Marm Lv 3VIII (Hálf 8)
Hubert Seelow (ed.) 2017, ‘Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka 8 (Marmennill, Lausavísur 3)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 311.
Sögu ‘a story’
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1. saga (noun f.; °*-u; *-ur): story, saga
kann ‘can’
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kunna (verb): know, can, be able
ek ‘I’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
segja ‘tell’
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segja (verb): say, tell
sonum ‘the sons’
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sonr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. syni; synir, acc. sonu, syni): son
notes
[2] sonum Háleygja ‘the sons of the Háleygir’: The pl. referent is used here, though the merman is in fact directing his remarks to Hjǫrleifr alone. Andrews (Hálf 1909, 84) comments on the fact that here Hjǫrleifr is linked with Háleygjaland (Hålogaland, a district in northern Norway), as is his son Hálfr in Hálf 56/6.
Háleygja ‘of the Háleygir’
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háleygr (noun m.): one of the Háleygir, Háleygjar
notes
[2] sonum Háleygja ‘the sons of the Háleygir’: The pl. referent is used here, though the merman is in fact directing his remarks to Hjǫrleifr alone. Andrews (Hálf 1909, 84) comments on the fact that here Hjǫrleifr is linked with Háleygjaland (Hålogaland, a district in northern Norway), as is his son Hálfr in Hálf 56/6.
vilgi ‘by no means’
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vilgi (adv.): not at all, by no means
góða ‘good’
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góðr (adj.): good
ef ‘if’
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3. ef (conj.): if
þér ‘you’
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þú (pron.; °gen. þín, dat. þér, acc. þik): you
vilið ‘want’
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vilja (verb): want, intend
heyra ‘to hear’
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2. heyra (verb): hear
Hér ‘Here’
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hér (adv.): here
ferr ‘moves’
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fara (verb; ferr, fór, fóru, farinn): go, travel
sunnan ‘from the south’
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sunnan (adv.): (from the) south
Svarðar ‘Svǫrðr’s’
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svǫrðr (noun m.; °svarðar, dat. sverði; sverðir, acc. svǫrðu): scalp
notes
[6] dóttir Svarðar ‘Svǫrðr’s daughter’: The pers. n. Svǫrðr is otherwise unknown, but is likely to be the determinant of a kenning for a valkyrie or other female figure of war. Skj B substitutes Hǫgna ‘of Hǫgni’, thus producing a kenning for the valkyrie Hildr, whose name as a common noun also means ‘battle’. This emendation, though unjustified by the ms. and non-alliterating, fits with the merman’s apparent personification of Danish aggression moving from the south in the form of a warlike valkyrie or shield-maiden in Hálf 9/1-4 and again in Hálf 10/1-4. Andrews (Hálf 1909, 15-6, 84) attempts to show that an otherwise unknown pers. n. Svǫrðr might be a shortened, syncopated form of Sigvarðr/Sigurðr.
dóttir ‘daughter’
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dóttir (noun f.; °dóttur, dat. dóttur/dǿtr/dóttir, acc. dóttur/dóttir, nom. dóttir/dóttur; dǿtr, gen. dǿtra (cf. [$1592$])): daughter
notes
[6] dóttir Svarðar ‘Svǫrðr’s daughter’: The pers. n. Svǫrðr is otherwise unknown, but is likely to be the determinant of a kenning for a valkyrie or other female figure of war. Skj B substitutes Hǫgna ‘of Hǫgni’, thus producing a kenning for the valkyrie Hildr, whose name as a common noun also means ‘battle’. This emendation, though unjustified by the ms. and non-alliterating, fits with the merman’s apparent personification of Danish aggression moving from the south in the form of a warlike valkyrie or shield-maiden in Hálf 9/1-4 and again in Hálf 10/1-4. Andrews (Hálf 1909, 15-6, 84) attempts to show that an otherwise unknown pers. n. Svǫrðr might be a shortened, syncopated form of Sigvarðr/Sigurðr.
um ‘’
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1. um (prep.): about, around
drifin ‘drenched’
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2. drífa (verb; °drífr; dreif, drifu; drifinn): drive, rush
dreyra ‘with blood’
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dreyri (noun m.; °-a): blood
frá ‘from’
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frá (prep.): from
Danmörku ‘Denmark’
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Danmǫrk (noun f.): [Denmark]
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
The merman now speaks four prophetic stanzas with no intervening prose warning that the Danish king Hreiðarr is preparing to take vengeance for the death of his daughter Hringja, and that he will mount an attack on Hjǫrleifr’s hall, from which Hjǫrleifr will escape and kill Hreiðarr’s son Heri with a spear. The stanza is preceded by the words: En er þeir reru þangat með hann, sem þeir höfðu hann upp dregit, þá kvað hann … ‘And as they rowed with him to the spot, where they had hauled him up, he said …’.
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