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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Úlfr Lv 1II

Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Úlfr stallari Óspaksson, Lausavísa 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. 348-9.

Úlfr stallari ÓspakssonLausavísa1

Esa ‘There is no’

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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am

[1] Esa (‘Era’): Erat Mork, ‘Er ath’ Flat

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stǫllurum ‘marshals’

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stallari (noun m.; °-a; -ar): king’s marshal

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stillis ‘for the lord’s’

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stillir (noun m.): ruler

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stafnrúm ‘prow-area’

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stafnrúm (noun n.): [Haraldr]

[2] stafnrúm: stafni um E

notes

[2] stafnrúm ‘prow-area’: The place in the prow occupied by a king’s or chieftain’s warriors (see Falk 1912, 84; Jesch 2001a, 145).

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Haralds ‘Haraldr’s’

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Haraldr (noun m.): Haraldr

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jafnan ‘always’

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jafnan (adv.): always

[2] jafnan: jafna Mork

notes

[2] jafnan ‘always’: Skj B connects this adv. with the following cl., which creates an awkward w. o. (see NN §806) and also violates the syntax of an independent cl. (see Kuhn 1983, 117).

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ónauðigr ‘without coercion’

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ónauðigr (adj.): undeserving, without coercion

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fekk ‘I acquired’

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2. fá (verb; °fǽr; fekk, fengu; fenginn): get, receive

[3] fekk (‘fekk ek’): so H, Hr, Mork, Flat, ‘fec ec’ or ‘fæ ec’ Kˣ, fæ ek papp18ˣ, F, E, J2ˣ, ‘fé ec’ 39

notes

[3] fekk (‘fekk ek’; 1st pers. sg. pret. indic.) ‘I acquired’: Both Skj B and Skald (and ÍF 28) adopt fæk (‘fæ ek’; 1st pers. sg. pres. indic.) ‘I acquire’ (so 39, F, E, J2ˣ). The first word is blotched and difficult to read in (either ‘fec’ corrected from ‘fæ’ or ‘fæ’ corrected from ‘fec’), but papp18ˣ has ‘fæ ec’, which indicates that this was likely the original Kringla reading. In view of the final cl. (‘as a youth, I was accustomed to something else’), the pret. tense is preferable.

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innan ‘inside’

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innan (prep.): inside, within

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þǫrf ‘need’

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þǫrf (noun f.; °þarfar; þarfar/þarfir): need

[4] þǫrf: ‘þꜹf’ F

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at ‘to’

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5. at (nota): to (with infinitive)

[4] at: af Flat

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hvarfa ‘idle’

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2. hvarfa (verb): stroll, wander

[4] hvarfa: so E, Mork, Flat, hverfa Kˣ, papp18ˣ, 39, F, J2ˣ, H, Hr

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ef ‘if’

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3. ef (conj.): if

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hǫr ‘flax’

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hǫrr (noun m.): linen < hǫrbrekka (noun f.): [flax-slope]

[5] hǫrbrekka (‘hꜹrbrechan’): ‘hꜹrbreckan’ papp18ˣ, ‘haurbeccan’ 39, herbrekkan H, Mork, Flat, ‘herbrezkan’ Hr

kennings

hrein hǫrbrekka,
‘pure flax-slope, ’
   = WOMAN

pure flax-slope, → WOMAN
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brekka ‘slope’

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brekka (noun f.; °-u; -ur): slope < hǫrbrekka (noun f.): [flax-slope]

[5] hǫrbrekka (‘hꜹrbrechan’): ‘hꜹrbreckan’ papp18ˣ, ‘haurbeccan’ 39, herbrekkan H, Mork, Flat, ‘herbrezkan’ Hr

kennings

hrein hǫrbrekka,
‘pure flax-slope, ’
   = WOMAN

pure flax-slope, → WOMAN
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hrøkkva ‘flee’

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1. hrøkkva (verb): coil

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hrein ‘pure’

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2. hreinn (adj.; °compar. hreinari/hreinni, superl. hreinastr/hreinstr): pure

[6] hrein: so E, hreins Kˣ, papp18ˣ, 39, F, J2ˣ, Hr, Mork, Flat, ‘hréns’ H

kennings

hrein hǫrbrekka,
‘pure flax-slope, ’
   = WOMAN

pure flax-slope, → WOMAN
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skulum ‘we must’

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skulu (verb): shall, should, must

[6] skulum: so 39, F, H, Hr, Mork, skulu Kˣ, papp18ˣ, E, J2ˣ, Flat

notes

[6] skulum (1st pers. pl. pres. indic.) ‘we should’: Earlier eds adopt the variant skulu (3rd pers. pl. pres. indic.) ‘they should’ (so , papp18ˣ, E, J2ˣ, Flat), which is possible but lower on the stemma.

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tveir ‘two’

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tveir (num. cardinal): two

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fyr ‘before’

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fyr (prep.): for, over, because of, etc.

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ungr ‘as a youth’

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ungr (adj.): young

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kenndak ‘I got accustomed’

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kenna (verb): know, teach

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undan ‘’

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undan (adv.): away, away from

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þingaþinga

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þing (noun n.; °-s; -): meeting, assembly < þingamaðr (noun m.)

[8] þinga‑: þingaða‑ Hr

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Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses

Before Haraldr harðráði embarks on his expedition to England in 1066, some say that England may be difficult to conquer because of the army known as þingamenn, whose soldiers are said to be twice as brave as Haraldr’s men. Úlfr responds with this st.

The sense of the st. is that it would not be worth Úlfr’s while to go on the expedition, if Haraldr’s warriors anticipate in advance that they will flee before an Engl. force inferior in numbers. — [1] stǫllurum ‘marshals’: A stallari ‘marshal’ was one of the most prominent retainers of a king, whose duty it was to communicate the king’s decisions to the populace. Haraldr harðráði had two marshals, Úlfr and Styrkárr. — [5, 6] hrein hǫrbrekka ‘pure flax-slope [WOMAN]’: The identity of this woman is unknown. For similar apostrophes to unknown women, see Note to Hharð Gamv 3/1. — [8] þingamanni: The Engl. company of þingamenn was instituted by Knútr inn ríki Sveinsson (Cnut the Great) around 1018 but disbanded after the Norman Conquest in 1066. According to Saxo (2005, I, 10, 18, pp. 670-81), it consisted of six thousand chosen men (see also ÍF 35, 100, n. 1; ÍF 27, 19 n. 1; Jesch 2001a, 192, 194). The term þingamaðr most likely derives from OE þeningmann ‘servant-man’.

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