ÞjóðA Lv 4II
Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Þjóðólfr Arnórsson, Lausavísur 4’ 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. 168-9.
Mildingr ‘The gracious ruler’
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mildingr (noun m.; °-s): ruler, generous one
notes
[1, 2] í móðu spjóta ‘in the river of spears [BLOOD]’: (a) So Andersson and Gade 2000. (b) Alternatively, í móðu could stand alone as a rather curious ‘in the river’, and spjóta would form the determinant in a battle-kenning, mót spjóta ‘meeting of spears’ (Skj B). (c) Í móðu geira could be taken as ‘in the river of spears [BLOOD]’, with the object of rauð ‘reddened’ understood as weapons (Fidjestøl 1971, 49 n., as one option). (d) The F reading af móði would presumably mean ‘in his zeal’ or ‘in anger’ (Fidjestøl 1971, 49 n.).
móðu ‘the river’
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1. móða (noun f.; °-u; -ur): river
[1] í móðu: so all others, af móði F
kennings
móðu spjóta;‘the river of spears; ’
= BLOOD
the river of spears; → BLOOD
notes
[1, 2] í móðu spjóta ‘in the river of spears [BLOOD]’: (a) So Andersson and Gade 2000. (b) Alternatively, í móðu could stand alone as a rather curious ‘in the river’, and spjóta would form the determinant in a battle-kenning, mót spjóta ‘meeting of spears’ (Skj B). (c) Í móðu geira could be taken as ‘in the river of spears [BLOOD]’, with the object of rauð ‘reddened’ understood as weapons (Fidjestøl 1971, 49 n., as one option). (d) The F reading af móði would presumably mean ‘in his zeal’ or ‘in anger’ (Fidjestøl 1971, 49 n.).
hart ‘a harsh’
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harðr (adj.; °comp. -ari; superl. -astr): hard, harsh
[2] hart: illt Mork, H, Hr
vas ‘took place’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
notes
[2] þar ‘there’: The variant þat ‘that (was a harsh assembly)’ (so Flat, Hr) is also possible.
kennings
móðu spjóta;‘the river of spears; ’
= BLOOD
the river of spears; → BLOOD
notes
[1, 2] í móðu spjóta ‘in the river of spears [BLOOD]’: (a) So Andersson and Gade 2000. (b) Alternatively, í móðu could stand alone as a rather curious ‘in the river’, and spjóta would form the determinant in a battle-kenning, mót spjóta ‘meeting of spears’ (Skj B). (c) Í móðu geira could be taken as ‘in the river of spears [BLOOD]’, with the object of rauð ‘reddened’ understood as weapons (Fidjestøl 1971, 49 n., as one option). (d) The F reading af móði would presumably mean ‘in his zeal’ or ‘in anger’ (Fidjestøl 1971, 49 n.).
Dǫnum ‘towards the Danes’
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dan (noun m.; °-s, dat. -): Dane
goð ‘the gods’
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goð (noun n.): (pagan) god
geira ‘lances’
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geirr (noun m.): spear
notes
[3] geira ‘lances’: This is most naturally taken as object of rauð ‘reddened’. Presumably in order to integrate geira with the adjacent phrases, Kock took it with goð in l. 3 to give goð geira ‘deities of spears’, hence ‘valkyries’. However, as well as being slightly implausible, this entails either taking rauð ‘reddened’ as intransitive, or emending to réð (í móðu) ‘headed along the river’ (NN §§847C, 2268; Kock and Meissner 1931, I, 55 and II, 52 (: geirr), 138 (: ráða 10)).
grǫm ‘wrathful’
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2. gramr (adj.): angry
notes
[4] grǫm; skǫmmu ‘wrathful; a short time ago’: King Haraldr’s metrical point (Context above) is the counsel of perfection, but aðalhendingar with unequal consonant length are quite common (Gade 1995a, 6, 23 and 249, n. 20).
en ‘and’
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2. en (conj.): but, and
notes
[4, 8] en þat vas skǫmmu; en þat vas lǫngu ‘and that was a short time ago; but that was a long time ago’: These echo ll. 4 and 8 in Þfisk Lv 1-3, Hharð Lv 10-11 and Anon (HSig) 3-4, linking Þjóðólfr’s st. to the others in the skaldic repartee (on which see Fidjestøl 1971, which includes comment on variants in the ‘refrain’, and on other links between the sts). There may also be a more distant echo of vas þat fyr lǫngu in Þjóð Haustl 6/2III (cf. Gade 1995a, 156, 261 n. 18). The H reading here may echo Haust and/ or the similar l. 8 of Þfisk Lv 1-2.
þat ‘that’
notes
[4, 8] en þat vas skǫmmu; en þat vas lǫngu ‘and that was a short time ago; but that was a long time ago’: These echo ll. 4 and 8 in Þfisk Lv 1-3, Hharð Lv 10-11 and Anon (HSig) 3-4, linking Þjóðólfr’s st. to the others in the skaldic repartee (on which see Fidjestøl 1971, which includes comment on variants in the ‘refrain’, and on other links between the sts). There may also be a more distant echo of vas þat fyr lǫngu in Þjóð Haustl 6/2III (cf. Gade 1995a, 156, 261 n. 18). The H reading here may echo Haust and/ or the similar l. 8 of Þfisk Lv 1-2.
vas ‘was’
(not checked:)
2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
notes
[4, 8] en þat vas skǫmmu; en þat vas lǫngu ‘and that was a short time ago; but that was a long time ago’: These echo ll. 4 and 8 in Þfisk Lv 1-3, Hharð Lv 10-11 and Anon (HSig) 3-4, linking Þjóðólfr’s st. to the others in the skaldic repartee (on which see Fidjestøl 1971, which includes comment on variants in the ‘refrain’, and on other links between the sts). There may also be a more distant echo of vas þat fyr lǫngu in Þjóð Haustl 6/2III (cf. Gade 1995a, 156, 261 n. 18). The H reading here may echo Haust and/ or the similar l. 8 of Þfisk Lv 1-2.
skǫmmu ‘a short time ago’
(not checked:)
skǫmmu (adv.): recently
notes
[4] grǫm; skǫmmu ‘wrathful; a short time ago’: King Haraldr’s metrical point (Context above) is the counsel of perfection, but aðalhendingar with unequal consonant length are quite common (Gade 1995a, 6, 23 and 249, n. 20). — [4, 8] en þat vas skǫmmu; en þat vas lǫngu ‘and that was a short time ago; but that was a long time ago’: These echo ll. 4 and 8 in Þfisk Lv 1-3, Hharð Lv 10-11 and Anon (HSig) 3-4, linking Þjóðólfr’s st. to the others in the skaldic repartee (on which see Fidjestøl 1971, which includes comment on variants in the ‘refrain’, and on other links between the sts). There may also be a more distant echo of vas þat fyr lǫngu in Þjóð Haustl 6/2III (cf. Gade 1995a, 156, 261 n. 18). The H reading here may echo Haust and/ or the similar l. 8 of Þfisk Lv 1-2.
skǫmmu ‘a short time ago’
(not checked:)
skǫmmu (adv.): recently
notes
[4] grǫm; skǫmmu ‘wrathful; a short time ago’: King Haraldr’s metrical point (Context above) is the counsel of perfection, but aðalhendingar with unequal consonant length are quite common (Gade 1995a, 6, 23 and 249, n. 20). — [4, 8] en þat vas skǫmmu; en þat vas lǫngu ‘and that was a short time ago; but that was a long time ago’: These echo ll. 4 and 8 in Þfisk Lv 1-3, Hharð Lv 10-11 and Anon (HSig) 3-4, linking Þjóðólfr’s st. to the others in the skaldic repartee (on which see Fidjestøl 1971, which includes comment on variants in the ‘refrain’, and on other links between the sts). There may also be a more distant echo of vas þat fyr lǫngu in Þjóð Haustl 6/2III (cf. Gade 1995a, 156, 261 n. 18). The H reading here may echo Haust and/ or the similar l. 8 of Þfisk Lv 1-2.
Setti ‘planted’
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setja (verb): place, set, establish
niðr ‘’
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3. niðr (adv.): down
á ‘on’
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3. á (prep.): on, at
sléttu ‘level’
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sléttr (adj.): level, smooth
Serklandi ‘Serkland’
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Serkland (noun n.): shirt-land, land of Saracens, Serkland
gramr ‘The lord’
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1. gramr (noun m.): ruler
merki ‘banner’
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1. merki (noun n.; °-s: -): banner, sign
stóð ‘stood [high]’
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standa (verb): stand
at ‘at’
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3. at (prep.): at, to
stillis ‘of the ruler’
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stillir (noun m.): ruler
ráði ‘the command’
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ráð (noun n.; °-s; -): advice, plan, control, power
stǫng ‘the standard’
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stǫng (noun f.; °stangar, dat. -u; stangir/stengr): pole
notes
[4, 8] en þat vas skǫmmu; en þat vas lǫngu ‘and that was a short time ago; but that was a long time ago’: These echo ll. 4 and 8 in Þfisk Lv 1-3, Hharð Lv 10-11 and Anon (HSig) 3-4, linking Þjóðólfr’s st. to the others in the skaldic repartee (on which see Fidjestøl 1971, which includes comment on variants in the ‘refrain’, and on other links between the sts). There may also be a more distant echo of vas þat fyr lǫngu in Þjóð Haustl 6/2III (cf. Gade 1995a, 156, 261 n. 18). The H reading here may echo Haust and/ or the similar l. 8 of Þfisk Lv 1-2.
þat ‘that’
[8] en þat vas (‘enn þat var’): var þat fyrir H
notes
[4, 8] en þat vas skǫmmu; en þat vas lǫngu ‘and that was a short time ago; but that was a long time ago’: These echo ll. 4 and 8 in Þfisk Lv 1-3, Hharð Lv 10-11 and Anon (HSig) 3-4, linking Þjóðólfr’s st. to the others in the skaldic repartee (on which see Fidjestøl 1971, which includes comment on variants in the ‘refrain’, and on other links between the sts). There may also be a more distant echo of vas þat fyr lǫngu in Þjóð Haustl 6/2III (cf. Gade 1995a, 156, 261 n. 18). The H reading here may echo Haust and/ or the similar l. 8 of Þfisk Lv 1-2.
vas ‘was’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
[8] en þat vas (‘enn þat var’): var þat fyrir H
notes
[4, 8] en þat vas skǫmmu; en þat vas lǫngu ‘and that was a short time ago; but that was a long time ago’: These echo ll. 4 and 8 in Þfisk Lv 1-3, Hharð Lv 10-11 and Anon (HSig) 3-4, linking Þjóðólfr’s st. to the others in the skaldic repartee (on which see Fidjestøl 1971, which includes comment on variants in the ‘refrain’, and on other links between the sts). There may also be a more distant echo of vas þat fyr lǫngu in Þjóð Haustl 6/2III (cf. Gade 1995a, 156, 261 n. 18). The H reading here may echo Haust and/ or the similar l. 8 of Þfisk Lv 1-2.
lǫngu ‘a long time ago’
(not checked:)
langr (adj.; °compar. lengri, superl. lengstr): long
notes
[4, 8] en þat vas skǫmmu; en þat vas lǫngu ‘and that was a short time ago; but that was a long time ago’: These echo ll. 4 and 8 in Þfisk Lv 1-3, Hharð Lv 10-11 and Anon (HSig) 3-4, linking Þjóðólfr’s st. to the others in the skaldic repartee (on which see Fidjestøl 1971, which includes comment on variants in the ‘refrain’, and on other links between the sts). There may also be a more distant echo of vas þat fyr lǫngu in Þjóð Haustl 6/2III (cf. Gade 1995a, 156, 261 n. 18). The H reading here may echo Haust and/ or the similar l. 8 of Þfisk Lv 1-2.
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
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Mildingr rauð í móðu |
The gracious ruler reddened lances in the river of spears [BLOOD]; a harsh encounter took place there; and that was a short time ago; the gods were wrathful towards the Danes. The lord planted his banner on level Serkland; the standard stood [high] at the command of the ruler; but that was a long time ago.
In Mork, Flat and H-Hr, King Haraldr exchanges sts with a man fishing (Þfisk Lv 1, Hharð Lv 10), then bids Þjóðólfr join in. After he has recited, the king mocks the inexact rhyme of grǫm : skǫmmu, and Þjóðólfr refuses to participate further. Ms. F has a similar context but lacks the criticism.
[2] hart ‘harsh’: The variant reading illt ‘bad, dire’ (so Mork, H, Hr) is equally good.
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