Sveinn Frag 1III
Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Sveinn, Fragment 1’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 397.
Þar ‘There’
(not checked:)
þar (adv.): there
notes
[1, 4] þar kømr ô til sævar ‘there the river comes to the sea’: This statement provides TGT’s example of allegoria. The poet uses the image of a river ending its course in the sea as a way of saying that he is coming to the end of his poem. The metaphor may have been conventional or it may have been a deliberate borrowing; Úlfr Uggason uses the same expression in Húsdr 12/1, 3 and it also occurs in Anon Mhkv 27/5.
kømr ‘comes’
(not checked:)
koma (verb; kem, kom/kvam, kominn): come
notes
[1, 4] þar kømr ô til sævar ‘there the river comes to the sea’: This statement provides TGT’s example of allegoria. The poet uses the image of a river ending its course in the sea as a way of saying that he is coming to the end of his poem. The metaphor may have been conventional or it may have been a deliberate borrowing; Úlfr Uggason uses the same expression in Húsdr 12/1, 3 and it also occurs in Anon Mhkv 27/5.
kennings
lind strindar leynisíka lyngs‘the linden tree of the land of the hiding fishes of the heather ’
= WOMAN
the hiding fishes of the heather → SNAKES
the land of SNAKES → GOLD
the linden tree of the GOLD → WOMAN
kennings
lind strindar leynisíka lyngs‘the linden tree of the land of the hiding fishes of the heather ’
= WOMAN
the hiding fishes of the heather → SNAKES
the land of SNAKES → GOLD
the linden tree of the GOLD → WOMAN
kennings
lind strindar leynisíka lyngs‘the linden tree of the land of the hiding fishes of the heather ’
= WOMAN
the hiding fishes of the heather → SNAKES
the land of SNAKES → GOLD
the linden tree of the GOLD → WOMAN
lǫngum ‘for a long time’
(not checked:)
langr (adj.; °compar. lengri, superl. lengstr): long
lind ‘the linden tree’
(not checked:)
1. lind (noun f.): linden-shield, linden tree
kennings
lind strindar leynisíka lyngs‘the linden tree of the land of the hiding fishes of the heather ’
= WOMAN
the hiding fishes of the heather → SNAKES
the land of SNAKES → GOLD
the linden tree of the GOLD → WOMAN
vanði ‘accustomed’
(not checked:)
2. venja (verb): accustom, train
mik ‘me’
(not checked:)
ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
strindar ‘of the land’
(not checked:)
strind (noun f.): land
kennings
lind strindar leynisíka lyngs‘the linden tree of the land of the hiding fishes of the heather ’
= WOMAN
the hiding fishes of the heather → SNAKES
the land of SNAKES → GOLD
the linden tree of the GOLD → WOMAN
strindar ‘of the land’
(not checked:)
strind (noun f.): land
kennings
lind strindar leynisíka lyngs‘the linden tree of the land of the hiding fishes of the heather ’
= WOMAN
the hiding fishes of the heather → SNAKES
the land of SNAKES → GOLD
the linden tree of the GOLD → WOMAN
leika ‘to use’
(not checked:)
3. leika (verb): play
notes
[3, 4] leika lævi ‘to use deceit’: Lit. ‘to play deceit’.
leyni ‘of the hiding’
(not checked:)
1. leyna (verb): hide, conceal < leynisíkr (noun m.): [hiding fishes]
kennings
lind strindar leynisíka lyngs‘the linden tree of the land of the hiding fishes of the heather ’
= WOMAN
the hiding fishes of the heather → SNAKES
the land of SNAKES → GOLD
the linden tree of the GOLD → WOMAN
notes
[3] leynisíka ‘of the hiding fishes’: The base-word of a kenning for a snake. Síkr is the Old Norse word for a kind of whitefish, either the houting (Coregonus lavaretus), an extinct species of whitefish, Coregonus oxyrhinchus, once found in rivers, lakes and the Baltic and eastern parts of the North Sea, or Coregonus maraena, another European whitefish. On these fish, see FishBase (www.fishbase.org). See also Note to Þul Fiska 2/3.
leyni ‘of the hiding’
(not checked:)
1. leyna (verb): hide, conceal < leynisíkr (noun m.): [hiding fishes]
kennings
lind strindar leynisíka lyngs‘the linden tree of the land of the hiding fishes of the heather ’
= WOMAN
the hiding fishes of the heather → SNAKES
the land of SNAKES → GOLD
the linden tree of the GOLD → WOMAN
notes
[3] leynisíka ‘of the hiding fishes’: The base-word of a kenning for a snake. Síkr is the Old Norse word for a kind of whitefish, either the houting (Coregonus lavaretus), an extinct species of whitefish, Coregonus oxyrhinchus, once found in rivers, lakes and the Baltic and eastern parts of the North Sea, or Coregonus maraena, another European whitefish. On these fish, see FishBase (www.fishbase.org). See also Note to Þul Fiska 2/3.
leyni ‘of the hiding’
(not checked:)
1. leyna (verb): hide, conceal < leynisíkr (noun m.): [hiding fishes]
kennings
lind strindar leynisíka lyngs‘the linden tree of the land of the hiding fishes of the heather ’
= WOMAN
the hiding fishes of the heather → SNAKES
the land of SNAKES → GOLD
the linden tree of the GOLD → WOMAN
notes
[3] leynisíka ‘of the hiding fishes’: The base-word of a kenning for a snake. Síkr is the Old Norse word for a kind of whitefish, either the houting (Coregonus lavaretus), an extinct species of whitefish, Coregonus oxyrhinchus, once found in rivers, lakes and the Baltic and eastern parts of the North Sea, or Coregonus maraena, another European whitefish. On these fish, see FishBase (www.fishbase.org). See also Note to Þul Fiska 2/3.
síka ‘fishes’
(not checked:)
síkr (noun m.): fish, houting < leynisíkr (noun m.): [hiding fishes]
kennings
lind strindar leynisíka lyngs‘the linden tree of the land of the hiding fishes of the heather ’
= WOMAN
the hiding fishes of the heather → SNAKES
the land of SNAKES → GOLD
the linden tree of the GOLD → WOMAN
notes
[3] leynisíka ‘of the hiding fishes’: The base-word of a kenning for a snake. Síkr is the Old Norse word for a kind of whitefish, either the houting (Coregonus lavaretus), an extinct species of whitefish, Coregonus oxyrhinchus, once found in rivers, lakes and the Baltic and eastern parts of the North Sea, or Coregonus maraena, another European whitefish. On these fish, see FishBase (www.fishbase.org). See also Note to Þul Fiska 2/3.
síka ‘fishes’
(not checked:)
síkr (noun m.): fish, houting < leynisíkr (noun m.): [hiding fishes]
kennings
lind strindar leynisíka lyngs‘the linden tree of the land of the hiding fishes of the heather ’
= WOMAN
the hiding fishes of the heather → SNAKES
the land of SNAKES → GOLD
the linden tree of the GOLD → WOMAN
notes
[3] leynisíka ‘of the hiding fishes’: The base-word of a kenning for a snake. Síkr is the Old Norse word for a kind of whitefish, either the houting (Coregonus lavaretus), an extinct species of whitefish, Coregonus oxyrhinchus, once found in rivers, lakes and the Baltic and eastern parts of the North Sea, or Coregonus maraena, another European whitefish. On these fish, see FishBase (www.fishbase.org). See also Note to Þul Fiska 2/3.
síka ‘fishes’
(not checked:)
síkr (noun m.): fish, houting < leynisíkr (noun m.): [hiding fishes]
kennings
lind strindar leynisíka lyngs‘the linden tree of the land of the hiding fishes of the heather ’
= WOMAN
the hiding fishes of the heather → SNAKES
the land of SNAKES → GOLD
the linden tree of the GOLD → WOMAN
notes
[3] leynisíka ‘of the hiding fishes’: The base-word of a kenning for a snake. Síkr is the Old Norse word for a kind of whitefish, either the houting (Coregonus lavaretus), an extinct species of whitefish, Coregonus oxyrhinchus, once found in rivers, lakes and the Baltic and eastern parts of the North Sea, or Coregonus maraena, another European whitefish. On these fish, see FishBase (www.fishbase.org). See also Note to Þul Fiska 2/3.
lævi ‘deceit’
(not checked:)
læ (noun n.): deceit, treachery
notes
[3, 4] leika lævi ‘to use deceit’: Lit. ‘to play deceit’.
ô ‘the river’
(not checked:)
1. á (noun f.; °-r; -r/-ir (aor nom. pl. Gul315e 41 repræsenterer if. Suppl4, [$1$] & ed. intr. 32 svag bøjning)): river
notes
[1, 4] þar kømr ô til sævar ‘there the river comes to the sea’: This statement provides TGT’s example of allegoria. The poet uses the image of a river ending its course in the sea as a way of saying that he is coming to the end of his poem. The metaphor may have been conventional or it may have been a deliberate borrowing; Úlfr Uggason uses the same expression in Húsdr 12/1, 3 and it also occurs in Anon Mhkv 27/5.
til ‘to’
(not checked:)
til (prep.): to
notes
[1, 4] þar kømr ô til sævar ‘there the river comes to the sea’: This statement provides TGT’s example of allegoria. The poet uses the image of a river ending its course in the sea as a way of saying that he is coming to the end of his poem. The metaphor may have been conventional or it may have been a deliberate borrowing; Úlfr Uggason uses the same expression in Húsdr 12/1, 3 and it also occurs in Anon Mhkv 27/5.
sævar ‘the sea’
(not checked:)
sjór (noun m.): sea
notes
[1, 4] þar kømr ô til sævar ‘there the river comes to the sea’: This statement provides TGT’s example of allegoria. The poet uses the image of a river ending its course in the sea as a way of saying that he is coming to the end of his poem. The metaphor may have been conventional or it may have been a deliberate borrowing; Úlfr Uggason uses the same expression in Húsdr 12/1, 3 and it also occurs in Anon Mhkv 27/5.
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
This helmingr is cited by Óláfr Þórðarson in ch. 16 of the Málskrúðsfræði section of TGT to exemplify the trope of allegoria, which he defines as conveying a meaning other than the literal sense of the words used.
The full context of this helmingr is unknown, but the subject-matter seems unrelated to Norðrdr. It certainly does not refer directly to the weather in Greenland. The significance of the allusion to a woman who accustoms the poet to use deceit, presumably in a love-entanglement, is also unknown. The helmingr may well be part of the last stanza of a poem, whether a drápa or not. For the reason, see the following Note.
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