Hjþ Lv 4VIII (HjǪ 7)
Richard L. Harris (ed.) 2017, ‘Hjálmþés saga ok Ǫlvis 7 (Hjálmþér Ingason, Lausavísur 4)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 499.
Kantu ‘you know’
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3. kanna (verb): know, be able
mjúkligar ‘more nimbly’
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mjúkr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): gentle, humble
mær ‘girl’
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mær (noun f.; °meyjar, dat. meyju; meyjar): maiden
[2] mær in harðleita: so with brackets in another hand indicating placement in this position from a position as l. 4 papp6ˣ
in ‘’
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2. inn (art.): the
[2] mær in harðleita: so with brackets in another hand indicating placement in this position from a position as l. 4 papp6ˣ
harð ‘Hard’
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harðr (adj.; °comp. -ari; superl. -astr): hard, harsh < harðleitr (adj.)
[2] mær in harðleita: so with brackets in another hand indicating placement in this position from a position as l. 4 papp6ˣ
leita ‘faced’
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-leitr (adj.): -looking < harðleitr (adj.)
[2] mær in harðleita: so with brackets in another hand indicating placement in this position from a position as l. 4 papp6ˣ
leika ‘how to play’
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3. leika (verb): play
at ‘with’
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3. at (prep.): at, to
hræ ‘the corpse’
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hræ (noun n.; °; -): corpse, carrion < hrækerti (noun n.): [corpse-candle]
kennings
hrækerti‘the corpse-candle ’
= SWORD
the corpse-candle → SWORD
notes
[2] hrækerti ‘the corpse-candle [SWORD]’: A sword-kenning with a base-word expressing the concept ‘fire, flame’, as in sárlogi ‘wound-flame’ (l. 5); cf. blóðkerti ‘blood-candle’, understood from the context (Árm Lv 1/8II and Note) as a spear-kenning, but closely matching common patterns for sword-kennings (cf. Meissner 150-1). Falk (1914b, 52) records several sword names with the element hræ- ‘corpse’.
kerti ‘candle’
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kerti (noun n.; °-s; -): candle < hrækerti (noun n.): [corpse-candle]
kennings
hrækerti‘the corpse-candle ’
= SWORD
the corpse-candle → SWORD
notes
[2] hrækerti ‘the corpse-candle [SWORD]’: A sword-kenning with a base-word expressing the concept ‘fire, flame’, as in sárlogi ‘wound-flame’ (l. 5); cf. blóðkerti ‘blood-candle’, understood from the context (Árm Lv 1/8II and Note) as a spear-kenning, but closely matching common patterns for sword-kennings (cf. Meissner 150-1). Falk (1914b, 52) records several sword names with the element hræ- ‘corpse’.
en ‘than’
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2. en (conj.): but, and
[4] en hölðar aðrir sex: so corrected from mjúkligar en sex aðrir in another hand papp6ˣ, mjúkligar en sex aðrir 109a IIIˣ, meir en sex aðrir ÍBR5ˣ
hölðar ‘champions’
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hǫlðr (noun m.; °-s; -ar): man
[4] en hölðar aðrir sex: so corrected from mjúkligar en sex aðrir in another hand papp6ˣ, mjúkligar en sex aðrir 109a IIIˣ, meir en sex aðrir ÍBR5ˣ
aðrir ‘other’
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1. annarr (pron.; °f. ǫnnur, n. annat; pl. aðrir): (an)other, second
[4] en hölðar aðrir sex: so corrected from mjúkligar en sex aðrir in another hand papp6ˣ, mjúkligar en sex aðrir 109a IIIˣ, meir en sex aðrir ÍBR5ˣ
sex ‘six’
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sex (num. cardinal): six
[4] en hölðar aðrir sex: so corrected from mjúkligar en sex aðrir in another hand papp6ˣ, mjúkligar en sex aðrir 109a IIIˣ, meir en sex aðrir ÍBR5ˣ
Sel ‘Give’
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4. selja (verb): hand over, sell, give
þú ‘’
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þú (pron.; °gen. þín, dat. þér, acc. þik): you
mér ‘me’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
sár ‘the wound’
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2. sár (noun n.; °-s; -): wound < sárlogi (noun m.)
kennings
sárloga‘the wound-flame, ’
= SWORD
the wound-flame, → SWORD
loga ‘flame’
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logi (noun m.; °-a; -ar): flame < sárlogi (noun m.)
[5] ‑loga: ‘‑lǫgann’ papp6ˣ
kennings
sárloga‘the wound-flame, ’
= SWORD
the wound-flame, → SWORD
sveipinn ‘wrapped’
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3. sveipa (verb): wrap, encircle
[6] sveipinn: ‘sueyps’ 109a IIIˣ, ‘sueijfz’ with ‘z’ crossed out papp6ˣ, ‘sueips’ ÍBR5ˣ
notes
[6] sveipinn ‘wrapped’: None of the ms. forms are satisfactory here. They have thus been emended to the appropriate form of the p. p. of the strong verb sveipa ‘sweep, stroke, wrap’. FSGJ favours the form sveiptan (from sveipa, ‑ta, ‑tr) with the same meaning. The notion of wrapping the sword in gold may refer to the sword hilt, which was frequently wrapped around with gold wires.
orms ‘of the serpent’
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ormr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): serpent
kennings
dýnu orms;‘the eiderdown of the serpent; ’
= GOLD
the eiderdown of the serpent; → GOLD
dýnu ‘the eiderdown’
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1. dýna (noun f.; °-u; -ur): feather-bed
kennings
dýnu orms;‘the eiderdown of the serpent; ’
= GOLD
the eiderdown of the serpent; → GOLD
fús ‘eager’
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fúss (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): eager, willing
em ‘am’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
ek ‘I’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
fljóð ‘the woman’
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fljóð (noun n.): woman
at ‘to’
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5. at (nota): to (with infinitive)
kyssa ‘kiss’
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kyssa (verb): kiss
fer ‘let it go’
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fara (verb; ferr, fór, fóru, farinn): go, travel
sem ‘as’
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sem (conj.): as, which
má ‘it’
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mega (verb): may, might
jöfri ‘with the prince’
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jǫfurr (noun m.): ruler, prince
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Remembering the advice of a previously encountered troll-woman, Skinnhúfa ‘Skin-hood’, later revealed as Vargeisa’s sister, Princess Hildisif, not to forego the acquisition of a better sword if he should see one, Hjálmþér consents in this stanza to kiss the finngalkn, Vargeisa, in return for the sword, Snarvendill.
Considerable corruption has evidently entered into the transmission of the text of the first four lines of this stanza. Like most eds, beginning with HjǪ 1720 and including Skj B, Skald and FSGJ, the arrangement of papp6ˣ has been followed here, even though the order of lines and the text of l. 4 in that ms. has been added as an afterthought to what was originally more similar to the order of lines in 109a IIIˣ and ÍBR5ˣ. The arrangement of the latter two mss brings with it several problems: 1) alliteration is lacking between ll. 1 and 2; 2) the adv. mjúkligar is repeated in l. 3 from l. 1 and l. 3 is also hypermetrical (in 109a IIIˣ); and 3) mjúkligar en sex aðrir ‘more nimbly than six others’ (109a IIIˣ) or meir en sex aðrir ‘more than six others’ (ÍBR5ˣ) brings with it a problem of meaning in that Hjálmþér is addressing a female person and comparing her to six other males, who have not been mentioned in the saga narrative.
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