Cookies on our website

We use cookies on this website, mainly to provide a secure browsing experience but also to collect statistics on how the website is used. You can find out more about the cookies we set, the information we store and how we use it on the cookies page.

Continue

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

Menu Search

Close

Gauti Lv 1^VIII (Gautr 1)

Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Gautreks saga 1 (Gauti konungr, Lausavísa 1)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 245.

Gauti konungr Lausavísa 1

Skúa ‘shoes’

(not checked:)
skór (noun m.; °dat. -; -r/skóar/skúar/skuár): °sko, fodtøj; hestesko

[1] Skúa: skó 152, papp11ˣ, 164hˣ

tvá ‘The two’

(not checked:)
tveir (num. cardinal): two

er ‘which’

(not checked:)
2. er (conj.): who, which, when

[2] er: om. 567XIV γ, 164hˣ

mér ‘me’

(not checked:)
ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me

Skafnörtungr ‘Skafnǫrtungr’

(not checked:)
Skafnartungr (noun m.)

[2] Skafnörtungr gaf: gaf Skafnartungr gaf 152, gaf Skafnartungr with gaf added above the line in a different hand papp11ˣ, gaf Skafnartungr 567XIV γ, gaf Skafnörungr 164hˣ

notes

[2] Skafnörtungr ‘Skafnǫrtungr’: This man’s name is written in several ways in the mss, both in the prose and the verse, though the first element, skaf ‘peeled bark’, is largely constant (though Skapnartungr occurs in the prose of 152, Gautr 1900, 6 n. 13). Skaf was bark peeled from trees and used to feed animals, especially goats; cf. Sigv Lv 26/4^I. The second element in the cpd is written ‑nörtungr, ‑nartungr or ‑nörungr. The last of these forms probably derives from nœra (later næra) ‘nourish, feed’; thus the cpd skafnörungr should mean ‘bark-feeder’. The element ‑nörtungr may be related to the Icelandic nickname nörtr (CVC: nörtr; AEW: nǫrtr), which AEW connects to ModIcel. narta ‘nibble’, but Lind (1920-1, col. 270) prefers to regard nörtr as a form of knörtr, which he connects to ModNorw. knart ‘a small, thick-set person’. In Skj B Finnur Jónsson glosses the name Skafnörtungr as den, der ved at skrabe forminsker noget ‘someone who diminishes something by scraping at it’, but this explanation is not very convincing. Skafnörtungr seems more likely to mean ‘bark-nibbler’, following the etymology proposed by AEW, perhaps an allusion to the man’s rustic character.

gaf ‘gave’

(not checked:)
gefa (verb): give

[2] Skafnörtungr gaf: gaf Skafnartungr gaf 152, gaf Skafnartungr with gaf added above the line in a different hand papp11ˣ, gaf Skafnartungr 567XIV γ, gaf Skafnörungr 164hˣ

þvengjum ‘the laces’

(not checked:)
þvengr (noun m.; °; -ir): thong

[3] þvengjum er hann þá nam: so 152, papp11ˣ, þvengjum er hann þar nam 590b‑cˣ, þvengjum at hann þá nam 567XIV γ, þvengjum hann þá nam 164hˣ

notes

[3] er hann nam þá þvengjum ‘he took the laces from them’: The verb nema ‘take’, when it means ‘deprive, take away’ takes the acc. of the thing or person deprived (here þá ‘[from] them’, referring to the shoes (skúa, l. 1), and the dat. of the object removed (here ‘the laces’, þvengjum); cf. Fritzner: nema, v. 5.

er ‘’

(not checked:)
2. er (conj.): who, which, when

[3] þvengjum er hann þá nam: so 152, papp11ˣ, þvengjum er hann þar nam 590b‑cˣ, þvengjum at hann þá nam 567XIV γ, þvengjum hann þá nam 164hˣ

notes

[3] er: Untranslatable anaphoric particle, sometimes used in the second or third line of a ljóðaháttr stanza to produce a caesura between it and the preceding line (cf. LT: ²er). Kock (NN §3292) points out that this particle occurs three times in this group of stanzas, in Gautr 1/3, 2/2 and 3/5. Skj B deletes the particle in Gautr 1/3 and 3/5. — [3] er hann nam þá þvengjum ‘he took the laces from them’: The verb nema ‘take’, when it means ‘deprive, take away’ takes the acc. of the thing or person deprived (here þá ‘[from] them’, referring to the shoes (skúa, l. 1), and the dat. of the object removed (here ‘the laces’, þvengjum); cf. Fritzner: nema, v. 5.

er ‘’

(not checked:)
2. er (conj.): who, which, when

[3] þvengjum er hann þá nam: so 152, papp11ˣ, þvengjum er hann þar nam 590b‑cˣ, þvengjum at hann þá nam 567XIV γ, þvengjum hann þá nam 164hˣ

notes

[3] er: Untranslatable anaphoric particle, sometimes used in the second or third line of a ljóðaháttr stanza to produce a caesura between it and the preceding line (cf. LT: ²er). Kock (NN §3292) points out that this particle occurs three times in this group of stanzas, in Gautr 1/3, 2/2 and 3/5. Skj B deletes the particle in Gautr 1/3 and 3/5. — [3] er hann nam þá þvengjum ‘he took the laces from them’: The verb nema ‘take’, when it means ‘deprive, take away’ takes the acc. of the thing or person deprived (here þá ‘[from] them’, referring to the shoes (skúa, l. 1), and the dat. of the object removed (here ‘the laces’, þvengjum); cf. Fritzner: nema, v. 5.

hann ‘he’

(not checked:)
hann (pron.; °gen. hans, dat. honum; f. hon, gen. hennar, acc. hana): he, she, it, they, them...

[3] þvengjum er hann þá nam: so 152, papp11ˣ, þvengjum er hann þar nam 590b‑cˣ, þvengjum at hann þá nam 567XIV γ, þvengjum hann þá nam 164hˣ

notes

[3] er hann nam þá þvengjum ‘he took the laces from them’: The verb nema ‘take’, when it means ‘deprive, take away’ takes the acc. of the thing or person deprived (here þá ‘[from] them’, referring to the shoes (skúa, l. 1), and the dat. of the object removed (here ‘the laces’, þvengjum); cf. Fritzner: nema, v. 5.

þá ‘from them’

(not checked:)
2. þá (adv.): then

[3] þvengjum er hann þá nam: so 152, papp11ˣ, þvengjum er hann þar nam 590b‑cˣ, þvengjum at hann þá nam 567XIV γ, þvengjum hann þá nam 164hˣ

notes

[3] er hann nam þá þvengjum ‘he took the laces from them’: The verb nema ‘take’, when it means ‘deprive, take away’ takes the acc. of the thing or person deprived (here þá ‘[from] them’, referring to the shoes (skúa, l. 1), and the dat. of the object removed (here ‘the laces’, þvengjum); cf. Fritzner: nema, v. 5.

nam ‘took ’

(not checked:)
1. nema (verb): to take

[3] þvengjum er hann þá nam: so 152, papp11ˣ, þvengjum er hann þar nam 590b‑cˣ, þvengjum at hann þá nam 567XIV γ, þvengjum hann þá nam 164hˣ

notes

[3] er hann nam þá þvengjum ‘he took the laces from them’: The verb nema ‘take’, when it means ‘deprive, take away’ takes the acc. of the thing or person deprived (here þá ‘[from] them’, referring to the shoes (skúa, l. 1), and the dat. of the object removed (here ‘the laces’, þvengjum); cf. Fritzner: nema, v. 5.

Ills ‘of an evil’

(not checked:)
illr (adj.): bad, evil, unwell

[4] Ills manns: at ills manns 152, sjaldan verða 567XIV γ, 164hˣ

manns ‘man’

(not checked:)
maðr (noun m.): man, person

[4] Ills manns: at ills manns 152, sjaldan verða 567XIV γ, 164hˣ

kveð ‘say’

(not checked:)
kveða (verb; kveð, kvað, kveðinn): (str.) say, recite, sing

[5] kveð ek aldri verða: verða vands manns 567XIV γ, naums manns 164hˣ

ek ‘I’

(not checked:)
ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me

[5] kveð ek aldri verða: verða vands manns 567XIV γ, naums manns 164hˣ

aldri ‘never’

(not checked:)
aldri (adv.): never

[5] kveð ek aldri verða: verða vands manns 567XIV γ, naums manns 164hˣ

verða ‘are’

(not checked:)
1. verða (verb): become, be

[5] kveð ek aldri verða: verða vands manns 567XIV γ, naums manns 164hˣ

grandalausar ‘without harm’

(not checked:)
grandalauss (adj.)

gjafir ‘the gifts’

(not checked:)
gjǫf (noun f.): gift

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

When King Gauti wakes up in the morning, having forced himself upon the Dalafíflar household overnight, he asks the head of the household, called Skafnartungr, Skafnörtungr or Skafnörungr in most versions of Gautr, for a pair of shoes, as he had lost his own during his adventure in the forest the previous day. The man’s wordless response is to give him shoes but to pull out the laces first.

[1-3]: A trace of this motif also appears in Saxo’s account of the hero Starkaðr’s adventures. Saxo (Saxo 2015, I, vi. 5. 11, pp. 384-7) tells that Starkaðr travelled to Ireland, where the ruler was one Huglecus, who had the reputation for being so mean that, when he offered someone a pair of shoes, he first withdrew the laces, thereby turning the gift into an insult. — [4-6]: These lines appear quasi-proverbial; cf. Hávm 117/5-10 and 123/1-3.

log in home page info up a level archive and create persistent link on archive.org

© Skaldic Project Academic Body and Brepols, unless otherwise noted. Database structure and interface developed by Tarrin Wills. All users of material on this database are reminded that its content may be either subject to copyright restrictions or is the property of the custodians of linked databases that have given permission for members of the skaldic project to use their material for research purposes. Those users who have been given access to as yet unpublished material are further reminded that they may not use, publish or otherwise manipulate such material except with the express permission of the individual editor of the material in question and the General Editor of the volume in which the material is to be published. Applications for permission to use such material should be made in the first instance to the General Editor of the volume in question. All information that appears in the published volumes has been thoroughly reviewed. If you believe some information here is incorrect please contact Tarrin Wills with full details.

Close

Stanza/chapter/text segment

Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.

Information tab

text: if the stanza has been published, the edited text of the stanza and translation are here; if it hasn't been published an old edition (usually Skj) is given for reference
sources: a list of the manuscripts or inscriptions containing this stanza, with page and line references and links (eye button) to images where available, and transcription where available
readings: a list of variant manuscript readings of words in the main text
editions and texts: a list of editions of the stanza with links to the bibliography; and a list of prose works in which the stanza occurs, allowing you to navigate within the prose context
notes and context: notes not linked to individual words are given here, along with the account of the prose context for the stanza, where relevant

Interactive tab

The text and translation are given here, with buttons to toggle whether the text is shown in the verse order or prose word order. Clicking on indiviudal words gives dictionary links, variant readings, kennings and notes, where relevant.

Full text tab

This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.

Chapter/text segment

This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.