Bjǫrn Lv 2VIII (Frið 24)
Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Friðþjófs saga ins frœkna 24 (Bjǫrn, Lausavísur 2)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 221.
Jósum ‘baled’
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2. ausa (verb; °eyss; jós, jósu/jusu; ausinn): sprinkle, bail
vér ‘We’
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vér (pron.; °gen. vár, dat./acc. oss): we, us, our
notes
[1-2] en fell yfir ór svalri báru ‘and [water] cascaded on board from the cold wave’: Ms. 510 has svala but this adj. must be emended to give the f. dat. sg. form to agree with báru. The construction is difficult because there is no expressed subject of fell ‘it fell’, but here it has been understood to refer to the sea. Larsson (Frið 1901, 32 n.) proposes emending the A text to fellu svalar bárur ‘the cold waves fell’. In his main text, however, he adopts words from the B text and marries them with an emended l. 2 to give meðan | yfir gekk svǫlúr ‘while the cold spray went over’ (so Larsson, Frið 1901, 32, who explains that svǫlúr is a combination of svalr ‘cold’ and úr ‘fine rain, spray’). Edd. Min., Skj B and Skald have followed this emendation, but keep en yfir in l. 1 from 510.
notes
[1-2] en fell yfir ór svalri báru ‘and [water] cascaded on board from the cold wave’: Ms. 510 has svala but this adj. must be emended to give the f. dat. sg. form to agree with báru. The construction is difficult because there is no expressed subject of fell ‘it fell’, but here it has been understood to refer to the sea. Larsson (Frið 1901, 32 n.) proposes emending the A text to fellu svalar bárur ‘the cold waves fell’. In his main text, however, he adopts words from the B text and marries them with an emended l. 2 to give meðan | yfir gekk svǫlúr ‘while the cold spray went over’ (so Larsson, Frið 1901, 32, who explains that svǫlúr is a combination of svalr ‘cold’ and úr ‘fine rain, spray’). Edd. Min., Skj B and Skald have followed this emendation, but keep en yfir in l. 1 from 510.
fell ‘cascaded’
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falla (verb): fall
[2] fell ór svalri báru: fell ór svala báru 510, yfir gekk svölr papp17ˣ, 109a IIˣ, 1006ˣ, 173ˣ
notes
[1-2] en fell yfir ór svalri báru ‘and [water] cascaded on board from the cold wave’: Ms. 510 has svala but this adj. must be emended to give the f. dat. sg. form to agree with báru. The construction is difficult because there is no expressed subject of fell ‘it fell’, but here it has been understood to refer to the sea. Larsson (Frið 1901, 32 n.) proposes emending the A text to fellu svalar bárur ‘the cold waves fell’. In his main text, however, he adopts words from the B text and marries them with an emended l. 2 to give meðan | yfir gekk svǫlúr ‘while the cold spray went over’ (so Larsson, Frið 1901, 32, who explains that svǫlúr is a combination of svalr ‘cold’ and úr ‘fine rain, spray’). Edd. Min., Skj B and Skald have followed this emendation, but keep en yfir in l. 1 from 510.
ór ‘from’
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3. ór (prep.): out of
[2] fell ór svalri báru: fell ór svala báru 510, yfir gekk svölr papp17ˣ, 109a IIˣ, 1006ˣ, 173ˣ
notes
[1-2] en fell yfir ór svalri báru ‘and [water] cascaded on board from the cold wave’: Ms. 510 has svala but this adj. must be emended to give the f. dat. sg. form to agree with báru. The construction is difficult because there is no expressed subject of fell ‘it fell’, but here it has been understood to refer to the sea. Larsson (Frið 1901, 32 n.) proposes emending the A text to fellu svalar bárur ‘the cold waves fell’. In his main text, however, he adopts words from the B text and marries them with an emended l. 2 to give meðan | yfir gekk svǫlúr ‘while the cold spray went over’ (so Larsson, Frið 1901, 32, who explains that svǫlúr is a combination of svalr ‘cold’ and úr ‘fine rain, spray’). Edd. Min., Skj B and Skald have followed this emendation, but keep en yfir in l. 1 from 510.
svalri ‘the cold’
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svalr (adj.): cool
[2] fell ór svalri báru: fell ór svala báru 510, yfir gekk svölr papp17ˣ, 109a IIˣ, 1006ˣ, 173ˣ
notes
[1-2] en fell yfir ór svalri báru ‘and [water] cascaded on board from the cold wave’: Ms. 510 has svala but this adj. must be emended to give the f. dat. sg. form to agree with báru. The construction is difficult because there is no expressed subject of fell ‘it fell’, but here it has been understood to refer to the sea. Larsson (Frið 1901, 32 n.) proposes emending the A text to fellu svalar bárur ‘the cold waves fell’. In his main text, however, he adopts words from the B text and marries them with an emended l. 2 to give meðan | yfir gekk svǫlúr ‘while the cold spray went over’ (so Larsson, Frið 1901, 32, who explains that svǫlúr is a combination of svalr ‘cold’ and úr ‘fine rain, spray’). Edd. Min., Skj B and Skald have followed this emendation, but keep en yfir in l. 1 from 510.
báru ‘wave’
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1. bára (noun f.; °-u; -ur): wave
[2] fell ór svalri báru: fell ór svala báru 510, yfir gekk svölr papp17ˣ, 109a IIˣ, 1006ˣ, 173ˣ
notes
[1-2] en fell yfir ór svalri báru ‘and [water] cascaded on board from the cold wave’: Ms. 510 has svala but this adj. must be emended to give the f. dat. sg. form to agree with báru. The construction is difficult because there is no expressed subject of fell ‘it fell’, but here it has been understood to refer to the sea. Larsson (Frið 1901, 32 n.) proposes emending the A text to fellu svalar bárur ‘the cold waves fell’. In his main text, however, he adopts words from the B text and marries them with an emended l. 2 to give meðan | yfir gekk svǫlúr ‘while the cold spray went over’ (so Larsson, Frið 1901, 32, who explains that svǫlúr is a combination of svalr ‘cold’ and úr ‘fine rain, spray’). Edd. Min., Skj B and Skald have followed this emendation, but keep en yfir in l. 1 from 510.
teitir ‘in good spirits’
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teitr (adj.): cheerful, glad
[3] teitir á tvau borð: bragnar teitir papp17ˣ, 109a IIˣ, 1006ˣ, 173ˣ
á ‘on’
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3. á (prep.): on, at
[3] teitir á tvau borð: bragnar teitir papp17ˣ, 109a IIˣ, 1006ˣ, 173ˣ
tvau ‘two’
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tveir (num. cardinal): two
[3] teitir á tvau borð: bragnar teitir papp17ˣ, 109a IIˣ, 1006ˣ, 173ˣ
borð ‘sides’
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borð (noun n.; °-s; -): side, plank, board; table
[3] teitir á tvau borð: bragnar teitir papp17ˣ, 109a IIˣ, 1006ˣ, 173ˣ
tíu ‘for eight’
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tíu (num. cardinal): ten
[4] tíu dægr ok átta: á bæði borð tíu dægr \tel ek/ ok átta papp17ˣ, á bæði borð papp17ˣ, 109a IIˣ, á bæði borð tíu dægr ok átta 109a IIˣ, 173ˣ, á bæði tíu dægr ok átta 1006ˣ, á bæði 1006ˣ, á bæði born 173ˣ
dægr ‘days’
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dœgr (noun n.; °-s; -): day and night; 24h period
[4] tíu dægr ok átta: á bæði borð tíu dægr \tel ek/ ok átta papp17ˣ, á bæði borð papp17ˣ, 109a IIˣ, á bæði borð tíu dægr ok átta 109a IIˣ, 173ˣ, á bæði tíu dægr ok átta 1006ˣ, á bæði 1006ˣ, á bæði born 173ˣ
ok ‘een’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
[4] tíu dægr ok átta: á bæði borð tíu dægr \tel ek/ ok átta papp17ˣ, á bæði borð papp17ˣ, 109a IIˣ, á bæði borð tíu dægr ok átta 109a IIˣ, 173ˣ, á bæði tíu dægr ok átta 1006ˣ, á bæði 1006ˣ, á bæði born 173ˣ
átta ‘’
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átta (num. cardinal): eight
[4] tíu dægr ok átta: á bæði borð tíu dægr \tel ek/ ok átta papp17ˣ, á bæði borð papp17ˣ, 109a IIˣ, á bæði borð tíu dægr ok átta 109a IIˣ, 173ˣ, á bæði tíu dægr ok átta 1006ˣ, á bæði 1006ˣ, á bæði born 173ˣ
var ‘was’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
kynför ‘an extraordinary journey’
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kynfǫr (noun f.)
notes
[5] kynför ‘an extraordinary journey’: Larsson (Frið 1901, 32 n.) suggested this interpretation of this hap. leg. cpd (510 has ‘kynuor’), with the first element kyn- meaning ‘extraordinary, wonderful, marvellous’. This interpretation was adopted by Edd. Min. and Skald, but Finnur Jónsson emended to kynfylgja, which he translated as slægtsnatur ‘the nature of the stock [of the brave men]’.
kænna ‘of skilful’
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2. kœnn (adj.; °superl. kǿnstr/kǿnastr): wise, skilful
[6] kænna drengja: ‘kuena dreinga’ 510
notes
[6] kænna drengja ‘of skilful men’: An emendation of ms. 510’s ‘kuena dreinga’, suggested by Larsson (Frið 1901, 32 n.) and adopted by all subsequent eds.
drengja ‘men’
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drengr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -; -ir, gen. -ja): man, warrior
[6] kænna drengja: ‘kuena dreinga’ 510
notes
[6] kænna drengja ‘of skilful men’: An emendation of ms. 510’s ‘kuena dreinga’, suggested by Larsson (Frið 1901, 32 n.) and adopted by all subsequent eds.
hversu ‘how’
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hversu (adv.): how, however
vér ‘we’
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vér (pron.; °gen. vár, dat./acc. oss): we, us, our
fórum ‘voyaged’
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fara (verb; ferr, fór, fóru, farinn): go, travel
með ‘with’
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með (prep.): with
Friðþjófi ‘Friðþjófr’
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Friðþjófr (noun m.)
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Hallvarðr hastens to welcome Friðþjófr and his men after Atli’s rough treatment, and brings them into the hall to meet the local jarl, who asks them about their journey. Bjǫrn explains in a stanza (but see Note to [All] below).
This stanza and the preceding prose are poorly recorded in the A recension mss, and the stanza itself is not present in either 568ˣ or 27ˣ. The B mss do not have ll. 5-8. Although the prose of the B recension mss attributes it to Friðþjófr’s foster-brother Bjǫrn, the attribution in 510 (Frið 1893, 50) is simply hann kvað vísu ‘he spoke a stanza’, and the most natural interpretation of this prose context would be that Friðþjófr spoke this stanza. However, ll. 5-8 of the stanza itself indicate that the speaker was someone other than Friðþjófr. The fact that these lines are missing in the B mss may indicate some confusion in the ms. transmission as to the identity of the speaker of the stanza. At all events, this stanza is badly mangled in all mss, and the present text represents the best that can be made of the A version, which involves two minor emendations and a hypothetical interpretation of the hap. leg. kynför (l. 5). The metre is a mixture of fornyrðislag and málaháttr.
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