Anon Liðs 5I
Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Anonymous Poems, Liðsmannaflokkr 5’ 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. 1022.
Hár ‘tall’
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3. hár (adj.; °-van; compar. hǽrri, superl. hǽstr): high
notes
[1, 2] hinn jarl ... hár ‘that jarl ... tall’: Identified as Þorkell; see st. 4/2 and Note. The epithet hár for Þorkell, which may connote ‘prominent, outstanding’ (cf. Skj B fremragende) in addition to the literal meaning, will be matched in st. 7/4 by the epithet ríkr ‘mighty, great’ for Knútr; these may already have become the standing nicknames for these two leaders.
þykki ‘seems’
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2. þykkja (verb): seem, think
mér ‘to me’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
hlýra ‘of the brother’
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hlýri (noun m.): brother
kennings
hlýra ara,‘of the brother of the eagle, ’
= RAVEN/EAGLE
the brother of the eagle, → RAVEN/EAGLE
hinn ‘That’
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2. inn (art.): the
jarl ‘jarl’
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jarl (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): poet, earl
es ‘who’
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2. er (conj.): who, which, when
notes
[2] es brá ‘who broke’: The pret. continues as the staple tense of the narrative.
brá ‘broke’
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bregða (verb; °bregðr/brigðr; brá, brugðu; brugðinn/brogðinn): pull, jerk, break; change
notes
[2] es brá ‘who broke’: The pret. continues as the staple tense of the narrative.
snarla ‘briskly’
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1. snarla (adv.): quickly
mær ‘maiden’
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mær (noun f.; °meyjar, dat. meyju; meyjar): maiden
notes
[3] mær spyrr ‘the maiden hears’: On this maiden, see the Introduction. The use of the pres. tense here is from the viewpoint of the end of the campaign (cf. st. 10).
spyrr ‘hears’
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spyrja (verb; spurði): ask; hear, find out
notes
[3] mær spyrr ‘the maiden hears’: On this maiden, see the Introduction. The use of the pres. tense here is from the viewpoint of the end of the campaign (cf. st. 10).
vitr ‘the wise’
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vitr (adj.): wise
væri ‘there was’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
val ‘of the slain’
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1. valr (noun m.; °dat. -i; -ir): corpse, the slain < valkǫstr (noun m.): corpse-pile
kǫstr ‘a heap’
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1. kostr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. -i/-; -ir, acc. -i/-u): choice, food, goods, good quality < valkǫstr (noun m.): corpse-pile
[4] ‑kǫstr: kǫst Flat, DG8
ara ‘of the eagle’
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1. ari (noun m.; °-a; -ar): eagle
kennings
hlýra ara,‘of the brother of the eagle, ’
= RAVEN/EAGLE
the brother of the eagle, → RAVEN/EAGLE
fǫstu ‘the fast’
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1. fasta (noun f.): fast, fasting
En ‘And’
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2. en (conj.): but, and
þekkjǫndum ‘to knowers’
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þekkjandi (noun m.): [to knowers]
kennings
þekkjǫndum meginásar þunnblás.‘to knowers of the powerful pole of the thin linen cord. ’
= BOWMEN
the powerful pole of the thin linen cord. → ARROW
to knowers of the ARROW → BOWMEN
þykkir ‘seems’
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2. þykkja (verb): seem, think
þunn ‘of the thin’
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þunnr (adj.): slender, thin < þunnblá (noun n.): ???
kennings
þekkjǫndum meginásar þunnblás.‘to knowers of the powerful pole of the thin linen cord. ’
= BOWMEN
the powerful pole of the thin linen cord. → ARROW
to knowers of the ARROW → BOWMEN
notes
[6] þunnblás ‘of the thin linen cord’: This seems to refer to the bow-string. There are no attestations of this sense of the element blá in OWN. Skj B (followed by Skald) emends þunn to Þunns, hence þekkjǫndum blás meginásar Þunns ‘knowers of the dark mighty pole of Þunnr <= Óðinn> [SWORD > WARRIORS]’. But the emendation is unnecessary if we link blá with OEN blaa ‘coarse linen fibre’ (for this word see Falk 1919, 63; Hoffmann 1982, 137). The cpd þunnblá is closely paralleled by Bragi Þórr 6/3III mjótygill ‘slender string’. Bowstrings were often made of linen (Alm 1957, 460) and in poetry can be called simply hǫrr ‘linen’ (LP: hǫrr 2). In kennings for ‘arrow’ strengr ‘string’ is a common determinant and words such as reyr ‘reed’ and vǫlr ‘stick, staff’ occur as base-words (Meissner 146-7). Accordingly, the meginás(s) ‘mighty pole or shaft’ of the ‘thin linen fibre’ denotes the arrow and the complete kenning þekkjǫndum meginásar þunnblás means ‘experts with arrows’, i.e. ‘bowmen’, in reference to the vikings.
þunn ‘of the thin’
(not checked:)
þunnr (adj.): slender, thin < þunnblá (noun n.): ???
kennings
þekkjǫndum meginásar þunnblás.‘to knowers of the powerful pole of the thin linen cord. ’
= BOWMEN
the powerful pole of the thin linen cord. → ARROW
to knowers of the ARROW → BOWMEN
notes
[6] þunnblás ‘of the thin linen cord’: This seems to refer to the bow-string. There are no attestations of this sense of the element blá in OWN. Skj B (followed by Skald) emends þunn to Þunns, hence þekkjǫndum blás meginásar Þunns ‘knowers of the dark mighty pole of Þunnr <= Óðinn> [SWORD > WARRIORS]’. But the emendation is unnecessary if we link blá with OEN blaa ‘coarse linen fibre’ (for this word see Falk 1919, 63; Hoffmann 1982, 137). The cpd þunnblá is closely paralleled by Bragi Þórr 6/3III mjótygill ‘slender string’. Bowstrings were often made of linen (Alm 1957, 460) and in poetry can be called simply hǫrr ‘linen’ (LP: hǫrr 2). In kennings for ‘arrow’ strengr ‘string’ is a common determinant and words such as reyr ‘reed’ and vǫlr ‘stick, staff’ occur as base-words (Meissner 146-7). Accordingly, the meginás(s) ‘mighty pole or shaft’ of the ‘thin linen fibre’ denotes the arrow and the complete kenning þekkjǫndum meginásar þunnblás means ‘experts with arrows’, i.e. ‘bowmen’, in reference to the vikings.
blás ‘linen cord’
(not checked:)
2. blá (noun n.): ?linen cord < þunnblá (noun n.): ???
[6] ‑blás: ‘‑blacs’ DG8
kennings
þekkjǫndum meginásar þunnblás.‘to knowers of the powerful pole of the thin linen cord. ’
= BOWMEN
the powerful pole of the thin linen cord. → ARROW
to knowers of the ARROW → BOWMEN
notes
[6] þunnblás ‘of the thin linen cord’: This seems to refer to the bow-string. There are no attestations of this sense of the element blá in OWN. Skj B (followed by Skald) emends þunn to Þunns, hence þekkjǫndum blás meginásar Þunns ‘knowers of the dark mighty pole of Þunnr <= Óðinn> [SWORD > WARRIORS]’. But the emendation is unnecessary if we link blá with OEN blaa ‘coarse linen fibre’ (for this word see Falk 1919, 63; Hoffmann 1982, 137). The cpd þunnblá is closely paralleled by Bragi Þórr 6/3III mjótygill ‘slender string’. Bowstrings were often made of linen (Alm 1957, 460) and in poetry can be called simply hǫrr ‘linen’ (LP: hǫrr 2). In kennings for ‘arrow’ strengr ‘string’ is a common determinant and words such as reyr ‘reed’ and vǫlr ‘stick, staff’ occur as base-words (Meissner 146-7). Accordingly, the meginás(s) ‘mighty pole or shaft’ of the ‘thin linen fibre’ denotes the arrow and the complete kenning þekkjǫndum meginásar þunnblás means ‘experts with arrows’, i.e. ‘bowmen’, in reference to the vikings.
blás ‘linen cord’
(not checked:)
2. blá (noun n.): ?linen cord < þunnblá (noun n.): ???
[6] ‑blás: ‘‑blacs’ DG8
kennings
þekkjǫndum meginásar þunnblás.‘to knowers of the powerful pole of the thin linen cord. ’
= BOWMEN
the powerful pole of the thin linen cord. → ARROW
to knowers of the ARROW → BOWMEN
notes
[6] þunnblás ‘of the thin linen cord’: This seems to refer to the bow-string. There are no attestations of this sense of the element blá in OWN. Skj B (followed by Skald) emends þunn to Þunns, hence þekkjǫndum blás meginásar Þunns ‘knowers of the dark mighty pole of Þunnr <= Óðinn> [SWORD > WARRIORS]’. But the emendation is unnecessary if we link blá with OEN blaa ‘coarse linen fibre’ (for this word see Falk 1919, 63; Hoffmann 1982, 137). The cpd þunnblá is closely paralleled by Bragi Þórr 6/3III mjótygill ‘slender string’. Bowstrings were often made of linen (Alm 1957, 460) and in poetry can be called simply hǫrr ‘linen’ (LP: hǫrr 2). In kennings for ‘arrow’ strengr ‘string’ is a common determinant and words such as reyr ‘reed’ and vǫlr ‘stick, staff’ occur as base-words (Meissner 146-7). Accordingly, the meginás(s) ‘mighty pole or shaft’ of the ‘thin linen fibre’ denotes the arrow and the complete kenning þekkjǫndum meginásar þunnblás means ‘experts with arrows’, i.e. ‘bowmen’, in reference to the vikings.
megin ‘of the powerful’
(not checked:)
1. megin (noun n.; °-s, dat. magni/megni/megin(HirðB 398¹⁹); -): might, strength; very < megináss (noun m.): [powerful pole]
kennings
þekkjǫndum meginásar þunnblás.‘to knowers of the powerful pole of the thin linen cord. ’
= BOWMEN
the powerful pole of the thin linen cord. → ARROW
to knowers of the ARROW → BOWMEN
megin ‘of the powerful’
(not checked:)
1. megin (noun n.; °-s, dat. magni/megni/megin(HirðB 398¹⁹); -): might, strength; very < megináss (noun m.): [powerful pole]
kennings
þekkjǫndum meginásar þunnblás.‘to knowers of the powerful pole of the thin linen cord. ’
= BOWMEN
the powerful pole of the thin linen cord. → ARROW
to knowers of the ARROW → BOWMEN
ásar ‘pole’
kennings
þekkjǫndum meginásar þunnblás.‘to knowers of the powerful pole of the thin linen cord. ’
= BOWMEN
the powerful pole of the thin linen cord. → ARROW
to knowers of the ARROW → BOWMEN
ásar ‘pole’
kennings
þekkjǫndum meginásar þunnblás.‘to knowers of the powerful pole of the thin linen cord. ’
= BOWMEN
the powerful pole of the thin linen cord. → ARROW
to knowers of the ARROW → BOWMEN
hǫrð ‘hard’
(not checked:)
harðr (adj.; °comp. -ari; superl. -astr): hard, harsh
notes
[7] hǫrð ‘hard’: The same adj. qualifies hríð ‘storm’ designating battles in sts 4/8 and 6/3-4.
sús ‘which’
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2. er (conj.): who, which, when
hilmir ‘the ruler’
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hilmir (noun m.): prince, protector
gerði ‘waged’
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1. gera (verb): do, make
hríð ‘the battle’
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hríð (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): time, storm
á ‘on’
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3. á (prep.): on, at
notes
[8] Tempsar ‘of the Thames’: The DG8 spelling ‘tempsáár’ suggests the gen. sg. of the word á ‘river’ (cf. Note to Ótt Hfl 8/8 and see Townend 1998, 83-4, who also notes the intrusive [p]).
síðu ‘the bank’
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1. síða (noun f.; °-u; -ur): side
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Hár þykki mér, hlýra, |
That jarl, who briskly broke the fast of the brother of the eagle [RAVEN/EAGLE], seems tall to me; the wise maiden hears that there was a heap of the slain. And the battle which the ruler waged on the bank of the Thames seems hard to knowers of the powerful pole of the thin linen cord [ARROW > BOWMEN].
As for st. 1.
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