SnSt Ht 52III
Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 52’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1161.
Sær ‘sows’
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2. sá (verb): sow
skjǫldungs ‘The sovereign’s’
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skjǫldungr (noun m.): king
kennings
Niðr skjǫldungs‘The sovereign’s kinsman ’
= Skúli
The sovereign’s kinsman → Skúli
niðr ‘kinsman’
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1. niðr (noun m.; °-s; niðjar/niðir, acc. niði): son, kinsman, relative
kennings
Niðr skjǫldungs‘The sovereign’s kinsman ’
= Skúli
The sovereign’s kinsman → Skúli
notes
[1] niðr ‘kinsman’: Niðr usually means ‘descendant’. Skúli, the half-brother of King Ingi Bárðarson, was not of royal lineage, except that his great-great-great-grandmother was Ingiríðr, the sister of Óláfr Haraldsson (S. Óláfr) and Haraldr harðráði ‘Hard-rule’ Sigurðarson. Niðr is, however, also attested in the meaning ‘kinsman, relative’ (Fritzner: niðr 1; LP: niðr 1). An alternative would be to take niðr as an adv. ‘down’ in an impersonal verb-adv. collocation with sær ‘sows’: sær niðr skúrum skjǫldungs ‘the lord’s showers are sown down’ (see SnE 1848-87, III and SnE 2007, 136).
skúrum ‘showers’
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1. skúr (noun f.; °; -ir): shower
darraðar ‘of the standard’
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darraðr (noun m.): [banner, standard]
notes
[2] darraðar ‘of the standard’: Dǫrruðr can mean either ‘spear’ or ‘standard’ (see Holtsmark 1939, Poole 1991, 125-31 and the literature cited there). In the present context the meaning ‘standard’ is preferable because the imagery of standards, banners and pennants occurs in both helmingar. Skj B takes darraðar with skúrum ‘showers’ (l. 1): Darraðar skúrum skjǫldungs sær niðr translated as Fyrstens spydbyger falder ned ‘The lord’s spear-showers fall down’. Konráð Gíslason (1895-7) also connects skúrum with darraðar, but he takes niðr as a noun rather than as an adv.: skjǫldungs niðr sær darraðar skúrum ‘the lord’s relative sows showers of spears’. Both of these interpretations are less preferable from the point of view of word order because they result in an awkward tripartite line (l. 2).
lyptask ‘are lifted’
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lyfta (verb): lift, raise
hrindr ‘presses against’
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1. hrinda (verb): launch, propell
gunn ‘the battle’
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gunnr (noun f.): battle < gunnfani (noun m.)
fana ‘banner’
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-fani (noun m.): [standard, banner] < gunnfani (noun m.)
[3] ‑fana: fara U
grundar ‘of the land’
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grund (noun f.): earth, land
kennings
frœknum tiggja grundar.‘the bold lord of the land. ’
= RULER
the bold lord of the land. → RULER
kennings
frœknum tiggja grundar.‘the bold lord of the land. ’
= RULER
the bold lord of the land. → RULER
tiggja ‘lord’
(not checked:)
tiggi (noun m.; °-ja): king
kennings
frœknum tiggja grundar.‘the bold lord of the land. ’
= RULER
the bold lord of the land. → RULER
notes
[4] tiggja ‘lord’: The later form tiggja (rather than tyggja) is warranted by the internal rhyme, since tyggja (so Skj B) would form aðalhending with glygg ‘the strong wind’. Skúli is referred to as frækn tiggi grundar ‘the bold lord of the land’ (ll. 3, 4) as regent of Norway during Hákon’s minority.
vé ‘Pennants’
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2. vé (noun n.; °; -): banner, standard
[5] Geisa vé fyr vísa: ‘geisa[…]’ R
fyr ‘before’
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fyr (prep.): for, over, because of, etc.
[5] Geisa vé fyr vísa: ‘geisa[…]’ R
stǫng ‘the standard-pole’
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stǫng (noun f.; °stangar, dat. -u; stangir/stengr): pole
[6] veðr stǫng: ‘[…]’ R
at ‘towards’
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3. at (prep.): at, to
kennings
hlym Gungnis;‘the crash of Gungnir; ’
= BATTLE
the crash of Gungnir; → BATTLE
Gungnis ‘of Gungnir’
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2. Gungnir (noun m.): Gungnir
kennings
hlym Gungnis;‘the crash of Gungnir; ’
= BATTLE
the crash of Gungnir; → BATTLE
notes
[6] Gungnis ‘of Gungnir <spear>’: This was a spear belonging to Óðinn in Old Norse myth (see Note to Þul Spjóts l. 8).
styrk ‘mighty’
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2. styrkr (adj.): powerful, strong
eru ‘are’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
mót ‘meetings’
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1. mót (noun n.; °; -): meeting
kennings
mót málms‘meetings of metal ’
= BATTLES
meetings of metal → BATTLES
merkjum ‘the banners’
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1. merki (noun n.; °-s: -): banner, sign
málms ‘of metal’
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malmr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): metal
[8] málms of ítran: hjálms vin ítrum U
kennings
mót málms‘meetings of metal ’
= BATTLES
meetings of metal → BATTLES
hilmi ‘leader’
(not checked:)
hilmir (noun m.): prince, protector
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
|
Sær skjǫldungs niðr skúrum; |
The sovereign’s kinsman [= Skúli] sows showers [of missiles]; the shafts of the standard are lifted; the strong wind presses against the battle-banner above the bold lord of the land [RULER]. Pennants rush before the prince; the standard-pole advances towards the crash of Gungnir <spear> [BATTLE]; meetings of metal [BATTLES] are mighty beneath the banners around the glorious leader.
The dróttkvætt variant is skothendr háttr ‘the half-rhymed form’, and it is characterised by skothending rather than aðalhending in the even lines.
Ms. R is partly damaged, and Tˣ is the main ms. The heading in Tˣ is Nú er skothendr háttr. 44 ‘Now comes the half-rhymed form. 44’. The variant is quite common in informal poetry.
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