Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Þorbjǫrn dísarskáld, Poem about Þórr 2’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 471.
Ball í Keilu kolli,
Kjallandi brauzt alla,
áðr drapt Lút ok Leiða,
lézt dreyra Búseyru,
heptir Hengjankjǫptu,
Hyrrokkin dó fyrri,
þó vas snemr in sáma
Svívǫr numin lífi.
Ball í kolli Keilu, brauzt alla Kjallandi, áðr drapt Lút ok Leiða, lézt dreyra Búseyru, heptir Hengjankjǫptu, Hyrrokkin dó fyrri, þó vas snemr in sáma Svívǫr numin lífi.
‘There was a clang on Keila’s crown, you broke all of Kjallandi, you had already killed Lútr and Leiði, you caused Búseyra to bleed, you bring Hengjankjǫpta to a halt, Hyrrokkin had died previously, yet the swarthy Svívǫr was [even] earlier deprived of life.’
Most of the verbs in this stanza, with the exception of ball ‘there was a clang, it resounded’ (l. 1), dó ‘[she] had died’ (l. 6) and vas ‘was’ (l. 7), which are in the 3rd pers. sg. pret. indic., are 2nd pers. sg. forms, directly addressing Þórr. In order to produce metrically regular lines, it has been necessary to delete the suffixed or free-standing 2nd pers. sg. pronouns that accompany them in all mss, except for U’s heptuð (l. 5), which is 2nd pers. pl., a form favoured by Skj B and Skald, but rejected here in favour of W’s heptir, which is supported by the reading of R, Tˣ, where the scribes seem to have misunderstood an abbreviated <tir>. — Little or nothing is known about a number of Þórr’s giant adversaries listed in this stanza, most of them female. His killing of giantesses and other supernatural females seems to have been well known; cf. Hárb 23, 37-9.
Text is based on reconstruction from the base text and variant apparatus and may contain alternative spellings and other normalisations not visible in the manuscript text. Transcriptions may not have been checked and should not be cited.
Ball í Keilu kolli,
Kjallandi brauzt alla,
áðr drapt Lút ok Leiða,
lézt dreyra Búseyru,
†hepp ok þv† Hengjan†keoptv†,
Hyrrokkin dó fyrri,
þó vas snemr in sáma
Svívǫr numin lífa.
Ball i| keilv kolli kiallandi brꜹtzþv alla aðr draptv lvt ok leiþa leztv drey| ra bvs eyrv hepp okþv hengiankeo[2]ptv hyʀockin do fyʀi þo var snemr| hin sama syivꜹr nvmin liva·
(MCR)
Ball í Keilu kosti,
Kjallandi brauzt alla,
áðr drapt Lút ok Leiða,
lézt dreyra Búseyru,
†hepp ok þv† Hengjankjǫptu,
Hyrrokkin dó fyrri,
þó vas snemr in sáma
Svívǫr numin lífi.
Ball| j keilo kosti kiallandi brauztu alla adr draptu lut ok leida lezto dreyra buseuro| hep ok þv heingiankioptu hyrrokin do fyrri þo var snemr in sama suiuaur numin| lifi.
(MCR)
Gall í Keilu kolli,
Kjallandi brauzt alla,
áðr drapt Lút ok Leiða,
lézt dreyra Búseyru,
heptir †hengiann†kjǫptu,
Hyrrokkin dó fyrri,
þó vas snemr in sáma
Svívǫr numin lífi.
Ball i keilu kolli kiallandi bravztv alla aðr draptv lvt ok lei|ða leztu dræyra bvsæyrv. heftir þv hengiann kioptv hyrrokkin do fyrri þo var| snemr en sama svivoʀ numin lifi.
(MCR)
Ball í Keilu kolli,
†kall-†andi brauzt alla,
áðr drapt lit ok †loþa†,
lézt dreyra Búseyru,
heptuð †hangan††kepto†,
†hyr rærin† dó fyrri,
þó vas meirr in mæra
Svívǫr numin lífi.
ball i keilo kolli kallandi bravztv alla. aþr draptv lit ok| loþa. leztv dreyra bvs eyro heptvþ hangan kepto hyr rærin| do fyʀi þo var meiʀ en mæra svi vor nvmin livi.
(MCR)
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