R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Þormóðr Kolbrúnarskáld, Lausavísur 16’ 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. 827.
(not checked:)
sex (num. cardinal): six
[1] sex ‘six’: Five men whom the poet has slain are named in Þorm Lv 13V (Fbr 29), on which see the Notes in SkP V. In addition, Þormóðr killed King Óláfr’s forecastle-man, according to saga tradition (see the Context to Lv 15).
(not checked:)
hafa (verb): have
(not checked:)
allr (adj.): all
(not checked:)
vaxa (verb): grow, increase
[1] síz óxu: síðan óxum 142ˣ, 566aˣ, 761bˣ, er ôru DG8
(not checked:)
ónn (noun m.): sword < ónhjalt (noun n.): sword-hilt
[2] ón‑: en 142ˣ, ór 566aˣ
[2] Tý ónhjalta ‘the Týr <god> of sword-hilts [WARRIOR = Þormóðr]’: A hjalt is more strictly either a knob at the end of a hilt or the guard between hilt and blade (see Note to Anon Ól 1/5). The meaning of ónn has not been firmly established, though undoubtedly it refers either to a sword or to a part of a sword. It appears in Þul Sverða 11/5III, and Faulkes (SnE 1998, II, 368) renders the word ‘patterning on sword-blade’. (a) The present reading, retaining ms. ón and assuming the sense ‘sword’, is that of Kock (NN §2483). (b) Finnur Jónsson in Skj B emended to Tý óns hjalta, taking ónn hjalta to be a kenning for ‘sword’, and in 1932-3 rejected the hypothesis of Falk (1914b, 19), that this is Ônn, comparable with Swed. dial. ån (m.) and MHG jān (m.) ‘row of mown grass or reaped grain’; Falk noted its appearance in Norwegian place names with the meaning ‘striated meadow’.
(not checked:)
hjalt (noun n.; °; *-): hilt < ónhjalt (noun n.): sword-hilt
[2] Tý ónhjalta ‘the Týr <god> of sword-hilts [WARRIOR = Þormóðr]’: A hjalt is more strictly either a knob at the end of a hilt or the guard between hilt and blade (see Note to Anon Ól 1/5). The meaning of ónn has not been firmly established, though undoubtedly it refers either to a sword or to a part of a sword. It appears in Þul Sverða 11/5III, and Faulkes (SnE 1998, II, 368) renders the word ‘patterning on sword-blade’. (a) The present reading, retaining ms. ón and assuming the sense ‘sword’, is that of Kock (NN §2483). (b) Finnur Jónsson in Skj B emended to Tý óns hjalta, taking ónn hjalta to be a kenning for ‘sword’, and in 1932-3 rejected the hypothesis of Falk (1914b, 19), that this is Ônn, comparable with Swed. dial. ån (m.) and MHG jān (m.) ‘row of mown grass or reaped grain’; Falk noted its appearance in Norwegian place names with the meaning ‘striated meadow’.
[2] Tý ónhjalta ‘the Týr <god> of sword-hilts [WARRIOR = Þormóðr]’: A hjalt is more strictly either a knob at the end of a hilt or the guard between hilt and blade (see Note to Anon Ól 1/5). The meaning of ónn has not been firmly established, though undoubtedly it refers either to a sword or to a part of a sword. It appears in Þul Sverða 11/5III, and Faulkes (SnE 1998, II, 368) renders the word ‘patterning on sword-blade’. (a) The present reading, retaining ms. ón and assuming the sense ‘sword’, is that of Kock (NN §2483). (b) Finnur Jónsson in Skj B emended to Tý óns hjalta, taking ónn hjalta to be a kenning for ‘sword’, and in 1932-3 rejected the hypothesis of Falk (1914b, 19), that this is Ônn, comparable with Swed. dial. ån (m.) and MHG jān (m.) ‘row of mown grass or reaped grain’; Falk noted its appearance in Norwegian place names with the meaning ‘striated meadow’.
(not checked:)
kenna (verb): know, teach
(not checked:)
2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
[3] emk (‘em ek’): so 142ˣ, 566aˣ, 761bˣ, er ek Flat, ‘er mek’ DG8
(not checked:)
2. við (prep.): with, against
(not checked:)
styrr (noun m.; °dat. -): battle
(not checked:)
stundum (adv.): at times, sometimes
(not checked:)
1. stál (noun n.; °-s; -): steel, weapon, prow < stálregn (noun n.)
(not checked:)
1. stál (noun n.; °-s; -): steel, weapon, prow < stálregn (noun n.)
(not checked:)
boði (noun m.; °-a; -ar): messenger, breaker
(not checked:)
1. vega (verb): strike, slay
[5-6, 8] þó emk enn varliga orðinn þrítøgr at mun manna morðs ‘yet I am still barely turned thirty to the satisfaction of men of battle [WARRIORS]’: (a) The reading adopted here broadly follows Kock (NN §2484, followed by ÍF 6 and ÍS), except that þó is taken as an adv. within a main clause rather than a conj. introducing a subordinate clause. The interpretation of at mun manna (morðs) as ‘to the satisfaction of men (of battle)’ originates with Gaertner (1907, 333), who compares at mun banda ‘at the will/pleasure of the gods’ (Eskál Vell 8/2, Edáð Banddr 9/1); cf. also í mun manni ‘after the man’s wishes’ (KormǪ Lv 60/3V (Korm 81)). Its precise meaning in context is not evident, and this seems to have led Finnur Jónsson to emend in Skj B. (b) Skj B reads nú ‘now’ for þó ‘though’ in l. 5 (with Flat, to avoid the repetition of þó in l. 7), ok ‘and’ for at ‘to’ (with all the mss except Flat), man ‘remember’ for mun ‘satisfaction’ (as suggested by Sveinbjörn Egilsson: a common scribal confusion or variation if it is a verb), and morð ‘killing, battle’ for morðs (with DG8), giving the sense ‘now I am hardly yet turned thirty, and I remember the fall of men’. This gives clearer meaning, but it demands the assumption of some scribal improbabilities. For example, it is difficult to see why the reading nú should have been altered to þó everywhere but in the otherwise rather unreliable DG8, while the reverse development is not hard to explain. Further, it creates full rhyme in the odd line (though this is paralleled, e.g. in Þorm Lv 3/1V (Fbr 19), Lv 6/3V (Fbr 24) and Lv 8/3V (Fbr 26)).
(not checked:)
2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
[5-6, 8] þó emk enn varliga orðinn þrítøgr at mun manna morðs ‘yet I am still barely turned thirty to the satisfaction of men of battle [WARRIORS]’: (a) The reading adopted here broadly follows Kock (NN §2484, followed by ÍF 6 and ÍS), except that þó is taken as an adv. within a main clause rather than a conj. introducing a subordinate clause. The interpretation of at mun manna (morðs) as ‘to the satisfaction of men (of battle)’ originates with Gaertner (1907, 333), who compares at mun banda ‘at the will/pleasure of the gods’ (Eskál Vell 8/2, Edáð Banddr 9/1); cf. also í mun manni ‘after the man’s wishes’ (KormǪ Lv 60/3V (Korm 81)). Its precise meaning in context is not evident, and this seems to have led Finnur Jónsson to emend in Skj B. (b) Skj B reads nú ‘now’ for þó ‘though’ in l. 5 (with Flat, to avoid the repetition of þó in l. 7), ok ‘and’ for at ‘to’ (with all the mss except Flat), man ‘remember’ for mun ‘satisfaction’ (as suggested by Sveinbjörn Egilsson: a common scribal confusion or variation if it is a verb), and morð ‘killing, battle’ for morðs (with DG8), giving the sense ‘now I am hardly yet turned thirty, and I remember the fall of men’. This gives clearer meaning, but it demands the assumption of some scribal improbabilities. For example, it is difficult to see why the reading nú should have been altered to þó everywhere but in the otherwise rather unreliable DG8, while the reverse development is not hard to explain. Further, it creates full rhyme in the odd line (though this is paralleled, e.g. in Þorm Lv 3/1V (Fbr 19), Lv 6/3V (Fbr 24) and Lv 8/3V (Fbr 26)).
(not checked:)
2. enn (adv.): still, yet, again
[5] enn at: ok 142ˣ, 566aˣ, 761bˣ, enn ok DG8
[5-6, 8] þó emk enn varliga orðinn þrítøgr at mun manna morðs ‘yet I am still barely turned thirty to the satisfaction of men of battle [WARRIORS]’: (a) The reading adopted here broadly follows Kock (NN §2484, followed by ÍF 6 and ÍS), except that þó is taken as an adv. within a main clause rather than a conj. introducing a subordinate clause. The interpretation of at mun manna (morðs) as ‘to the satisfaction of men (of battle)’ originates with Gaertner (1907, 333), who compares at mun banda ‘at the will/pleasure of the gods’ (Eskál Vell 8/2, Edáð Banddr 9/1); cf. also í mun manni ‘after the man’s wishes’ (KormǪ Lv 60/3V (Korm 81)). Its precise meaning in context is not evident, and this seems to have led Finnur Jónsson to emend in Skj B. (b) Skj B reads nú ‘now’ for þó ‘though’ in l. 5 (with Flat, to avoid the repetition of þó in l. 7), ok ‘and’ for at ‘to’ (with all the mss except Flat), man ‘remember’ for mun ‘satisfaction’ (as suggested by Sveinbjörn Egilsson: a common scribal confusion or variation if it is a verb), and morð ‘killing, battle’ for morðs (with DG8), giving the sense ‘now I am hardly yet turned thirty, and I remember the fall of men’. This gives clearer meaning, but it demands the assumption of some scribal improbabilities. For example, it is difficult to see why the reading nú should have been altered to þó everywhere but in the otherwise rather unreliable DG8, while the reverse development is not hard to explain. Further, it creates full rhyme in the odd line (though this is paralleled, e.g. in Þorm Lv 3/1V (Fbr 19), Lv 6/3V (Fbr 24) and Lv 8/3V (Fbr 26)).
[5-6, 8] þó emk enn varliga orðinn þrítøgr at mun manna morðs ‘yet I am still barely turned thirty to the satisfaction of men of battle [WARRIORS]’: (a) The reading adopted here broadly follows Kock (NN §2484, followed by ÍF 6 and ÍS), except that þó is taken as an adv. within a main clause rather than a conj. introducing a subordinate clause. The interpretation of at mun manna (morðs) as ‘to the satisfaction of men (of battle)’ originates with Gaertner (1907, 333), who compares at mun banda ‘at the will/pleasure of the gods’ (Eskál Vell 8/2, Edáð Banddr 9/1); cf. also í mun manni ‘after the man’s wishes’ (KormǪ Lv 60/3V (Korm 81)). Its precise meaning in context is not evident, and this seems to have led Finnur Jónsson to emend in Skj B. (b) Skj B reads nú ‘now’ for þó ‘though’ in l. 5 (with Flat, to avoid the repetition of þó in l. 7), ok ‘and’ for at ‘to’ (with all the mss except Flat), man ‘remember’ for mun ‘satisfaction’ (as suggested by Sveinbjörn Egilsson: a common scribal confusion or variation if it is a verb), and morð ‘killing, battle’ for morðs (with DG8), giving the sense ‘now I am hardly yet turned thirty, and I remember the fall of men’. This gives clearer meaning, but it demands the assumption of some scribal improbabilities. For example, it is difficult to see why the reading nú should have been altered to þó everywhere but in the otherwise rather unreliable DG8, while the reverse development is not hard to explain. Further, it creates full rhyme in the odd line (though this is paralleled, e.g. in Þorm Lv 3/1V (Fbr 19), Lv 6/3V (Fbr 24) and Lv 8/3V (Fbr 26)).
(not checked:)
munr (noun m.; °-ar/-s, dat. -/-i; -ir, acc. -i): mind, pleasure
[5] mun: namk DG8
[5-6, 8] þó emk enn varliga orðinn þrítøgr at mun manna morðs ‘yet I am still barely turned thirty to the satisfaction of men of battle [WARRIORS]’: (a) The reading adopted here broadly follows Kock (NN §2484, followed by ÍF 6 and ÍS), except that þó is taken as an adv. within a main clause rather than a conj. introducing a subordinate clause. The interpretation of at mun manna (morðs) as ‘to the satisfaction of men (of battle)’ originates with Gaertner (1907, 333), who compares at mun banda ‘at the will/pleasure of the gods’ (Eskál Vell 8/2, Edáð Banddr 9/1); cf. also í mun manni ‘after the man’s wishes’ (KormǪ Lv 60/3V (Korm 81)). Its precise meaning in context is not evident, and this seems to have led Finnur Jónsson to emend in Skj B. (b) Skj B reads nú ‘now’ for þó ‘though’ in l. 5 (with Flat, to avoid the repetition of þó in l. 7), ok ‘and’ for at ‘to’ (with all the mss except Flat), man ‘remember’ for mun ‘satisfaction’ (as suggested by Sveinbjörn Egilsson: a common scribal confusion or variation if it is a verb), and morð ‘killing, battle’ for morðs (with DG8), giving the sense ‘now I am hardly yet turned thirty, and I remember the fall of men’. This gives clearer meaning, but it demands the assumption of some scribal improbabilities. For example, it is difficult to see why the reading nú should have been altered to þó everywhere but in the otherwise rather unreliable DG8, while the reverse development is not hard to explain. Further, it creates full rhyme in the odd line (though this is paralleled, e.g. in Þorm Lv 3/1V (Fbr 19), Lv 6/3V (Fbr 24) and Lv 8/3V (Fbr 26)).
(not checked:)
maðr (noun m.): man, person
[5-6, 8] þó emk enn varliga orðinn þrítøgr at mun manna morðs ‘yet I am still barely turned thirty to the satisfaction of men of battle [WARRIORS]’: (a) The reading adopted here broadly follows Kock (NN §2484, followed by ÍF 6 and ÍS), except that þó is taken as an adv. within a main clause rather than a conj. introducing a subordinate clause. The interpretation of at mun manna (morðs) as ‘to the satisfaction of men (of battle)’ originates with Gaertner (1907, 333), who compares at mun banda ‘at the will/pleasure of the gods’ (Eskál Vell 8/2, Edáð Banddr 9/1); cf. also í mun manni ‘after the man’s wishes’ (KormǪ Lv 60/3V (Korm 81)). Its precise meaning in context is not evident, and this seems to have led Finnur Jónsson to emend in Skj B. (b) Skj B reads nú ‘now’ for þó ‘though’ in l. 5 (with Flat, to avoid the repetition of þó in l. 7), ok ‘and’ for at ‘to’ (with all the mss except Flat), man ‘remember’ for mun ‘satisfaction’ (as suggested by Sveinbjörn Egilsson: a common scribal confusion or variation if it is a verb), and morð ‘killing, battle’ for morðs (with DG8), giving the sense ‘now I am hardly yet turned thirty, and I remember the fall of men’. This gives clearer meaning, but it demands the assumption of some scribal improbabilities. For example, it is difficult to see why the reading nú should have been altered to þó everywhere but in the otherwise rather unreliable DG8, while the reverse development is not hard to explain. Further, it creates full rhyme in the odd line (though this is paralleled, e.g. in Þorm Lv 3/1V (Fbr 19), Lv 6/3V (Fbr 24) and Lv 8/3V (Fbr 26)).
(not checked:)
1. morð (noun n.; °-s; -): killing, battle
[6] morðs varliga orðinn: morð varlegra forðum DG8
[5-6, 8] þó emk enn varliga orðinn þrítøgr at mun manna morðs ‘yet I am still barely turned thirty to the satisfaction of men of battle [WARRIORS]’: (a) The reading adopted here broadly follows Kock (NN §2484, followed by ÍF 6 and ÍS), except that þó is taken as an adv. within a main clause rather than a conj. introducing a subordinate clause. The interpretation of at mun manna (morðs) as ‘to the satisfaction of men (of battle)’ originates with Gaertner (1907, 333), who compares at mun banda ‘at the will/pleasure of the gods’ (Eskál Vell 8/2, Edáð Banddr 9/1); cf. also í mun manni ‘after the man’s wishes’ (KormǪ Lv 60/3V (Korm 81)). Its precise meaning in context is not evident, and this seems to have led Finnur Jónsson to emend in Skj B. (b) Skj B reads nú ‘now’ for þó ‘though’ in l. 5 (with Flat, to avoid the repetition of þó in l. 7), ok ‘and’ for at ‘to’ (with all the mss except Flat), man ‘remember’ for mun ‘satisfaction’ (as suggested by Sveinbjörn Egilsson: a common scribal confusion or variation if it is a verb), and morð ‘killing, battle’ for morðs (with DG8), giving the sense ‘now I am hardly yet turned thirty, and I remember the fall of men’. This gives clearer meaning, but it demands the assumption of some scribal improbabilities. For example, it is difficult to see why the reading nú should have been altered to þó everywhere but in the otherwise rather unreliable DG8, while the reverse development is not hard to explain. Further, it creates full rhyme in the odd line (though this is paralleled, e.g. in Þorm Lv 3/1V (Fbr 19), Lv 6/3V (Fbr 24) and Lv 8/3V (Fbr 26)).
(not checked:)
varliga (adv.): barely
[6] morðs varliga orðinn: morð varlegra forðum DG8
[5-6, 8] þó emk enn varliga orðinn þrítøgr at mun manna morðs ‘yet I am still barely turned thirty to the satisfaction of men of battle [WARRIORS]’: (a) The reading adopted here broadly follows Kock (NN §2484, followed by ÍF 6 and ÍS), except that þó is taken as an adv. within a main clause rather than a conj. introducing a subordinate clause. The interpretation of at mun manna (morðs) as ‘to the satisfaction of men (of battle)’ originates with Gaertner (1907, 333), who compares at mun banda ‘at the will/pleasure of the gods’ (Eskál Vell 8/2, Edáð Banddr 9/1); cf. also í mun manni ‘after the man’s wishes’ (KormǪ Lv 60/3V (Korm 81)). Its precise meaning in context is not evident, and this seems to have led Finnur Jónsson to emend in Skj B. (b) Skj B reads nú ‘now’ for þó ‘though’ in l. 5 (with Flat, to avoid the repetition of þó in l. 7), ok ‘and’ for at ‘to’ (with all the mss except Flat), man ‘remember’ for mun ‘satisfaction’ (as suggested by Sveinbjörn Egilsson: a common scribal confusion or variation if it is a verb), and morð ‘killing, battle’ for morðs (with DG8), giving the sense ‘now I am hardly yet turned thirty, and I remember the fall of men’. This gives clearer meaning, but it demands the assumption of some scribal improbabilities. For example, it is difficult to see why the reading nú should have been altered to þó everywhere but in the otherwise rather unreliable DG8, while the reverse development is not hard to explain. Further, it creates full rhyme in the odd line (though this is paralleled, e.g. in Þorm Lv 3/1V (Fbr 19), Lv 6/3V (Fbr 24) and Lv 8/3V (Fbr 26)).
(not checked:)
2. vinna (verb): perform, work
[6] morðs varliga orðinn: morð varlegra forðum DG8
[5-6, 8] þó emk enn varliga orðinn þrítøgr at mun manna morðs ‘yet I am still barely turned thirty to the satisfaction of men of battle [WARRIORS]’: (a) The reading adopted here broadly follows Kock (NN §2484, followed by ÍF 6 and ÍS), except that þó is taken as an adv. within a main clause rather than a conj. introducing a subordinate clause. The interpretation of at mun manna (morðs) as ‘to the satisfaction of men (of battle)’ originates with Gaertner (1907, 333), who compares at mun banda ‘at the will/pleasure of the gods’ (Eskál Vell 8/2, Edáð Banddr 9/1); cf. also í mun manni ‘after the man’s wishes’ (KormǪ Lv 60/3V (Korm 81)). Its precise meaning in context is not evident, and this seems to have led Finnur Jónsson to emend in Skj B. (b) Skj B reads nú ‘now’ for þó ‘though’ in l. 5 (with Flat, to avoid the repetition of þó in l. 7), ok ‘and’ for at ‘to’ (with all the mss except Flat), man ‘remember’ for mun ‘satisfaction’ (as suggested by Sveinbjörn Egilsson: a common scribal confusion or variation if it is a verb), and morð ‘killing, battle’ for morðs (with DG8), giving the sense ‘now I am hardly yet turned thirty, and I remember the fall of men’. This gives clearer meaning, but it demands the assumption of some scribal improbabilities. For example, it is difficult to see why the reading nú should have been altered to þó everywhere but in the otherwise rather unreliable DG8, while the reverse development is not hard to explain. Further, it creates full rhyme in the odd line (though this is paralleled, e.g. in Þorm Lv 3/1V (Fbr 19), Lv 6/3V (Fbr 24) and Lv 8/3V (Fbr 26)).
(not checked:)
vér (pron.; °gen. vár, dat./acc. oss): we, us, our
(not checked:)
láta (verb): let, have sth done
(not checked:)
þó (adv.): though
(not checked:)
hann (pron.; °gen. hans, dat. honum; f. hon, gen. hennar, acc. hana): he, she, it, they, them...
[7, 8] bíta skarar þeira ‘their scalps to be cleaved’: Lit. ‘to bite their hair’; ‘sword(s)’ must be understood as the implied subject of bíta.
(not checked:)
þrítigr (adj.): thirty
[5-6, 8] þó emk enn varliga orðinn þrítøgr at mun manna morðs ‘yet I am still barely turned thirty to the satisfaction of men of battle [WARRIORS]’: (a) The reading adopted here broadly follows Kock (NN §2484, followed by ÍF 6 and ÍS), except that þó is taken as an adv. within a main clause rather than a conj. introducing a subordinate clause. The interpretation of at mun manna (morðs) as ‘to the satisfaction of men (of battle)’ originates with Gaertner (1907, 333), who compares at mun banda ‘at the will/pleasure of the gods’ (Eskál Vell 8/2, Edáð Banddr 9/1); cf. also í mun manni ‘after the man’s wishes’ (KormǪ Lv 60/3V (Korm 81)). Its precise meaning in context is not evident, and this seems to have led Finnur Jónsson to emend in Skj B. (b) Skj B reads nú ‘now’ for þó ‘though’ in l. 5 (with Flat, to avoid the repetition of þó in l. 7), ok ‘and’ for at ‘to’ (with all the mss except Flat), man ‘remember’ for mun ‘satisfaction’ (as suggested by Sveinbjörn Egilsson: a common scribal confusion or variation if it is a verb), and morð ‘killing, battle’ for morðs (with DG8), giving the sense ‘now I am hardly yet turned thirty, and I remember the fall of men’. This gives clearer meaning, but it demands the assumption of some scribal improbabilities. For example, it is difficult to see why the reading nú should have been altered to þó everywhere but in the otherwise rather unreliable DG8, while the reverse development is not hard to explain. Further, it creates full rhyme in the odd line (though this is paralleled, e.g. in Þorm Lv 3/1V (Fbr 19), Lv 6/3V (Fbr 24) and Lv 8/3V (Fbr 26)).
(not checked:)
skǫr (noun f.; °skarar; skarir): hair, planking
[7, 8] bíta skarar þeira ‘their scalps to be cleaved’: Lit. ‘to bite their hair’; ‘sword(s)’ must be understood as the implied subject of bíta.
[7, 8] bíta skarar þeira ‘their scalps to be cleaved’: Lit. ‘to bite their hair’; ‘sword(s)’ must be understood as the implied subject of bíta.
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Sex hefk alls, síz óxu |
I have killed, in all, six announcers of steel-rain [BATTLE > WARRIORS] since hostilities grew against the Týr <god> of sword-hilts [WARRIOR = me]; I am at times known for fighting. Yet I am still barely turned thirty, to the satisfaction of men of battle; we [I] nonetheless caused their scalps to be cleaved.
In Þorm, a conversation follows the preceding stanza, in which the king asks Þormóðr how many men he has killed, and the poet replies with Lv 16. In ÞormR, the context is similar, but Þorm Lv 3V (Fbr 19) is also cited before this stanza. In ÓHLeg, the king asks the question for no apparent reason after Þormóðr has recited Bjarkamál on the way to Stiklestad (ON Stiklastaðir).
Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.
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.
This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.
This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.