Sturla Þórðarson, Hrafnsmál 4

Kari Ellen Gade

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Sturl Hrafn 4^II

Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Sturla Þórðarson, Hrafnsmál 4’ 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, pp. 730-1.

Sturla Þórðarson Hrafnsmál

3 4 5

Laust ‘shot’

(not checked:)
2. ljósta (verb): strike

notes

[1] laust ‘shot’: Used impersonally with a dat. object.

af ‘from’

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

liðföstum ‘the staunch’

(not checked:)
liðfastr (adj.): staunch

kennings

liðföstum blómum valdrósar.
‘the staunch leaves of the slaughter-woman. ’
= SHIELDS
the slaughter-woman. → VALKYRIE
the staunch leaves of the VALKYRIE → SHIELDS

notes

[1] liðföstum ‘staunch’: Lit. ‘troop-firm’. So NN §2254 anm. Skj B gives the tentative translation til skibet festede (armen?) ‘fastened to the ship (the arm?)’. Konráð Gíslason (1895-7, I, 93) also takes lið- in the sense ‘ship’ (lið is attested in that meaning in Þul Skipa 4/8^III and in Klœ Lv 4^III), and he offers the translation fastgjort til et skib ‘fastened to a ship’.

ljósum ‘Gleams’

(not checked:)
ljóss (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): bright

notes

[2] ljósum (n. dat. pl.) ‘gleams’: Taken here as a noun (so also Skj B). It can also be interpreted as m. dat. sg. of the adj. ljóss ‘light’ qualifying vegljóma ‘the glory-flash’ (l. 4) if the weak noun -ljóma is taken as a dat. sg. rather than as a gen. sg.

val ‘of the slaughter’

(not checked:)
1. valr (noun m.; °dat. -i; -ir): corpse, the slain < valdrós (noun f.): [slaughter-woman]

kennings

liðföstum blómum valdrósar.
‘the staunch leaves of the slaughter-woman. ’
= SHIELDS
the slaughter-woman. → VALKYRIE
the staunch leaves of the VALKYRIE → SHIELDS

val ‘of the slaughter’

(not checked:)
1. valr (noun m.; °dat. -i; -ir): corpse, the slain < valdrós (noun f.): [slaughter-woman]

kennings

liðföstum blómum valdrósar.
‘the staunch leaves of the slaughter-woman. ’
= SHIELDS
the slaughter-woman. → VALKYRIE
the staunch leaves of the VALKYRIE → SHIELDS

drósar ‘woman’

(not checked:)
drós (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): lady < valdrós (noun f.): [slaughter-woman]

kennings

liðföstum blómum valdrósar.
‘the staunch leaves of the slaughter-woman. ’
= SHIELDS
the slaughter-woman. → VALKYRIE
the staunch leaves of the VALKYRIE → SHIELDS

drósar ‘woman’

(not checked:)
drós (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): lady < valdrós (noun f.): [slaughter-woman]

kennings

liðföstum blómum valdrósar.
‘the staunch leaves of the slaughter-woman. ’
= SHIELDS
the slaughter-woman. → VALKYRIE
the staunch leaves of the VALKYRIE → SHIELDS

brims ‘of the surf’

(not checked:)
brim (noun n.): surf

kennings

vegljóma brims
‘of the glory-flash of the surf ’
= GOLD
the glory-flash of the surf → GOLD

á ‘towards’

(not checked:)
3. á (prep.): on, at

[3] á bjarthimna: af bjarthimni Flat

bjarthimna ‘the bright heavens’

(not checked:)
bjarthiminn (noun m.): [bright heavens]

[3] á bjarthimna: af bjarthimni Flat

notes

[3] bjarthimna ‘the bright heavens’: Hap. leg.

blómum ‘leaves’

(not checked:)
blóm (noun n.; °-s; -): flower

kennings

liðföstum blómum valdrósar.
‘the staunch leaves of the slaughter-woman. ’
= SHIELDS
the slaughter-woman. → VALKYRIE
the staunch leaves of the VALKYRIE → SHIELDS

notes

[4] blómum ‘leaves’: Blóm can mean ‘bloom, blossom, leaf and fruit’ (see Fritzner: blóm 1-2).

veg ‘of the glory’

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

[4] veg‑: víg‑ Flat

kennings

vegljóma brims
‘of the glory-flash of the surf ’
= GOLD
the glory-flash of the surf → GOLD

notes

[4] vegljóma ‘of the glory-flash’: Hap. leg. LP: vegljómi takes the first part of the cpd as the noun vegr ‘road’ rather than vegr ‘glory, honour’ and construes the kenning vegljóma brims (ll. 3, 4) as an inverted kenning: ‘the road-flash of the surf’ i.e. ‘the flash of the road of the surf’, i.e. ‘the flash of the sea’ (‘gold’). That interpretation is also possible, but see st. 9/2.

ljóma ‘flash’

(not checked:)
ljómi (noun m.; °-a): light, beam < vegljómi (noun m.)

kennings

vegljóma brims
‘of the glory-flash of the surf ’
= GOLD
the glory-flash of the surf → GOLD

notes

kennings

friðskerðis hringa
‘of the peace-diminisher of rings ’
= GENEROUS MAN
the peace-diminisher of rings → GENEROUS MAN

flokka ‘of the companies’

(not checked:)
flokkr (noun m.): group, flock

áþokkuð ‘like’

(not checked:)
áþokkaðr (adj.): [like]

notes

[6] áþokkuð ‘like’: Hap. leg. Variant form of the adj. áþekkr ‘like’.

heims ‘of [this] world’

(not checked:)
heimr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i/-; -ar): home, abode; world

notes

[7] heims ‘of [this] world’: Translated in Skj B as himlens ‘of the sky’ (following Konráð Gíslason 1895, I, 93), which is unlikely (see LP: heimr 1-11). ‘Lightning of this world’ means lightning in a physical sense, as opposed to the imagery provided by Hákon’s ships.

of ‘across’

(not checked:)
3. of (prep.): around, from; too

hafstrauma ‘the sea-currents’

(not checked:)
hafstraumr (noun m.): [sea-currents]

notes

[7] hafstrauma ‘the sea-currents’: Hap. leg.

hringa ‘of rings’

(not checked:)
1. hringr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -; -ar): ring; sword

kennings

friðskerðis hringa
‘of the peace-diminisher of rings ’
= GENEROUS MAN
the peace-diminisher of rings → GENEROUS MAN

eldingum ‘lightning’

(not checked:)
elding (noun f.; °-ar, dat. -u/-; -ar): lightning

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

On 5 July 1263, Hákon sailed into the North Sea with his entire fleet, which was magnificent to behold.

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Sturl Hrafn 4II

Laust ‘shot’

notes

af ‘from’

liðföstum ‘the staunch’

kennings

notes

ljósum ‘Gleams’

notes

val ‘of the slaughter’

kennings

val ‘of the slaughter’

kennings

drósar ‘woman’

kennings

drósar ‘woman’

kennings

brims ‘of the surf’

kennings

á ‘towards’

bjarthimna ‘the bright heavens’

notes

blómum ‘leaves’

kennings

notes

veg ‘of the glory’

kennings

notes

ljóma ‘flash’

kennings

notes

Ferð ‘The voyage’

var ‘was’

friðskerðis ‘of the peace-diminisher’

kennings

flokka ‘of the companies’

áþokkuð ‘like’

notes

heims ‘of [this] world’

notes

of ‘across’

hafstrauma ‘the sea-currents’

notes

hringa ‘of rings’

kennings

eldingum ‘lightning’

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Sturl Hrafn 4^II