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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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ÞjJ Lv 1VIII (ÞJ 1)

Philip Lavender (ed.) 2017, ‘Þjalar-Jóns saga 1 (Þjalar-Jón Svipdagsson, Lausavísur 1)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 801.

Þjalar-Jón SvipdagssonLausavísur
12

Halda ‘hinder’

(not checked:)
halda (verb): hold, keep

Close

hlífðar ‘of the shield’

(not checked:)
hlífð (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): shield

kennings

Hljótendr hlífðar
‘The possessors of the shield ’
   = WARRIORS

The possessors of the shield → WARRIORS
Close

aldri ‘will never’

(not checked:)
aldri (adv.): never

Close

hljótendr ‘The possessors’

(not checked:)
hljótandi (noun m.): [possessors]

kennings

Hljótendr hlífðar
‘The possessors of the shield ’
   = WARRIORS

The possessors of the shield → WARRIORS
Close

á ‘’

(not checked:)
3. á (prep.): on, at

Close

hlyn ‘the maple’

(not checked:)
hlynr (noun m.; °-s): maple

kennings

hlyn spjóta;
‘the maple of spears; ’
   = WARRIOR

the maple of spears; → WARRIOR
Close

spjóta ‘of spears’

(not checked:)
spjót (noun n.; °-s; -): spear

kennings

hlyn spjóta;
‘the maple of spears; ’
   = WARRIOR

the maple of spears; → WARRIOR
Close

verðk ‘I have to lie’

(not checked:)
1. verða (verb): become, be

Close

af ‘caused by’

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

[3] af: ef Holm6

Close

veigar ‘of drink’

(not checked:)
veig (noun f.): strong drink < veigarskorð (noun f.): drink-prop

kennings

veigarskorðum.
‘the props of drink. ’
   = WOMEN

the props of drink. → WOMEN

notes

[3] veigarskorðum ‘the props of drink [WOMEN]’: This cpd is a hap. leg., but can be compared to other woman-kennings with skorð ‘prop’ as base-word, such as skorð veigar ‘prop of drink’, which appears in various rímur (cf. Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: skorð).

Close

skorðum ‘the props’

(not checked:)
skorð (noun f.): prop < veigarskorð (noun f.): drink-prop

kennings

veigarskorðum.
‘the props of drink. ’
   = WOMEN

the props of drink. → WOMEN

notes

[3] veigarskorðum ‘the props of drink [WOMEN]’: This cpd is a hap. leg., but can be compared to other woman-kennings with skorð ‘prop’ as base-word, such as skorð veigar ‘prop of drink’, which appears in various rímur (cf. Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: skorð).

Close

vaka ‘awake’

(not checked:)
4. vaka (verb): awaken

Close

af ‘on’

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

Close

því ‘account of’

(not checked:)
því (adv.): therefore, because

Close

fári ‘that pain’

(not checked:)
2. fár (noun n.; °-s): harm, danger

Close

Enn ‘nonetheless’

(not checked:)
2. enn (adv.): still, yet, again

Close

munu ‘will’

(not checked:)
munu (verb): will, must

Close

örva ‘of arrows’

(not checked:)
ǫr (noun f.; °dat. -/-u; ǫrvar/ǫrar): arrow

kennings

Ýtendr sennu örva
‘The launchers of the quarrel of arrows ’
   = WARRIORS

the quarrel of arrows → BATTLE
The launchers of the BATTLE → WARRIORS

notes

[5] sennu örva ‘of the quarrel of arrows [BATTLE]’: The text has been emended, following the suggestion of Gunnlaugur Þórðarson (ÞJ 1857, 62), from Holm6’s seimar örva ‘gold-threads of arrows’, which makes little sense in the context.

Close

örva ‘of arrows’

(not checked:)
ǫr (noun f.; °dat. -/-u; ǫrvar/ǫrar): arrow

kennings

Ýtendr sennu örva
‘The launchers of the quarrel of arrows ’
   = WARRIORS

the quarrel of arrows → BATTLE
The launchers of the BATTLE → WARRIORS

notes

[5] sennu örva ‘of the quarrel of arrows [BATTLE]’: The text has been emended, following the suggestion of Gunnlaugur Þórðarson (ÞJ 1857, 62), from Holm6’s seimar örva ‘gold-threads of arrows’, which makes little sense in the context.

Close

sennu ‘of the quarrel’

(not checked:)
1. senna (noun f.; °; -ur): quarrel

[5] sennu: seimar Holm6

kennings

Ýtendr sennu örva
‘The launchers of the quarrel of arrows ’
   = WARRIORS

the quarrel of arrows → BATTLE
The launchers of the BATTLE → WARRIORS

notes

[5] sennu örva ‘of the quarrel of arrows [BATTLE]’: The text has been emended, following the suggestion of Gunnlaugur Þórðarson (ÞJ 1857, 62), from Holm6’s seimar örva ‘gold-threads of arrows’, which makes little sense in the context.

Close

sennu ‘of the quarrel’

(not checked:)
1. senna (noun f.; °; -ur): quarrel

[5] sennu: seimar Holm6

kennings

Ýtendr sennu örva
‘The launchers of the quarrel of arrows ’
   = WARRIORS

the quarrel of arrows → BATTLE
The launchers of the BATTLE → WARRIORS

notes

[5] sennu örva ‘of the quarrel of arrows [BATTLE]’: The text has been emended, following the suggestion of Gunnlaugur Þórðarson (ÞJ 1857, 62), from Holm6’s seimar örva ‘gold-threads of arrows’, which makes little sense in the context.

Close

ýtendr ‘The launchers’

(not checked:)
ýtandi (noun m.): giver, launcher

kennings

Ýtendr sennu örva
‘The launchers of the quarrel of arrows ’
   = WARRIORS

the quarrel of arrows → BATTLE
The launchers of the BATTLE → WARRIORS
Close

of ‘about’

(not checked:)
1. um (prep.): about, around

Close

flýta ‘be quick’

(not checked:)
flýta (verb): hasten

Close

orð ‘with words’

(not checked:)
orð (noun n.; °-s; -): word

Close

at ‘such that’

(not checked:)
4. at (conj.): that

Close

eigi ‘not’

(not checked:)
3. eigi (adv.): not

Close

verðak ‘I should’

(not checked:)
1. verða (verb): become, be

Close

altryggr ‘be completely safe’

(not checked:)
altryggr (adj.)

Close

ef ‘if’

(not checked:)
3. ef (conj.): if

Close

‘now’

(not checked:)
nú (adv.): now

Close

gyggvir ‘quail’

(not checked:)
gyggja (verb): [startled]

notes

[8] gyggvir ‘quail’: This uncommon verb (cf. LP: gyggva) is often used in an impersonal construction with the agent of the action in the dat. to mean ‘be frightened, startled’; cf. Anon Mhkv 22/6III and Note there, where the proverbial hykk, at gyggvi sjaldan vǫrum ‘I think the wary man is seldom startled’ probably expresses the underlying idea here too. The agent has been omitted here, but it is reasonable to assume that the person who is at risk of quailing is one and the same as the speaker of the stanza, who is concerned about the outcome should his nerve fail him.

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

Prince Eiríkr Vilhjálmsson has followed the mysterious stranger named Gestr Gunnólfsson (later revealed to be Þjalar-Jón Svipdagsson) into the lodgings that his father has provided for him. Gestr has three sealed chests, but, after opening two, refuses to unlock the third. Gestr says that he must put Eiríkr to the test first and recites this stanza.

The situation envisaged by the speaker in these lines is not entirely clear. Having asserted his preoccupation with women in the first helmingr in defiance of certain unspecified men, possibly courtiers attempting to hinder his involvement with these females, he acknowledges in ll. 5-8 that these same men (presumably) could damage his reputation by slander if he does not stand up to them. On the question of whether this preoccupation could amount to a romantic interest and the problems that such an (otherwise natural) interpretation would pose considering the prose context, see the Introduction.

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