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

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

Menu Search

Þloft Glækv 1I

Matthew Townend (ed.) 2012, ‘Þórarinn loftunga, Glælognskviða 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. 865.

Þórarinn loftungaGlælognskviða
12

Þats ‘It is’

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

[1] Þats (‘Þat er’): þat var E, Holm2, 325VI, 321ˣ, Holm4, 61, 325V, Bb, Flat, Tóm, FskAˣ

notes

[All]: In Fsk, the stanza is attributed to Þórarinn loftunga, while ÓH-Hkr introduces it more fully with Þess getr Þórarinn loftunga í kvæði því, er hann orti um Svein Álfífuson, er kallat er GlælognskviðaÞórarinn loftunga tells of this in the poem which he composed about Sveinn Álfífuson, which is called Glælognskviða’. — [1] þats ‘it is’: All mss other than read (normalised) Þat vas ‘It was’; however, ’s reading is to be retained here, since it gives a three-syllable line, as expected for odd lines in kviðuháttr.

Close

Þats ‘It is’

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

[1] Þats (‘Þat er’): þat var E, Holm2, 325VI, 321ˣ, Holm4, 61, 325V, Bb, Flat, Tóm, FskAˣ

notes

[All]: In Fsk, the stanza is attributed to Þórarinn loftunga, while ÓH-Hkr introduces it more fully with Þess getr Þórarinn loftunga í kvæði því, er hann orti um Svein Álfífuson, er kallat er GlælognskviðaÞórarinn loftunga tells of this in the poem which he composed about Sveinn Álfífuson, which is called Glælognskviða’. — [1] þats ‘it is’: All mss other than read (normalised) Þat vas ‘It was’; however, ’s reading is to be retained here, since it gives a three-syllable line, as expected for odd lines in kviðuháttr.

Close

dullaust ‘without concealment’

(not checked:)
dullauss (adj.): without concealment

[1] dullaust: ‘dulaust’ 325VI, ‘dallaust’ Tóm

notes

[All]: Troubled by the fact that this stanza has ten lines in all mss, Skj B punctuates with a full stop, dash, and indentation after l. 4, while Skald subdivides the ten lines into sts 1 (ll. 1-4) and 1b (ll. 5-10). Magerøy assumes that two lines have been lost at the end, and that originally it was a twelve-line stanza.

Close

hvé ‘how’

(not checked:)
hvé (conj.): how

[2] hvé: er 325VI, at FskAˣ

Close

Danir ‘the Danes’

(not checked:)
dan (noun m.; °-s, dat. -): Dane

Close

gerðu ‘made’

(not checked:)
1. gera (verb): do, make

Close

dyggva ‘a faithful’

(not checked:)
dyggr (adj.; °dyggvan/dyggan; compar. -vari/-ari/-ri, superl. -vastr/-astr/-str): trustworthy

[3] dyggva: dýra 325VI, 321ˣ, ‘docka’ 61, Flat, Tóm

Close

fǫr ‘journey’

(not checked:)
fǫr (noun f.): journey, fate; movement

notes

[3] fǫr ‘journey’: As the title Glælognskviða suggests (see Introduction), Þórarinn’s account of Sveinn’s journey from Denmark to Norway stands in a line of journey-poems for Knútr and his dynasty, following Sigvatr Þórðarson’s Knútdr, which details Knútr’s journey from England to Denmark and on to Helgeå c. 1026, and his own Tøgdr, which details Knútr’s journey from Denmark to Norway in 1028. Indeed ll. 3-4 here seem to echo Sigv Knútdr 8/3 dýr vas dǫglings fǫr ‘the king’s journey was glorious’.

Close

með ‘with’

(not checked:)
með (prep.): with

Close

dǫglingi ‘the monarch [= Sveinn]’

(not checked:)
dǫglingr (noun m.; °; -ar): king, ruler

Close

Þar ‘There’

(not checked:)
þar (adv.): there

[5] Þar: þat Holm2

Close

jarl ‘the jarl [= Haraldr Þorkelsson]’

(not checked:)
jarl (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): poet, earl

notes

[5] jarl ‘the jarl’: Snorri Sturluson identifies this as Haraldr Þorkelsson, Fsk as Úlfr Þorgilsson or Sprakaleggsson. Snorri is likely to be correct: Haraldr was the son of Þorkell inn hávi ‘the Tall’, Knútr’s comrade in the conquest of England (jointly celebrated in Anon Liðs), and was the husband of Gunnhildr, Knútr’s niece and the widow of Hákon jarl Eiríksson, Knútr’s regent in Norway c. 1028-30 (see Keynes 1994, 66; Townend 2005, 261-2).

Close

fyrst ‘first’

(not checked:)
fyrstr (num. ordinal): first

[6] fyrst: om. 325VI, 321ˣ

notes

[6] fyrst ‘first’: This is omitted in 325VI and 321ˣ, and in Skj B and Skald, as it results in a five-syllable line. Fyrst may have been introduced in the course of transmission, encouraged by the existence of a set phrase fyrst at upphafi ‘first and foremost’ (Fritzner: fyrst 3, upphaf 3)

Close

at ‘and’

(not checked:)
3. at (prep.): at, to

notes

[6] at upphafi ‘at the start’: Upphaf is a technical term for the first part of a drápa, so there may be some poetic play here as Þórarinn uses the term in the stanza which (at least now) opens his poem. The word can also mean ‘advancement, honour’ (Fritzner: upphaf 1; CVC: upphaf 3), so the line might be understood as ‘foremost in honour’.

Close

upphafi ‘foremost’

(not checked:)
upphaf (noun n.): beginning

notes

[6] at upphafi ‘at the start’: Upphaf is a technical term for the first part of a drápa, so there may be some poetic play here as Þórarinn uses the term in the stanza which (at least now) opens his poem. The word can also mean ‘advancement, honour’ (Fritzner: upphaf 1; CVC: upphaf 3), so the line might be understood as ‘foremost in honour’.

Close

ok ‘and’

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

Close

hverr ‘every’

(not checked:)
2. hverr (pron.): who, whom, each, every

[7] hverr maðr: hverr drengr 325VI, 321ˣ, svá hverr FskAˣ

Close

maðr ‘man’

(not checked:)
maðr (noun m.): man, person

[7] hverr maðr: hverr drengr 325VI, 321ˣ, svá hverr FskAˣ

Close

es ‘who’

(not checked:)
2. er (conj.): who, which, when

Close

honum ‘him’

(not checked:)
hann (pron.; °gen. hans, dat. honum; f. hon, gen. hennar, acc. hana): he, she, it, they, them...

notes

[8] honum ‘him’: The length of the vowel in the first syllable appears to be shortened here for metrical purposes, to allow resolution and the equivalent of a four-syllable line (Finnur Jónsson 1901, 75-6).

Close

fylgði ‘followed’

(not checked:)
2. fylgja (verb): follow, accompany

Close

drengr ‘warrior’

(not checked:)
drengr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -; -ir, gen. -ja): man, warrior

[9] drengr: var 325VI, 321ˣ

Close

betri ‘better’

(not checked:)
betri (adj. comp.; °superl. beztr/baztr; pos. „ góðr adj.): better, best

[10] betri: nýtri Holm4, FskAˣ

Close

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

In ÓH-Hkr and Fsk the stanza is quoted following an account of the journey of Sveinn Álfífuson from Denmark to Norway, to take up rule there after the death of Óláfr.

[7-10]: The nom. sg. noun phrases hverr maðr ‘every man’ and [hverr] annarr drengr ‘each warrior’ are in apposition, and annarr … ǫðrum betri form a phrase (with vas understood: see Hkr 1893-1901, IV). The lines appear to carry through the hierarchical ordering begun in ll. 5-6: the Danes are being ranked in terms of their distinction, perhaps even in terms of the sequence of ships in their fleet (cf. anecdotes in the kings’ sagas in which the order of sailing or mooring is allied to the granting or withholding of honour, e.g. ÍF 26, 248-9). The ‘B’ redaction of Fsk, which, unlike the ‘A’ redaction, does not cite the stanza but rather summarizes it, reads (with Fsk’s nýtri for betri) Sveinn konungr hafði haft með sér mikinn Danaher; þar var enn fyrsti maðr Úlfr jarl Sprakaleggssonr, ok með hónum hverr annarr drengr ǫðrum nýtri ‘King Sveinn had gathered to himself a great army of Danes; the first man there was Úlfr jarl Sprakaleggssonr, and with him every warrior [was] more capable than the next’ (ÍF 29, 201 and n.).

Close

Log in

This service is only available to members of the relevant projects, and to purchasers of the skaldic volumes published by Brepols.
This service uses cookies. By logging in you agree to the use of cookies on your browser.

Close

Stanza/chapter/text segment

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

Information tab

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.