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.
hlýr ‘The prow’
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2. hlýr (noun n.; °-s; -): cheek, bow
stáli ‘the stem’
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1. stál (noun n.; °-s; -): steel, weapon, prow
hafit ‘the ocean’
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hafa (verb): have
notes
[2] þelli svífr ‘the fir-ship glides’: It is unclear whether this is a personal or impersonal construction, since the collective noun þelli n. ‘fir-ship’ can be either nom. or dat. and svífa ‘glide, swing’ can occur in both types of construction.
notes
[2] þelli svífr ‘the fir-ship glides’: It is unclear whether this is a personal or impersonal construction, since the collective noun þelli n. ‘fir-ship’ can be either nom. or dat. and svífa ‘glide, swing’ can occur in both types of construction.
ferð ‘the crew’
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ferð (noun f.; °-ar; -ir/-arMork 196¹²)): host, journey
[3] ferð: ferr U(51v)
notes
[3] ferð firrisk dvǫl ‘the crew is deprived of rest’: Or ‘the crew shuns delay’.
notes
[3] ferð firrisk dvǫl ‘the crew is deprived of rest’: Or ‘the crew shuns delay’.
firrisk ‘is deprived’
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2. firra (verb): keep (from), remove
notes
[3] ferð firrisk dvǫl ‘the crew is deprived of rest’: Or ‘the crew shuns delay’.
harða ‘powerfully’
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harðr (adj.; °comp. -ari; superl. -astr): hard, harsh
[3] harða: hǫrða W
framm ‘forwards’
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fram (adv.): out, forth, forwards, away
mót ‘against’
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3. mót (prep.): against
notes
[4] mót ‘against’: Originally written ‘mot’ in R, but later altered to ‘mót’ (R*).
lagar ‘of the sea’
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lǫgr (noun m.; °lagar, dat. legi): sea
glammi ‘the roar’
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glammi (noun m.): babble
Vindr ‘wind’
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1. vindr (noun m.; °-s/-ar; -ar): wind
réttr ‘The straight’
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3. réttr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): right, straight, direct
[5] réttr: rekr U(51v)
notes
[5] réttr ‘straight’: Rekr ‘drives’ (so U and, by correction, R (R*)) is possible syntactically (vindr rekr; váðir bendir ‘the wind drives; the sail is curved’ (if the latter clause is taken as impersonal)), but it fails to provide the antithesis that characterises refhvǫrf. The reading appears to be the result of syntactic simplification.
váðir ‘the sails’
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váð (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): clothes
bendir ‘curves’
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1. benda (verb; °-nd-): bend
vefr ‘the sail-cloth’
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vefr (noun m.; °-jar; -ir): cloth, sail, weaving
á ‘out to’
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3. á (prep.): on, at
haf ‘sea’
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haf (noun n.; °-s; *-): sea
snekkjur ‘the warships’
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snekkja (noun f.; °-u; -ur): warship
notes
[6] snekkjur ‘the warships’: It is not clear exactly what type of ship the snekkja was, but it appears to be a warship with twenty to thirty rowing benches (see Falk 1912, 102, Jesch 2001a, 126-7 and Note to ÞjóðA Magnfl 2/2, 3II).
veðr ‘the storm’
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2. veðr (noun n.; °-s; -): weather, wind, storm
þyrr ‘rushes along’
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þyrja (verb): race, rush, rage
[7] þyrr: þurr R, Tˣ, U(51v), ‘þy[…]’ W
notes
[7] þyrr ‘rushes along’: None of the mss contains this form (the end of the word is damaged in W).
vísa ‘the leader’
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vísi (noun m.; °-a): leader
notes
[7] vísa ‘the leader’: The noun is taken here as the object of the verb lýsa lit. ‘light up, illuminate’ (l. 8). It could also be a gen. with iðjur ‘actions’ (l. 7): iðjur vísa lýsa ‘the actions of the leader shine’ (see SnE 1879-81, I, 76 and NN §2571).
varar ‘for the landing place’
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2. vǫr (noun f.): [for landing place]
fýsir ‘longs’
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fýsa (verb): desire, encourage
notes
[8] fýsir ‘longs for’: Impersonal, with skip ‘ship’ (or ‘ships’, pl.) as the acc. object.
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
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.
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’ (Tˣ). — 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).
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