Sturl Hrafn 14II
Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Sturla Þórðarson, Hrafnsmál 14’ 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. 739.
Herðu ‘intensified’
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2. herja (verb): harry, ravage
herferðir ‘military campaigns’
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herferð (noun f.): military campaign
hryggs ‘of the gloomy’
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2. hryggr (adj.; °-van/-jan; compar. -vari/-ari/-ri; superl. -astr): sorrowful, sad
kennings
hryggs vargfæðis.‘of the gloomy wolf-feeder. ’
= WARRIOR = Alexander
the gloomy wolf-feeder. → WARRIOR = Alexander
í ‘in’
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í (prep.): in, into
stórbygðir ‘the large settlements’
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stórbyggð (noun f.): [large settlements]
víða ‘far and wide’
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1. víða (adv.): widely
varg ‘wolf’
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vargr (noun m.; °dat. -i; -ar): wolf < vargfœðir (noun m.): [wolf-feeder]
kennings
hryggs vargfæðis.‘of the gloomy wolf-feeder. ’
= WARRIOR = Alexander
the gloomy wolf-feeder. → WARRIOR = Alexander
fæðis ‘feeder’
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fœðir (noun m.): feeder, nourisher < vargfœðir (noun m.): [wolf-feeder]
kennings
hryggs vargfæðis.‘of the gloomy wolf-feeder. ’
= WARRIOR = Alexander
the gloomy wolf-feeder. → WARRIOR = Alexander
virðar ‘men’
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virðr (noun m.): man
geðstirðir ‘The mind-strong’
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geðstirðr (adj.): mind-strong
Fekk ‘gave’
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2. fá (verb; °fǽr; fekk, fengu; fenginn): get, receive
inn ‘The’
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2. inn (art.): the
fólkrakki ‘battle-brave’
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folkrakkr (adj.): battle-brave
felli ‘a slayer’
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fellir (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i): slayer, feller
[6] felli: fellu 304ˣ, Flat
kennings
felli lífdvalar‘a slayer of life’s duration ’
= DEATH
a slayer of life’s duration → DEATH
notes
[6] felli (m. acc. sg.) ‘a slayer’: Lit. ‘feller’. So Konráð Gíslason (1895-7, I, 100-1) and Skj B. Kock (Skald; NN §§1358, 2992D) adopts the Flat variant fellu, which he interprets as an adj. fellu (n. dat. sg.) ‘terrible, unpleasant, bitter’ and connects with gunnspelli (‘by battle-destruction’; l. 6), translated as ‘battle-announcement’ (= hersaga, vígspjall). The problem with that interpretation is the absence of an ON adj. fellr ‘terrible, unpleasant, bitter’ (the Modern Scandinavian adj. that Kock adduces as an example, fæl, fel (‘terrible, unpleasant’, is derived from ON fæla) as well as a confusion between ON spell (n.) ‘destruction’ and spjall (n.) ‘destruction, announcement’.
gunn ‘by battle’
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gunnr (noun f.): battle < gunnspell (noun n.)
notes
[6] gunnspelli ‘by battle-destruction’: Hap. leg.
spelli ‘destruction’
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2. spjall (noun n.; °; -*): destruction, loss < gunnspell (noun n.)
[6] ‑spelli: ‘‑spellur’ 304ˣ
notes
[6] gunnspelli ‘by battle-destruction’: Hap. leg.
öldum ‘people’
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ǫld (noun f.; °; aldir): people, age
ósjaldan ‘not seldom’
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ósjaldan (adv.): Not seldom, repeatedly
[7] ósjaldan: so 304ˣ, Flat, ókaldan F
notes
[7] ósjaldan (adv.) ‘not seldom’: So 304ˣ, Flat. Ókaldan (m. acc. sg.) ‘not a cold’ (so F) could be taken to mean that Alan and his men caused death by burning the Scottish settlements (qualifying felli (m. acc. sg.) ‘slayer’).
lífdvalar ‘of life’s duration’
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lífdvǫl (noun f.): [life duration]
kennings
felli lífdvalar‘a slayer of life’s duration ’
= DEATH
a slayer of life’s duration → DEATH
notes
[8] lífdvalar (f. gen. sg.) ‘of life’s duration’: So Skj B. Hap. leg. Kock (NN §1358) takes this as an acc. pl., as an object of fekk ‘gave’ (l. 5), and he translates fekk … öldum lífdvalar as satte … stopp för männens liv ‘put … an end to men’s lives’. That translation is possible but untenable because of Kock’s misinterpretation of felli ‘slayer’ (see Note to felli ‘slayer’ (l. 6) above).
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
One of Hákon’s allies, Alan, the brother of King Dugald of the Hebrides, marched through Scotland killing people, capturing more than a hundred head of cattle and doing the worst damage.
[5]: The l. echoes ÞTref Hrafn 2/1V. — [8]: Note that the internal rhyme, falling on a short, penultimate syllable (-al- : -al-), is otherwise unattested in haðarlag. Also note that there is suspended resolution in the first lift, which is characteristic of málaháttr, the unrhymed prototype of haðarlag (see Sievers 1893, 73).
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