Þór Lv 1I
Kate Heslop (ed.) 2012, ‘Þórarinn, Lausavísa 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. 445.
Sitr ‘sits’
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sitja (verb): sit
við ‘at’
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2. við (prep.): with, against
ôr ‘the oar’
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1. ár (noun f.; °-ar, dat. u/-; -ar/-ir(LandslBorg 151b²¹)): oar
notes
[1] ôr ‘the oar’: According to the stanza the king is at the oar, while the prose specifies that he was steering (as noted by Finnur Jónsson, 1930b, 49).
en ‘and’
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2. en (conj.): but, and
etjum ‘we drive forward’
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2. etja (verb; °atti): incite
notes
[1] etjum ‘we drive forward’: Etja ‘to goad, incite, drive forward, set in motion’ is normally transitive, with a dat. object, and this is the only skaldic instance of absolute use (LP: etja). An object referring to the ship may be understood.
all ‘The mighty’
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all- ((prefix)): very < allvaldr (noun m.): mighty ruler
valdr ‘ruler’
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valdr (noun m.): ruler < allvaldr (noun m.): mighty ruler
á ‘on’
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3. á (prep.): on, at
sæ ‘sea’
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sjór (noun m.): sea
kaldan ‘cold’
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kaldr (adj.; °compar. -ari): cold
vel ‘well’
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vel (adv.): well, very
rœr ‘rows’
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2. róa (verb): row
dróttar ‘of the retinue’
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1. drótt (noun f.): troop
kennings
dýrr deilir dróttar‘the worthy controller of the retinue ’
= RULER = Óláfr
the worthy controller of the retinue → RULER = Óláfr
deilir ‘controller’
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deilir (noun m.): ruler, ordainer
kennings
dýrr deilir dróttar‘the worthy controller of the retinue ’
= RULER = Óláfr
the worthy controller of the retinue → RULER = Óláfr
dýrr ‘the worthy’
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dýrr (adj.; °compar. -ri/-ari, superl. -str/-astr): precious
kennings
dýrr deilir dróttar‘the worthy controller of the retinue ’
= RULER = Óláfr
the worthy controller of the retinue → RULER = Óláfr
en ‘and’
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2. en (conj.): but, and
hundr ‘a dog’
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hundr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): hound, dog
við ‘at’
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2. við (prep.): with, against
stýri ‘the rudder’
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stýri (noun n.; °-s; -): rudder
skelfr ‘’
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1. skjalfa (verb): shake - intrans.
notes
[5-6] rœði ... skelfir * gnap*mar Gylfa ‘the oar ... makes the towering horse of Gylfi <sea-king> [SHIP] shudder’: Line 5 is hypermetric in the mss, necessitating the deletion of two syllables, here á and -i. There are two main possible interpretations, each with rœði ‘oar’ as grammatical subject, but producing different images as to what is shuddering or trembling. (a) The Text above adopts skelfir ‘shakes, makes shudder’, from the verb skelfa, the causative counterpart of skjalfa ‘to tremble’, with gnapmar (acc. sg.) Gylfa ‘towering horse of Gylfi [SHIP]’ as its direct object. (b) Skj B on the other hand reads intransitive skelfr ‘trembles’, 3rd pers. sg. pres. indic. of skjalfa, and takes (gnap)mari (dat. sg.) Gylfa as equivalent to a prepositional phrase; but this involves emending ms. á mar to mari or assuming that endingless mar is dat., which is possible, though uncommon, in an a-stem m. noun at this date (Konráð Gíslason 1892, 224; Finnur Jónsson 1901, 12; ANG §§358.3, 4).
á ‘’
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3. á (prep.): on, at
gnapi ‘’
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gnap (noun n.): towering
notes
[5-6] rœði ... skelfir * gnap*mar Gylfa ‘the oar ... makes the towering horse of Gylfi <sea-king> [SHIP] shudder’: Line 5 is hypermetric in the mss, necessitating the deletion of two syllables, here á and -i. There are two main possible interpretations, each with rœði ‘oar’ as grammatical subject, but producing different images as to what is shuddering or trembling. (a) The Text above adopts skelfir ‘shakes, makes shudder’, from the verb skelfa, the causative counterpart of skjalfa ‘to tremble’, with gnapmar (acc. sg.) Gylfa ‘towering horse of Gylfi [SHIP]’ as its direct object. (b) Skj B on the other hand reads intransitive skelfr ‘trembles’, 3rd pers. sg. pres. indic. of skjalfa, and takes (gnap)mari (dat. sg.) Gylfa as equivalent to a prepositional phrase; but this involves emending ms. á mar to mari or assuming that endingless mar is dat., which is possible, though uncommon, in an a-stem m. noun at this date (Konráð Gíslason 1892, 224; Finnur Jónsson 1901, 12; ANG §§358.3, 4).
kennings
mar Gylfa;‘horse of Gylfi ’
= SHIP
horse of Gylfi → SHIP
notes
[5-6] rœði ... skelfir * gnap*mar Gylfa ‘the oar ... makes the towering horse of Gylfi <sea-king> [SHIP] shudder’: Line 5 is hypermetric in the mss, necessitating the deletion of two syllables, here á and -i. There are two main possible interpretations, each with rœði ‘oar’ as grammatical subject, but producing different images as to what is shuddering or trembling. (a) The Text above adopts skelfir ‘shakes, makes shudder’, from the verb skelfa, the causative counterpart of skjalfa ‘to tremble’, with gnapmar (acc. sg.) Gylfa ‘towering horse of Gylfi [SHIP]’ as its direct object. (b) Skj B on the other hand reads intransitive skelfr ‘trembles’, 3rd pers. sg. pres. indic. of skjalfa, and takes (gnap)mari (dat. sg.) Gylfa as equivalent to a prepositional phrase; but this involves emending ms. á mar to mari or assuming that endingless mar is dat., which is possible, though uncommon, in an a-stem m. noun at this date (Konráð Gíslason 1892, 224; Finnur Jónsson 1901, 12; ANG §§358.3, 4).
Gylfa ‘of Gylfi’
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Gylfi (noun m.): Gylfi
kennings
mar Gylfa;‘horse of Gylfi ’
= SHIP
horse of Gylfi → SHIP
notes
[5-6] rœði ... skelfir * gnap*mar Gylfa ‘the oar ... makes the towering horse of Gylfi <sea-king> [SHIP] shudder’: Line 5 is hypermetric in the mss, necessitating the deletion of two syllables, here á and -i. There are two main possible interpretations, each with rœði ‘oar’ as grammatical subject, but producing different images as to what is shuddering or trembling. (a) The Text above adopts skelfir ‘shakes, makes shudder’, from the verb skelfa, the causative counterpart of skjalfa ‘to tremble’, with gnapmar (acc. sg.) Gylfa ‘towering horse of Gylfi [SHIP]’ as its direct object. (b) Skj B on the other hand reads intransitive skelfr ‘trembles’, 3rd pers. sg. pres. indic. of skjalfa, and takes (gnap)mari (dat. sg.) Gylfa as equivalent to a prepositional phrase; but this involves emending ms. á mar to mari or assuming that endingless mar is dat., which is possible, though uncommon, in an a-stem m. noun at this date (Konráð Gíslason 1892, 224; Finnur Jónsson 1901, 12; ANG §§358.3, 4).
gœðings ‘of the chieftain’
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gœðingr (noun m.): chieftain
skafaít ‘’
rœði ‘oar’
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2. rœði (noun n.; °; -): oar
notes
[5-6] rœði ... skelfir * gnap*mar Gylfa ‘the oar ... makes the towering horse of Gylfi <sea-king> [SHIP] shudder’: Line 5 is hypermetric in the mss, necessitating the deletion of two syllables, here á and -i. There are two main possible interpretations, each with rœði ‘oar’ as grammatical subject, but producing different images as to what is shuddering or trembling. (a) The Text above adopts skelfir ‘shakes, makes shudder’, from the verb skelfa, the causative counterpart of skjalfa ‘to tremble’, with gnapmar (acc. sg.) Gylfa ‘towering horse of Gylfi [SHIP]’ as its direct object. (b) Skj B on the other hand reads intransitive skelfr ‘trembles’, 3rd pers. sg. pres. indic. of skjalfa, and takes (gnap)mari (dat. sg.) Gylfa as equivalent to a prepositional phrase; but this involves emending ms. á mar to mari or assuming that endingless mar is dat., which is possible, though uncommon, in an a-stem m. noun at this date (Konráð Gíslason 1892, 224; Finnur Jónsson 1901, 12; ANG §§358.3, 4).
jalmar ‘squeals’
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jalma (verb): [squeals]
hlumr ‘the oar-handle’
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hlummr (noun m.; °; -ar): oar-handle
við ‘in’
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2. við (prep.): with, against
hilmis ‘of the king’
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hilmir (noun m.): prince, protector
hendr ‘the hands’
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hǫnd (noun f.; °handar, dat. hendi; hendr (hendir StatPáll³ 752¹²)): hand
sem ‘like’
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sem (conj.): as, which
notes
[8] sem vendir skildi ‘like swords on a shield’: The phrase is somewhat obscure. Vendir seems to be a half-kenning for ‘sword’ or possibly ‘spear-shaft’ (Meissner 77), and skildi to be a dat. sg. with a rare adverbial sense, ‘on a shield’. Previous commentators attach sem vendir skildi to the clause in ll. 5-6, assuming an understood repetition of the verb skelf(i)r ‘tremble, make shudder’, hence the oar trembles against, or shakes, the ship like sticks (Skj B; Reichardt 1930, 250-1), spear-shafts (Meissner 77) or swords (NN §1082) against a shield. However, it seems more likely that jalmar ‘squeals’ is understood from l. 7, so that the comparison is between the noise of the oar and the noise of a sword on a shield. This is supported by the fact that the related noun jalmr m. frequently collocates with terms referring to weapons or battle (LP: jalmr).
skildi ‘on a shield’
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skjǫldr (noun m.; °skjaldar/skildar, dat. skildi; skildir, acc. skjǫldu): shield
notes
[8] sem vendir skildi ‘like swords on a shield’: The phrase is somewhat obscure. Vendir seems to be a half-kenning for ‘sword’ or possibly ‘spear-shaft’ (Meissner 77), and skildi to be a dat. sg. with a rare adverbial sense, ‘on a shield’. Previous commentators attach sem vendir skildi to the clause in ll. 5-6, assuming an understood repetition of the verb skelf(i)r ‘tremble, make shudder’, hence the oar trembles against, or shakes, the ship like sticks (Skj B; Reichardt 1930, 250-1), spear-shafts (Meissner 77) or swords (NN §1082) against a shield. However, it seems more likely that jalmar ‘squeals’ is understood from l. 7, so that the comparison is between the noise of the oar and the noise of a sword on a shield. This is supported by the fact that the related noun jalmr m. frequently collocates with terms referring to weapons or battle (LP: jalmr).
vendir ‘swords’
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vǫndr (noun m.; °vandar, dat. vendi/vǫnd; vendir, acc. vǫndu/vendi): rod, want, mast
notes
[8] sem vendir skildi ‘like swords on a shield’: The phrase is somewhat obscure. Vendir seems to be a half-kenning for ‘sword’ or possibly ‘spear-shaft’ (Meissner 77), and skildi to be a dat. sg. with a rare adverbial sense, ‘on a shield’. Previous commentators attach sem vendir skildi to the clause in ll. 5-6, assuming an understood repetition of the verb skelf(i)r ‘tremble, make shudder’, hence the oar trembles against, or shakes, the ship like sticks (Skj B; Reichardt 1930, 250-1), spear-shafts (Meissner 77) or swords (NN §1082) against a shield. However, it seems more likely that jalmar ‘squeals’ is understood from l. 7, so that the comparison is between the noise of the oar and the noise of a sword on a shield. This is supported by the fact that the related noun jalmr m. frequently collocates with terms referring to weapons or battle (LP: jalmr).
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
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Sitr við ôr, en etjum, |
The mighty ruler sits at the oar, and a dog at the rudder, and we drive forward on the cold sea; the worthy controller of the retinue [RULER = Óláfr] rows well. The planed oar of the chieftain makes the towering horse of Gylfi <sea-king> [SHIP] shudder; the oar-handle squeals in the hands of the king, like swords on a shield.
King Óláfr Tryggvason calls on Þórarinn to take a turn at steering the longship, but Þórarinn replies that he is no helmsman. The king orders him to compose a verse to amuse the company, and to name a substitute to take the helm while he does so, and Þórarinn proposes Óláfr’s dog, Vígi. The king holds Vígi’s paws on the rudder as if the dog is steering and tells Þórarinn to compose his stanza.
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