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Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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SnSt Ht 42III

Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 42’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1151.

Snorri SturlusonHáttatal
414243

Alrauðum drífr auði;
ógnrakkr firum hlakkar
veitk, hvar vals á reitu
verpr hringdropa snerpir.
Snjallr lætr á fit falla
fagrregn jǫfurr þegnum
— ógnflýtir verr ýtum
arm — Mardallar hvarma.

Drífr alrauðum auði; veitk, hvar {ógnrakkr snerpir hlakkar} verpr {hringdropa} á {reitu vals} firum. Snjallr jǫfurr lætr {{fagrregn hvarma} Mardallar} falla á fit þegnum; {ógnflýtir} verr arm ýtum.

It snows with very red wealth; I know where {the attack-brave sharpener of battle} [WARRIOR] throws {the ring-drop} [GOLD] onto {the lands of the falcon} [ARMS] of men. The wise prince makes {{the fair rain of the eyelids} [TEARS] of Mardǫll <= Freyja>} [GOLD] fall onto the hand of his subjects; {the attack-hastener} [WARRIOR] adorns the arms of people.

Mss: R(49r), Tˣ(51r), W(145), U(53v) (SnE)

Readings: [1] Al‑: Álf‑ Tˣ;    auði: auðar Tˣ    [2] ‑rakkr: ‑rakkar U    [3] hvar: so all others, hvat R    [7] ‑flýtir: flýtum W    [8] ‑dallar: ‑þallar U

Editions: Skj AII, 63-4, Skj BII, 72, Skald II, 41; SnE 1848-87, I, 654-5, II, 390, III, 121, SnE 1879-81, I, 7, 79, II, 18, SnE 1931, 234, SnE 2007, 20; Konráð Gíslason 1895-7, I, 25-6.

Context: The dróttkvætt variant is called rétthent ‘consistently rhymed’. The rhymes in both odd and even lines are aðalhendingar.

Notes: [All]: It is not uncommon for odd dróttkvætt lines to have aðalhending rather than skothending (see also SnE 2007, 82). — [All]: The heading in is 34. — [1] alrauðum auði ‘with very red wealth’: That is, with red gold (see also Sturl Hrafn 5/8II). — [2] hlakkar ‘of battle’: See Note to st. 18/1 above. — [4] hringdropa ‘the ring-drop [GOLD]’: One of the drops (rings) falling from Óðinn’s gold ring Draupnir (see SnE 1998, I, 40, 42 and Note to Anon Bjark 4/7). — [5] fit ‘the hand’: For fit (usually ‘meadow’ or ‘webbed foot of a bird’) in the sense ‘arm, hand’, see Heggstad et al. 2008: fit 5. The words fit ‘hand’ and fit ‘meadow, webbed foot’ are homonyms (see AEW: fit 1-2). — [6, 8] fagrregn hvarma Mardallar ‘the fair rain of the eyelids [TEARS] of Mardǫll <= Freyja> [GOLD]’: This kenning refers to Freyja weeping tears of gold (see SnE 1998, I, 40, 43 and the extensive use of this imagery in ESk Øxfl 1-3, 9). See also Note to Anon Bjark 5/6. For Freyja’s name Mardǫll, see Note to Þul Ásynja 3/6. — [8] arm ‘the arms’: Lit. ‘the arm’ (sg. used collectively; see also st. 45/5).

References

  1. Bibliography
  2. SnE 1848-87 = Snorri Sturluson. 1848-87. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar: Edda Snorronis Sturlaei. Ed. Jón Sigurðsson et al. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Legatum Arnamagnaeanum. Rpt. Osnabrück: Zeller, 1966.
  3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
  4. AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
  5. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
  6. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
  7. Konráð Gíslason. 1895-7. Efterladte skrifter. 2 vols. I: Forelæsninger over oldnordiske skjaldekvad. II: Forelæsninger og videnskablige afhandlinger. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
  8. SnE 2007 = Snorri Sturluson. 2007. Edda: Háttatal. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
  9. SnE 1879-81 = Möbius, Theodor, ed. 1879-81. Hattatal Snorra Sturlusonar. 2 vols. Halle an de Saale: Verlag der Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses.
  10. Internal references
  11. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Poems, Bjarkamál in fornu 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. 500.
  12. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Poems, Bjarkamál in fornu 5’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 502.
  13. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Ásynja heiti 3’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 768.
  14. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Einarr Skúlason, Øxarflokkr 1’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 141.
  15. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Sturla Þórðarson, Hrafnsmál 5’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 731-2.
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