Þjóð Yt 16I
Edith Marold (ed.) 2012, ‘Þjóðólfr ór Hvini, Ynglingatal 16’ 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. 36.
frák ‘I have learned’
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1. fregna (verb): hear of
enn ‘further’
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2. enn (adv.): still, yet, again
at ‘that’
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4. at (conj.): that
Aðils ‘of Aðils’
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Aðils (noun m.): Aðils
notes
[2] Aðils ‘of Aðils’: The Swedish king Aðils appears in several Scandinavian legends. In Beowulf he (Ēadgils, son of Ōhthere) vies with his uncle Onela for control of Sweden and is able to prevail with Beowulf’s help. Scandinavian prose sources (SnE 1998, I, 58; Yng, ÍF 26, 57; Skjǫldunga saga, ÍF 35, 29) report violent conflicts between Aðils and a Norwegian king, Áli inn upplenzki, whom he conquers in a battle on the frozen Lake Vänern (on this cf. also Anon Kálfv 3III). Áli inn upplenzki and Onela might be one and the same person, because the nickname upplenzki could mean ‘the one from Uppland’ (Olrik 1903-10, I, 203; Schneider 1933, 116-17). A prominent motif of the legend is the humiliation of Aðils by Hrólfr kraki by strewing gold on the plains of Fýrisvellir (see Note to Eyv Lv 8/3-4). Also, a fragment of a stanza from Hrólfs saga kraka (Anon Hrólf 1VIII) alludes to the fight between the two parties by the fire in the hall of Aðils. On Aðils cf. also Anon Bjark 1/8III.
fjǫrvi ‘the life’
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fjǫr (noun n.): life
vita ‘’
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1. vit (noun n.; °-s; -): wisdom, wit; visit
vitra ‘’
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vitr (adj.): wise
kennings
véttr vitta‘the creature of charms ’
= SORCERESS
the creature of charms → SORCERESS
notes
[3] véttr vitta ‘the creature of charms [SORCERESS]’: See Note to st. 3/3. Yt gives no indication of the identity of this sorceress, nor of how and why she causes Aðils’s death. HN and later prose sources contain various accounts of the circumstances of his death, but the cause of the fatal fall remains unclear.
vætr ‘’
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vætr (noun n.): not a trace, nothing
kennings
véttr vitta‘the creature of charms ’
= SORCERESS
the creature of charms → SORCERESS
notes
[3] véttr vitta ‘the creature of charms [SORCERESS]’: See Note to st. 3/3. Yt gives no indication of the identity of this sorceress, nor of how and why she causes Aðils’s death. HN and later prose sources contain various accounts of the circumstances of his death, but the cause of the fatal fall remains unclear.
of ‘’
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4. of (particle): (before verb)
við ‘’
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1. viðr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. -i/-; -ir, acc. -u/-i): wood, tree
skyldi ‘had to’
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skulu (verb): shall, should, must
Ok ‘And’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
dáð ‘the deed’
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dáð (noun f.; °; -ir): feat, deed < dáðgjarn (adj.): °eager to undertake bold deeds, valiant
kennings
dáðgjarn ôttungr Freys‘the deed-eager descendant of Freyr ’
= Swedish king
the deed-eager descendant of Freyr → Swedish king
gjarn ‘eager’
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gjarn (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): eager < dáðgjarn (adj.): °eager to undertake bold deeds, valiant
kennings
dáðgjarn ôttungr Freys‘the deed-eager descendant of Freyr ’
= Swedish king
the deed-eager descendant of Freyr → Swedish king
af ‘off’
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af (prep.): from
dralls ‘’
notes
[6] bógum drasils ‘the back of the steed’: Lit. ‘shoulders of the steed’.
bógum ‘the back’
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bógr (noun m.; °dat. bǿgi; bǿgir, acc. bógu): shoulder
notes
[6] bógum drasils ‘the back of the steed’: Lit. ‘shoulders of the steed’.
Freys ‘of Freyr’
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Freyr (noun m.): (a god)
kennings
dáðgjarn ôttungr Freys‘the deed-eager descendant of Freyr ’
= Swedish king
the deed-eager descendant of Freyr → Swedish king
ôttungr ‘descendant’
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1. áttungr (noun m.; °; -ar): kinsman
kennings
dáðgjarn ôttungr Freys‘the deed-eager descendant of Freyr ’
= Swedish king
the deed-eager descendant of Freyr → Swedish king
falla ‘fall’
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falla (verb): fall
skyldi ‘had to’
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skulu (verb): shall, should, must
Ok ‘And’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
við ‘with’
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2. við (prep.): with, against
aur ‘mud’
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aurr (noun m.): sand or gravel bank, ford
ægis ‘’
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2. ægir (noun m.): ocean, sea
ægist ‘’
ægis ‘’
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2. ægir (noun m.): ocean, sea
ægir ‘the sea [fluid]’
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2. ægir (noun m.): ocean, sea
[10] ægir: so F, ægis Kˣ, 521ˣ, J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 761aˣ, ægis corrected from ægir papp18ˣ, ‘ægist’ R685ˣ
notes
[10] ægir hjarna ‘the sea [fluid] of the brains’: The mss give either ægis (Kˣ, J1ˣ, J2ˣ) or ‘ø̨ger’ (normalised ægir) (F). Most eds have selected the F reading and conjoined ægir ‘sea’ and hjarna, as a gen. attribute, to form a kenning in which hjarna is taken to mean ‘skull’ and the kenning referent as ‘brain’, although hjarni itself normally means ‘brains’ and the kenning is unparalleled. Meissner suggests regarding it instead as a free composition (Meissner 129), and this is the solution tentatively adopted here.
hjarna ‘of the brains’
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hjarni (noun m.): brain
notes
[10] ægir hjarna ‘the sea [fluid] of the brains’: The mss give either ægis (Kˣ, J1ˣ, J2ˣ) or ‘ø̨ger’ (normalised ægir) (F). Most eds have selected the F reading and conjoined ægir ‘sea’ and hjarna, as a gen. attribute, to form a kenning in which hjarna is taken to mean ‘skull’ and the kenning referent as ‘brain’, although hjarni itself normally means ‘brains’ and the kenning is unparalleled. Meissner suggests regarding it instead as a free composition (Meissner 129), and this is the solution tentatively adopted here.
bragning ‘’
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bragningr (noun m.; °; -ar): prince, ruler
bragnings ‘of the ruler’
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bragningr (noun m.; °; -ar): prince, ruler
[11] bragnings: bragning J1ˣ, J2ˣ
kennings
burs bragnings‘of the son of the ruler ’
= RULER
the son of the ruler → RULER
burs ‘of the son’
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burr (noun m.; °; -ir): son
kennings
burs bragnings‘of the son of the ruler ’
= RULER
the son of the ruler → RULER
of ‘’
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4. of (particle): (before verb)
blandinn ‘blended’
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2. blanda (verb; °blendr; blett, blendu; blandinn): mix, blend (strong)
varð ‘was’
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1. verða (verb): become, be
Ok ‘And’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
dag ‘’
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dagr (noun m.; °-s, dat. degi/dag/dagi(Thom¹ 332¹n.); -ar): day < dagsæll (adj.)
dáð ‘the deed’
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dáð (noun f.; °; -ir): feat, deed < dáðsæll (adj.)
[13] dáð‑: dag‑ J1ˣ, J2ˣ, R685ˣ
notes
[13] dáðsæll ‘deed-fortunate’: ÍF 26 selects the J reading dagsæll ‘having fortunate days’, as Wadstein (1895a, 70-1) had suggested, and notes that dáðsæll could have been influenced by the preceding dáðgjarn ‘deed-eager’. However, there is no necessity to depart from the main ms. Kˣ here.
sæll ‘fortunate’
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sæll (adj.): happy, blessed < dáðsæll (adj.)sæll (adj.): happy, blessed < dagsæll (adj.)
notes
[13] dáðsæll ‘deed-fortunate’: ÍF 26 selects the J reading dagsæll ‘having fortunate days’, as Wadstein (1895a, 70-1) had suggested, and notes that dáðsæll could have been influenced by the preceding dáðgjarn ‘deed-eager’. However, there is no necessity to depart from the main ms. Kˣ here.
deyja ‘die’
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1. deyja (verb; °deyr; dó, dó(u); dá(i)nn): die
skyldi ‘had to’
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skulu (verb): shall, should, must
Ála ‘of Áli’
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Áli (noun m.): Áli
notes
[15] Ála ‘of Áli’: On Áli, see Note to l. 2 above.
drengr ‘’
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drengr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -; -ir, gen. -ja): man, warrior
at ‘at’
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3. at (prep.): at, to
Uppsǫlum ‘Uppsala’
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Uppsalir (noun m.): [Uppsala]
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
I have learned, further, that the creature of charms [SORCERESS] had to destroy the life of Aðils. And the deed-eager descendant of Freyr [= Swedish king] had to fall off the back of the steed. And the sea [fluid] of the brains of the son of the ruler [RULER] was blended with mud. And the deed-fortunate enemy of Áli had to die at Uppsala.
At a sacrificial feast for the dísir (minor female deities), while riding around the dísarsalr (the hall (or temple?) of the dís), King Aðils, son of Óttarr falls from his horse. He hits his head on a stone, shattering his skull so that his brains spill out onto the ground. He is buried in a mound in Uppsala.
This stanza contains a series of correspondences with other stanzas of Yt: véttr vitta ‘the creature of charms’ in l. 3 corresponds with st. 3/3, of viða skyldi ‘had to destroy’ in l. 4 with sts 1/8 and 26/14, and at Uppsǫlum ‘at Uppsala’ in l. 16 with st. 13/2. This is remarkable, because Yt as a whole contains few such repetitions (ok sikling ‘and the ruler’ in sts 1/5 and 17/5 and ok allvald ‘and the almighty’ in sts 4/9 and 7/9).
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