SnSt Ht 79III
Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 79’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1190.
Læsir ‘encloses’
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læsa (verb): enclose, lock
notes
[1] læsir ‘encloses’: Lit. ‘locks’.
leyfðr ‘The praised’
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leyfðr (adj./verb p.p.): celebrated
vísi ‘leader’
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vísi (noun m.; °-a): leader
landa ‘of the lands’
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land (noun n.; °-s; *-): land
útstrandir ‘the outer shores’
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útstrǫnd (noun f.): outer shore
blíðr ‘cheerful’
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blíðr (adj.; °n. sg. nom. & acc. blítt/blíðt; compar. -ari, superl. -astr): gentle, happy
notes
[3] ok bláskíðum ‘and dark skis’: So W. The metre requires an additional syllable, and ‘blaskiþv’ in R has been altered to ‘\vm/ blaskiþa’ or ‘\vm/ blaskoþa’ (R*; the second vowel of the cpd is unclear). The corrections could have been made to achieve a metrical line with five syllables and skothending rather than aðalhending.
blá ‘dark’
(not checked:)
blár (adj.): black < bláskíð (noun n.)
kennings
bláskíðum barða.‘dark skis of prows. ’
= SHIPS
dark skis of prows. → SHIPS
notes
[3] ok bláskíðum ‘and dark skis’: So W. The metre requires an additional syllable, and ‘blaskiþv’ in R has been altered to ‘\vm/ blaskiþa’ or ‘\vm/ blaskoþa’ (R*; the second vowel of the cpd is unclear). The corrections could have been made to achieve a metrical line with five syllables and skothending rather than aðalhending.
kennings
bláskíðum barða.‘dark skis of prows. ’
= SHIPS
dark skis of prows. → SHIPS
notes
[3] ok bláskíðum ‘and dark skis’: So W. The metre requires an additional syllable, and ‘blaskiþv’ in R has been altered to ‘\vm/ blaskiþa’ or ‘\vm/ blaskoþa’ (R*; the second vowel of the cpd is unclear). The corrections could have been made to achieve a metrical line with five syllables and skothending rather than aðalhending.
barða ‘of prows’
(not checked:)
barð (noun n.): prow, stern (of a ship)
kennings
bláskíðum barða.‘dark skis of prows. ’
= SHIPS
dark skis of prows. → SHIPS
rand ‘with a shield’
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rǫnd (noun f.; °dat. -/-u; rendr/randir): shield, shield-rim < randgarðr (noun m.): shield-wall
[4] rand‑: rann‑ R, hrann‑ W
notes
[4] randgarði ‘with a shield-fence’: The R and W readings, ranngarði ‘with a house-fence’ and hranngarði ‘with a wave-fence’ respectively, make no sense in the context. The word is also used in a similar context in Sturl Hrafn 2/8II.
garði ‘fence’
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garðr (noun m.): enclosure, yard < randgarðr (noun m.): shield-wall
notes
[4] randgarði ‘with a shield-fence’: The R and W readings, ranngarði ‘with a house-fence’ and hranngarði ‘with a wave-fence’ respectively, make no sense in the context. The word is also used in a similar context in Sturl Hrafn 2/8II.
Ern ‘vigorous’
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ern (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): powerful
kná ‘’
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knega (verb): to know, understand, be able to
jarl ‘The jarl’
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jarl (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): poet, earl
þyrna ‘spikes’
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þyrna (verb): [spikes]
oddum ‘with points’
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oddr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): point of weapon
fal ‘with socket’
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1. falr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -): spear-socket < falbroddr (noun m.)
[6] fal‑: so W, val‑ R
kennings
falbrodda,‘with socket-points, ’
= SPEARS
with socket-points, → SPEARS
notes
[6] falbrodda (m. gen. pl.) ‘with socket-points [SPEARS]’: Lit. ‘of socket-points’. So W, and altered from valbrodda ‘of slaughter-points’ to falbrodda in R (R*). This gen. is taken here with the adj. ern ‘eager’ (so also Konráð Gíslason 1895-7 and Skj B). Kock (NN §2186) construes both falbrodda ‘socket points’ and hrænaðra (m. gen. pl.) ‘corpse-adders’ (l. 8) with oddum ‘points’ (l. 6) as two asyndetic parallel constructions (‘with points of the socket-points, with points of the corpse-adder’). Faulkes (SnE 2007) keeps the original R reading valbrodda ‘slaughter-points’ i.e. ‘spears’, which he connects with ern while leaving Kock’s suggestion as a viable option (SnE 2007, 157: valbroddr).
brodda ‘points’
(not checked:)
broddr (noun m.; °dat. -i; -ar): point of spear or arrow < falbroddr (noun m.)
kennings
falbrodda,‘with socket-points, ’
= SPEARS
with socket-points, → SPEARS
notes
[6] falbrodda (m. gen. pl.) ‘with socket-points [SPEARS]’: Lit. ‘of socket-points’. So W, and altered from valbrodda ‘of slaughter-points’ to falbrodda in R (R*). This gen. is taken here with the adj. ern ‘eager’ (so also Konráð Gíslason 1895-7 and Skj B). Kock (NN §2186) construes both falbrodda ‘socket points’ and hrænaðra (m. gen. pl.) ‘corpse-adders’ (l. 8) with oddum ‘points’ (l. 6) as two asyndetic parallel constructions (‘with points of the socket-points, with points of the corpse-adder’). Faulkes (SnE 2007) keeps the original R reading valbrodda ‘slaughter-points’ i.e. ‘spears’, which he connects with ern while leaving Kock’s suggestion as a viable option (SnE 2007, 157: valbroddr).
jǫrð ‘the earth’
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jǫrð (noun f.; °jarðar, dat. -u; jarðir/jarðar(DN I (1367) 304)): ground, earth
með ‘along’
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með (prep.): with
élsnœrðum ‘its storm-laced’
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élsnœrðr (adj.): [its storm-laced]
notes
[7] élsnœrðum ‘storm-laced’: In R the second element of the cpd is spelled ‘snorþvm’, but <o> appears to have been altered to <ǫ> (R*). The alteration is very faint, however.
jaðri ‘edge’
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jaðarr (noun m.; °-s, dat. jaðri; jaðrar): edge, border
hræ ‘of corpse’
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hræ (noun n.; °; -): corpse, carrion < hrænaðr (noun m.): [corpse-adders]
kennings
hrænaðra.‘of corpse-adders. ’
= SPEARS
corpse-adders. → SPEARS
naðra ‘adders’
(not checked:)
naðr (noun m.): snake < hrænaðr (noun m.): [corpse-adders]
kennings
hrænaðra.‘of corpse-adders. ’
= SPEARS
corpse-adders. → SPEARS
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
The metre is called Haðarlag ‘Hǫðr’s metre’, and it may have been named after an unknown poet. Each line contains five syllables (a stereotyped pattern of málaháttr D*1 lines), and the placement of rhyme and alliteration corresponds to that of dróttkvætt.
The rubric in R is lxxii. — For the name of this metre, see Vésteinn Ólason (1984, 58). See also RvHbreiðm Hl 53-4. The only extended poem to employ this metre consistently is Sturl HrafnII, and st. 2/5-8 of that poem shows that Sturla, Snorri’s nephew, was well familiar with the present stanza. — [2]: Repeated as Sturl Hrafn 2/6II.
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