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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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SnSt Ht 23III

Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 23’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1129.

Snorri SturlusonHáttatal
222324

text and translation

Firrisk hǫnd með harra
hlumr, — líðr vetr af sumri —
en flaust við lǫg Lista
lǫng taka hvíld at gǫngu.
Ǫl mœðir lið lýða;
létt skipask hǫll in rétta,
en skál at gjǫf, góla,
gulls svífr tóm in fulla.

Hlumr firrisk hǫnd með harra – vetr líðr af sumri –, en lǫng flaust taka hvíld at gǫngu við lǫg Lista. Ǫl mœðir lið lýða; in rétta hǫll skipask létt góla, en in fulla skál svífr tóm at gjǫf gulls.
 
‘The oar-handle is removed from the hand at the lord’s [dwelling] – winter follows summer –, and the long ships take a rest after the journey by the sea of Lista. Ale wearies the host of men; the upright hall is easily occupied splendidly, and the full cup swings empty after the gift of gold.

notes and context

This variant of refhvǫrf is called refhvarfabróðir ‘the brother of fox-turns’. The antitheses occur at the end of each even line and are separated by one syllable (not adjacent as in refhvǫrf).

The headings are xvj. háttr ‘the sixteenth verse-form’ () and refhvarfa bróðir ‘the brother of fox-turns’ (U(47r)). — The antitheses are contained in the following words: vetr ‘winter’ : sumri ‘summer’ (l. 2); hvíld ‘rest’ : gǫngu ‘journey’ (l. 4); hǫll ‘slanting’ (rather than the noun hǫll ‘hall’) : rétta ‘upright’ (l. 6); tóm ‘empty’ : fulla ‘full’ (l. 8). This pattern of antitheses is not found elsewhere and must have been Snorri’s invention.

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 23: AII, 58, BII, 67, Skald II, 38, NN §§1304, 1305; SnE 1848-87, I, 632-3, II, 371, 384, III, 116, SnE 1879-81, I, 4, 76, II, 12, SnE 1931, 226, SnE 2007, 14; Konráð Gíslason 1895-7, I, 15.

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