Þskakk Erldr 1II
Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Þorbjǫrn skakkaskáld, Erlingsdrápa 1’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 631-4.
Hjoggu ‘struck’
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hǫggva (verb): to strike, put to death, cut, hew
øxar ‘of the axe’
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øx (noun f.; °øxar/exar, dat. øxi/exi, acc. øxi/øx; -ar): axe
eggjum ‘with the edges’
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1. egg (noun f.; °-jar, dat. -ju/-): edge, blade
ugg ‘fear’
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uggr (noun m.; °dat. -): fear < ugglauss (adj.): fearless
[2] ugg‑: ygg‑ J2ˣ
laust ‘lessly’
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lauss (adj.; °compar. lausari): loose, free, without < ugglauss (adj.): fearless
því ‘that’
[3] því: þat H, Hr
notes
[3] því vas nennt ‘that was accomplished with vigour’: The verb nenna ‘achieve, perform, accomplish sth. with vigour’ takes the dat. (see LP: nenna 1).
vas ‘was accomplished’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
notes
[3] því vas nennt ‘that was accomplished with vigour’: The verb nenna ‘achieve, perform, accomplish sth. with vigour’ takes the dat. (see LP: nenna 1).
nennt ‘with vigour’
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nenna (verb): strive, be inclined
[3] nennt: ‘næitt’ 42ˣ, ‘næmt’ Hr
notes
[3] því vas nennt ‘that was accomplished with vigour’: The verb nenna ‘achieve, perform, accomplish sth. with vigour’ takes the dat. (see LP: nenna 1).
nýju ‘the new’
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nýr (adj.; °nýjan; compar. nýrri, superl. nýjastr): new
Norðmenn ‘Norwegians’
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Norðmaðr (noun m.): Norwegian
í ‘under’
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í (prep.): in, into
notes
[4] í kaf ‘beneath the water’: Lit. ‘into the water’ (kaf n. is in the acc. here).
notes
[4] í kaf ‘beneath the water’: Lit. ‘into the water’ (kaf n. is in the acc. here).
borði ‘ship-side’
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borð (noun n.; °-s; -): side, plank, board; table
Eyðendr ‘The destroyers’
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eyðandi (noun m.): clearer, destroyer
kennings
Eyðendr hungrs arnar‘The destroyers of the eagle’s hunger ’
= WARRIORS
The destroyers of the eagle’s hunger → WARRIORS
notes
[5] sôu (3rd pers pl. pret. indic.) ‘saw’: The restoration of the older form of the verb is necessary from a metrical point of view. As it stands in the mss, the l. is hypometrical.
yðrar ‘your’
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þú (pron.; °gen. þín, dat. þér, acc. þik): you
[5] yðrar: so F, H, Hr, yðra Kˣ, urðar E, J2ˣ, 42ˣ
arnar ‘of the eagle’s’
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1. ǫrn (noun m.; °arnar, dat. erni; ernir, acc. ǫrnu): eagle
kennings
Eyðendr hungrs arnar‘The destroyers of the eagle’s hunger ’
= WARRIORS
The destroyers of the eagle’s hunger → WARRIORS
kennings
Eyðendr hungrs arnar‘The destroyers of the eagle’s hunger ’
= WARRIORS
The destroyers of the eagle’s hunger → WARRIORS
á ‘[standing] on’
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3. á (prep.): on, at
notes
[6] á jǫrnum ‘[standing] on the irons’: Taken here to refer to the iron beam on which Auðun and the other men were standing while they were hacking away at the planking of the warship. The anchor-stock (akkerisstokkr) is the vertical piece on the top of the anchor which protrudes in the opposite direction to the anchor-flukes (see Falk 1912, 79). However, it is inconceivable that the Norsemen could have been standing on an anchor-stock, because anchors were small and a ship would have carried quite a few of them (see Pryor and Jeffreys 2006, 210-11). It is possible that what the Norsemen mistook for an anchor-stock was the spur of the ship, a ‘long wooden beam, perhaps sometimes sheathed in iron, attached to the stempost … and suspended by a chain or coupling from its head’ (Pryor and Jeffreys 2006, lvi, see also pp. 203-4, 448). Orkn (ÍF 34, 225) mentions that the warship had a protective iron covering (járnafarit), and the compiler of that saga, if he knew Þorbjǫrn’s poem, most likely interpreted jǫrnum as iron covering. However, there is no evidence that Mediterranean warships had such protective covers (John H. Pryor, pers. comm.). Skj B separates the prep. from the following noun. Finnur construes á ‘on, at’ with vélar ‘cunning’ (su á vélar yðrar ‘looked at your cunning’), and he takes jǫrnum as an instr. dat. lit. ‘with irons’ with the second cl. of the helmingr, translated as I slog ovenfra med jærn skibets skanser ned ‘You struck the ship’s fortifications down from above with iron’. However, a proclitic prep. cannot be separated from the following nominal phrase (see NN §902). The quantity of the vowel in jǫrnum (rather than jrnum) is established by the internal rhyme -arn- : -ǫrn (see ANG §133b.2). Note that there is no vowel alliteration on the j-.
jǫrnum ‘the irons’
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járn (noun n.; °-s; -): iron, weapon
notes
[6] á jǫrnum ‘[standing] on the irons’: Taken here to refer to the iron beam on which Auðun and the other men were standing while they were hacking away at the planking of the warship. The anchor-stock (akkerisstokkr) is the vertical piece on the top of the anchor which protrudes in the opposite direction to the anchor-flukes (see Falk 1912, 79). However, it is inconceivable that the Norsemen could have been standing on an anchor-stock, because anchors were small and a ship would have carried quite a few of them (see Pryor and Jeffreys 2006, 210-11). It is possible that what the Norsemen mistook for an anchor-stock was the spur of the ship, a ‘long wooden beam, perhaps sometimes sheathed in iron, attached to the stempost … and suspended by a chain or coupling from its head’ (Pryor and Jeffreys 2006, lvi, see also pp. 203-4, 448). Orkn (ÍF 34, 225) mentions that the warship had a protective iron covering (járnafarit), and the compiler of that saga, if he knew Þorbjǫrn’s poem, most likely interpreted jǫrnum as iron covering. However, there is no evidence that Mediterranean warships had such protective covers (John H. Pryor, pers. comm.). Skj B separates the prep. from the following noun. Finnur construes á ‘on, at’ with vélar ‘cunning’ (su á vélar yðrar ‘looked at your cunning’), and he takes jǫrnum as an instr. dat. lit. ‘with irons’ with the second cl. of the helmingr, translated as I slog ovenfra med jærn skibets skanser ned ‘You struck the ship’s fortifications down from above with iron’. However, a proclitic prep. cannot be separated from the following nominal phrase (see NN §902). The quantity of the vowel in jǫrnum (rather than jrnum) is established by the internal rhyme -arn- : -ǫrn (see ANG §133b.2). Note that there is no vowel alliteration on the j-.
vág ‘of the sea’
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vágr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i/-; -ar): sea, wave < vágfýling (noun f.)
[7] vág‑: varg F, ‘vog’ Hr
kennings
vágfýl*ingi;‘of the sea-fulmar; ’
= SHIP
the sea-fulmar; → SHIP
notes
[7] vágfýl*ingi (m. dat. sg.) ‘of the sea-fulmar [SHIP]’: Dat. of possession. Fýlingr ‘fulmar’ (by emendation) is taken here as the base-word in a kenning for ‘ship’. According to LP: fýling, the word is attested as a f., but is more likely to be a m. noun (taken as a m. dat. sg. here). A fulmar is an arctic bird (Fulmarus glacialis). For comparable kennings for ‘ship’, see Meissner 208, 216. The emendation also restores the internal rhyme (-ýl- : -él-). The last part of the cpd as it stands in the mss is difficult to make sense of, and the different spellings of the word show that the various scribes had problems recognising the word they were copying. Fylvingr (so Kˣ, E, J2ˣ) is the name of a sword (see LP: fylvingr), and according to Meissner (222), it denotes the prow of the ship (brandr), but that explanation is not obvious. Kock (NN §348A) derives fylvingr from the adj. fǫlr ‘pale’. In his opinion, fylvingr denoted sth. of a dark brown or dark grey colour, either ‘sword’, ‘ship’, ‘staff’ or ‘nut’ (the latter is f., fylving). The problem with that explanation is that fylv- in the meaning ‘dark’ is otherwise not attested in ON.
fýl*ingi ‘fulmar’
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fýling (noun f.) < vágfýling (noun f.)
[7] ‑fýl*ingi: fylvingi Kˣ, E, J2ˣ, ‘‑fylfingi’ F, ‘‑fylvangi’ 42ˣ, ‘‑fyglingi’ H, ‘‑fylíungi’ Hr
kennings
vágfýl*ingi;‘of the sea-fulmar; ’
= SHIP
the sea-fulmar; → SHIP
notes
[7] vágfýl*ingi (m. dat. sg.) ‘of the sea-fulmar [SHIP]’: Dat. of possession. Fýlingr ‘fulmar’ (by emendation) is taken here as the base-word in a kenning for ‘ship’. According to LP: fýling, the word is attested as a f., but is more likely to be a m. noun (taken as a m. dat. sg. here). A fulmar is an arctic bird (Fulmarus glacialis). For comparable kennings for ‘ship’, see Meissner 208, 216. The emendation also restores the internal rhyme (-ýl- : -él-). The last part of the cpd as it stands in the mss is difficult to make sense of, and the different spellings of the word show that the various scribes had problems recognising the word they were copying. Fylvingr (so Kˣ, E, J2ˣ) is the name of a sword (see LP: fylvingr), and according to Meissner (222), it denotes the prow of the ship (brandr), but that explanation is not obvious. Kock (NN §348A) derives fylvingr from the adj. fǫlr ‘pale’. In his opinion, fylvingr denoted sth. of a dark brown or dark grey colour, either ‘sword’, ‘ship’, ‘staff’ or ‘nut’ (the latter is f., fylving). The problem with that explanation is that fylv- in the meaning ‘dark’ is otherwise not attested in ON.
vélar ‘cunning’
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1. vél (noun f.; °-ar; -ar/-ir): deceit, trick; device
vígskǫrð ‘embrasures’
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vígskarð (noun n.): [embrasures]
notes
[8] vígskǫrð ‘embrasures’: Lit. ‘battle-openings’. The word is attested in poetry only here. A vígskarð was an opening in the palisades or walls of a fortress through which the defenders could shoot at the enemy (see LP: vígskarð; Fritzner: vígskarð). Finnur’s translation skanser ‘earthworks, fortifications’ (see Note to l. 6 above) is not quite clear.
ofan ‘in the upper part’
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ofan (adv.): down
bǫrðuð ‘you struck’
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2. berja (verb; °barði; barðr/bariðr/barinn): fight
[8] bǫrðuð: bǫrðusk H, Hr
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Hjoggu øxar eggjum |
The brave Norwegians fearlessly struck openings in the new ship-side under the water with the edges of the axe; that was accomplished with vigour. The destroyers of the eagle’s hunger [WARRIORS] saw your cunning [standing] on the irons of the sea-fulmar [SHIP]; you struck embrasures in the upper part.
During Erlingr’s expedition to Palestine with Jarl Rǫgnvaldr Kali Kolsson of Orkney (1152) they encountered a warship (drómundr ‘dromon’) in the Mediterranean. When they engaged in fighting, the crew on the ship pelted the Norsemen with weapons and rocks and poured boiling pitch and oil on them from the superior height of the warship. Erlingr’s ship was too close to its side to be hit by the defensive torrents, and he and his men eventually captured the enemy ship by striking openings in the ship-sides above and below the water: Þá hjoggu þeir Erlingr raufar á drómundinum, sumar í kafi niðri, sumar uppi á borðunum, svá at þeir fóru þar inn ‘Then Erlingr and his men struck openings in the dromon, some down below the water, some up on the planking, so that they could get in there’ (ÍF 28, 324).
This whole episode has fictional overtones, and it is difficult to reconstruct (both from the prose and the poetry) what actually did take place during the attack. — The event is also described in Orkn (ÍF 34, 223-8; see also Rv Lv 24-6). Both prose texts identify the ship as a drómundr ‘dromon’, a Byzantine warship or merchantman (so also Rv Lv 24-6). However, the episode as related in the Norse sources shows that the ship under attack cannot have been a dromon; rather it must have been a large sailing ship (see Pryor and Jeffreys 2006, 411-18). — Both narratives agree that the Norsemen struck openings in the lower and the upper parts of the warship, but, while Hkr basically paraphrases the poetry (see Context above), Orkn offers a more detailed account of these events which has a bearing on the interpretation of the st. (ÍF 34, 225): Þar er þeir Erlingr hǫfðu at lagt, hekk akkeri mikit á drómundinum, ok var krœkt fleininum á borðit, en leggrinn vissi ofan at skipi Erlings. Auðun inn rauði hét stafnbúi Erlings. Honum var lypt á akkerisstokkinn, en síðan heimti hann sér fleiri menn, svá at þeir stóðu sem þeir máttu þrøngst á stokkinum ok hjuggu þaðan borðin, sem þeir máttu, ok var þat hǫggvit miklu efst ‘Where Erlingr and his men had come alongside, there was a large anchor hanging from the dromon, and one fluke was fastened on the gunwale but the shank was pointing down towards Erlingr’s ship. Auðun inn rauði (‘the Red’) was the name of Erlingr’s forecastle-man. He was lifted up onto the anchor-stock and then he pulled up more men to him, so that they stood as cramped as possible on the stock and struck blows at the planking with all their might. And they were striking at the very top of the planking’. Erlingr and his men then boarded the upper deck of the warship through these openings, while Rǫgnvaldr and his men, who had been striking openings down by the waterline, entered the lower deck. — [1-4]: The first helmingr focuses on the activities of Rǫgnvaldr and his men, striking openings in the planking down by the waterline. — [5-8]: The second helmingr focuses on the efforts of Erlingr and his men.
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