Cookies on our website

We use cookies on this website, mainly to provide a secure browsing experience but also to collect statistics on how the website is used. You can find out more about the cookies we set, the information we store and how we use it on the cookies page.

Continue

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

Menu Search

Close

ÞjóðA Sex 11^II

Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Þjóðólfr Arnórsson, Sexstefja 11’ 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. 123-4.

Þjóðólfr Arnórsson Sexstefja

Gegn ‘The worthy’

(not checked:)
1. gegn (adj.; °compar. -ri, superl. -astr/-str): reliable

[1] Gegn: Þegn H(47r), Hr(33vb)

skyli ‘must’

(not checked:)
skulu (verb): shall, should, must

herr ‘troop’

(not checked:)
herr (noun m.; °-s/-jar, dat. -; -jar, gen. -ja/herra): army, host

[1] herr: hverr H(47r), hver Hr(33vb), 570a

sem ‘as’

(not checked:)
sem (conj.): as, which

hugnar ‘it pleases’

(not checked:)
hugna (verb): please

hjaldr ‘of the battle’

(not checked:)
1. hjaldr (noun m.): battle < hjaldrvitjuðr (noun m.)

[2] hjaldr‑: ‘[...]’ 570a

kennings

hjaldrvitjaðar
‘of the battle-frequenter ’
= WARRIOR
the battle-frequenter → WARRIOR

vitjaðar ‘frequenter’

(not checked:)
-vitjuðr (noun m.): [frequenter, seeker] < hjaldrvitjuðr (noun m.)

[2] ‑vitjaðar: ‑vitja(ð)(?) H(47r)

kennings

hjaldrvitjaðar
‘of the battle-frequenter ’
= WARRIOR
the battle-frequenter → WARRIOR

sitja ‘sit’

(not checked:)
sitja (verb): sit

[2] sitja: ‘[...]a’ H(47r), ‘[...]’ 570a

dolg ‘war’

(not checked:)
dolg (noun n.): battle, enemy < dolgstœrandi (noun m.)

[3] dolg‑: dolgr Hr(33vb)

kennings

dýrum dolgstœranda.
‘the excellent war-sweller. ’
= WARRIOR
the excellent war-sweller. → WARRIOR

stœranda ‘sweller’

(not checked:)
stœrandi (noun m.): [increaser, sweller] < dolgstœrandi (noun m.)

[3] ‑stœranda: ‑stýrandi H(47r), Hr(33vb), ‘stęrra’ 570a

kennings

dýrum dolgstœranda.
‘the excellent war-sweller. ’
= WARRIOR
the excellent war-sweller. → WARRIOR

dýrum ‘the excellent’

(not checked:)
dýrr (adj.; °compar. -ri/-ari, superl. -str/-astr): precious

kennings

dýrum dolgstœranda.
‘the excellent war-sweller. ’
= WARRIOR
the excellent war-sweller. → WARRIOR

dróttin ‘lord’

(not checked:)
dróttinn (noun m.; °dróttins, dat. dróttni (drottini [$1049$]); dróttnar): lord, master < dróttinvanðr (adj.)

vandr ‘loyal’

(not checked:)
vandr (adj.): difficult < dróttinvanðr (adj.)

[4] ‑vandr: ‘‑vande’ E

ok ‘and’

(not checked:)
3. ok (conj.): and, but; also

[4] ok: at Hr(33vb)

standa ‘stand’

(not checked:)
standa (verb): stand

Lýtr ‘bends’

(not checked:)
1. lúta (verb): (strong)

[5] Lýtr: ‘lystr’ 39, ‘lykr’ Hr(33vb)

folk ‘of the war’

(not checked:)
folk (noun n.): people < folkstari (noun m.): battle-starling

kennings

feiti folkstara;
‘to the fattener of the war-starling; ’
= WARRIOR
the war-starling; → RAVEN
to the fattener of the RAVEN → WARRIOR

folk ‘of the war’

(not checked:)
folk (noun n.): people < folkstari (noun m.): battle-starling

kennings

feiti folkstara;
‘to the fattener of the war-starling; ’
= WARRIOR
the war-starling; → RAVEN
to the fattener of the RAVEN → WARRIOR

stara ‘starling’

(not checked:)
1. stari (noun m.): starling < folkstari (noun m.): battle-starling

[5] ‑stara: ‘‑stera’ E, ‑starra FskBˣ

kennings

feiti folkstara;
‘to the fattener of the war-starling; ’
= WARRIOR
the war-starling; → RAVEN
to the fattener of the RAVEN → WARRIOR

stara ‘starling’

(not checked:)
1. stari (noun m.): starling < folkstari (noun m.): battle-starling

[5] ‑stara: ‘‑stera’ E, ‑starra FskBˣ

kennings

feiti folkstara;
‘to the fattener of the war-starling; ’
= WARRIOR
the war-starling; → RAVEN
to the fattener of the RAVEN → WARRIOR

feiti ‘to the fattener’

(not checked:)
feitir (noun m.): fattener

[5] feiti: ‘fæiti’ E, ‘fe[...]’ 570a, fretti FskAˣ

kennings

feiti folkstara;
‘to the fattener of the war-starling; ’
= WARRIOR
the war-starling; → RAVEN
to the fattener of the RAVEN → WARRIOR

fátt ‘little’

(not checked:)
3. fár (adj.; °compar. fǽrri/fárri(Mág² 11), superl. fǽstr): few

[6] fátt es til nema: ‘[...]ema’ 570a

notes

[5] fátt es til, nema ‘there is little option except’: Lit. ‘there is few/little to hand except’. Kock prints uncontracted fátt es in Skald (as do Finnur Jónsson in Fsk 1902-3 and Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson in ÍF 28; Hkr 1991 has fátt er), and gives reasons in NN §2029. Finnur printed the contracted fátt’s in Hkr 1893-1901 and Skj B.

es ‘there is’

(not checked:)
2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am

[6] fátt es til nema: ‘[...]ema’ 570a

notes

[5] fátt es til, nema ‘there is little option except’: Lit. ‘there is few/little to hand except’. Kock prints uncontracted fátt es in Skald (as do Finnur Jónsson in Fsk 1902-3 and Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson in ÍF 28; Hkr 1991 has fátt er), and gives reasons in NN §2029. Finnur printed the contracted fátt’s in Hkr 1893-1901 and Skj B.

til ‘option’

(not checked:)
til (prep.): to

[6] fátt es til nema: ‘[...]ema’ 570a

notes

[5] fátt es til, nema ‘there is little option except’: Lit. ‘there is few/little to hand except’. Kock prints uncontracted fátt es in Skald (as do Finnur Jónsson in Fsk 1902-3 and Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson in ÍF 28; Hkr 1991 has fátt er), and gives reasons in NN §2029. Finnur printed the contracted fátt’s in Hkr 1893-1901 and Skj B.

nema ‘except’

(not checked:)
2. nema (conj.): unless

[6] fátt es til nema: ‘[...]ema’ 570a

notes

[5] fátt es til, nema ‘there is little option except’: Lit. ‘there is few/little to hand except’. Kock prints uncontracted fátt es in Skald (as do Finnur Jónsson in Fsk 1902-3 and Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson in ÍF 28; Hkr 1991 has fátt er), and gives reasons in NN §2029. Finnur printed the contracted fátt’s in Hkr 1893-1901 and Skj B.

játta ‘to agree’

(not checked:)
játta (verb): [to agree]

[6] játta: so 39, F, H(47r), Hr(33vb), FskBˣ, FskAˣ, játa Kˣ, E, J2ˣ

notes

[6-7] játta þat, sem ‘to agree to what’: Játta normally takes the dat. case, but acc. is also possible (the ÍF 28 note gives an example). Only the Hr scribe seems to have been uneasy enough to write dat. því. The forms játta and játa represented in the mss are both acceptable.

þat ‘’

(not checked:)
1. sá (pron.; °gen. þess, dat. þeim, acc. þann; f. sú, gen. þeirrar, acc. þá; n. þat, dat. því; pl. m. þeir, f. þǽ---): that (one), those

[7] þat: því Hr(33vb)

notes

[6-7] játta þat, sem ‘to agree to what’: Játta normally takes the dat. case, but acc. is also possible (the ÍF 28 note gives an example). Only the Hr scribe seems to have been uneasy enough to write dat. því. The forms játta and játa represented in the mss are both acceptable.

sem ‘to what’

(not checked:)
sem (conj.): as, which

notes

[6-7] játta þat, sem ‘to agree to what’: Játta normally takes the dat. case, but acc. is also possible (the ÍF 28 note gives an example). Only the Hr scribe seems to have been uneasy enough to write dat. því. The forms játta and játa represented in the mss are both acceptable.

þá ‘at the time’

(not checked:)
2. þá (adv.): then

vill ‘wants’

(not checked:)
vilja (verb): want, intend

gotnum ‘men’

(not checked:)
gotnar (noun m.): men

þjóð ‘people’

(not checked:)
þjóð (noun f.; °-ar, dat. -/-u; -ir): people

ǫll ‘The whole’

(not checked:)
allr (adj.): all

[8] ǫll: valdr H(47r), Hr(33vb), ‘aull .g.’ Hr(44va), ‘ollr’ FskAˣ

konungr ‘the king’

(not checked:)
konungr (noun m.; °dat. -i, -s; -ar): king

[8] konungr bjóða: ‘k[...]’ Mork

bjóða ‘to command’

(not checked:)
bjóða (verb; °býðr; bauð, buðu; boðinn (buð- Thom¹ 5²n.)): offer, order, invite

[8] konungr bjóða: ‘k[...]’ Mork

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

verse
prose

The context in HÍ, which may be the most original source (Fidjestøl 1982, 136), cites the st. as printed above immediately before narrating Haraldr’s assassination of Einarr þambarskelfir ‘Paunch-shaker’ (?), underlining the king’s addiction to power, and Hkr similarly cites it at a pause in the narrative about Einarr. Fsk, Mork and Flat preserve ll. 5-8, the stef ‘refrain’ after st. 22/5-8 in a different context: that of Haraldr’s crushing of the Upplendingar (see sts 19-21) and their submission to his rule. In Fsk, the stef follows st. 22/5-8 with a prose sentence in between, but in Mork and Flat the two helmingar form a single st. H-Hr combines the two approaches: the eight-l. st. printed above is cited in the same context as Hkr, then ll. 5-8 are cited after st. 20 in a narrative of Haraldr’s suppression of the Upplendingar. At this point ll. 5-6 are explicitly identified as the refrain (stefit) in a drápa about Haraldr.

In Mork, st. 22/5-6 is written on the top l. of fol. 11r, with 21/7-8 and the stef continuing in the upper margin, while in Flat the same eight ll. are written continuously in the main text. — [5-8]: These ll. comprise a stef or refrain—the only survivor of the six referred to in Sexstefja’s title—which would have punctuated part of the poem at regular intervals, so that its placing in the prose sources varies (see Context above) and is problematic here.

log in home page info previous up a level next archive and create persistent link on archive.org

© Skaldic Project Academic Body and Brepols, unless otherwise noted. Database structure and interface developed by Tarrin Wills. All users of material on this database are reminded that its content may be either subject to copyright restrictions or is the property of the custodians of linked databases that have given permission for members of the skaldic project to use their material for research purposes. Those users who have been given access to as yet unpublished material are further reminded that they may not use, publish or otherwise manipulate such material except with the express permission of the individual editor of the material in question and the General Editor of the volume in which the material is to be published. Applications for permission to use such material should be made in the first instance to the General Editor of the volume in question. All information that appears in the published volumes has been thoroughly reviewed. If you believe some information here is incorrect please contact Tarrin Wills with full details.

Close

Stanza/chapter/text segment

Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.

Information tab

text: if the stanza has been published, the edited text of the stanza and translation are here; if it hasn't been published an old edition (usually Skj) is given for reference
sources: a list of the manuscripts or inscriptions containing this stanza, with page and line references and links (eye button) to images where available, and transcription where available
readings: a list of variant manuscript readings of words in the main text
editions and texts: a list of editions of the stanza with links to the bibliography; and a list of prose works in which the stanza occurs, allowing you to navigate within the prose context
notes and context: notes not linked to individual words are given here, along with the account of the prose context for the stanza, where relevant

Interactive tab

The text and translation are given here, with buttons to toggle whether the text is shown in the verse order or prose word order. Clicking on indiviudal words gives dictionary links, variant readings, kennings and notes, where relevant.

Full text tab

This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.

Chapter/text segment

This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.