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Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Sturl Hrafn 13^II

Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Sturla Þórðarson, Hrafnsmál 13’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 738.

Sturla Þórðarson Hrafnsmál

Drógu ‘pulled’

(not checked:)
2. draga (verb; °dregr; dró, drógu; dreginn/droget(Hirð NKS 1642 4° 146v²⁹; cf. [$962$])): drag, pull, draw

dyn ‘of the din’

(not checked:)
dynr (noun m.; °dat. -; -ir): din < dynsveigir (noun m.)

kennings

darra dynsveigis
‘of the swayer of the din of spears ’
= WARRIOR
the din of spears → BATTLE
the swayer of the BATTLE → WARRIOR

notes

[1] dynsveigis ‘of the din-swayer’: Sveigir (nomen agentis to sveigja ‘bend, flex, sway’) taken here in the meaning ‘swayer’, i.e. ‘one who decides the outcome of sth.’ (see also NN §2829). As a base-word in warrior kennings, sveigir usually occurs in the more concrete sense ‘bender’ (see LP: sveigir).

dyn ‘of the din’

(not checked:)
dynr (noun m.; °dat. -; -ir): din < dynsveigir (noun m.)

kennings

darra dynsveigis
‘of the swayer of the din of spears ’
= WARRIOR
the din of spears → BATTLE
the swayer of the BATTLE → WARRIOR

notes

[1] dynsveigis ‘of the din-swayer’: Sveigir (nomen agentis to sveigja ‘bend, flex, sway’) taken here in the meaning ‘swayer’, i.e. ‘one who decides the outcome of sth.’ (see also NN §2829). As a base-word in warrior kennings, sveigir usually occurs in the more concrete sense ‘bender’ (see LP: sveigir).

sveigis ‘of the swayer’

(not checked:)
sveigir (noun m.): brandisher < dynsveigir (noun m.)

[1] ‑sveigis: ‑sveigir 304ˣ

kennings

darra dynsveigis
‘of the swayer of the din of spears ’
= WARRIOR
the din of spears → BATTLE
the swayer of the BATTLE → WARRIOR

notes

[1] dynsveigis ‘of the din-swayer’: Sveigir (nomen agentis to sveigja ‘bend, flex, sway’) taken here in the meaning ‘swayer’, i.e. ‘one who decides the outcome of sth.’ (see also NN §2829). As a base-word in warrior kennings, sveigir usually occurs in the more concrete sense ‘bender’ (see LP: sveigir).

darra ‘of spears’

(not checked:)
darr (noun n.; °; *-um): spear

kennings

darra dynsveigis
‘of the swayer of the din of spears ’
= WARRIOR
the din of spears → BATTLE
the swayer of the BATTLE → WARRIOR

darra ‘of spears’

(not checked:)
darr (noun n.; °; *-um): spear

kennings

darra dynsveigis
‘of the swayer of the din of spears ’
= WARRIOR
the din of spears → BATTLE
the swayer of the BATTLE → WARRIOR

flugskjarrir ‘The flight-shy’

(not checked:)
flugskjarr (adj.): [flight-shy]

kennings

Flugskjarrir baugnjótar
‘The flight-shy ring-users ’
= GENEROUS MEN
The flight-shy ring-users → GENEROUS MEN

báta ‘the boats’

(not checked:)
bátr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i/-; -ar): boat

baug ‘ring’

(not checked:)
baugr (noun m.; °dat. -i/-; -ar): ring < baugnjótr (noun m.): ring-user

kennings

Flugskjarrir baugnjótar
‘The flight-shy ring-users ’
= GENEROUS MEN
The flight-shy ring-users → GENEROUS MEN

notes

[3] baugnjótar ‘ring-users [GENEROUS MEN]’: See st. 10/3 above.

njótar ‘users’

(not checked:)
njótr (noun m.): user, enjoyer < baugnjótr (noun m.): ring-user

kennings

Flugskjarrir baugnjótar
‘The flight-shy ring-users ’
= GENEROUS MEN
The flight-shy ring-users → GENEROUS MEN

notes

[3] baugnjótar ‘ring-users [GENEROUS MEN]’: See st. 10/3 above.

breiðar ‘along the broad’

(not checked:)
breiðr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): broad, wide

strandleiðir ‘beach-paths’

(not checked:)
strandleið (noun f.): [beach-paths]

notes

[4] strandleiðir ‘beach-paths’: Hap. leg.

Eyddu ‘devastated’

(not checked:)
2. eyða (verb; °-dd-): destroy

óhræddir ‘The fearless’

(not checked:)
óhræddr (adj.): unafraid

eyjar ‘the islands’

(not checked:)
1. ey (noun f.; °-jar, dat. -ju/-; -jar): island

geir ‘with spear’

(not checked:)
geirr (noun m.): spear < geirþeyr (noun m.)

kennings

geirþeyjum.
‘with spear-winds.’
= BATTLE
with spear-winds. → BATTLE

þeyjum ‘winds’

(not checked:)
þeyr (noun m.; °; -jar/-ir): breeze, thawing wind < geirþeyr (noun m.)

[6] ‑þeyjum: þeyja 304ˣ, þeyju Flat

kennings

geirþeyjum.
‘with spear-winds.’
= BATTLE
with spear-winds. → BATTLE

vegs ‘of honour’

(not checked:)
2. vegr (noun m.; °-s/-ar, dat. -): honour

[7] vegs í: vægðar Flat

notes

[7] vegs ‘of honour’: In the present edn this gen. is construed with herskatnar ‘war-men’ (lit. ‘wealthy men of the army’) (l. 8). Following Konráð Gíslason (1895-7, I, 100), Skj B and Skald emend to veggs ‘of the wall’ and take this as a determinant in an inverted kenning veggs geirþeyjum ‘of the winds of the spear’s wall’ in which ‘the spear’s wall’ is a shield and its wind is ‘battle’. However, the order of elements in that kenning violates the structure of an inverted kenning (we would expect geirs veggþeyjum). Vægðar (f. gen. sg.) ‘of mercy’ (so Flat) cannot be construed in any meaningful way and omits the syntactically required prep. í ‘in’.

í ‘in’

(not checked:)
í (prep.): in, into

[7] vegs í: vægðar Flat

víð ‘the widely’

(not checked:)
víðr (adj.): far < víðbyggðr (adj./verb p.p.)

notes

[7] víðbygðu* (n. dat. sg.) ‘widely inhabited’: The adj. qualifies vatni (n. dat. sg.) ‘the lake’ and víðbygðum (so all mss) is dat. pl. or m. dat. sg.

bygðu* ‘inhabited’

(not checked:)
2. byggja (verb; °byggir/byggvir; byggði; byggðr): inhabit, dwell; build, found < víðbyggðr (adj./verb p.p.)

[7] ‑bygðu*: ‑bygðum all

notes

[7] víðbygðu* (n. dat. sg.) ‘widely inhabited’: The adj. qualifies vatni (n. dat. sg.) ‘the lake’ and víðbygðum (so all mss) is dat. pl. or m. dat. sg.

vatni ‘lake’

(not checked:)
vatn (noun n.; °-s; -*): water, lake

herskatnar ‘war-men’

(not checked:)
herskatni (noun m.): [war-men]

notes

[8] herskatnar ‘war-men’: Lit. ‘wealthy men of the army’: Hap. leg.

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

After the failed peace negotiations with the Scots, Hákon sent forty (Flat: sixty) ships into Loch Long. The Norwegians pulled their boats across land up to Loch Lomond in the district of Lennox, where they destroyed the entire countryside and devastated all the inhabited islands in the lake.

For the custom of portage, pulling boats and ships across land, see the discussion in ÍF 30, xxviii-xxix and n. 1. See also Anon (HSig) 5.

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