Herv Lv 16VIII (Heiðr 40)
Hannah Burrows (ed.) 2017, ‘Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks 40 (Hervǫr, Lausavísur 16)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 400.
Ek ‘I’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
hirða ‘guard’
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hirða (verb): hide, care for
[1] hirða: so 2845, R715ˣ, hirða segir hon Hb
ok ‘and’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
í ‘in’
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í (prep.): in, into
notes
[2] nema í hendr ‘take it in my hands’: Echoes l. 8 of the previous stanza. The agreement of the other mss on the sg. hönd ‘hand’ is not enough to go against the main ms. here, since in 2845 this is a direct repetition of its reading, hönd, in l. 8 of the previous stanza, a reading rejected in the present edn. Andrews (1920, 97-8), however, argues for the ‘poetic effect’ created (in R715ˣ only) by the use of the sg. form following the pl. in the previous stanza: ‘Hervǫr asserts her readiness to take it in one hand, answering not only the expressed doubt as to her courage, but also any possible implication as to her strength’.
hendr ‘hands’
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hǫnd (noun f.; °handar, dat. hendi; hendr (hendir StatPáll³ 752¹²)): hand
[2] hendr: hönd 2845, R715ˣ
notes
[2] nema í hendr ‘take it in my hands’: Echoes l. 8 of the previous stanza. The agreement of the other mss on the sg. hönd ‘hand’ is not enough to go against the main ms. here, since in 2845 this is a direct repetition of its reading, hönd, in l. 8 of the previous stanza, a reading rejected in the present edn. Andrews (1920, 97-8), however, argues for the ‘poetic effect’ created (in R715ˣ only) by the use of the sg. form following the pl. in the previous stanza: ‘Hervǫr asserts her readiness to take it in one hand, answering not only the expressed doubt as to her courage, but also any possible implication as to her strength’.
nema ‘take it’
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1. nema (verb): to take
notes
[2] nema í hendr ‘take it in my hands’: Echoes l. 8 of the previous stanza. The agreement of the other mss on the sg. hönd ‘hand’ is not enough to go against the main ms. here, since in 2845 this is a direct repetition of its reading, hönd, in l. 8 of the previous stanza, a reading rejected in the present edn. Andrews (1920, 97-8), however, argues for the ‘poetic effect’ created (in R715ˣ only) by the use of the sg. form following the pl. in the previous stanza: ‘Hervǫr asserts her readiness to take it in one hand, answering not only the expressed doubt as to her courage, but also any possible implication as to her strength’.
hvassan ‘the sharp’
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hvass (adj.; °-an; -ari, -astr): keen, sharp
mæki ‘sword’
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mækir (noun m.): sword
ef ‘if’
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3. ef (conj.): if
ek ‘I’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
hafa ‘have it’
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hafa (verb): have
ek ‘I’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
eigi ‘do not’
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3. eigi (adv.): not
eld ‘fire’
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eldr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i/-(HómÍsl¹(1993) 24v²⁴); -ar): fire
brennanda ‘burning’
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2. brenna (verb; °brennr/brenn; brann, brunnu; brunninn): (strong, intransitive)
þegar ‘as soon’
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þegar (adv.): at once, then
[7, 8] þegar loga lægir er ek lít yfir: þann er framliðnum fyrðum leikr um sjónir R715ˣ
loga ‘flame’
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logi (noun m.; °-a; -ar): flame
[7, 8] þegar loga lægir er ek lít yfir: þann er framliðnum fyrðum leikr um sjónir R715ˣ
lægir ‘will subside’
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lægja (verb): humble, become lower
[7, 8] þegar loga lægir er ek lít yfir: þann er framliðnum fyrðum leikr um sjónir R715ˣ
er ‘as’
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2. er (conj.): who, which, when
[7, 8] þegar loga lægir er ek lít yfir: þann er framliðnum fyrðum leikr um sjónir R715ˣ
ek ‘I’
(not checked:)
ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
[7, 8] þegar loga lægir er ek lít yfir: þann er framliðnum fyrðum leikr um sjónir R715ˣ
lít ‘look’
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líta (verb): look, see; appear
[7, 8] þegar loga lægir er ek lít yfir: þann er framliðnum fyrðum leikr um sjónir R715ˣ
yfir ‘upon it’
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yfir (prep.): over
[7, 8] þegar loga lægir er ek lít yfir: þann er framliðnum fyrðum leikr um sjónir R715ˣ
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
[1]: The stanza is interrupted at the end of this half-line in Hb with the attribution segir hon ‘she says’. This is clearly not part of the verse and is indicated as separate from it in the ms. by the placing of a vertical stroke on either side of the interjection. — [5-8]: In these lines Hervǫr responds to ll. 3-4 of the previous stanza: allr er hann útan | eldi sveipinn ‘on the outside it is all encircled by fire’. — [7-8]: Ms. R715ˣ offers er framliðnum fyrðum | leikr um sjónir ‘which plays around the eyes of the deceased warriors’, which is unmetrical. In the readings in Skj A Finnur Jónsson suggests that the reading may originally have been er framm-liðnum | leikr fyr sjónum ‘which plays around the deceased before [my] sight’, but this lacks alliteration. The variant is clearly secondary.
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