Neri Frag 1VIII (Gautr 7)
Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Gautreks saga 7 (Neri, verses 1)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 251.
Skein ‘shone’
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skína (verb): shine
inn ‘The’
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2. inn (art.): the
skrautligi ‘splendid one’
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skrautligr (adj.): fine, splendid
raunar ‘really’
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raunar (adv.)
skjöldr ‘the shield’
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skjǫldr (noun m.; °skjaldar/skildar, dat. skildi; skildir, acc. skjǫldu): shield
hekk ‘hung’
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1. hanga (verb): hang
áðr ‘previously’
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áðr (adv.; °//): before
á ‘on’
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3. á (prep.): on, at
notes
[2] á tjöldum ‘on the wall-hangings’: The noun tjald usually refers to an awning on a ship or a wall-hanging or tapestry in a hall. The prose text of Gautr states (Gautr 1900, 38): Ǫll hǫll jarls var búin með skjǫlldum, svó at hverr tók annan, þar sem þeir vóru uppfestir ‘The whole of the jarl’s hall was decorated with shields, so that each overlapped another where they were suspended’.
tjöldum ‘the wall-hangings’
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tjald (noun n.; °-s; *-): tent, awning
notes
[2] á tjöldum ‘on the wall-hangings’: The noun tjald usually refers to an awning on a ship or a wall-hanging or tapestry in a hall. The prose text of Gautr states (Gautr 1900, 38): Ǫll hǫll jarls var búin með skjǫlldum, svó at hverr tók annan, þar sem þeir vóru uppfestir ‘The whole of the jarl’s hall was decorated with shields, so that each overlapped another where they were suspended’.
oss ‘us [me]’
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vér (pron.; °gen. vár, dat./acc. oss): we, us, our
verðr ‘strikes’
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1. verða (verb): become, be
opt ‘often’
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opt (adv.): often
angr ‘sorrow’
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1. angr (noun m.; °angrs, dat. angri/angr): grief
þangat ‘over there’
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þangat (adv.): there, thither
Skarð ‘The gap’
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skarð (noun n.; °-s; *-): [clefts, a notch]
notes
[5] skarð ‘the gap’: That is, the empty place where the shield Neri gave to Refr was formerly hanging.
erat ‘has not’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
skapligt ‘suitably’
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skapligr (adj.): [fitting, shapely]
ek ‘I’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
snauðr ‘stripped’
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snauðr (adj.): bereft, poor
auði ‘wealth’
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1. auðr (noun m.; °-s/-ar, dat. -i/-): wealth
ef ‘if’
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3. ef (conj.): if
braut ‘away’
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1. braut (noun f.; °dat. -/-u; -ir): path, way; away
gjöf ‘a gift’
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gjǫf (noun f.): gift
gautar ‘men’
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gauti (noun m.): man, Geat
notes
[7] gautar ‘men’: Here understood as a poetic word for men; Skj B understands Gautar ‘men from Götaland (ON Gautland)’ in Sweden. Finnur Jónsson combines this interpretation with the emendation of bera ‘carry’ (l. 8) to fara ‘go’ and randir ‘shields’ (l. 8, acc. pl.) to randa ‘of shields’ (gen. pl.) to give the following sense: ef Gautar randa fara braut grandlaust með gjöf ‘if the Gautar of shields [WARRIORS] depart safely with the gift’. Neither emendation has support in the ms. readings.
notes
[8] grandlaust ‘scot-free’: A more common meaning for grandlauss is ‘guileless, sinless’, but here the sense seems to be that people can get away with all sorts of things just because they offer a [small] gift.
bera ‘carry’
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3. bera (verb; °berr; bar, báru; borinn): bear, carry
randir ‘shields’
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rǫnd (noun f.; °dat. -/-u; rendr/randir): shield, shield-rim
[8] randir: dauðr 164hˣ
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
According to the saga prose, Refr, an unpromising young man, is thrown out of his father’s farm. In revenge he takes with him a fine ox and presents it to Neri jarl, who has a reputation for being so mean that he never receives a gift because he cannot bear to requite the giver. In spite of his reputation, Neri gives Refr hospitality overnight and is moved to present him with a shield, inlaid with gold, that hangs among numerous others that overlap along the walls of Neri’s hall. When he returns to the hall the next day, Neri regrets this generous gesture. Looking up at the gap where the shield had been, he speaks this stanza.
This stanza is in dróttkvætt, regular except for l. 1. — [1-2]: In this edn and also in Skj B, Gautr 1900 and FSGJ, l. 2 has been treated as an independent clause; however, it is possible (so Skald; NN §3294) to construe skjöldr ‘shield’ (l. 2) with inn skrautligi ‘the splendid’ (l.1) in the first clause, and take hekk áðr á tjöldum ‘it hung previously on the wall-hangings’ as a separate co-ordinate clause with the implied subject skjöldr ‘shield’.
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