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

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

Menu Search

Anon Eirm 7I

R. D. Fulk (ed.) 2012, ‘Anonymous Poems, Eiríksmál 7’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1011.

Anonymous PoemsEiríksmál
678

Hví ‘Why’

(not checked:)
hví (adv.): why

Close

namt ‘deprive’

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

Close

þá ‘then’

(not checked:)
2. þá (adv.): then

Close

es ‘when’

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

Close

þótti ‘seemed’

(not checked:)
2. þykkja (verb): seem, think

Close

snjallr ‘valiant’

(not checked:)
snjallr (adj.): quick, resourceful, bold

Close

Því ‘Because’

(not checked:)
því (adv.): therefore, because

Close

at ‘’

(not checked:)
4. at (conj.): that

Close

óvíst ‘it cannot be known’

(not checked:)
óvíss (adj.): unknowable

Close

vita ‘for certain’

(not checked:)
1. vita (verb): know

[3] vita *: vita sagði Óðinn all

Close

* ‘’

(not checked:)
(non-lexical)

[3] vita *: vita sagði Óðinn all

Close

nær ‘when’

(not checked:)
nær (adv.): near, almost; when

[4] nær: sér FskAˣ, 52ˣ, 301ˣ

notes

[4] nær ‘when’: Sahlgren (1927-8, I, 8-10, followed by Skald, Lindquist 1929, 10 and Jón Helgason 1968) seems to have hit on the same reading as 761bˣ, without having consulted it, on the basis of comparison with Fáfn 24/1 (NK 184) and Hávm 1/5 and 38/5 (NK 16, 23), where the formula óvíst es at vita ‘it cannot be known for certain’ is also to be found, and where it is always followed by an interrog. adv. (nær ‘when’ in Hávm 38/5).

Close

ulfr ‘wolf’

(not checked:)
1. ulfr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): wolf

notes

[4] inn hǫsvi ulfr ‘the grey wolf’: Fenrisúlfr, the monstrous wolf Fenrir who will break free at Ragnarǫk (‘the doom of the gods’), swallowing the sun (cf. Vafþr 46, 47) and (if the identification is correct) fighting Óðinn and his son Víðarr (Vsp 53-6; cf. SnE 2005, 49-50).

Close

inn ‘the’

(not checked:)
2. inn (art.): the

notes

[4] inn hǫsvi ulfr ‘the grey wolf’: Fenrisúlfr, the monstrous wolf Fenrir who will break free at Ragnarǫk (‘the doom of the gods’), swallowing the sun (cf. Vafþr 46, 47) and (if the identification is correct) fighting Óðinn and his son Víðarr (Vsp 53-6; cf. SnE 2005, 49-50).

Close

hǫsvi ‘grey’

(not checked:)
hǫss (adj.): grey

notes

[4] inn hǫsvi ulfr ‘the grey wolf’: Fenrisúlfr, the monstrous wolf Fenrir who will break free at Ragnarǫk (‘the doom of the gods’), swallowing the sun (cf. Vafþr 46, 47) and (if the identification is correct) fighting Óðinn and his son Víðarr (Vsp 53-6; cf. SnE 2005, 49-50).

Close

sœkir ‘will attack’

(not checked:)
sœkja (verb): seek, attack

[5] sœkir á: á all

notes

[5] sœkir á ‘will attack’: The defective sense and alliteration indicate that a word is missing, and the following have been proposed: (a) greypr ‘fierce’ (Holthausen 1896, 88, Fsk 1902-3 and Skj B, reading sér ‘looks’ in the preceding line; also Tveiten 1966, 24); (b) sœkir (Sahlgren 1927-8, I, 10 (though for unpersuasive reasons); Lindquist 1929, 10; Skald); (c) gengr ‘will go’ (CPB I, 261, followed by Jón Helgason 1968). Either of these last two readings is suitable. However the lacuna is to be filled, Óðinn’s meaning is that Ragnarǫk may be at hand at any moment, and Eiríkr’s help will be needed against Fenrisúlfr (cf. previous Note, and Note to st. 1/5 einherjar).

Close

á ‘’

(not checked:)
3. á (prep.): on, at

[5] sœkir á: á all

notes

[5] sœkir á ‘will attack’: The defective sense and alliteration indicate that a word is missing, and the following have been proposed: (a) greypr ‘fierce’ (Holthausen 1896, 88, Fsk 1902-3 and Skj B, reading sér ‘looks’ in the preceding line; also Tveiten 1966, 24); (b) sœkir (Sahlgren 1927-8, I, 10 (though for unpersuasive reasons); Lindquist 1929, 10; Skald); (c) gengr ‘will go’ (CPB I, 261, followed by Jón Helgason 1968). Either of these last two readings is suitable. However the lacuna is to be filled, Óðinn’s meaning is that Ragnarǫk may be at hand at any moment, and Eiríkr’s help will be needed against Fenrisúlfr (cf. previous Note, and Note to st. 1/5 einherjar).

Close

sjǫt ‘the home’

(not checked:)
sjǫt (noun n.): dwelling

Close

goða ‘of the gods’

(not checked:)
goð (noun n.): (pagan) god

Close

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

As for st. 1 (Fsk).

The stanza comprises a málaháttr couplet and three lines of ljóðaháttr. — [1]: The speaker is presumably Sigmundr, though there is no overt indication of this in the mss. — [3]: Sahlgren (1927-8, I, 7, and similarly Skald and Lindquist 1929, 10) supplies after l. 2, Vas þó verðr gagns frá goðum ‘Yet he was worthy of victory from the gods’ (cf. Eyv Hák 12/3). This is unnecessary, however: see Note to st. 6/3. — [3] því es óvíst at vita * ‘because it cannot be known for certain’: Lit. ‘because it is uncertain to know’. Óðinn is identified as the speaker in the mss, though the identification, being extrametrical, is omitted here. See Introduction to the poem.

Close

Log in

This service is only available to members of the relevant projects, and to purchasers of the skaldic volumes published by Brepols.
This service uses cookies. By logging in you agree to the use of cookies on your browser.

Close

Stanza/chapter/text segment

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

Information tab

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.