Hjálm Lv 4VIII (Ǫrv 14)
Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Ǫrvar-Odds saga 14 (Hjálmarr inn hugumstóri, Lausavísur 4)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 827.
Sár ‘wounds’
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2. sár (noun n.; °-s; -): wound
hefk ‘I have’
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hafa (verb): have
sextán ‘sixteen’
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sextán (num. cardinal): sixteen
[1] sextán: so R715ˣ, 343a, 471, 173ˣ, xvi 2845, 344a
slitna ‘a broken’
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slíta (verb): to tear
brynju ‘mail-coat’
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1. brynja (noun f.; °-u (dat. brynnoni Gibb 38⁹); -ur): mailcoat
svart ‘dark’
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svartr (adj.): black
er ‘it is’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
fyr ‘before’
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fyr (prep.): for, over, because of, etc.
sjónum ‘eyes’
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sjón (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): eyes, sight
sékat ‘I cannot see’
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2. sjá (verb): see
[4] sékat ganga (‘sekat ek ganga’): so 471, ‘seka se ek ganga’ 2845, ‘seinka eg ad ganga’ R715ˣ, ‘svinkada ek ganga’ 344a, ‘sie ec ei ad ganga’ 343a, 173ˣ
notes
[4] sékat ganga ‘I cannot see to walk’: The mss show variation between two verbs, viz. sjá ‘see’ (with the suffixed negative particles ‑a or ‑at), as in 2845, 343a, 471 and 173ˣ, and seinka ‘delay’ (R715ˣ and probably underlying 344a’s svinkada, as suggested in Edd. Min. 49 n.). The latter reading could make sense, ‘I delay walking, I have difficulty walking’.
ganga ‘to walk’
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2. ganga (verb; geng, gekk, gengu, genginn): walk, go
[4] sékat ganga (‘sekat ek ganga’): so 471, ‘seka se ek ganga’ 2845, ‘seinka eg ad ganga’ R715ˣ, ‘svinkada ek ganga’ 344a, ‘sie ec ei ad ganga’ 343a, 173ˣ
notes
[4] sékat ganga ‘I cannot see to walk’: The mss show variation between two verbs, viz. sjá ‘see’ (with the suffixed negative particles ‑a or ‑at), as in 2845, 343a, 471 and 173ˣ, and seinka ‘delay’ (R715ˣ and probably underlying 344a’s svinkada, as suggested in Edd. Min. 49 n.). The latter reading could make sense, ‘I delay walking, I have difficulty walking’.
Hneit ‘has’
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hníta (verb): [thrust]
[5] Hneit: ‘hnöt’ or ‘huöt’ corrected from ‘hnet’ or ‘huet’ R715ˣ
notes
[5] hneit mér við hjarta ‘has pierced my heart’: Mér is here and in l. 3 treated as a dat. of interest (‘for/to me’), but it may alternatively be a possessive dat., in which case one would read hneit við hjarta mér and er svart fyr sjónum mér (l. 3).
mér ‘my’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
notes
[5] hneit mér við hjarta ‘has pierced my heart’: Mér is here and in l. 3 treated as a dat. of interest (‘for/to me’), but it may alternatively be a possessive dat., in which case one would read hneit við hjarta mér and er svart fyr sjónum mér (l. 3).
við ‘pierced’
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2. við (prep.): with, against
notes
[5] hneit mér við hjarta ‘has pierced my heart’: Mér is here and in l. 3 treated as a dat. of interest (‘for/to me’), but it may alternatively be a possessive dat., in which case one would read hneit við hjarta mér and er svart fyr sjónum mér (l. 3).
hjarta ‘heart’
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hjarta (noun n.; °-; *-u): heart
notes
[5] hneit mér við hjarta ‘has pierced my heart’: Mér is here and in l. 3 treated as a dat. of interest (‘for/to me’), but it may alternatively be a possessive dat., in which case one would read hneit við hjarta mér and er svart fyr sjónum mér (l. 3).
hjörr ‘sword’
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hjǫrr (noun m.): sword
Angantý*s ‘Angantýr’s’
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Angantýr (noun m.)
[6] Angantý*s: ‘a’ 2845, Angantýrs R715ˣ, 343a, 471, 173ˣ, ‘anḡ’ 344a
blóð ‘sword’
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blóð (noun n.; °-s): blood < blóðrefill (noun m.): point of sword
notes
[7] blóðrefill ‘sword tip’: The lit. meaning of this cpd has been much debated, although there is no doubt that the cpd itself refers to the tip or blade of a sword (cf. Egill Hfl 8/4V (Eg 41), Þul Sverða 10/3III). At issue is the meaning of the noun refill, which most commonly refers to a tapestry or wall-hanging, but in some compounds, as here and in tannrefill ‘tusk-chisel’, clearly refers to a long sharp instrument. ONP: blóð-refill follows a suggestion of Liestøl that the allusion may be to the pattern-welded decoration of a sword blade that is likened to the effect of a woven tapestry.
refill ‘tip’
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refill (noun m.; °; reflar/reflir): [wallhangings] < blóðrefill (noun m.): point of sword
notes
[7] blóðrefill ‘sword tip’: The lit. meaning of this cpd has been much debated, although there is no doubt that the cpd itself refers to the tip or blade of a sword (cf. Egill Hfl 8/4V (Eg 41), Þul Sverða 10/3III). At issue is the meaning of the noun refill, which most commonly refers to a tapestry or wall-hanging, but in some compounds, as here and in tannrefill ‘tusk-chisel’, clearly refers to a long sharp instrument. ONP: blóð-refill follows a suggestion of Liestøl that the allusion may be to the pattern-welded decoration of a sword blade that is likened to the effect of a woven tapestry.
herðr ‘hardened’
notes
[8] herðr í eitri ‘hardened in poison’: A commonplace of Old Norse and Old English heroic poetry. Cf. Beowulf ll. 1459-60a (Beowulf 2008, 50), of the sword Hrunting (ecg wæs īren, | ātertānum fāh, | āhyrded heaþoswāte ‘the blade was of iron, decorated with poison twigs, hardened in battle-blood’) and Heiðr 45/5-6, where both edges of Tyrfingr are said to be imbued with poison.
í ‘in’
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í (prep.): in, into
notes
[8] herðr í eitri ‘hardened in poison’: A commonplace of Old Norse and Old English heroic poetry. Cf. Beowulf ll. 1459-60a (Beowulf 2008, 50), of the sword Hrunting (ecg wæs īren, | ātertānum fāh, | āhyrded heaþoswāte ‘the blade was of iron, decorated with poison twigs, hardened in battle-blood’) and Heiðr 45/5-6, where both edges of Tyrfingr are said to be imbued with poison.
eitri ‘poison’
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eitr (noun n.; °; dat. -um): poison
notes
[8] herðr í eitri ‘hardened in poison’: A commonplace of Old Norse and Old English heroic poetry. Cf. Beowulf ll. 1459-60a (Beowulf 2008, 50), of the sword Hrunting (ecg wæs īren, | ātertānum fāh, | āhyrded heaþoswāte ‘the blade was of iron, decorated with poison twigs, hardened in battle-blood’) and Heiðr 45/5-6, where both edges of Tyrfingr are said to be imbued with poison.
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In Heiðr, this stanza occurs immediately after Ǫrv 13, introduced with the words Hjálmarr qvað ‘Hjálmarr said’. In Ǫrv, Oddr asserts the rightness of his judgement that fighting Angantýr would be disastrous for them, but Hjálmarr is philosophical about his impending death, and utters this stanza.
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