Framarr Lv 2VIII (Ket 35)
Beatrice La Farge (ed.) 2017, ‘Ketils saga hœngs 35 (Framarr víkingakonungr, Lausavísur 2)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 589.
þú ‘You’
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þú (pron.; °gen. þín, dat. þér, acc. þik): you
vængjum ‘your wings’
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vængr (noun m.; °; -ir/-jar): wing
vápnum ‘weapons’
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vápn (noun n.; °-s; -): weapon
notes
[2] ek mun heita þér vápnum ‘I will promise you weapons’: Kock (NN §2396) interprets the verb heita here, as in a similar context in GrL 5/2, not as the strong verb ‘name, promise’ but rather as the weak verb ‘heat, brew’. He maintains that heita ‘brew’ is used in this stanza absolutely (i.e. without a direct object) and metaphorically of the ‘drink’ Ketill is ‘brewing’ (or for the ‘feast’ he is ‘preparing’) for the eagle with his weapons, and adduces Ket 36/1-2 to support this interpretation: Dregz þú nú, Dragvendill, | við krás arnar ‘You are drawn now, Dragvendill, for the delicacies of the eagle [CORPSES]’; cf. such phrases as ætt ara | oddom saddak ‘to satiate the family of the eagles with weapon-points’ in HHund II 8/7-8 (NK 152). Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) emends the line to vápnum munk þik beita ‘I will attack you with weapons’, i.e. he alters not only the verb from heita to beita ‘let bite’, but also the pron. þér (dat.) to the acc. þik.
mun ‘will’
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munu (verb): will, must
notes
[2] ek mun heita þér vápnum ‘I will promise you weapons’: Kock (NN §2396) interprets the verb heita here, as in a similar context in GrL 5/2, not as the strong verb ‘name, promise’ but rather as the weak verb ‘heat, brew’. He maintains that heita ‘brew’ is used in this stanza absolutely (i.e. without a direct object) and metaphorically of the ‘drink’ Ketill is ‘brewing’ (or for the ‘feast’ he is ‘preparing’) for the eagle with his weapons, and adduces Ket 36/1-2 to support this interpretation: Dregz þú nú, Dragvendill, | við krás arnar ‘You are drawn now, Dragvendill, for the delicacies of the eagle [CORPSES]’; cf. such phrases as ætt ara | oddom saddak ‘to satiate the family of the eagles with weapon-points’ in HHund II 8/7-8 (NK 152). Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) emends the line to vápnum munk þik beita ‘I will attack you with weapons’, i.e. he alters not only the verb from heita to beita ‘let bite’, but also the pron. þér (dat.) to the acc. þik.
ek ‘I’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
notes
[2] ek mun heita þér vápnum ‘I will promise you weapons’: Kock (NN §2396) interprets the verb heita here, as in a similar context in GrL 5/2, not as the strong verb ‘name, promise’ but rather as the weak verb ‘heat, brew’. He maintains that heita ‘brew’ is used in this stanza absolutely (i.e. without a direct object) and metaphorically of the ‘drink’ Ketill is ‘brewing’ (or for the ‘feast’ he is ‘preparing’) for the eagle with his weapons, and adduces Ket 36/1-2 to support this interpretation: Dregz þú nú, Dragvendill, | við krás arnar ‘You are drawn now, Dragvendill, for the delicacies of the eagle [CORPSES]’; cf. such phrases as ætt ara | oddom saddak ‘to satiate the family of the eagles with weapon-points’ in HHund II 8/7-8 (NK 152). Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) emends the line to vápnum munk þik beita ‘I will attack you with weapons’, i.e. he alters not only the verb from heita to beita ‘let bite’, but also the pron. þér (dat.) to the acc. þik.
þér ‘you’
(not checked:)
þú (pron.; °gen. þín, dat. þér, acc. þik): you
notes
[2] ek mun heita þér vápnum ‘I will promise you weapons’: Kock (NN §2396) interprets the verb heita here, as in a similar context in GrL 5/2, not as the strong verb ‘name, promise’ but rather as the weak verb ‘heat, brew’. He maintains that heita ‘brew’ is used in this stanza absolutely (i.e. without a direct object) and metaphorically of the ‘drink’ Ketill is ‘brewing’ (or for the ‘feast’ he is ‘preparing’) for the eagle with his weapons, and adduces Ket 36/1-2 to support this interpretation: Dregz þú nú, Dragvendill, | við krás arnar ‘You are drawn now, Dragvendill, for the delicacies of the eagle [CORPSES]’; cf. such phrases as ætt ara | oddom saddak ‘to satiate the family of the eagles with weapon-points’ in HHund II 8/7-8 (NK 152). Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) emends the line to vápnum munk þik beita ‘I will attack you with weapons’, i.e. he alters not only the verb from heita to beita ‘let bite’, but also the pron. þér (dat.) to the acc. þik.
heita ‘promise’
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2. heita (verb): be called, promise
notes
[2] ek mun heita þér vápnum ‘I will promise you weapons’: Kock (NN §2396) interprets the verb heita here, as in a similar context in GrL 5/2, not as the strong verb ‘name, promise’ but rather as the weak verb ‘heat, brew’. He maintains that heita ‘brew’ is used in this stanza absolutely (i.e. without a direct object) and metaphorically of the ‘drink’ Ketill is ‘brewing’ (or for the ‘feast’ he is ‘preparing’) for the eagle with his weapons, and adduces Ket 36/1-2 to support this interpretation: Dregz þú nú, Dragvendill, | við krás arnar ‘You are drawn now, Dragvendill, for the delicacies of the eagle [CORPSES]’; cf. such phrases as ætt ara | oddom saddak ‘to satiate the family of the eagles with weapon-points’ in HHund II 8/7-8 (NK 152). Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) emends the line to vápnum munk þik beita ‘I will attack you with weapons’, i.e. he alters not only the verb from heita to beita ‘let bite’, but also the pron. þér (dat.) to the acc. þik.
vafrar ‘hover about’
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vafra (verb)
þú ‘you’
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þú (pron.; °gen. þín, dat. þér, acc. þik): you
víð ‘wide’
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víðr (adj.): far < víðflogull (adj.)
notes
[3] víðflögull ‘wide-flying one <eagle>’: The cpd víðflögull (or víðflugull) is only attested here (on other adjectives of this kind cf. Falk 1889b, 39-40); several mss have the variant reading víða ‘widely’.
flögull ‘flying one <eagle>’
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flogall (adj.): °rørig, adræt < víðflogull (adj.)
[3] ‑flögull: ‑flugull 471
notes
[3] víðflögull ‘wide-flying one <eagle>’: The cpd víðflögull (or víðflugull) is only attested here (on other adjectives of this kind cf. Falk 1889b, 39-40); several mss have the variant reading víða ‘widely’.
sem ‘as’
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sem (conj.): as, which
vitir ‘you knew’
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1. vita (verb): know
mik ‘me’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
feigan ‘doomed’
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feigr (adj.; °compar. -ari/ri): fated to die, fey, dead
Villr ‘confused’
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villr (adj.): astray, erring, crazed
víg ‘slaughter’
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víg (noun n.; °-s; -): battle < vígstari (noun m.)
[5] víg‑: so papp32ˣ, víf‑ 343a, 471
kennings
vígstari;‘slaughter-starling; ’
= RAVEN/EAGLE
slaughter-starling; → RAVEN/EAGLE
notes
[5] vígstari ‘slaughter-starling [RAVEN/EAGLE]’: It is unclear whether papp32ˣ has this form (‘vÿgstare’ as Valgerður Erna Þorvaldsdóttir transcribed it for this edn) or vígfari (‘Wygffare’ as Anderson transcribed it, cf. 1990, 301). Other mss have víg- but not -stari, or -stari but not víg-. Most previous eds, who do not mention papp32ˣ, have the form vígstari, although it does not appear as a cpd in the mss they mention. They doubtless regard it as an emendation (cf. Edd Min. 150: vígstari, marked with an † to indicate that it is not found in any mss., Edd. Min. 134). The cpd vígstari would be a kenning for an eagle or raven of a conventional type (Meissner 117-23). The reading of 343a and 471 vífstari ‘woman-starling’ makes no sense in this context. Konráð Gíslason (Nj 1875-89, II, 510 n.; cf. Edd. Min. 150) suggested emendation to vígskári ‘battle-gull’, but emendation is not necessary here.
stari ‘starling’
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1. stari (noun m.): starling < vígstari (noun m.)
kennings
vígstari;‘slaughter-starling; ’
= RAVEN/EAGLE
slaughter-starling; → RAVEN/EAGLE
notes
[5] vígstari ‘slaughter-starling [RAVEN/EAGLE]’: It is unclear whether papp32ˣ has this form (‘vÿgstare’ as Valgerður Erna Þorvaldsdóttir transcribed it for this edn) or vígfari (‘Wygffare’ as Anderson transcribed it, cf. 1990, 301). Other mss have víg- but not -stari, or -stari but not víg-. Most previous eds, who do not mention papp32ˣ, have the form vígstari, although it does not appear as a cpd in the mss they mention. They doubtless regard it as an emendation (cf. Edd Min. 150: vígstari, marked with an † to indicate that it is not found in any mss., Edd. Min. 134). The cpd vígstari would be a kenning for an eagle or raven of a conventional type (Meissner 117-23). The reading of 343a and 471 vífstari ‘woman-starling’ makes no sense in this context. Konráð Gíslason (Nj 1875-89, II, 510 n.; cf. Edd. Min. 150) suggested emendation to vígskári ‘battle-gull’, but emendation is not necessary here.
vit ‘we two’
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2. vit (pron.): we two
munum ‘will’
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munu (verb): will, must
sigr ‘the victory’
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sigr (noun m.; °sigrs/sigrar, dat. sigri; sigrar): victory
hafa ‘have’
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hafa (verb): have
hverf ‘turn’
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1. hverfa (verb): turn, disappear
þú ‘’
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þú (pron.; °gen. þín, dat. þér, acc. þik): you
at ‘to’
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3. at (prep.): at, to
Hængi ‘Hœngr (‘Salmon’)’
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1. hængr (noun m.): male salmon
hann ‘he’
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hann (pron.; °gen. hans, dat. honum; f. hon, gen. hennar, acc. hana): he, she, it, they, them...
skal ‘must’
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skulu (verb): shall, should, must
nú ‘now’
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nú (adv.): now
deyja ‘die’
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1. deyja (verb; °deyr; dó, dó(u); dá(i)nn): die
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
The eagle attacks Framarr so ferociously that the latter must fend him off with weapons. In the saga this stanza, addressed to the eagle, is introduced by the words: Þá kvað hann vísu ‘Then he spoke a stanza’.
The stanza presents a fine example of hubris. Framarr cannot believe that he is doomed and that the eagle is intending to attack him. In ll. 5-8 he tells the eagle that it is confused and that its hostility should be directed at Ketill, because he is the one who is going to die. The emphatic pronouns vit ‘we two’ (l. 6) and hann ‘he’ (l. 8) draw attention to Framarr’s false perception that he and the eagle are in alliance and are the main alliterating staves in ll. 5-6 and 7-8 respectively. — [1-6]: All these lines have alliteration on <v>.
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