Þorm Lv 10I
R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Þormóðr Kolbrúnarskáld, Lausavísur 10’ 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. 823.
Loftungu ‘Loftunga (‘Praise-tongue’)’
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loftunga (noun f.): [tongue of praise, Loftunga
notes
[1] Loftungu ‘Loftunga (“Praise-tongue”)’: The skald Þórarinn loftunga (Þloft): see his Biography and work in this volume. Professional rivalry surfaces again in Lv 20b.
lengi ‘For long’
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lengi (adv.): for a long time
látr ‘the lair’
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látr (noun n.; °; dat. -um): lair
þats ‘that’
notes
[2] látr, þats Fáfnir átti ‘the lair that Fáfnir owned [gold]’: The rel. clause functions like the determinant in a kenning, and the expression is semantically comparable to gold-kennings such as látr sváfnis ‘serpent’s lair’ (Grett Lv 31/7V (Gr 63)). The reference is to the dragon Fáfnir in the legend of Sigurðr, with resonances of broader superstitions about gold-hoards guarded by dragons; for Fáfnir see Þorf Lv 1 and Note to [All] ad loc.
notes
[2] látr, þats Fáfnir átti ‘the lair that Fáfnir owned [gold]’: The rel. clause functions like the determinant in a kenning, and the expression is semantically comparable to gold-kennings such as látr sváfnis ‘serpent’s lair’ (Grett Lv 31/7V (Gr 63)). The reference is to the dragon Fáfnir in the legend of Sigurðr, with resonances of broader superstitions about gold-hoards guarded by dragons; for Fáfnir see Þorf Lv 1 and Note to [All] ad loc.
átti ‘owned’
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2. eiga (verb; °á/eigr (præs. pl. 3. pers. eigu/eiga); átti, áttu; átt): own, have
[2] átti: ‘atv’ Tóm
notes
[2] látr, þats Fáfnir átti ‘the lair that Fáfnir owned [gold]’: The rel. clause functions like the determinant in a kenning, and the expression is semantically comparable to gold-kennings such as látr sváfnis ‘serpent’s lair’ (Grett Lv 31/7V (Gr 63)). The reference is to the dragon Fáfnir in the legend of Sigurðr, with resonances of broader superstitions about gold-hoards guarded by dragons; for Fáfnir see Þorf Lv 1 and Note to [All] ad loc.
þú ‘you’
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þú (pron.; °gen. þín, dat. þér, acc. þik): you
lézt ‘have granted’
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láta (verb): let, have sth done
mér ‘me’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
inn ‘’
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2. inn (art.): the
notes
[3] inn mæri ‘famous one’: Finnur Jónsson in Skj B takes the ‘enn’ of most of the mss not as the def. art. inn but as the adv. enn ‘still, further’. He emends mæri to mœrar ‘of land’ and analyses this as part of the gold-kenning, which is necessary in his construal since he removes merkr ‘of the forest’ from the kenning: see next Note. However, the emendation is unnecessary, it yields a metrically doubtful line, and as Kock (NN §710A) points out, Þormóðr never uses a form of þú without an appositive vocative phrase.
notes
[3] inn mæri ‘famous one’: Finnur Jónsson in Skj B takes the ‘enn’ of most of the mss not as the def. art. inn but as the adv. enn ‘still, further’. He emends mæri to mœrar ‘of land’ and analyses this as part of the gold-kenning, which is necessary in his construal since he removes merkr ‘of the forest’ from the kenning: see next Note. However, the emendation is unnecessary, it yields a metrically doubtful line, and as Kock (NN §710A) points out, Þormóðr never uses a form of þú without an appositive vocative phrase.
merkr ‘of the forest’
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2. mǫrk (noun f.; °merkr; merkr): forest
kennings
merkr fránǫluns.‘of the forest of the flashing fish. ’
= GOLD
the flashing fish. → SERPENT
the forest of the SERPENT → GOLD
notes
[4] merkr ‘of the forest’: This is tantamount to ‘of the land’, forming a stereotypical gold-kenning (see Notes to l. 2 and l. 4 fránǫluns). Finnur Jónsson (LP: 2. mǫrk) analyses merkr as gen. sg. of mǫrk ‘unit of weight’ (so also Finnur Jónsson 1932-3, pointing out that the following prose remarks that the king had promised the skald a ‘mark’ of gold), though in LP: fránǫlunn he takes merkr f. as slange ‘snake, serpent’, and warns that the gen. sg. of mǫrk ‘forest’ appears always to be markar rather than merkr. The latter is not the general view, however (see NN §710B, with references).
frán ‘of the flashing’
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2. fránn (adj.): bright, shining < fránǫlunn (noun m.)
kennings
merkr fránǫluns.‘of the forest of the flashing fish. ’
= GOLD
the flashing fish. → SERPENT
the forest of the SERPENT → GOLD
notes
[4] fránǫluns ‘of the flashing fish [SERPENT]’: Ǫlunn does not occur in prose, and its meaning is uncertain, but its occurrence as a fish-heiti in Þul Fiska 1/7III and in certain types of kenning point to a fish; some sources take it as mackerel (see LP: ǫlunn). Fránǫlunn is not a standard kenning for ‘serpent’, since the first element is adjectival and decorative, whereas one would expect a nominal determinant referring to land, hence ‘fish of the land’. It is as though merkr ‘of the forest/land’ is needed both for this function (to make a fish into a serpent) and to provide the base-word for the gold-kenning, though such a dual role is exceptional. Kock (Skald; NN §710C) would emend to frón- ‘land’, despite the disruption to the hending.
frán ‘of the flashing’
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2. fránn (adj.): bright, shining < fránǫlunn (noun m.)
kennings
merkr fránǫluns.‘of the forest of the flashing fish. ’
= GOLD
the flashing fish. → SERPENT
the forest of the SERPENT → GOLD
notes
[4] fránǫluns ‘of the flashing fish [SERPENT]’: Ǫlunn does not occur in prose, and its meaning is uncertain, but its occurrence as a fish-heiti in Þul Fiska 1/7III and in certain types of kenning point to a fish; some sources take it as mackerel (see LP: ǫlunn). Fránǫlunn is not a standard kenning for ‘serpent’, since the first element is adjectival and decorative, whereas one would expect a nominal determinant referring to land, hence ‘fish of the land’. It is as though merkr ‘of the forest/land’ is needed both for this function (to make a fish into a serpent) and to provide the base-word for the gold-kenning, though such a dual role is exceptional. Kock (Skald; NN §710C) would emend to frón- ‘land’, despite the disruption to the hending.
kennings
merkr fránǫluns.‘of the forest of the flashing fish. ’
= GOLD
the flashing fish. → SERPENT
the forest of the SERPENT → GOLD
notes
[4] fránǫluns ‘of the flashing fish [SERPENT]’: Ǫlunn does not occur in prose, and its meaning is uncertain, but its occurrence as a fish-heiti in Þul Fiska 1/7III and in certain types of kenning point to a fish; some sources take it as mackerel (see LP: ǫlunn). Fránǫlunn is not a standard kenning for ‘serpent’, since the first element is adjectival and decorative, whereas one would expect a nominal determinant referring to land, hence ‘fish of the land’. It is as though merkr ‘of the forest/land’ is needed both for this function (to make a fish into a serpent) and to provide the base-word for the gold-kenning, though such a dual role is exceptional. Kock (Skald; NN §710C) would emend to frón- ‘land’, despite the disruption to the hending.
kennings
merkr fránǫluns.‘of the forest of the flashing fish. ’
= GOLD
the flashing fish. → SERPENT
the forest of the SERPENT → GOLD
notes
[4] fránǫluns ‘of the flashing fish [SERPENT]’: Ǫlunn does not occur in prose, and its meaning is uncertain, but its occurrence as a fish-heiti in Þul Fiska 1/7III and in certain types of kenning point to a fish; some sources take it as mackerel (see LP: ǫlunn). Fránǫlunn is not a standard kenning for ‘serpent’, since the first element is adjectival and decorative, whereas one would expect a nominal determinant referring to land, hence ‘fish of the land’. It is as though merkr ‘of the forest/land’ is needed both for this function (to make a fish into a serpent) and to provide the base-word for the gold-kenning, though such a dual role is exceptional. Kock (Skald; NN §710C) would emend to frón- ‘land’, despite the disruption to the hending.
vánir ‘hopes’
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ván (noun f.; °-ar, dat. -/-u; -ir): hope, expectation
Verðr ‘worthy’
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3. verðr (adj.): worth, worthy
emk ‘I am’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
varga ‘of outlaws’
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vargr (noun m.; °dat. -i; -ar): wolf
kennings
víðlendr myrðir varga,‘broad-landed destroyer of outlaws, ’
= RULER = Knútr
broad-landed destroyer of outlaws, → RULER = Knútr
myrðir ‘destroyer’
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myrðir (noun m.): killer
[5] myrðir: so DG8, Flat, ‘mvrþir’ NRA52, myndir Tóm
kennings
víðlendr myrðir varga,‘broad-landed destroyer of outlaws, ’
= RULER = Knútr
broad-landed destroyer of outlaws, → RULER = Knútr
víð ‘broad’
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víðr (adj.): far < víðlendr (adj.): widely-landed
kennings
víðlendr myrðir varga,‘broad-landed destroyer of outlaws, ’
= RULER = Knútr
broad-landed destroyer of outlaws, → RULER = Knútr
lendr ‘landed’
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lendr (adj.): landed < víðlendr (adj.): widely-landed
kennings
víðlendr myrðir varga,‘broad-landed destroyer of outlaws, ’
= RULER = Knútr
broad-landed destroyer of outlaws, → RULER = Knútr
frá ‘from’
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frá (prep.): from
þér ‘you’
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þú (pron.; °gen. þín, dat. þér, acc. þik): you
notes
[6] síðan ‘afterwards’: For other examples of clausal elements preceding the conj. (here eðr ‘or’) that introduces the clause in Þormóðr’s poetry, see Lv 6/5V, Þorgdr 1/6V (Fbr 2), 12/3V (Fbr 15) and 14/6V (Fbr 17). Prior eds have generally construed this word with emk verðr ‘I am worthy’ and assumed the sense ‘hereafter’.
heldr ‘instead’
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heldr (adv.): rather
of ‘over’
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3. of (prep.): around, from; too
sjaldan ‘seldom’
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sjaldan (adv.): seldom
slíks ‘of the same’
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2. slíkr (adj.): such
réttar ‘due’
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1. réttr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. -/-i; -ir, acc. -i/-u): right, entitlement
vætta ‘hope’
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vætta (verb): expect
notes
[8] vætta ‘hope’: Or ‘expect’ or ‘be expected’. Skj B reads vétta on the ground that æ is not known to rhyme with é before the end of the Middle Ages (Finnur Jónsson 1932-3). Yet the correct explanation is most likely that the root vowels of the two forms were shortened before the following geminate consonant, and when [æ:] and [e:] were shortened, they both produced [e] (ANG §127.6 and Anm. 2). Long vowels were later reintroduced analogically.
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Loftungu gaft lengi |
For long you gave Loftunga (‘Praise-tongue’) the lair that Fáfnir owned [gold]; you, famous one, have granted me hopes of the forest of the flashing fish [SERPENT > GOLD]. I am worthy of the same due from you, broad-landed destroyer of outlaws [RULER = Knútr], or instead I shall seldom afterwards hope [to come] over the sea.
In all texts, at their parting in Denmark, Þormóðr reminds King Knútr inn ríki (Cnut the Great) of the gifts due him in reward for his service to the king. The prose context in NRA52 is defective but appears to be the same.
For the sequel, see Lv 11 and Context, and for similar complaints, see Sigv Vestv 5 and its Context and ESk Lv 7II and its Introduction. — [7, 8] eða heldr skalk sjaldan ... vætta of sæ ‘or instead I shall seldom ... hope [to come] over the sea’: (a) The sense may be ‘I shall not return’. (b) Finnur Jónsson (Skj B; Finnur Jónsson 1932-3), followed by Skald, interprets the final intercalary as a question, ‘Or shall I never expect anything on the sea?’. (c) Gaertner (1907, 329), with different apportionment of the intercalary and main clauses, and emending síðan to síðarr ‘later’, also perceives a question, ‘or shall I expect my due from you later?’. (d) Another possibility is ‘or else I shall rather seldom hope for [anything here] across the sea’, i.e. ‘I shall give up hope of generosity from you’. (e) Björn K. Þórólfsson (ÍF 6, and similarly ÍS) takes the intercalary clause to mean ‘or I shall instead put to sea and hope for nothing’. The saga writer probably understood the meaning to be something like the last mentioned or the one offered here, since this would explain why he has Þormóðr deliver the poem shortly before his departure.
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