SnSt Ht 62III
Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 62’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1173.
Tiggi ‘The lord’
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tiggi (noun m.; °-ja): king
notes
[1] tiggi ‘the lord’: For this form, see Note to st. 52/4.
snýr ‘turns’
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snúa (verb): turn
notes
[1] snýr ‘turns’: The verb snýr can be the 3rd pers. sg. pres. indic. of the verb snúa ‘turn’ or of a verb meaning ‘snow’ (*snjóa ‘snow’; OE, OHG snīwan) attested only in the 3rd pers. sg. pres. indic. and p. p. (snivinn) (see AEW: snivinn; snýr). The latter verb does not take a personal subject (see e.g. Eyv Lv 12/1I). Following Konráð Gíslason (1895-7), Finnur Jónsson (Skj B but apparently not in LP: snýja) construes an unattested inf. of a weak verb *snýja and takes tiggi ‘lord’ as the subject ‘the lord makes it snow’ (so also SnE 2007, 149), whereas Kock (NN §191) interprets snýr as pres. indic. of snúa. It may well be that Snorri invented a weak verb *snýja to preserve the battle/weather imagery (see Notes to st. 61/1 above), but because such a verb is otherwise unattested, the present edn follows Kock. For snúa e-u á e-n ‘turn sth. toward sby’, see Fritzner: snúa á 1.
á ‘towards’
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3. á (prep.): on, at
ógnar ‘of battle’
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ógn (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): terror, battle
kennings
áru ógnar;‘envoys of battle; ’
= WARRIORS
envoys of battle; → WARRIORS
kennings
áru ógnar;‘envoys of battle; ’
= WARRIORS
envoys of battle; → WARRIORS
und ‘the wound’
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1. und (noun f.; °; -ir): wound < undgagl (noun n.)
kennings
undgagl‘the wound-gosling ’
= RAVEN/EAGLE
the wound-gosling → RAVEN/EAGLE
kennings
undgagl‘the wound-gosling ’
= RAVEN/EAGLE
the wound-gosling → RAVEN/EAGLE
veit ‘knows’
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1. vita (verb): know
þat ‘that’
[2] þat: því W
sóknar ‘of the attack’
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sókn (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): attack, fight
kennings
hagli sóknar‘the hail of the attack ’
= ARROWS
the hail of the attack → ARROWS
hagli ‘the hail’
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hagl (noun n.; °-s; dat. *-um): hail
kennings
hagli sóknar‘the hail of the attack ’
= ARROWS
the hail of the attack → ARROWS
drífr ‘drift’
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2. drífa (verb; °drífr; dreif, drifu; drifinn): drive, rush
[3] yngvi drífr: yngva dreif W
at ‘in’
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3. at (prep.): at, to
hreggi ‘the gale’
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hregg (noun n.): storm
kennings
hreggi hlífa;‘the gale of shields; ’
= BATTLE
the gale of shields; → BATTLE
kennings
hreggi hlífa;‘the gale of shields; ’
= BATTLE
the gale of shields; → BATTLE
hjǫrr ‘the sword’
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hjǫrr (noun m.): sword
vélir ‘entraps’
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véla (verb): betray, trick
brynju ‘of the byrnie’
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1. brynja (noun f.; °-u (dat. brynnoni Gibb 38⁹); -ur): mailcoat
kennings
éli brynju‘the blizzard of the byrnie ’
= ARROWS
the blizzard of the byrnie → ARROWS
éli ‘the blizzard’
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él (noun n.; °; dat. -um): storm
kennings
éli brynju‘the blizzard of the byrnie ’
= ARROWS
the blizzard of the byrnie → ARROWS
Vísi ‘The leader’
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vísi (noun m.; °-a): leader
heldr ‘keeps’
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halda (verb): hold, keep
of ‘around’
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3. of (prep.): around, from; too
fjǫrnis ‘of the helmet’
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fjǫrnir (noun m.): helmet
kennings
foldir fjǫrnis;‘lands of the helmet; ’
= HEADS
lands of the helmet; → HEADS
kennings
foldir fjǫrnis;‘lands of the helmet; ’
= HEADS
lands of the helmet; → HEADS
fólk ‘the armies’
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folk (noun n.): people
svá ‘thus’
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svá (adv.): so, thus
boga ‘of the bow’
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bogi (noun m.; °-a; -ar): bow
kennings
driptum boga‘snow-drifts of the bow ’
= ARROWS
snow-drifts of the bow → ARROWS
driptum ‘snow-drifts’
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drift (noun f.; °; dat. -um): snowdrift
kennings
driptum boga‘snow-drifts of the bow ’
= ARROWS
snow-drifts of the bow → ARROWS
skúrum ‘in showers’
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1. skúr (noun f.; °; -ir): shower
lýstr ‘strikes down’
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2. lýsa (verb): illuminate, show
notes
[7] lýstr ‘strikes down’: Used impersonally with regni Mistar ‘the rain of Mist <valkyrie>’ as the dat. object.
of ‘around’
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3. of (prep.): around, from; too
hilmi ‘hero’
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hilmir (noun m.): prince, protector
hraustan ‘the brave’
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hraustr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): strong, valiant
hans ‘of his’
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hann (pron.; °gen. hans, dat. honum; f. hon, gen. hennar, acc. hana): he, she, it, they, them...
fregnum ‘we hear’
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1. fregna (verb): hear of
styr ‘warfare’
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styrr (noun m.; °dat. -): battle
Mistar ‘of Mist’
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Mist (noun f.): Mist
kennings
regni Mistar‘the rain of Mist ’
= ARROWS
the rain of Mist → ARROWS
regni ‘the rain’
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regn (noun n.; °-s; -): rain
kennings
regni Mistar‘the rain of Mist ’
= ARROWS
the rain of Mist → ARROWS
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
The lord turns the hail of the attack [ARROWS] towards envoys of battle [WARRIORS]; the wound-gosling [RAVEN/EAGLE] knows that; the ruler makes the blizzard of the byrnie [ARROWS] drift in the gale of shields [BATTLE]; the sword entraps lives. The leader keeps snow-drifts of the bow [ARROWS] around lands of the helmet [HEADS]; the armies arrange it thus; the rain of Mist <valkyrie> [ARROWS] strikes down in showers around the brave hero; we hear of his warfare.
This metre is called hrynjandi háttr ‘the flowing verse-form’. According to the commentary, the regular dróttkvætt has been expanded by two syllables per line (making the lines octosyllabic; see st. 61 above): in the odd lines, a disyllabic word has been added at the beginning of the line; in the even lines, a disyllabic word has been inserted after position 4.
For this metre, see also RvHbreiðm Hl 31-2 as well as Section 4 of the General Introduction in SkP I. Snorri’s explanation for the creation of hrynhent ‘flowing-rhymed’ (see Context above) is reflected in the syntactic structure of this stanza. If the words in positions 1-2 (odd lines) and 5-6 (even lines) are omitted, we are left with a metrically and syntactically correct dróttkvætt stanza, a variant of tilsagt ‘annotated’ (st. 25) in the even lines: snýr á ógnar áru | — undgagl veit þat — hagli; | drífr at hreggi hlífa | — hjǫrr vélir fjǫr — éli; | heldr of fjǫrnis foldir | — fólk skipta svá — driptum; | lýstr of hilmi hraustan | — hans fregnum styr — regni ‘hail snows on envoys of battle [WARRIORS]; the wound-gosling [RAVEN/EAGLE] knows that; the blizzard drifts in the gale of shields [BATTLE]; the sword entraps lives; snow-drifts endure around lands of the helmet [HEADS]; the armies arrange it thus; rain strikes down around the brave hero; we hear of his warfare’. — [3, 4]: In the first helmingr, Skj B (with Konráð Gíslason 1895-7), takes at hreggi hlífa ‘in the gale of shields’ (l. 3) with hjǫrr vélir fjǫr ‘the sword ensnares lives’ (l. 4). — [5-8]: The present edn follows Skald and SnE 2007. Skj B, following Sveinbjörn Egilsson (SnE 1848-87, III), renders the second helmingr as follows: Mistar regni heldr of fjǫrnis foldir – vísi skiptir [W variant] svá boga driptum –, folkskúrum lýstr of hilmi hraustan; fregnum hans styr, translated as valkyriens regn raser omkring hovederne; – fyrsten styrer således buens hagl –; sværdbygerne slår ned omkring den tapre fyrste; vi hører fortælle om hans kamp ‘the valkyrie’s rain rages around the heads; the lord controls the bow’s hail thus; the sword-showers beat down around the brave lord; we hear of his battle’. This results in a highly tortuous word order (see the discussion in SnE 2007, 65).
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