Réttr vindr bendir váðir; vefr rekr snekkjur á haf; veðr þyrr; skip fýsir varar; iðjur lýsa vísa.
 
‘The prow becomes rime-covered at the stem; the ocean falls, and the fir-ship glides powerfully forwards against the roar of the sea; the crew is deprived of rest. The straight wind curves the sails; the sail-cloth drives the warships out to sea; the storm rushes along; the ship longs for the landing place; his actions glorify the leader.

notes and context

Stanzas 20-2 are examples of in minni refhvǫrf ‘the lesser fox-turns’. In st. 20 the antitheses that characterise this type are found in the juxtaposition of the first two words in each line.

The heading is xiij. háttr ‘the thirteenth verse-form’ (). — The words that constitute the antitheses are the following: hélir ‘becomes rime-covered’ : hlýr ‘heats’ (taken as 3rd pers. sg. pres. indic. of hlýja ‘heat’ rather than as the noun hlýr ‘prow’) (l. 1); hafit ‘lifted’ (taken as p. p. of hefja ‘lift’ rather than as the noun haf ‘ocean’ with a cliticised def. art.) : fellr ‘falls’ (l. 2); ferð ‘travel’ (rather than ferð ‘crew’) : dvǫl ‘rest’ (l. 3); framm ‘forwards’ : mót ‘against’ (l. 4); réttr ‘straight’ : bendir ‘curved’ (adjectival, m. nom. pl., p. p. of benda ‘curve, bend’ rather than 3rd pers. sg. pres. indic. of the same verb) (l. 5); vefr ‘wraps’ (taken as 3rd pers. sg. pres. indic. of vefja ‘wrap’ rather than as the noun vefr ‘sail-cloth’) : rekr ‘unwraps’ (taken as 3rd pers. sg. pres. indic. of rekja ‘unwrap’ rather than as 3rd pers. sg. pres. indic. of the verb reka ‘drive’) (l. 6); veðr ‘wades’ (taken as 3rd pers. sg. pres. indic. of vaða ‘wade’ rather than as the noun veðr ‘storm’) : þyrr ‘rushes along’ (l. 7); varar ‘warns’ (taken as 3rd pers. sg. pres. indic. of vara ‘warn’ rather than as the noun varar f. gen. sg. ‘landing place’) : fýsir ‘urges’ (l. 8).

readings

sources

Text is based on reconstruction from the base text and variant apparatus and may contain alternative spellings and other normalisations not visible in the manuscript text. Transcriptions may not have been checked and should not be cited.

editions and texts

Skj: Snorri Sturluson, 2. Háttatal 20: AII, 57, BII, 66, Skald II, 38, NN §2571; SnE 1848-87, I, 630-1, II, 370, 383, III, 115-16, SnE 1879-81, I, 3, 76, II, 12, SnE 1931, 226, SnE 2007, 13-14; Konráð Gíslason 1895-7, I, 13-14.

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