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Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Anon Liðs 1I

Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Anonymous Poems, Liðsmannaflokkr 1’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1016.

Anonymous PoemsLiðsmannaflokkr
12

Gǫngum ‘Let us go’

(not checked:)
2. ganga (verb; geng, gekk, gengu, genginn): walk, go

[1] Gǫngum: gengum DG8

notes

[1] gǫngum ‘let us go’: DG8 gives the pret. form gengum ‘we went’, but the 1st pers. pl. imp. form is required, to match verum ‘let us be’ (l. 5) and hristum ... ok skjótum ‘let us brandish ... and shoot’ (l. 6). On skaldic exhortations to battle using 1st pers. pl. imp., see Note to Þorf Lv 2 [All].

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upp ‘ashore’

(not checked:)
upp (adv.): up

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áðr ‘before’

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áðr (adv.; °//): before

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Engla ‘of the English’

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Englar (noun m.): English people

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farin ‘are traversed’

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fara (verb; ferr, fór, fóru, farinn): go, travel

[2] farin: farim DG8

notes

[2] farin ‘traversed’: Fregni plus p. p. implies an inf. verb ‘to be’, hence fregni ættlǫnd farin ‘learn the ancestral lands [to be] traversed’, i.e. ‘learn that the ancestral lands are traversed’. DG8’s farim ‘let us go’ erroneously supplies a finite verb for this line.

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morðs ‘of killing’

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1. morð (noun n.; °-s; -): killing, battle

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ok ‘and’

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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also

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miklar ‘large’

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mikill (adj.; °mikinn): great, large

notes

[3] miklar ferðir ‘large militias’: Two interpretations of this phrase are possible. (a) It coordinates with, and duplicates, stafar malmregns ‘staves of the metal-rain [BATTLE > WARRIORS]’, i.e. is part of the subject of fregni ‘learn’ (as assumed above). (b) It coordinates with ættlǫnd farin rǫndu ‘ancestral lands traversed with the shield’, i.e. is part of the object of fregni ‘learn’ (so Skj B). Option (b) might seem the more attractive if we see the speaker as naturally emphasising the might of his own side rather than that of the opposition. But other passages in the flokkr do in fact lay emphasis on English prowess and stern resistance. If option (a) is correct, we could see the word ferðir ‘militias, troops’ as chosen in allusion to OE fyrd, which is cognate (AEW: ferð) and the standard term for the (levied) home army. The well-known Viking tactic of staging surprise landings before the fyrd could be alerted would then be testified to at first hand in this helmingr.

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ferðir ‘militias’

(not checked:)
ferð (noun f.; °-ar; -ir/-arMork 196¹²)): host, journey

notes

[3] miklar ferðir ‘large militias’: Two interpretations of this phrase are possible. (a) It coordinates with, and duplicates, stafar malmregns ‘staves of the metal-rain [BATTLE > WARRIORS]’, i.e. is part of the subject of fregni ‘learn’ (as assumed above). (b) It coordinates with ættlǫnd farin rǫndu ‘ancestral lands traversed with the shield’, i.e. is part of the object of fregni ‘learn’ (so Skj B). Option (b) might seem the more attractive if we see the speaker as naturally emphasising the might of his own side rather than that of the opposition. But other passages in the flokkr do in fact lay emphasis on English prowess and stern resistance. If option (a) is correct, we could see the word ferðir ‘militias, troops’ as chosen in allusion to OE fyrd, which is cognate (AEW: ferð) and the standard term for the (levied) home army. The well-known Viking tactic of staging surprise landings before the fyrd could be alerted would then be testified to at first hand in this helmingr.

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malm ‘of the metal’

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malmr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): metal < malmregn (noun n.)

kennings

stafar malmregns
‘the staves of the metal-rain ’
   = WARRIORS

the metal-rain → BATTLE
the staves of the BATTLE → WARRIORS
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malm ‘of the metal’

(not checked:)
malmr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): metal < malmregn (noun n.)

kennings

stafar malmregns
‘the staves of the metal-rain ’
   = WARRIORS

the metal-rain → BATTLE
the staves of the BATTLE → WARRIORS
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regns ‘rain’

(not checked:)
regn (noun n.; °-s; -): rain < malmregn (noun n.)

[4] ‑regns: ‘rengs’ DG8

kennings

stafar malmregns
‘the staves of the metal-rain ’
   = WARRIORS

the metal-rain → BATTLE
the staves of the BATTLE → WARRIORS
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regns ‘rain’

(not checked:)
regn (noun n.; °-s; -): rain < malmregn (noun n.)

[4] ‑regns: ‘rengs’ DG8

kennings

stafar malmregns
‘the staves of the metal-rain ’
   = WARRIORS

the metal-rain → BATTLE
the staves of the BATTLE → WARRIORS
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stafar ‘the staves’

(not checked:)
stafr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -; -ir): staff, post, stave, stick

[4] stafar: so DG8, ‘skafar’ Flat

kennings

stafar malmregns
‘the staves of the metal-rain ’
   = WARRIORS

the metal-rain → BATTLE
the staves of the BATTLE → WARRIORS
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fregni ‘learn that’

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1. fregna (verb): hear of

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Verum ‘Let us be’

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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am

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hlakkar ‘in battle’

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hlǫkk (noun f.): battle

notes

[5] hlakkar ‘in battle’: Literally ‘of battle’. Hlǫkk, etymologically ‘tumult’ (AEW: hlǫkk), is both a valkyrie-name and a heiti which, although not included in the þulur of battle-heiti, functions as a term for ‘battle’ in kennings and occasionally alone, as here (see LP: hlǫkk).

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hristum ‘let us brandish’

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hrista (verb): shake

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spjót ‘spears’

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spjót (noun n.; °-s; -): spear

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ok ‘and’

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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also

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skjótum ‘shoot [them]’

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skjóta (verb): shoot

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leggr ‘takes’

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leggja (verb): put, lay

notes

[7] leggr ‘takes to’: The pres. tense here is indic. (cf. st. 2/1 ferr ‘goes’), giving the impression of narration simultaneous with the events described (Poole 1991, 107-9; cf. Ashdown 1930, 206).

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fyr ‘before’

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fyr (prep.): for, over, because of, etc.

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Engla ‘of the English’

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Englar (noun m.): English people

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gnótt ‘an ample number’

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gnótt (noun f.): abundance

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á ‘to’

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3. á (prep.): on, at

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flótta ‘flight’

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flótti (noun m.): flight, fleeing

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

In ÓHLeg, the stanzas are said to have been composed by Óláfr at the end of Knútr’s campaign, at a point where the Danish king has won the submission of all England except London, whose garrison is stubbornly resisting him. Óláfr comes to his aid with a stratagem that delivers the city into his hands. In the Styrmir extract in Flat, there is an introductory sentence (see below) but no narrative.

In ÓHLeg, the stanzas are introduced, Þenna flocc orte Olafr æftir atlaguna ‘Óláfr composed this flokkr after the attack’. Following the stanzas is the sentence, Ðenna flocc ortte Olafr hinn hælgi, þa er hann var með Knuti kononge ‘S. Óláfr composed this flokkr when he was with King Knútr’ (ÓHLeg 1982, 48, 54). In Styrmir’s version, the stanzas are preceded by the sentence, Þenna flock orti Olafr konungr eftir er hann hafdi vnnit Lundunaborg ‘King Óláfr composed this flokkr after he had conquered London’ (Flat 1860-8, III, 237).

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