Þjóð Yt 13I
Edith Marold (ed.) 2012, ‘Þjóðólfr ór Hvini, Ynglingatal 13’ 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. 29.
Knátti ‘’
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knega (verb): to know, understand, be able to
notes
[1] knátti: See Note to st. 4/4.
endr ‘long ago’
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endr (adv.): formerly, once, again
at ‘at’
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3. at (prep.): at, to
Uppsǫlum ‘Uppsala’
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Uppsalir (noun m.): [Uppsala]
ánasótt ‘Decrepitude’
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ánasótt (noun f.): [Decrepitude]
notes
[3] ánasótt ‘decrepitude’: Lit. ‘grandfathers’ disease’. Ána is gen. pl. of ái ‘grandfather’ (Läffler 1886a; Läffler 1886b), and the grandfathers’ sótt ‘disease, illness’ can be interpreted as decrepitude in this context. Snorri (Yng, ÍF 26, 47) seems to have understood ánasótt as ‘Áni’s disease’, since he gives the king’s name at the beginning of the chapter as Aun eða Áni ‘Aun or Áni’.
Aum ‘’
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aumr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): wretched, poor
of ‘’
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4. of (particle): (before verb)
standa ‘overtook’
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standa (verb): stand
Ok ‘And’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
þrá ‘the one tenacious’
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2. þrár (adj.): defiant, tenacious < þrálífr (adj.)
lífr ‘of life’
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lífr (adj.): fit to live < þrálífr (adj.)
liggja ‘’
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liggja (verb): lie
skylda ‘’
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skulu (verb): shall, should, must
jóðs ‘of an infant’
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jóð (noun n.): child, offspring
aðal ‘’
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aðal (noun n.): inherited land; Æthel-
alað ‘the food’
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alað (noun n.): [food]
[7] alað: so J2ˣ, R685ˣ, aðal Kˣ, papp18ˣ, 521ˣ, F, 761aˣ
notes
[7] alað ‘the food’: This, the J2ˣ reading, is to be preferred as the lectio difficilior, and in the variational technique typical of Yt the same topic (here Aunn’s feeding as an infant) is normally carried through the stanza. Alað n. derives from ala ‘to feed, nourish’ (Fritzner: alað), and otherwise occurs only in the legal term alaðsfestr ‘a fee to be paid by a convict in the Court of Execution’ (CVC, Fritzner: alaðsfestr; Konráð Gíslason 1881, 224). Guðbrandur Vigfússon (CPB I, 247) prefers the reading aðal n. ‘nature’ (K transcripts and F) and translates the clause as ‘was obliged to take the nature of a babe the second time’.
auði ‘’
ǫðru ‘a second’
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2. annarr (num. ordinal): second, other
[8] ǫðru sinni: so all others, ‘auþi s.’ Kˣ
s. ‘’
sinni ‘time’
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2. sinni (noun n.; °-s;): time, occasion; company, following
[8] ǫðru sinni: so all others, ‘auþi s.’ Kˣ
Ok ‘And’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
sveiðuðs ‘’
sveiðurs ‘of the bull’
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sveiðurr (noun m.): [bull]
[9] sveiðurs: so F, J2ˣ, R685ˣ, ‘sveiðuðs’ Kˣ, papp18ˣ, 521ˣ, 761aˣ
kennings
mækis sveiðurs,‘of the sword of the bull ’
= HORN
the sword of the bull → HORN
notes
[9] sveiðurs ‘of the bull’: The reading sveiðurs (F, J2ˣ, R685ˣ) is preferred over Kˣ’s ‘sveiðuðs’, which would indicate an unattested nom. sveiðuðr that, according to Konráð Gíslason (1881, 225), would have arisen from sveiðurr ‘bull’.
at ‘toward’
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3. at (prep.): at, to
sér ‘himself’
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sik (pron.; °gen. sín, dat. sér): (refl. pron.)
hverfði ‘he turned’
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1. hverfa (verb): turn, disappear
mælus ‘’
mækil ‘’
mækis ‘of the sword’
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mækir (noun m.): sword
[11] mækis: so F, J2ˣ, ‘mækil’ Kˣ, papp18ˣ, 521ˣ, 761aˣ, ‘mælus’ R685ˣ
kennings
mækis sveiðurs,‘of the sword of the bull ’
= HORN
the sword of the bull → HORN
hlut ‘part’
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hlutr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. -i/-; -ir, acc. -i/-u): part, thing
inn ‘the’
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2. inn (art.): the
mjávara ‘narrower’
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mjór (adj.; °mjóvan; comp. mjór(r)i/mjár(r)i, superl. -str/mjóvastr): slender
es ‘when’
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2. er (conj.): who, which, when
at ‘’
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at- ((prefix)): (prefix) < athreinn (noun m.)
kennings
lǫgðis okhreins.‘of the sword of the yoke-reindeer. ’
= HORN
the yoke-reindeer. → BULL
the sword of the BULL → HORN
kennings
lǫgðis okhreins.‘of the sword of the yoke-reindeer. ’
= HORN
the yoke-reindeer. → BULL
the sword of the BULL → HORN
hreins ‘reindeer’
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1. hreinn (noun m.; °; hreinar): reindeer < okhreinn (noun m.)1. hreinn (noun m.; °; hreinar): reindeer < athreinn (noun m.)
kennings
lǫgðis okhreins.‘of the sword of the yoke-reindeer. ’
= HORN
the yoke-reindeer. → BULL
the sword of the BULL → HORN
hreins ‘reindeer’
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1. hreinn (noun m.; °; hreinar): reindeer < okhreinn (noun m.)1. hreinn (noun m.; °; hreinar): reindeer < athreinn (noun m.)
kennings
lǫgðis okhreins.‘of the sword of the yoke-reindeer. ’
= HORN
the yoke-reindeer. → BULL
the sword of the BULL → HORN
ôttunga ‘of kinsmen’
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1. áttungr (noun m.; °; -ar): kinsman
kennings
rjóðr ôttunga‘the reddener of kinsmen ’
= Aunn
the reddener of kinsmen → Aunn
notes
[14] rjóðr ôttunga ‘the reddener of kinsmen [= Aunn]’: All mss show rjóðr ‘reddener’ here, and this is retained in the present edn (so also Skald; Yt 1925; ÍF 26; Hkr 1991). Konráð Gíslason (1881, 226-9, followed by Finnur Jónsson in Hkr 1893-1901; Yng 1912; Skj B) suggests emending to hrjóðr ‘destroyer’ for semantic reasons, but while neither rjóðr nor the verb rjóða ‘to redden’ occurs elsewhere with a human object, the same is true of hrjóðr and hrjóða ‘to destroy’ (LP, Fritzner: hrjóða, rjóða), and hence emendation to hrjóðr is not justified (ÍF 26). ‘Reddener’ could be interpreted either as ‘he who reddens them in blood’, i.e. who kills (his kinsmen), or as ‘he who sacrifices them’ (so Schück 1905-10, 92-3), and colouring in blood may have been an important aspect of the cult (cf. Ranke 1978). If ‘sacrificer’ were the correct interpretation of rjóðr, the stanza would correspond to the narrative in Hkr (see Context above), and it is further supported by the adj. þrálífr ‘tenacious of life’ (Beyschlag 1950, 30; Krag 1991, 118). HN (2003, 76), by contrast, makes no mention of sacrifice, referring only to the advanced age of the king, here called Auchun, and to his decrepitude, which forces him to drink milk for the last nine years of his life. The similarity to the Greek myth of Kronos has been noted: Guðbrandur Vigfússon (CPB I, 523) and Eitrem (1927) assume an ancient commonality between the myths, while Noreen (Yt 1925) believes the sacrifice legend to be an educated fabrication by Snorri, perhaps a reformation of the Kronos myth. On possible religious-historical contexts of the Aunn legend, which religious historians locate in a periodic ritual king’s sacrifice, see ARG II, 421-2, 456.
rjóðr ‘the reddener’
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1. rjóðr (noun m.): reddener
kennings
rjóðr ôttunga‘the reddener of kinsmen ’
= Aunn
the reddener of kinsmen → Aunn
notes
[14] rjóðr ôttunga ‘the reddener of kinsmen [= Aunn]’: All mss show rjóðr ‘reddener’ here, and this is retained in the present edn (so also Skald; Yt 1925; ÍF 26; Hkr 1991). Konráð Gíslason (1881, 226-9, followed by Finnur Jónsson in Hkr 1893-1901; Yng 1912; Skj B) suggests emending to hrjóðr ‘destroyer’ for semantic reasons, but while neither rjóðr nor the verb rjóða ‘to redden’ occurs elsewhere with a human object, the same is true of hrjóðr and hrjóða ‘to destroy’ (LP, Fritzner: hrjóða, rjóða), and hence emendation to hrjóðr is not justified (ÍF 26). ‘Reddener’ could be interpreted either as ‘he who reddens them in blood’, i.e. who kills (his kinsmen), or as ‘he who sacrifices them’ (so Schück 1905-10, 92-3), and colouring in blood may have been an important aspect of the cult (cf. Ranke 1978). If ‘sacrificer’ were the correct interpretation of rjóðr, the stanza would correspond to the narrative in Hkr (see Context above), and it is further supported by the adj. þrálífr ‘tenacious of life’ (Beyschlag 1950, 30; Krag 1991, 118). HN (2003, 76), by contrast, makes no mention of sacrifice, referring only to the advanced age of the king, here called Auchun, and to his decrepitude, which forces him to drink milk for the last nine years of his life. The similarity to the Greek myth of Kronos has been noted: Guðbrandur Vigfússon (CPB I, 523) and Eitrem (1927) assume an ancient commonality between the myths, while Noreen (Yt 1925) believes the sacrifice legend to be an educated fabrication by Snorri, perhaps a reformation of the Kronos myth. On possible religious-historical contexts of the Aunn legend, which religious historians locate in a periodic ritual king’s sacrifice, see ARG II, 421-2, 456.
lǫgðis ‘of the sword’
(not checked:)
lǫgðir (noun m.): sword
kennings
lǫgðis okhreins.‘of the sword of the yoke-reindeer. ’
= HORN
the yoke-reindeer. → BULL
the sword of the BULL → HORN
odd ‘the tip’
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oddr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): point of weapon
liggjandi ‘lying down’
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liggja (verb): lie
drakk ‘drank’
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2. drekka (verb; °drekkr; drakk, drukku; drukkinn/drykkinn): drink
Máttit ‘could not’
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mega (verb): may, might
hárr ‘The grey-haired’
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hárr (adj.): grey
hjarðar ‘of the bull’
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hjǫrð (noun f.; °hjarðar, dat. -/-u; hjarðir/hjarðar): herd
[18] hjarðar mæki: mæki hjarðar J2ˣ, R685ˣ
kennings
mæki hjarðar.‘the sword of the bull. ’
= HORN
the sword of the bull. → HORN
kennings
mæki hjarðar.‘the sword of the bull. ’
= HORN
the sword of the bull. → HORN
austr ‘eastern’
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2. austr (noun n.; °-s): the east < austrkonungr (noun m.): [eastern kings]
konungr ‘king’
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konungr (noun m.; °dat. -i, -s; -ar): king < austrkonungr (noun m.): [eastern kings]
upp ‘up’
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upp (adv.): up
at ‘’
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5. at (nota): to (with infinitive)
halda ‘hold’
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halda (verb): hold, keep
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Decrepitude long ago overtook Aunn at Uppsala. And the one tenacious of life had to receive the food of an infant a second time. And he turned the narrower part of the sword of the bull [HORN] toward himself when the reddener of kinsmen [= Aunn] drank lying down [from] the tip of the sword of the yoke-reindeer [BULL > HORN]. The grey-haired eastern king could not hold up the sword of the bull [HORN].
King Aun or Áni (see Notes to ll. 3 and 4 below), son of Jǫrundr, who is not a warrior but a wise man and zealous blótmaðr (heathen sacrificial priest), sacrifices all of his sons to Óðinn in exchange for a promise that he would live ten years longer for each sacrifice. He grows very old this way, but the Swedes prevent him from sacrificing his last son, so he finally dies.
In consuming an infant’s food through a horn, the aged king follows a practice of feeding babies with sucking horns which is known from the earliest records (see Brüning 1908, 69-73; Rosenfeld 1955-6, 53-5).
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