Hjǫrleifr Lv 1VIII (Hálf 3)
Hubert Seelow (ed.) 2017, ‘Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka 3 (Hjǫrleifr konungr, Lausavísa 1)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 306.
þú ‘’
(not checked:)
þú (pron.; °gen. þín, dat. þér, acc. þik): you
frá ‘from’
(not checked:)
frá (prep.): from
brunni ‘the spring’
(not checked:)
brunnr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): spring, well
notes
[2] glettzt lítt* ‘provoke … little’: I.e. ‘do not provoke’. In NN §2379 Kock prints glettsk lítt and, referring to NN §604, where he argues that both fátt and lítt are common negations, criticises those eds who substitute the negation contained in the ms. reading líttu by enclitic -at (so Skj B). Nevertheless in Skald Kock prints gletzat.
notes
[2] glettzt lítt* ‘provoke … little’: I.e. ‘do not provoke’. In NN §2379 Kock prints glettsk lítt and, referring to NN §604, where he argues that both fátt and lítt are common negations, criticises those eds who substitute the negation contained in the ms. reading líttu by enclitic -at (so Skj B). Nevertheless in Skald Kock prints gletzat.
við ‘’
(not checked:)
2. við (prep.): with, against
mik ‘me’
(not checked:)
ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
þræll ‘wretched’
(not checked:)
þræll (noun m.; °þrǽls, dat. þrǽli/þrǽl; þrǽlar): slave, servant
herfiligr ‘scoundrel’
(not checked:)
herfiligr (adj.): [shameful]
þíns ‘your’
(not checked:)
þinn (pron.; °f. þín, n. þitt): your
innis ‘abode’
(not checked:)
1. inni (noun n.; °-s; -): house
til ‘to’
(not checked:)
til (prep.): to
Mun ‘shall’
(not checked:)
munu (verb): will, must
ek ‘I’
(not checked:)
ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
senda ‘send’
(not checked:)
senda (verb): send
þér ‘you’
(not checked:)
þú (pron.; °gen. þín, dat. þér, acc. þik): you
sveiðanda ‘a burning’
(not checked:)
sveiða (verb)
notes
[6] sveiðanda spjót ‘a burning spear’: The final superscript a of sveiðanda is barely discernible in the ms. In NN §3286 Kock suggests that the hap. leg. sveiðanda is a pres. part. derived from a verb sveiða and must mean ‘burning’; Hálf 1909 renders sveiðanda spjót with einen glühenden Speer ‘a glowing spear’; Edd. Min. 148 translates sveiða as sengen (oder angesengt sein?) ‘singe (or be singed?)’; AEW: sveiða as brennen, schmerzen ‘burn, ache’; LP: sveiða as beskrive en bue (?) ‘curve(?)’.
spjót ‘spear’
(not checked:)
spjót (noun n.; °-s; -): spear
notes
[6] sveiðanda spjót ‘a burning spear’: The final superscript a of sveiðanda is barely discernible in the ms. In NN §3286 Kock suggests that the hap. leg. sveiðanda is a pres. part. derived from a verb sveiða and must mean ‘burning’; Hálf 1909 renders sveiðanda spjót with einen glühenden Speer ‘a glowing spear’; Edd. Min. 148 translates sveiða as sengen (oder angesengt sein?) ‘singe (or be singed?)’; AEW: sveiða as brennen, schmerzen ‘burn, ache’; LP: sveiða as beskrive en bue (?) ‘curve(?)’.
er ‘’
(not checked:)
2. er (conj.): who, which, when
gyrja ‘stain’
(not checked:)
gyrja (verb)
notes
[7] gyrja ‘stain’: This verb is a hap. leg. and is thought to be related to gor ‘half-digested stomach contents, cud of an animal’, deriving from a root gu̯her- ‘hot, warm’ (see Pokorny 1959, 493-5); the meaning ‘singe, burn’ seems equally possible.
mun ‘will’
(not checked:)
munu (verb): will, must
granir ‘whiskers’
(not checked:)
grǫn (noun f.): mouth
þínar ‘your’
(not checked:)
þinn (pron.; °f. þín, n. þitt): your
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Returning from a viking expedition, King Hjǫrleifr, his wife Hildr in mjóa ‘the Slender’, and their retinue spend the night on their ship off the coast of southern Finnmǫrk (Finnmark). The men light a fire on the shore and two of them go to fetch water from a spring. The stanza is preceded by the words: Þar sáu þeir brunnmiga ok sögðu Hjörleifi kóngi. Síðan heitir kóngr broddspjót í eldi ok skaut til hans. Kóngr kvað … ‘There they saw a brunnmigi (‘spring-pisser’) and told king Hjǫrleifr. Then the king heats a pike in the fire and shot at him. The king said …’. The stanza is followed by the words Þá tóku þeir vatn, en þussinn skauzt inn í bjargit ‘Then they took water, but the giant slipped away into the rock’.
The concept of a being that pollutes springs or streams by urinating in them is attested in Scandinavian folklore (cf. CVC: brunn-migi). It is sometimes imagined as a fox spirit, although here the being is called þuss ‘giant’ or ‘troll’. The cpd brunnmigi ‘spring-pisser’ appears only in the prose preceding this stanza and in Þul Grýlu 1/8III, where most of the other heiti in the stanza are terms for foxes.
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.