Anon Eirm 4I
R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Anonymous Poems, Eiríksmál 4’ 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. 1009.
Heimsku ‘nonsense’
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1. heimska (noun f.; °-u): folly
notes
[1] mæla * heimsku ‘talk nonsense’: The speaker is Óðinn. The phrase identifying him as such in the mss, however, is extrametrical and is omitted here; see Introduction to the poem. It seems that the heimsku ‘nonsense, folly’ Óðinn imputes to the normally wise Bragi is his failure to recognise the newcomer, though the details of the text are difficult (see Notes below).
notes
[1] mæla * heimsku ‘talk nonsense’: The speaker is Óðinn. The phrase identifying him as such in the mss, however, is extrametrical and is omitted here; see Introduction to the poem. It seems that the heimsku ‘nonsense, folly’ Óðinn imputes to the normally wise Bragi is his failure to recognise the newcomer, though the details of the text are difficult (see Notes below).
notes
[1] mæla * heimsku ‘talk nonsense’: The speaker is Óðinn. The phrase identifying him as such in the mss, however, is extrametrical and is omitted here; see Introduction to the poem. It seems that the heimsku ‘nonsense, folly’ Óðinn imputes to the normally wise Bragi is his failure to recognise the newcomer, though the details of the text are difficult (see Notes below).
notes
[2] skalat ‘must not’: So Holthausen (1896) and Skj B (after Árni Magnússon’s correction in 761bˣ). The þú of the mss is retained by Möbius (1860), Fsk 1902-3, Jón Helgason (1968), and ÍF 29, but if skalt is a misreading of skalat, most likely þú is a scribal addition. Kershaw (1922, 97-8), like some others, retains skalt þú and translates, ‘Surely thou art talking folly’. Hofmann (1955, 46-8) offers a similar analysis, assuming future meaning for skalt on the basis of influence from OE sculan. Lindquist (1929, 10) retains þú and takes ll. 1-3 as a question.
inn ‘The’
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2. inn (art.): the
horski ‘wise’
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horskr (adj.; °compar. -ari): wise
Bragi ‘Bragi’
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Bragi (noun m.; °; bragnar): Bragi
þó ‘though’
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þó (adv.): though
notes
[3] þó at ‘though’: Möbius (1860) and Skj B emend to þvít ‘because’; so also Gordon (1957, 245), who translates, ‘For you well know all about it’. Yet this seems unnecessary, and use of the subj. vitir ‘know’ would be unmotivated after þvít.
at ‘’
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4. at (conj.): that
notes
[3] þó at ‘though’: Möbius (1860) and Skj B emend to þvít ‘because’; so also Gordon (1957, 245), who translates, ‘For you well know all about it’. Yet this seems unnecessary, and use of the subj. vitir ‘know’ would be unmotivated after þvít.
þú ‘you’
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þú (pron.; °gen. þín, dat. þér, acc. þik): you
vel ‘well’
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vel (adv.): well, very
notes
[3] vitir vel hvat ‘you know well why’: The thought seems to be that Bragi knows, or should know, what the commotion is about. See LP: 2. (*hvar eller *hver af hveR), hvat 3 for hvat in the sense ‘why’. It could alternatively mean ‘everything’, and is interpreted thus in LP: 2. (*hvar eller *hver af hveR), hvat 4. Hofmann (1955, 48) reads an otherwise unattested cpd velhvat, comparing OE welhwæt ‘everything’.
hvat ‘why’
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hvat (pron.): what
notes
[3] vitir vel hvat ‘you know well why’: The thought seems to be that Bragi knows, or should know, what the commotion is about. See LP: 2. (*hvar eller *hver af hveR), hvat 3 for hvat in the sense ‘why’. It could alternatively mean ‘everything’, and is interpreted thus in LP: 2. (*hvar eller *hver af hveR), hvat 4. Hofmann (1955, 48) reads an otherwise unattested cpd velhvat, comparing OE welhwæt ‘everything’.
vitir ‘know’
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1. vita (verb): know
fyr ‘for’
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fyr (prep.): for, over, because of, etc.
notes
[4] Eireki ‘Eiríkr’: Eirekr is the earlier form of the name Eiríkr, which is secured by rhyme on snekk- in Gsind Hákdr 7/8. The emendation to dat. sg. -i was made by Árni in 761bˣ and is almost universally approved. Sahlgren (1927-8, I, 19) would emend to æirike’r, normalised Eiríki es (so also Lindquist 1929, 10), hence fyr Eiríki es glymr ‘the clangour is for/announces Eiríkr’, with glymr taken as a m. noun rather than 3rd pers. sg. pers. indic. of glymja ‘resound’, as here.
glymr ‘the clangour is made’
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glymja (verb): resound
es ‘who’
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2. er (conj.): who, which, when
hér ‘here’
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hér (adv.): here
mun ‘must’
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munu (verb): will, must
inn ‘in’
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2. inn (art.): the
koma ‘be coming’
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koma (verb; kem, kom/kvam, kominn): come
jǫfurr ‘a prince’
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jǫfurr (noun m.): ruler, prince
í ‘into’
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í (prep.): in, into
Óðins ‘Óðinn’s’
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Óðinn (noun m.): Óðinn
sali ‘residence’
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1. salr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -; dat. sǫlum): hall
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