Anon Líkn 9VII
George S. Tate (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Líknarbraut 9’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 239-40.
Hróðr ‘encomium’
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hróðr (noun m.): encomium, praise
stofna ‘begin’
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stofna (verb): make, inflict, begin
notes
[1] stofna ‘to institute, begin’: Used with respect to beginning a poem also in RvHbreiðm Hl 43/2III (C12th).
ek ‘I’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
heiðar ‘the heath’s’
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3. heiðr (noun f.; °heiðar, dat./acc heiði; heiðar): heath
[1] heiðar: ‘[...]dar’ B, ‘h[...]ðar’ 399a‑bˣ
kennings
heiðar hjálmspennanda,‘helmet-spanner of the heath’
= God
the heath’s helmet, → SKY/HEAVEN
for him who spans of the SKY/HEAVEN → God
notes
[1] heiðar ‘of the heath’: Restoration based in part upon <h> in 399a-bˣ (required also by alliteration); heiðar suggested by Sveinbjörn Egilsson accepted by all subsequent eds.
heiðar ‘the heath’s’
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3. heiðr (noun f.; °heiðar, dat./acc heiði; heiðar): heath
[1] heiðar: ‘[...]dar’ B, ‘h[...]ðar’ 399a‑bˣ
kennings
heiðar hjálmspennanda,‘helmet-spanner of the heath’
= God
the heath’s helmet, → SKY/HEAVEN
for him who spans of the SKY/HEAVEN → God
notes
[1] heiðar ‘of the heath’: Restoration based in part upon <h> in 399a-bˣ (required also by alliteration); heiðar suggested by Sveinbjörn Egilsson accepted by all subsequent eds.
hjálm ‘helmet’
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1. hjalmr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): helmet < hjalmspennandi (noun m.)
kennings
heiðar hjálmspennanda,‘helmet-spanner of the heath’
= God
the heath’s helmet, → SKY/HEAVEN
for him who spans of the SKY/HEAVEN → God
hjálm ‘helmet’
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1. hjalmr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): helmet < hjalmspennandi (noun m.)
kennings
heiðar hjálmspennanda,‘helmet-spanner of the heath’
= God
the heath’s helmet, → SKY/HEAVEN
for him who spans of the SKY/HEAVEN → God
spennanda ‘for him who spans’
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spennandi (noun m.): spanner < hjalmspennandi (noun m.)
kennings
heiðar hjálmspennanda,‘helmet-spanner of the heath’
= God
the heath’s helmet, → SKY/HEAVEN
for him who spans of the SKY/HEAVEN → God
bæði ‘Both’
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báðir (pron.; °gen. beggja (báðra), nom./acc. n. bǽði): both
notes
[4] bæði ‘both’: Although technically only relating two elements, bæði can also introduce an extended series (here hryggr ... ok bjartr ok glaðr (ll. 3-4); see Fritzner: bæði n. pl.
hryggr ‘sorrowful’
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2. hryggr (adj.; °-van/-jan; compar. -vari/-ari/-ri; superl. -astr): sorrowful, sad
ok ‘and’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
blíðan ‘joyful’
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blíðr (adj.; °n. sg. nom. & acc. blítt/blíðt; compar. -ari, superl. -astr): gentle, happy
[3] blíðan: bliðr 399a‑bˣ
notes
[3] blíðan ‘joyful’: 399a-bˣ and all previous eds, except Rydberg (1907, 13 and 48), read the superscript <n> (for ‑an, i.e. acc. m. adj.; cf. æztan 13/7, sáran 16/2) as an ‘r/er’-abbreviation, i.e. blíðr or (so Skald) blíðir. To avoid having the l. then end with a stressed syllable (blíðr), Sveinbjörn Egilsson, followed by Konráð Gíslason (in Nj 1875-8, II.1, 30) and Skj B, transposes to blíðr ok hryggr bæði, thus allowing the l. to end with a trochee. Konráð Gíslason and Skj B also add a second ok (between hryggr and bæði) to give the l. six syllables. NN §1390 (cf. Skald), choosing blíðir (construed as an otherwise unattested m. noun ‘joyful one’) over blíðr, maintains the ms. word order, which allows six syllables and a final trochee. Sensing the need for contrasting pairs, Konráð Gíslason also emends glaðr ‘glad’ (l. 4) to myrkr ‘dark’ (i.e. blíðr ok hryggr | bjartr ok myrkr ‘joyful and sorrowful, bright and dark’); Skj B follows this thinking but prefers dapr ‘downcast’. Although the symmetry is appealing, the point seems to be that the joy (bjartr ok glaðr ‘bright/happy and glad’ and blíðan hróðr ‘joyful encomium’) outweighs the sorrow, though the subject of the Crucifixion causes the poet to experience both (cf. Árni Gd 1/2IV dyggur ok bjartur í mínu hjarta, amplified in 24/5-8).
bjartr ‘bright’
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bjartr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): bright
ok ‘and’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
glaðr ‘glad’
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2. glaðr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): cheerful, glad
í ‘at’
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í (prep.): in, into
hjarta ‘heart’
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hjarta (noun n.; °-; *-u): heart
notes
[5] ok: Restoration proposed by Sveinbjörn Egilsson adopted by all subsequent eds; the <k> is supported by skothending and the <o> by the need for an alliterating vowel.
mun ‘it will’
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munu (verb): will, must
árum ‘to messengers’
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1. árr (noun m.; °dat. ár; ǽrir/árar, acc. áru): messenger
kennings
árum eggmóts‘to messengers of the edge-meeting ’
= WARRIORS
the edge-meeting → BATTLE
to messengers of the BATTLE → WARRIORS
þykkja ‘seem’
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2. þykkja (verb): seem, think
egg ‘of the edge’
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1. egg (noun f.; °-jar, dat. -ju/-): edge, blade < eggmót (noun n.): edge-meeting
kennings
árum eggmóts‘to messengers of the edge-meeting ’
= WARRIORS
the edge-meeting → BATTLE
to messengers of the BATTLE → WARRIORS
egg ‘of the edge’
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1. egg (noun f.; °-jar, dat. -ju/-): edge, blade < eggmót (noun n.): edge-meeting
kennings
árum eggmóts‘to messengers of the edge-meeting ’
= WARRIORS
the edge-meeting → BATTLE
to messengers of the BATTLE → WARRIORS
móts ‘meeting’
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1. mót (noun n.; °; -): meeting < eggmót (noun n.): edge-meeting
kennings
árum eggmóts‘to messengers of the edge-meeting ’
= WARRIORS
the edge-meeting → BATTLE
to messengers of the BATTLE → WARRIORS
móts ‘meeting’
(not checked:)
1. mót (noun n.; °; -): meeting < eggmót (noun n.): edge-meeting
kennings
árum eggmóts‘to messengers of the edge-meeting ’
= WARRIORS
the edge-meeting → BATTLE
to messengers of the BATTLE → WARRIORS
of ‘of’
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3. of (prep.): around, from; too
notes
[6] of hvárttveggja ‘of both’: Of, prep. (= um, i.e. vita um e-t ‘to know about something’); hvárttveggja ‘both, each of two’ taken to refer back to the joy and sorrow of the first helmingr.
hvárttveggja ‘both’
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hvárrtveggi (pron.): both
notes
[6] of hvárttveggja ‘of both’: Of, prep. (= um, i.e. vita um e-t ‘to know about something’); hvárttveggja ‘both, each of two’ taken to refer back to the joy and sorrow of the first helmingr.
vísi ‘prince’
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vísi (noun m.; °-a): leader
ljóss ‘a bright’
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ljóss (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): bright
notes
[7] ljóss ‘bright’: Adj. Skj B construes as gen. sg. of ljós ‘light’, taking it as base-word in a sword-kenning eggmóts ljós ‘light of edge-meeting [BATTLE > SWORD]’ (ll. 7, 6) (so also Guðrún Nordal 2001, 293). Skj B further emends vísi ‘prince’ (l. 7) to vísum ‘wise’, agreeing with dat. pl. árum ‘messengers, men’. Sveinbjörn Egilsson followed by Rydberg forms a cpd vísiljós(s), defined in LP (1860) as ignis praenuntiativus ‘announcing fire’ (from vísa ‘to show, demonstrate’), again as a base-word in a sword-kenning. Both of these readings have the advantage of dispensing with the somewhat awkward shift from pl. árum to sg. vísi, both referring to the same unspecified person, but necessity of emendation in the one and the somewhat unlikely compound vísiljós in the other make both undesirable. The present reading favours that of Kock (NN §1391) who follows the ms.; the only difference is that he translates vísi ljóss as förståndig hövding ‘intelligent, wise chieftain’ whereas the adj. usually refers to physical appearance. Vísi ‘prince’ is construed here to have generalised reference, ‘a person’.
ef ‘if’
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3. ef (conj.): if
vissi ‘might know’
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1. vita (verb): know
vera ‘that there is’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
sök ‘cause’
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sǫk (noun f.; °sakar; sakar/sakir): cause, offence
til ‘for’
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til (prep.): to
notes
[8] til þess ‘for this’: Restoration proposed by Sveinbjörn Egilsson and adopted by all subsequent eds; the <þ> was legible to Jón Sigurðsson in 399a-bˣ, and there is no space in B for further characters, hence the standard abbreviation for þess, made more sure by the preceding til.
þess ‘this’
[8] þess: ‘[...]’ B, ‘þ[...]’ 399a‑bˣ
notes
[8] til þess ‘for this’: Restoration proposed by Sveinbjörn Egilsson and adopted by all subsequent eds; the <þ> was legible to Jón Sigurðsson in 399a-bˣ, and there is no space in B for further characters, hence the standard abbreviation for þess, made more sure by the preceding til.
nökkur ‘some’
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nøkkurr (pron.): some, a certain
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
|
Hróðr stofna ek heiðar |
Both sorrowful and bright and glad at heart, I begin this joyful encomium for him who spans the heath’s helmet [(lit. ‘helmet-spanner of the heath’) SKY/HEAVEN > = God], and it will seem to messengers of the edge-meeting [BATTLE > WARRIORS] that there is some cause for this, if a bright prince might know of both [i.e. sorrow and joy].
[3-4]: The second couplet has been subject to various readings and emendations.
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