Anon Eirm 3I
R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Anonymous Poems, Eiríksmál 3’ 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. 1008.
Hvat ‘What’
(not checked:)
hvat (pron.): what
notes
[1] hvat þrymr þar * ‘what is making a din there’: Here the metre changes from málaháttr to ljóðaháttr. The stanza is spoken by Bragi, god of poetry (named in st. 4/2), but the words þar Bragi ‘there Bragi’ in the mss have been variously treated by eds. (a) Retaining this reading, several eds regard ll. 1-3 as spoken by Óðinn, addressing Bragi (so Müller 1837, 333, Munch and Unger 1847, 114, Möbius 1860, Wisén 1870, 51, Holthausen 1896, Skj B, Skald, Lindquist 1929, 8, and presumably Fsk 1902-3). (b) Árni Magnússon (in 761bˣ) indicates his belief that kvað ‘spoke’ has dropped out before Bragi, and in this he is followed by Jón Helgason (1968) and ÍF 29. This makes better sense, as otherwise Óðinn would seem to be asking a question to which he already knows the answer (a problem remarked by von See 1963, 114). It also makes better sense of the implication in st. 4/2 that Bragi has just spoken. (c) Assuming kvað has indeed dropped out, however, kvað Bragi is to be regarded as inorganic, and as with the other identifications of speakers it is omitted here (see Introduction to the poem).
þrymr ‘is making a din’
(not checked:)
2. þrymja (verb): resound, make noise
notes
[1] hvat þrymr þar * ‘what is making a din there’: Here the metre changes from málaháttr to ljóðaháttr. The stanza is spoken by Bragi, god of poetry (named in st. 4/2), but the words þar Bragi ‘there Bragi’ in the mss have been variously treated by eds. (a) Retaining this reading, several eds regard ll. 1-3 as spoken by Óðinn, addressing Bragi (so Müller 1837, 333, Munch and Unger 1847, 114, Möbius 1860, Wisén 1870, 51, Holthausen 1896, Skj B, Skald, Lindquist 1929, 8, and presumably Fsk 1902-3). (b) Árni Magnússon (in 761bˣ) indicates his belief that kvað ‘spoke’ has dropped out before Bragi, and in this he is followed by Jón Helgason (1968) and ÍF 29. This makes better sense, as otherwise Óðinn would seem to be asking a question to which he already knows the answer (a problem remarked by von See 1963, 114). It also makes better sense of the implication in st. 4/2 that Bragi has just spoken. (c) Assuming kvað has indeed dropped out, however, kvað Bragi is to be regarded as inorganic, and as with the other identifications of speakers it is omitted here (see Introduction to the poem).
notes
[1] hvat þrymr þar * ‘what is making a din there’: Here the metre changes from málaháttr to ljóðaháttr. The stanza is spoken by Bragi, god of poetry (named in st. 4/2), but the words þar Bragi ‘there Bragi’ in the mss have been variously treated by eds. (a) Retaining this reading, several eds regard ll. 1-3 as spoken by Óðinn, addressing Bragi (so Müller 1837, 333, Munch and Unger 1847, 114, Möbius 1860, Wisén 1870, 51, Holthausen 1896, Skj B, Skald, Lindquist 1929, 8, and presumably Fsk 1902-3). (b) Árni Magnússon (in 761bˣ) indicates his belief that kvað ‘spoke’ has dropped out before Bragi, and in this he is followed by Jón Helgason (1968) and ÍF 29. This makes better sense, as otherwise Óðinn would seem to be asking a question to which he already knows the answer (a problem remarked by von See 1963, 114). It also makes better sense of the implication in st. 4/2 that Bragi has just spoken. (c) Assuming kvað has indeed dropped out, however, kvað Bragi is to be regarded as inorganic, and as with the other identifications of speakers it is omitted here (see Introduction to the poem).
notes
[1] hvat þrymr þar * ‘what is making a din there’: Here the metre changes from málaháttr to ljóðaháttr. The stanza is spoken by Bragi, god of poetry (named in st. 4/2), but the words þar Bragi ‘there Bragi’ in the mss have been variously treated by eds. (a) Retaining this reading, several eds regard ll. 1-3 as spoken by Óðinn, addressing Bragi (so Müller 1837, 333, Munch and Unger 1847, 114, Möbius 1860, Wisén 1870, 51, Holthausen 1896, Skj B, Skald, Lindquist 1929, 8, and presumably Fsk 1902-3). (b) Árni Magnússon (in 761bˣ) indicates his belief that kvað ‘spoke’ has dropped out before Bragi, and in this he is followed by Jón Helgason (1968) and ÍF 29. This makes better sense, as otherwise Óðinn would seem to be asking a question to which he already knows the answer (a problem remarked by von See 1963, 114). It also makes better sense of the implication in st. 4/2 that Bragi has just spoken. (c) Assuming kvað has indeed dropped out, however, kvað Bragi is to be regarded as inorganic, and as with the other identifications of speakers it is omitted here (see Introduction to the poem).
sem ‘as if’
(not checked:)
sem (conj.): as, which
þúsund ‘a thousand’
(not checked:)
1. þúsund (noun f.; °; -ir): thousand
notes
[2] þúsund ‘a thousand’: There is perhaps influence from Old English here: cf. OE þūsend(ealdor)mann ‘captain of a thousand’, etc. (Hofmann 1955, 43-4).
bifisk ‘were in motion’
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2. bifa (verb; °-að-): shudder, tremble
eða ‘or’
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eða (conj.): or
mengi ‘throng’
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mengi (noun n.): multitude, crowd
til ‘’
(not checked:)
til (prep.): to
mikit ‘an exceedingly great’
(not checked:)
mikill (adj.; °mikinn): great, large
Braka ‘creak’
(not checked:)
braka (verb; °-að-): crash, creak
ǫll ‘All’
(not checked:)
allr (adj.): all
bekkþili ‘the bench-planks’
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bekkþili (noun n.): [bench-planks]
sem ‘as if’
(not checked:)
sem (conj.): as, which
myni ‘were’
(not checked:)
munu (verb): will, must
notes
[5] myni koma ‘were coming’: Or ‘would be coming’. Skald emends myni to pret. subj. myndi, but the pres. subj. is matched in bifisk ‘were in motion’ in l. 2.
Baldr ‘Baldr’
(not checked:)
Baldr (noun m.): [Baldr, Baldur]
notes
[5] Baldr: A son of Óðinn, and a handsome and much-praised god (SnE 2005, 23), who was accidentally killed by the god Hǫðr, and remained in Hel, abode of the dead, despite attempts at rescue (SnE 2005, 45-8; see also Simek 1993, 26-32 on Baldr and his death).
koma ‘coming’
(not checked:)
koma (verb; kem, kom/kvam, kominn): come
eptir ‘back’
(not checked:)
eptir (prep.): after, behind
notes
[6] eptir ‘back’: Hofmann (1955, 46) remarks that the meaning is dependent on OE eft ‘back, again’ (the poet, he says, would in fact have used the form ept), as the adv. usually means ‘behind’. Lindquist (1929, 8) emends to aptr ‘back’.
í ‘into’
(not checked:)
í (prep.): in, into
Óðins ‘Óðinn’s’
(not checked:)
Óðinn (noun m.): Óðinn
sali ‘residence’
(not checked:)
1. salr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -; dat. sǫlum): hall
notes
[6] sali (m. acc. pl.) ‘residence’: In the sg. the word means ‘hall’.
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