Emily Lethbridge (ed.) 2012, ‘Þorkell Gíslason, Búadrápa 7’ 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. 948.
Gullu hræs haukar;
hvassir benlaukar
skýfðu liðs leggi;
lamði grjót seggi.
Gnustu gráir malmar
— gengu í sundr hjalmar —
— hauks vasat friðr fjǫllum —
í fjǫrnis stǫllum.
{Haukar hræs} gullu; {hvassir benlaukar} skýfðu leggi liðs; grjót lamði seggi. Gráir malmar gnustu í {stǫllum fjǫrnis}; hjalmar gengu í sundr; friðr vasat {fjǫllum hauks}.
{The hawks of the corpse} [RAVENS/EAGLES] screamed; {sharp wound-leeks} [SWORDS] slashed the limbs of the troop; stones beat men. Grey metal weapons crashed on {the supports of the helmet} [HEADS]; helmets burst apart; there was no peace {for the mountains of the hawk} [ARMS].
Mss: 61(19vb), 53(16rb), 54(16rb), Bb(26va) (ÓT)
Readings: [1] hræs: hregg‑ 53, 54, Bb [8] fjǫrnis: ‘fornis’ Bb
Editions: Skj AI, 554, Skj BI, 537, Skald I, 261; Fms 1, 173-4, Fms 12, 43, ÓT 1958-2000, I, 190 (ch. 90); Ólafur Halldórsson 2000, 27, 80.
Context: The battle continues. Although the Jómsvíkingar have bigger ships, both sides fight most boldly. A great number of Hákon jarl’s men are struck down by arrows and stones.
Notes: [1] haukar hræs ‘the hawks of the corpse [RAVENS/EAGLES]’: This is a common pattern of kenning for a bird of battle. The cpd hregghaukar ‘storm-hawks’ in 53, 54, Bb could stand if hregg ‘storm’ is taken, unusually, as a heiti for ‘battle’ (cf. Note to Jǫk Lv 1/3) and the referent thereby as ravens or eagles. — [5-8]: An alternative possibility to the construal here is to read l. 5 as a self-contained clause and ll. 7-8 together, with the sense ‘there was no peace for the mountains of the hawk [ARMS] against the supports of the helmet [HEADS]’, i.e. warriors’ arms were busy in action against enemy heads. Ólafur Halldórsson (2000, 80) presents this alternative in his prose order; the other eds cited take l. 5 together with l. 8 as above. — [8] stǫllum fjǫrnis ‘the supports of the helmet [HEADS]’: See Note to st. 6/4.
Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.
The text and translation are given here, with buttons to toggle whether the text is shown in the verse order or prose word order. Clicking on indiviudal words gives dictionary links, variant readings, kennings and notes, where relevant.
This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.
This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.