Þhorn Harkv 8I
R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Þorbjǫrn hornklofi, Haraldskvæði (Hrafnsmál) 8’ 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. 102.
Hlaðnir ‘loaded’
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2. hlaða (verb): heap, pile
vôru ‘were’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
þeir ‘They [the ships]’
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hann (pron.; °gen. hans, dat. honum; f. hon, gen. hennar, acc. hana): he, she, it, they, them...
[1] þeir: om. F
hǫlða ‘with men’
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hǫlðr (noun m.; °-s; -ar): man
hvítum ‘’
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hvítr (adj.; °-an; -ari, -astr): white
hvítra ‘white’
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hvítr (adj.; °-an; -ari, -astr): white
[2] hvítra skjalda: hvítum skjǫldum Flat
notes
[2] hvítra ‘white’: This could mean ‘unpainted’, perhaps contrasting with the fôðum rǫndum ‘painted shields’ of Haraldr’s men in st. 19/5: see Falk (1914b, 128), who also sees white shields as less attractive and less warrior-like, appropriate here for the enemy’s equipment. However, the spears and swords in this stanza seem to be of prestigious foreign manufacture, and cf. Akv 7/9 (NK 241), where sciold hvítastan ‘the whitest shield’ is among the items in a superlative armoury.
skjǫldum ‘’
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skjǫldr (noun m.; °skjaldar/skildar, dat. skildi; skildir, acc. skjǫldu): shield
skjalda ‘shields’
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skjǫldr (noun m.; °skjaldar/skildar, dat. skildi; skildir, acc. skjǫldu): shield
[2] hvítra skjalda: hvítum skjǫldum Flat
vigr ‘’
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3. vigr (noun f.): spear
vestrœnni ‘’
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vestrœnn (adj.): [western]
vestrœnna ‘western’
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vestrœnn (adj.): [western]
[3] vigra vestrœnna: vigr vestrœnni Flat
notes
[3] vestrœnna ‘western’: Possibly from the British Isles.
ok ‘and’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
vǫlskum ‘’
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valskr (adj.): foreign, French
valskra ‘Frankish’
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valskr (adj.): foreign, French
[4] valskra sverða: vǫlskum sverðum Flat
sverðum ‘’
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sverð (noun n.; °-s; -): sword
sverða ‘swords’
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sverð (noun n.; °-s; -): sword
[4] valskra sverða: vǫlskum sverðum Flat
greinjuðu ‘’
Grenjuðu ‘bellowed’
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grenja (verb): howl
[5] Grenjuðu berserkir: ‘greinivðv berserkr’ J1ˣ
berserkr ‘’
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berserkr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -/-i; -ir, gen. -ja): Berserk
berserkir ‘Berserks’
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berserkr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -/-i; -ir, gen. -ja): Berserk
[5] Grenjuðu berserkir: ‘greinivðv berserkr’ J1ˣ
notes
[5, 7] berserkir; ulfheðnar ‘berserks; wolf-skins [berserks]’: Berserkir are normally characterized as warriors given to animal-like fighting frenzy (e.g. Blaney 1993, 37), and etymologised as ‘bear-tunics’ (AEW: berserkr), cf. ulfheðnar ‘wolf-skins’, in which heðinn is an animal fur or skin, or a hooded jacket or cloak made of skin. Von See (1961a) argues that berserkr was not a fixed term designating an actual C10th warrior type but a descriptive cpd that was misinterpreted and adopted by later skalds (including the one he believes added sts 12-23 to this poem). Moreover, the berserkir here are not, he says, Haraldr’s elite troop but his enemies. Liberman (2003) argues that ber- in the sense ‘bear’ occurs only as a borrowing from Ger. in berfjall ‘bear-skin’, and revives an earlier theory that in berserkir it is more likely to have meant, originally, ‘bare’ (adj. berr).
grunr ‘’
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grunr (noun m.): suspicion, deceit
notes
[6] guðr vas þeim á sinnum ‘battle was under way for them’: Guðr/gunnr is here taken as the common noun ‘battle’; so Hkr 1893-1901 and other eds. Alternatively, Guðr could be the valkyrie of that name who ‘was travelling with them’ (so ÍF 26 and Hkr 1991), but í sinni or í sinnum is the usual phrase for ‘accompanying’. Uppström (1919, 41) took á sinnum to mean ‘(warfare lay) in their hearts’, but sinni ‘mind’ is a post-Reformation borrowing from Ger. Lindquist (1929, 4) adopted the reading of the FskB transcripts, grunr ‘suspicion’, with the sense ‘foreboding’.
er ‘’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
varð ‘’
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1. verða (verb): become, be
notes
[6] guðr vas þeim á sinnum ‘battle was under way for them’: Guðr/gunnr is here taken as the common noun ‘battle’; so Hkr 1893-1901 and other eds. Alternatively, Guðr could be the valkyrie of that name who ‘was travelling with them’ (so ÍF 26 and Hkr 1991), but í sinni or í sinnum is the usual phrase for ‘accompanying’. Uppström (1919, 41) took á sinnum to mean ‘(warfare lay) in their hearts’, but sinni ‘mind’ is a post-Reformation borrowing from Ger. Lindquist (1929, 4) adopted the reading of the FskB transcripts, grunr ‘suspicion’, with the sense ‘foreboding’.
þeim ‘for them’
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hann (pron.; °gen. hans, dat. honum; f. hon, gen. hennar, acc. hana): he, she, it, they, them...
[6] þeim: om. F
notes
[6] guðr vas þeim á sinnum ‘battle was under way for them’: Guðr/gunnr is here taken as the common noun ‘battle’; so Hkr 1893-1901 and other eds. Alternatively, Guðr could be the valkyrie of that name who ‘was travelling with them’ (so ÍF 26 and Hkr 1991), but í sinni or í sinnum is the usual phrase for ‘accompanying’. Uppström (1919, 41) took á sinnum to mean ‘(warfare lay) in their hearts’, but sinni ‘mind’ is a post-Reformation borrowing from Ger. Lindquist (1929, 4) adopted the reading of the FskB transcripts, grunr ‘suspicion’, with the sense ‘foreboding’.
at ‘’
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3. at (prep.): at, to
notes
[6] guðr vas þeim á sinnum ‘battle was under way for them’: Guðr/gunnr is here taken as the common noun ‘battle’; so Hkr 1893-1901 and other eds. Alternatively, Guðr could be the valkyrie of that name who ‘was travelling with them’ (so ÍF 26 and Hkr 1991), but í sinni or í sinnum is the usual phrase for ‘accompanying’. Uppström (1919, 41) took á sinnum to mean ‘(warfare lay) in their hearts’, but sinni ‘mind’ is a post-Reformation borrowing from Ger. Lindquist (1929, 4) adopted the reading of the FskB transcripts, grunr ‘suspicion’, with the sense ‘foreboding’.
sinni ‘’
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2. sinni (noun n.; °-s;): time, occasion; company, following
hlífði ‘’
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hlífa (verb): protect
sumum ‘’
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2. sumr (pron.): some
sinnum ‘under way’
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2. sinni (noun n.; °-s;): time, occasion; company, following
[6] á sinnum: at sinni J1ˣ, J2ˣ, á sumum 52ˣ, hlífði Flat
notes
[6] guðr vas þeim á sinnum ‘battle was under way for them’: Guðr/gunnr is here taken as the common noun ‘battle’; so Hkr 1893-1901 and other eds. Alternatively, Guðr could be the valkyrie of that name who ‘was travelling with them’ (so ÍF 26 and Hkr 1991), but í sinni or í sinnum is the usual phrase for ‘accompanying’. Uppström (1919, 41) took á sinnum to mean ‘(warfare lay) in their hearts’, but sinni ‘mind’ is a post-Reformation borrowing from Ger. Lindquist (1929, 4) adopted the reading of the FskB transcripts, grunr ‘suspicion’, with the sense ‘foreboding’.
enjuðu ‘’
uðu ‘’
ænn ‘’
ymðu ‘’
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ymja (verb): howl, resound
emjuðu ‘howled’
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emja (verb; °-að-): howl
[7] emjuðu: ‘ænn uðu’ 51ˣ, FskBˣ, 302ˣ, ymðu FskAˣ, 52ˣ, 301ˣ, ‘eníudu’ Flat
heiðnar ‘’
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heiðinn (adj.): heathen < ulfheiðinn (adj.)
heðnar ‘skins [berserks]’
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1. heðinn (noun m.; °dat. heðni): fur, skin < ulfheðinn (noun m.): [wolf-skins]
[7] ‑heðnar: ‑heiðnar J1ˣ, J2ˣ
járn ‘’
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járn (noun n.; °-s; -): iron, weapon
sornn ‘’
í ‘’
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í (prep.): in, into
sár ‘’
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2. sár (noun n.; °-s; -): wound
ísǫrn ‘iron spears’
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ísarn (noun n.; °; -): iron
[8] ísǫrn: ‘i sornn’ J1ˣ, í sár 51ˣ, FskBˣ, 302ˣ, í sár járn FskAˣ, 52ˣ, 301ˣ
bitu ‘’
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bíta (verb; °bítr; beit, bitu; bitinn): bite
gullu ‘’
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gjalla (verb): to scream, shriek; to repay, return, pay for
glumðu ‘’
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glymja (verb): resound
dúðu ‘brandished’
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dýja (verb; °dúði): shake
[8] dúðu: so J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 51ˣ, FskBˣ, 302ˣ, FskAˣ, 52ˣ, 301ˣ, glumðu Kˣ, gullu F, bitu Flat
notes
[8] dúðu ‘brandished’: This, 3rd pers. pl. pret. indic. of dýja, has strong ms. support and appears to be transitive, with the ulfheðnar ‘wolf-skins [berserks]’ as its subject and ísǫrn ‘iron spears’ as its object. The remaining readings, glumðu ‘rattled’, gullu ‘shrieked’, and bitu ‘bit’, are all intransitive verbs, which could suggest that ísǫrn was perceived as the subject, hence intransitive ‘iron spears shook’, but transitive usages are more usual in such contexts (LP: dýja), and the m. v. dýjask was available for intransitive use: cf. ESk Ingdr 3/3II dúðusk dǫrr ‘spears shook’.
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