Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 55

Kari Ellen Gade

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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SnSt Ht 55^III

Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 55’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1164.

Snorri Sturluson Háttatal

54 55 56

kennings

fjǫlvitrum œgi jǫfra
‘the extremely wise terrifier of princes ’
= RULER
the extremely wise terrifier of princes → RULER

œgi ‘terrifier’

(not checked:)
œgir (noun m.): terrifier

[1] œgi: ægir W, ‘ægri’ U

kennings

fjǫlvitrum œgi jǫfra
‘the extremely wise terrifier of princes ’
= RULER
the extremely wise terrifier of princes → RULER

jarl ‘a jarl’

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

fjǫl ‘the extremely’

(not checked:)
fjǫl- ((prefix)): very- < fjǫlvitr (adj.)

[2] fjǫl‑: ‘for‑’ U

kennings

fjǫlvitrum œgi jǫfra
‘the extremely wise terrifier of princes ’
= RULER
the extremely wise terrifier of princes → RULER

vitrum ‘wise’

(not checked:)
vitr (adj.): wise < fjǫlvitr (adj.)

kennings

fjǫlvitrum œgi jǫfra
‘the extremely wise terrifier of princes ’
= RULER
the extremely wise terrifier of princes → RULER

betra ‘better than’

(not checked:)
betri (adj. comp.; °superl. beztr/baztr; pos. góðr adj.): better, best

[2] betra: corrected from snarla U

eða ‘or’

(not checked:)
eða (conj.): or

gjarnara ‘more eager’

(not checked:)
gjarn (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): eager

at ‘to’

(not checked:)
5. at (nota): to (with infinitive)

gœða ‘increase’

(not checked:)
gœða (verb): endow

[3] gœða: græða U

glym ‘clash’

(not checked:)
glymr (noun m.): noise

kennings

hraðsveldan glym skjalda?
‘the swift-growing clash of shields? ’
= BATTLE
the swift-growing clash of shields? → BATTLE

hrað ‘the swift’

(not checked:)
hraðr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): [swift, fast] < hraðsveldr (adj.)

[4] hrað‑: harð‑ W, U

kennings

hraðsveldan glym skjalda?
‘the swift-growing clash of shields? ’
= BATTLE
the swift-growing clash of shields? → BATTLE

notes

[4] hraðsveldan ‘swift-growing’: Lit. ‘swift-swollen’. This word has been altered in R to hrað feldan ‘swift-felled’ (R*). The U variant harðsveldan ‘hard-swollen’ i.e. ‘powerful’ is also possible.

sveldan ‘growing’

(not checked:)
svelja (verb): grow, bloat < hraðsveldr (adj.)

[4] ‑sveldan: seldan W

kennings

hraðsveldan glym skjalda?
‘the swift-growing clash of shields? ’
= BATTLE
the swift-growing clash of shields? → BATTLE

notes

skjalda ‘of shields’

(not checked:)
skjǫldr (noun m.; °skjaldar/skildar, dat. skildi; skildir, acc. skjǫldu): shield

kennings

hraðsveldan glym skjalda?
‘the swift-growing clash of shields? ’
= BATTLE
the swift-growing clash of shields? → BATTLE

Stendr ‘issues’

(not checked:)
standa (verb): stand

af ‘from’

(not checked:)
af (prep.): from

[5] af: so all others, of R

stála ‘of swords’

(not checked:)
1. stál (noun n.; °-s; -): steel, weapon, prow

kennings

Gauti skúrar stála,
‘the Gautr of the shower of swords ’
= WARRIOR
the shower of swords → BATTLE
the Gautr of the BATTLE → WARRIOR

stála ‘of swords’

(not checked:)
1. stál (noun n.; °-s; -): steel, weapon, prow

kennings

Gauti skúrar stála,
‘the Gautr of the shower of swords ’
= WARRIOR
the shower of swords → BATTLE
the Gautr of the BATTLE → WARRIOR

skúrar ‘of the shower’

(not checked:)
1. skúr (noun f.; °; -ir): shower

kennings

Gauti skúrar stála,
‘the Gautr of the shower of swords ’
= WARRIOR
the shower of swords → BATTLE
the Gautr of the BATTLE → WARRIOR

skúrar ‘of the shower’

(not checked:)
1. skúr (noun f.; °; -ir): shower

kennings

Gauti skúrar stála,
‘the Gautr of the shower of swords ’
= WARRIOR
the shower of swords → BATTLE
the Gautr of the BATTLE → WARRIOR

styrr ‘enmity’

(not checked:)
styrr (noun m.; °dat. -): battle

ólítill ‘No small’

(not checked:)
ólítill (adj.): not small

[6] ólítill: ‘ol[…]ll’ Tˣ

Gauti ‘the Gautr’

(not checked:)
2. Gautr (noun m.): Gautr, Óðinn

kennings

Gauti skúrar stála,
‘the Gautr of the shower of swords ’
= WARRIOR
the shower of swords → BATTLE
the Gautr of the BATTLE → WARRIOR

þás ‘when’

(not checked:)
þás (conj.): when

fólks ‘of the people’

(not checked:)
folk (noun n.): people

kennings

jaðarr fólks
‘the protector of the people ’
= RULER
the protector of the people → RULER

jaðarr ‘the protector’

(not checked:)
jaðarr (noun m.; °-s, dat. jaðri; jaðrar): edge, border

[7] jaðarr: so W, U, jarðar R, Tˣ

kennings

jaðarr fólks
‘the protector of the people ’
= RULER
the protector of the people → RULER

foldir ‘the lands’

(not checked:)
fold (noun f.): land

[7] foldir: ferðir W

ferr ‘goes’

(not checked:)
fara (verb; ferr, fór, fóru, farinn): go, travel

sig ‘against battle’

(not checked:)
sigr (noun m.; °sigrs/sigrar, dat. sigri; sigrar): victory < signjǫrðr (noun m.)

kennings

sig-Njǫrðum.
‘against battle-Nirðir. ’
= WARRIORS
against battle-Nirðir. → WARRIORS

notes

[8] sig-Njǫrðum ‘battle-Nirðir <gods> [WARRIORS]’: Njǫrðum is m. dat. pl. (nom. Nirðir) of the name Njǫrðr (an Old Norse god).

Njǫrðum ‘Nirðir’

(not checked:)
Njǫrðr (noun m.): Njǫrðr < signjǫrðr (noun m.)

[8] Njǫrðum: ‘morkvm’ U

kennings

sig-Njǫrðum.
‘against battle-Nirðir. ’
= WARRIORS
against battle-Nirðir. → WARRIORS

notes

[8] sig-Njǫrðum ‘battle-Nirðir <gods> [WARRIORS]’: Njǫrðum is m. dat. pl. (nom. Nirðir) of the name Njǫrðr (an Old Norse god).

varða ‘to defend’

(not checked:)
2. varða (verb): defend

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

verse
prose

Snorri calls this variant Torf-Einars háttr ‘Torf-Einarr’s verse-form’. It is characterised by a lack of internal rhyme in the odd lines and by skothendingar in positions 3 and 5 in the even Type D-lines.

The heading in Tˣ is Torf-Einars háttr. 47. — Torf-Einarr (TorfE^I) was the illegitimate son of Rǫgnvaldr jarl of Møre, and his father appointed him jarl of Orkney (c. 900). Some of the stanzas attributed to Torf-Einarr contain lines that are characterised by the metrical features given in this stanza (see TorfE Lv 1/1-2, 5-6^I, 2/5-6^I, 4/7-8^I, 5/3-4^I). — [5]: The line recalls Bjhít Lv 15/5^V (BjH 20).

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SnSt Ht 55III

Hverr ‘Who’

séi ‘might see’

jǫfra ‘of princes’

kennings

œgi ‘terrifier’

kennings

jarl ‘a jarl’

fjǫl ‘the extremely’

kennings

vitrum ‘wise’

kennings

betra ‘better than’

eða ‘or’

gjarnara ‘more eager’

at ‘to’

gœða ‘increase’

glym ‘clash’

kennings

hrað ‘the swift’

kennings

notes

sveldan ‘growing’

kennings

notes

skjalda ‘of shields’

kennings

Stendr ‘issues’

af ‘from’

stála ‘of swords’

kennings

stála ‘of swords’

kennings

skúrar ‘of the shower’

kennings

skúrar ‘of the shower’

kennings

styrr ‘enmity’

ólítill ‘No small’

Gauti ‘the Gautr’

kennings

þás ‘when’

fólks ‘of the people’

kennings

jaðarr ‘the protector’

kennings

foldir ‘the lands’

ferr ‘goes’

sig ‘against battle’

kennings

notes

Njǫrðum ‘Nirðir’

kennings

notes

varða ‘to defend’

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SnSt Ht 55^III