Þfagr Sveinn 6II
Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Þorleikr fagri, Flokkr about Sveinn Úlfsson 6’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 317-18.
hefr ‘’
(not checked:)
hafa (verb): have
Heiðabœjar ‘Hedeby’
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Heiðabœr (noun m.): [Hedeby]
[1] Heiðabœjar: so Flat, H, Hr, FskBˣ, Kˣ, 39, E, J2ˣ, Heiðabýjar Mork, FskAˣ, Haukabœjar F
heipt ‘the war’
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heift (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): hatred, enmity < heiftgjarn (adj.)
[2] heipt‑: so all others, ‘heip‑’ Mork
gjarn ‘eager’
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gjarn (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): eager < heiftgjarn (adj.)
konungr ‘ king’
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konungr (noun m.; °dat. -i, -s; -ar): king
arnat ‘travelled’
folk ‘That battle’
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folk (noun n.): people < folkrǫgnir (noun m.)
kennings
Folk-Rǫgnir,‘That battle-Rǫgnir ’
= WARRIOR
That battle-Rǫgnir → WARRIOR
Rǫgnir ‘Rǫgnir’
(not checked:)
Rǫgnir (noun m.): the Rǫgnir < folkrǫgnir (noun m.)
kennings
Folk-Rǫgnir,‘That battle-Rǫgnir ’
= WARRIOR
That battle-Rǫgnir → WARRIOR
getr ‘’
(not checked:)
2. geta (verb): to beget, give birth to, mention, speak of; to think well of, like, love
fregna ‘can ask’
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1. fregna (verb): hear of
fylkis ‘the ruler’s’
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fylkir (noun m.): leader
sveit ‘troop’
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sveit (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): host, company
hinns ‘who’
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2. er (conj.): who, which, when
[4] hinns veitat (‘hinn er veitat’): ‘en honum er neitad’ Flat, en veitat 39, er veitat F
veitat ‘does not know’
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1. vita (verb): know
[4] hinns veitat (‘hinn er veitat’): ‘en honum er neitad’ Flat, en veitat 39, er veitat F
þás ‘when’
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þás (conj.): when
til ‘to’
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til (prep.): to
bœjar ‘town’
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bœr (noun m.; °-jar/-ar, dat. -; -ir, gen. -ja/-a, dat. -jum/-um/bjóm/-am/-m, acc. -i/-ja/-a/bǿ): farm, homestead
[5] bœjar: býjar FskAˣ, Kˣ, 39, J2ˣ
þarflaust ‘without due cause’
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þarflauss (adj.): without cause, needlessly
[6] þarflaust: þarflaustr H, þarf Kˣ, þar flaust E
notes
[6] þarflaust ‘without due cause’: So Skj B (uden skellig grund), whereas Kock (NN §2039) gives the translations till skada för sig själv, olyckligt, i en olycklig stund ‘to his own harm, haplessly, at an ill-fated time’. Because the sacking of Hedeby caused harm to the Danes but not to Haraldr, Kock’s interpretation seems unmotivated. Þarflaust ‘without due cause, without need, unnecessarily’ (see Fritzner: þarflauss) implies that the attack on the town was unprovoked. The very same l. (þarflaust Haraldr austan lit. ‘without due cause Haraldr from the east’) is also found in ÞjóðA Lv 11/4, which he recites at the battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066. Þjóðólfr then uses the same expression to describe Haraldr’s expedition to and attack on England.
Haraldr ‘Haraldr’
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Haraldr (noun m.): Haraldr
austan ‘from the east’
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austan (adv.): from the east
ár ‘that year’
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2. ár (noun n.; °-s; -): year, year’s abundance
[7] ár þats (‘ár þat er’): so FskBˣ, FskAˣ, Kˣ, 39, J2ˣ, ‘or þat er’ Mork, H, Hr, orð þau er Flat, ‘on þat er’ F, ‘ar þer er’ E
þats ‘which’
(not checked:)
þats (conj.): that, which
[7] ár þats (‘ár þat er’): so FskBˣ, FskAˣ, Kˣ, 39, J2ˣ, ‘or þat er’ Mork, H, Hr, orð þau er Flat, ‘on þat er’ F, ‘ar þer er’ E
of ‘’
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4. of (particle): (before verb)
væri ‘should have been’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
endr ‘once’
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endr (adv.): formerly, once, again
byr ‘of fair wind’
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byrr (noun m.; °-jar/-s; -ir, acc. -i/-u(SigrVal 188¹³)): favourable wind < byrskíð (noun n.): breeze-skis
kennings
byrskíðum‘the skis of fair wind ’
= SHIPS
the skis of fair wind → SHIPS
skíðum ‘the skis’
(not checked:)
skíð (noun n.; °; -): ski < byrskíð (noun n.): breeze-skis
kennings
byrskíðum‘the skis of fair wind ’
= SHIPS
the skis of fair wind → SHIPS
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
After Sveinn Úlfsson failed to appear at the Götaälv, Haraldr embarked on a punitive expedition against the Danes and advanced as far south as Hedeby, which he devastated with fire.
[1-4]: This half-st. is somewhat cryptic, but Þorleikr appears to try to avoid stating that the reason for the sacking of Hedeby was that Sveinn failed to show up at the appointed meeting with Haraldr, while at the same time telling the audience about Haraldr’s activities (‘if anyone wants to know about this, let him ask Sveinn’s men’). Alternatively, the warrior-kenning folk-Rǫgnir ‘battle-Rǫgnir’ (l. 3) could refer to the poet himself, enquiring about the events which he had not witnessed in person (see Introduction above). — [7] ár, þats of væri ôn ‘that year which never should have been’: So ÍF 28, ÍF 29, Andersson and Gade 2000. Skj B (and Skald?) takes ár as an adv. (‘earlier’), which leaves the rel. cl. (þats of væri n) without an antecedent (translated as det burde ikke være sket ‘that ought not to have happened’). However, treating the cl. as an intercalary cl. in this manner would require emendation of þats ‘that which’ to þat ‘that’. The sense must be that the year in which these events took place was an ill-fated time for the Danes, which could have been avoided (a veiled admonition to Sveinn?).
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