Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 54

Kari Ellen Gade

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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SnSt Ht 54^III

Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 54’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1163.

Snorri Sturluson Háttatal

53 54 55

Skýtr ‘is shot’

(not checked:)
skjóta (verb): shoot

notes

[1] skýtr ‘is shot’: The verb is used impersonally with hlemmidrífu Hildar ‘the rumbling blizzard of Hildr <valkyrie> [ARROWS]’ as the dat./instr. object. This kenning could also be taken as a kenning for ‘battle’, but the context shows that ‘arrows’ are meant here.

at ‘at’

(not checked:)
3. at (prep.): at, to

Skǫglar ‘of Skǫgul’

(not checked:)
Skǫgul (noun f.): Skǫgul

kennings

veðri Skǫglar,
‘the storm of Skǫgul, ’
= BATTLE
the storm of Skǫgul, → BATTLE

veðri ‘the storm’

(not checked:)
2. veðr (noun n.; °-s; -): weather, wind, storm

kennings

veðri Skǫglar,
‘the storm of Skǫgul, ’
= BATTLE
the storm of Skǫgul, → BATTLE

en ‘and’

(not checked:)
2. en (conj.): but, and

[2] en skjaldagi haldask: ‘en skiolldv\n/gi halldiz’ U

skjaldagi ‘the shields do not’

(not checked:)
skjalda (verb): shield

[2] en skjaldagi haldask: ‘en skiolldv\n/gi halldiz’ U

notes

[2] skjaldagi ‘the shields do not’: This word is obscure, but scholars agree that the ending ‑gi represents the suffixed negation. Following Möbius (SnE 1879-81, I, 113) and Konráð Gíslason (1895-7), Finnur Jónsson (LP: gi (ki); skjǫldr) suggests an unattested m. nom. pl. form (skjaldar instead of skildir) with the suffixed negation ‑gi (skjaldar-gi > skjaldagi; see also ANG §396 Anm. 1). Kock (NN §2276) adopts the U variant skjǫldungi, which he takes as a dat. pl. (skjǫldum) with the negation ‑gi (skjǫldum-gi > skjǫldungi): skjǫldungi haldask ‘(they) are unable to protect themselves with the shields’.

haldask ‘endure’

(not checked:)
halda (verb): hold, keep

[2] en skjaldagi haldask: ‘en skiolldv\n/gi halldiz’ U

Hildar ‘of Hildr’

(not checked:)
2. Hildr (noun f.): Hildr

kennings

hlemmidrífu Hildar
‘The rumbling blizzard of Hildr ’
= ARROWS
The rumbling blizzard of Hildr → ARROWS

hlemmi ‘The rumbling’

(not checked:)
hlemma (verb): [powerful] < hlemmidrífa (noun f.)

[3] hlemmi‑: ‘hlemi’ or ‘hleini’ Tˣ, ‘hleimi’ U

kennings

hlemmidrífu Hildar
‘The rumbling blizzard of Hildr ’
= ARROWS
The rumbling blizzard of Hildr → ARROWS

notes

[3] hlemmidrífu ‘the rumbling blizzard’: This cpd is otherwise not attested in Old Norse, and it is formed from the weak verb hlemma ‘rumble, resound, scream’ and the weak f. noun drífa ‘snowdrift, blizzard’.

drífu ‘blizzard’

(not checked:)
1. drífa (noun f.; °-u): snow-storm < hlemmidrífa (noun f.)

kennings

hlemmidrífu Hildar
‘The rumbling blizzard of Hildr ’
= ARROWS
The rumbling blizzard of Hildr → ARROWS

notes

of ‘over’

(not checked:)
3. of (prep.): around, from; too

hvítum ‘the white’

(not checked:)
hvítr (adj.; °-an; -ari, -astr): white

[4] hvítum: hvítan Tˣ, W

þrǫm ‘rim’

(not checked:)
þrǫmr (noun m.; °dat. þremi; gen. þrama): rail, rim

[4] þrǫm: þrym W

kennings

sveita sœfis
‘the sweat of the sword ’
= BLOOD
the sweat of the sword → BLOOD

notes

[5] sœfis ‘of the sword’: In R ‘sofis’ has been altered to ‘sǫ́fis’ (R*).

sveita ‘the sweat’

(not checked:)
sveiti (noun m.; °-a): blood

kennings

sveita sœfis
‘the sweat of the sword ’
= BLOOD
the sweat of the sword → BLOOD

at ‘at’

(not checked:)
3. at (prep.): at, to

sverð ‘the sword’

(not checked:)
sverð (noun n.; °-s; -): sword < sverðtog (noun n.): [sword-drawing]

kennings

sverðtogi
‘the sword-drawing ’
= BATTLE
the sword-drawing → BATTLE

togi ‘drawing’

(not checked:)
tog (noun n.; °; dat. -um): leader < sverðtog (noun n.): [sword-drawing]

kennings

sverðtogi
‘the sword-drawing ’
= BATTLE
the sword-drawing → BATTLE

ferðar ‘of the company’

(not checked:)
ferð (noun f.; °-ar; -ir/-arMork 196¹²)): host, journey

rýðr ‘reddens’

(not checked:)
rjóða (verb): to redden

aldar ‘of the people’

(not checked:)
ǫld (noun f.; °; aldir): people, age

[7] aldar: alda W

kennings

vinr aldar
‘the friend of the people ’
= RULER
the friend of the people → RULER

notes

[7] aldar ‘of the people’: An attempt has been made in R to erase <r> (or <ar>).

vinr ‘the friend’

(not checked:)
vinr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. -/(-i OsvReyk 92.17); -ir): friend

[7] vinr: so all others, vin R

kennings

vinr aldar
‘the friend of the people ’
= RULER
the friend of the people → RULER

odda ‘spear-points’

(not checked:)
oddr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): point of weapon

þats ‘that is’

(not checked:)
þats (conj.): that, which

jarl ‘the power’

(not checked:)
jarl (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): poet, earl < 1. jarlmegin (noun n.)

[8] jarl‑: jarls Tˣ, W, U

megin ‘of the jarl’

(not checked:)
1. megin (noun n.; °-s, dat. magni/megni/megin(HirðB 398¹⁹); -): might, strength; very < 1. jarlmegin (noun n.)

snarla ‘quickly’

(not checked:)
1. snarla (adv.): quickly

Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses

verse
prose

The dróttkvætt variant is called Ragnars háttr ‘Ragnarr’s verse-form’, and this and the following four stanzas (sts 55-8) illustrate metrical peculiarities that occur in the poetry of ancient skalds (fornskáld). Ragnarr is the legendary king Ragnarr loðbrók ‘Hairy-breeches’ (Rloð^VIII); see Ragnars saga loðbrókar (Ragn). The stanza is characterised by a lack of internal rhymes in the odd lines and by alliteration in position 2 rather than in position 1 in the even lines (anacrusis: Sievers’s Types B (l. 4) and C3 (ll. 2, 6, 8)).

The heading in Tˣ is Ragnars háttr. 46. The metrical features that characterise Ragnars háttr are fairly common in the earliest dróttkvætt poetry (including a stanza attributed to Ragnarr (Rloð Lv 7/7-8^VIII (Ragn 23)), but they are never carried through as systematically as in the present stanza.

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SnSt Ht 54III

Skýtr ‘is shot’

notes

at ‘at’

Skǫglar ‘of Skǫgul’

kennings

veðri ‘the storm’

kennings

en ‘and’

skjaldagi ‘the shields do not’

notes

haldask ‘endure’

Hildar ‘of Hildr’

kennings

hlemmi ‘The rumbling’

kennings

notes

drífu ‘blizzard’

kennings

notes

of ‘over’

hvítum ‘the white’

þrǫm ‘rim’

rítar ‘of the shield’

Enn ‘And’

í ‘in’

sœfis ‘of the sword’

kennings

notes

sveita ‘the sweat’

kennings

at ‘at’

sverð ‘the sword’

kennings

togi ‘drawing’

kennings

ferðar ‘of the company’

rýðr ‘reddens’

aldar ‘of the people’

kennings

notes

vinr ‘the friend’

kennings

odda ‘spear-points’

þats ‘that is’

jarl ‘the power’

megin ‘of the jarl’

snarla ‘quickly’

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SnSt Ht 54^III