Hergunnr Lv 1VIII (HjǪ 15)
Richard L. Harris (ed.) 2017, ‘Hjálmþés saga ok Ǫlvis 15 (Hergunnr, Lausavísur 1)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 507.
Tölum ‘powers of speech’
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1. tala (noun f.; °*-u; *-ur): [speeches]
ek ‘I’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
treysti ‘trust’
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treysta (verb): trust, believe in
at ‘to’
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5. at (nota): to (with infinitive)
tala ‘talk’
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3. tala (verb): speak, talk
við ‘with’
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2. við (prep.): with, against
höfþingja ‘chieftains’
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hǫfðingi (noun m.; °-ja; -jar): chieftain
þó ‘yet’
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þó (adv.): though
notes
[3] munum vér ‘we [I] will [do]’: Ms. ÍBR5ˣ reads the verb as numum, which is probably to be understood as a metathesised version of munum ‘we will’, though a main verb has to be supplied silently in this interpretation. Kock (NN §2615) takes issue with the implicit assumption in Skj B that vér ‘we’ bears alliteration, as well as with the slightly emended numum of ÍBR5ˣ to námum ‘we learnt’, which gives the sense ‘yet I have learnt [only] a little of what pertains to honour’, that is, by litotes, Hergunnr will not play by the rules of martial combat though she can chat up warriors well enough. Kock emends ll. 3-4 to read: þó vinnum vér lítit | þats til vegar horfir, ‘though we [I] bring about little that leads to honour’.
vér ‘we’
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vér (pron.; °gen. vár, dat./acc. oss): we, us, our
notes
[3] munum vér ‘we [I] will [do]’: Ms. ÍBR5ˣ reads the verb as numum, which is probably to be understood as a metathesised version of munum ‘we will’, though a main verb has to be supplied silently in this interpretation. Kock (NN §2615) takes issue with the implicit assumption in Skj B that vér ‘we’ bears alliteration, as well as with the slightly emended numum of ÍBR5ˣ to námum ‘we learnt’, which gives the sense ‘yet I have learnt [only] a little of what pertains to honour’, that is, by litotes, Hergunnr will not play by the rules of martial combat though she can chat up warriors well enough. Kock emends ll. 3-4 to read: þó vinnum vér lítit | þats til vegar horfir, ‘though we [I] bring about little that leads to honour’.
lítit ‘little’
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lítill (adj.; °lítinn): little
notes
[4] þat er ‘that’: Both mss omit the rel. particle er, a common feature of C14th syntax in the combination demonstrative + rel. particle (cf. NS §261). The particle has been restored here to normalise the text to the period 1250-1300.
til ‘to’
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til (prep.): to
vegar ‘honour’
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2. vegr (noun m.; °-s/-ar, dat. -): honour
[4] vegar: vega 109a IIIˣ, vegs ÍBR5ˣ
horfir ‘leads’
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1. horfa (verb)
Skulum ‘We shall’
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skulu (verb): shall, should, must
til ‘to’
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til (prep.): to
skála ‘the hall’
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skáli (noun m.; °-a; -ar): hall
skunda ‘speed’
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skunda (verb): hasten
göngu ‘our course’
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1. ganga (noun f.): way
ok ‘and’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
menn ‘men’
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maðr (noun m.): man, person
mildungs ‘the prince’s’
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mildingr (noun m.; °-s): ruler, generous one
merkja ‘observe’
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merkja (verb): mark, signify
á ‘on’
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3. á (prep.): on, at
seyði ‘the fire’
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seyðir (noun m.; °-s): cooking fire
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
The grotesque sea-ogress Hergunnr (lit. ‘War-battle’) urges her sisters on to the ‘hall’, in fact only a tent, to see Hjálmþér’s men burn.
This stanza is omitted in papp6ˣ, and hence in the eds that are based on this ms. FSN reproduces the text in a footnote.
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