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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Þjóð Yt 1I

Edith Marold (ed.) 2012, ‘Þjóðólfr ór Hvini, Ynglingatal 1’ 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. 9.

Þjóðólfr ór HviniYnglingatal
12

Varð ‘was’

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1. verða (verb): become, be

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þars ‘where’

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þars (conj.): where

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Fróði ‘Fróði’

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Fróði (noun m.): Fróði

notes

[2] Fróði: Five different early legendary Danish kings bear the name Fróði, both in the Icelandic Skjǫldunga saga and in the writings of the Danish historians Sven Aggesøn and Saxo Grammaticus. Two of them, Fróði I and Fróði III, are recorded as kings who presided over times of peace. Likewise Yng (ÍF 26, 24) refers to a Fróðafriðr ‘Fróði’s peace’. According to Yng the king named Frið-Fróði ‘Peace-Fróði’ and Fjǫlnir were friends, and Fjǫlnir visited him at the Danish royal seat of Hleiðra (Lejre).

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feigðar ‘of doom’

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feigð (noun f.): death

notes

[3] feigðarorð ‘the word of doom’: Feigð is an abstract noun related to feigr ‘doomed, fey’. The collocation with orð ‘word’ could mean that Fjǫlnir had been cursed and was doomed to die. But it might merely express the fateful, predestined aspect of his death. In many stanzas of Yt (1/8, 3/6, 5/12, 7/8, 8/4, 9/10 etc.) the auxiliary verb skyldi ‘was to’ itself imparts this sense of predestination.

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orð ‘The word’

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orð (noun n.; °-s; -): word

notes

[3] feigðarorð ‘the word of doom’: Feigð is an abstract noun related to feigr ‘doomed, fey’. The collocation with orð ‘word’ could mean that Fjǫlnir had been cursed and was doomed to die. But it might merely express the fateful, predestined aspect of his death. In many stanzas of Yt (1/8, 3/6, 5/12, 7/8, 8/4, 9/10 etc.) the auxiliary verb skyldi ‘was to’ itself imparts this sense of predestination.

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es ‘that’

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2. er (conj.): who, which, when

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at ‘upon’

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3. at (prep.): at, to

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Fjǫlni ‘Fjǫlnir’

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Fjǫlnir (noun m.): Fjǫlnir

notes

[4] Fjǫlni ‘Fjǫlnir’: In Norwegian and Icelandic historiography (HN, Íslb and Hkr) Fjǫlnir, a son of (Yngvi)freyr, is fourth in the line of the Yngling kings. These sources most likely draw on Yt in their reporting. It is certain that Fjǫlnir is a mortal king in Yt, because it refers to him as siklingr ‘prince’ (Beyschlag 1950, 37; Baetke 1964, 85-8). Yet Fjǫlnir is also clearly one of Óðinn’s names in the Poetic Edda (Grí 47/5, Reg 18/7) and in several skaldic kennings (see LP: Fjǫlnir). On the etymology of Fjǫlnir and the relationship between the two appearances of the name, see Note to Þul Óðins 2/1III.

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Ok ‘And’

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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also

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suigþ̄ ‘’

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svigðir ‘’

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svigðir (noun m.): [bull]

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sikling ‘the prince’

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siklingr (noun m.; °; -ar): king, ruler

[5] sikling: sigling F

notes

[5] sikling (m. acc. sg.) ‘the prince’: The verb viða ‘destroy’ would take a dat. object (see Note to l. 8 below), for which reason Finnur Jónsson (Hkr 1893-1901; Yng 1912; Skj B) emends the mss’ sikling to siklingi, while suppressing the ok ‘and’ found in all mss on metrical grounds. In LP: viða he seems to have changed his view, for there he prints sikling (cf. NN §1780). Skald, ÍF 26 and Hkr 1991 have all chosen ok sikling.

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svigðis ‘of the bull’

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svigðir (noun m.): [bull]

[6] svigðis: svigðir F, ‘suigþ̄’ J2ˣ

kennings

vindlauss vágr geira svigðis
‘the windless wave of the spears of the bull ’
   = BEER

the spears of the bull → HORNS
the windless wave of HORNS → BEER

notes

[6] geira svigðis ‘of the spears of the bull [HORNS]’: The word svigðir is attested only here and means ‘the one with the bent horns’ (Konráð Gíslason 1881, 205; Yng 1912), cf. OIcel. sveigja ‘to bend’ and svig n. ‘bend’.

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svigðis ‘of the bull’

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svigðir (noun m.): [bull]

[6] svigðis: svigðir F, ‘suigþ̄’ J2ˣ

kennings

vindlauss vágr geira svigðis
‘the windless wave of the spears of the bull ’
   = BEER

the spears of the bull → HORNS
the windless wave of HORNS → BEER

notes

[6] geira svigðis ‘of the spears of the bull [HORNS]’: The word svigðir is attested only here and means ‘the one with the bent horns’ (Konráð Gíslason 1881, 205; Yng 1912), cf. OIcel. sveigja ‘to bend’ and svig n. ‘bend’.

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geira ‘of the spears’

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geirr (noun m.): spear

kennings

vindlauss vágr geira svigðis
‘the windless wave of the spears of the bull ’
   = BEER

the spears of the bull → HORNS
the windless wave of HORNS → BEER

notes

[6] geira svigðis ‘of the spears of the bull [HORNS]’: The word svigðir is attested only here and means ‘the one with the bent horns’ (Konráð Gíslason 1881, 205; Yng 1912), cf. OIcel. sveigja ‘to bend’ and svig n. ‘bend’.

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geira ‘of the spears’

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geirr (noun m.): spear

kennings

vindlauss vágr geira svigðis
‘the windless wave of the spears of the bull ’
   = BEER

the spears of the bull → HORNS
the windless wave of HORNS → BEER

notes

[6] geira svigðis ‘of the spears of the bull [HORNS]’: The word svigðir is attested only here and means ‘the one with the bent horns’ (Konráð Gíslason 1881, 205; Yng 1912), cf. OIcel. sveigja ‘to bend’ and svig n. ‘bend’.

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vágr ‘wave’

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vágr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i/-; -ar): sea, wave

[7] vágr: vargr F

kennings

vindlauss vágr geira svigðis
‘the windless wave of the spears of the bull ’
   = BEER

the spears of the bull → HORNS
the windless wave of HORNS → BEER
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vind ‘the wind’

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1. vindr (noun m.; °-s/-ar; -ar): wind < vindlauss (adj.): [windless]

kennings

vindlauss vágr geira svigðis
‘the windless wave of the spears of the bull ’
   = BEER

the spears of the bull → HORNS
the windless wave of HORNS → BEER

notes

[7] vindlauss ‘windless’: This adj. qualifies, and helps to identify, the referent of the kenning, ‘beer’, which is windless, in contrast with the metaphorical vágr ‘wave’ which is the base-word.

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lauss ‘less’

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lauss (adj.; °compar. lausari): loose, free, without < vindlauss (adj.): [windless]

kennings

vindlauss vágr geira svigðis
‘the windless wave of the spears of the bull ’
   = BEER

the spears of the bull → HORNS
the windless wave of HORNS → BEER

notes

[7] vindlauss ‘windless’: This adj. qualifies, and helps to identify, the referent of the kenning, ‘beer’, which is windless, in contrast with the metaphorical vágr ‘wave’ which is the base-word.

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of ‘’

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4. of (particle): (before verb)

[8] of (‘um’): so all others, ‘[…]’ Kˣ

notes

[8] of viða ‘destroy’: Of is the expletive particle. As for viða, an inf. verb is indicated by the context, especially skyldi ‘was to’, and by numerous parallels in the poem, beginning with st. 3/6 of troða skyldi ‘had to trample’. The verb viða appears only in Yt, Brot 5/8 and Guðr II 30/6. Finnur Jónsson (Hkr 1893-1901, IV) thought it derived from the prep. við and meant ‘to move toward’, taking a dat. object. Noreen (1912a, 2-3) argued that viða was normally construed with an acc. object, but this is doubtful. Stanza 16/2 has dat. fjǫrvi ‘life’, while vígmiðlung ‘battle-dealer [WARRIOR]’ in st. 26/13 and sikling in the present stanza might be endingless datives such as occur occasionally in older sources (cf. ANG §358.3).

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viða ‘destroy’

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2. viða (verb): gain, bring about

notes

[8] of viða ‘destroy’: Of is the expletive particle. As for viða, an inf. verb is indicated by the context, especially skyldi ‘was to’, and by numerous parallels in the poem, beginning with st. 3/6 of troða skyldi ‘had to trample’. The verb viða appears only in Yt, Brot 5/8 and Guðr II 30/6. Finnur Jónsson (Hkr 1893-1901, IV) thought it derived from the prep. við and meant ‘to move toward’, taking a dat. object. Noreen (1912a, 2-3) argued that viða was normally construed with an acc. object, but this is doubtful. Stanza 16/2 has dat. fjǫrvi ‘life’, while vígmiðlung ‘battle-dealer [WARRIOR]’ in st. 26/13 and sikling in the present stanza might be endingless datives such as occur occasionally in older sources (cf. ANG §358.3).

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skyldi ‘was to’

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skulu (verb): shall, should, must

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Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses

Yng relates the death of the Swedish king Fjǫlnir, son of Yngvifreyr, who, drowsy and drunk after a feast at the court of the Danish king Fróði in Hleiðra (Lejre), falls through a hole in the upper floor down into a barrel of ale and drowns.

[5-8]: The motif of drowning in beer or mead has parallels in Scandinavia (e.g. Saxo 2005, I, 1, 8, 27, p. 134) and more widely across Europe.

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