Sjólfr Lv 1VIII (Ǫrv 34)
Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Ǫrvar-Odds saga 34 (Sjólfr, Lausavísur 1)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 848.
Oddr ‘Oddr’
(not checked:)
Oddr (noun m.)
orrostu ‘battle’
(not checked:)
orrusta (noun f.; °-u; -ur): battle
hjálmat ‘the helmeted’
(not checked:)
hjalmaðr (adj./verb p.p.): helmeted
lið ‘band’
(not checked:)
lið (noun n.; °-s; -): retinue, troop
Hamðis ‘of Hamðir <legendary hero>’
(not checked:)
Hamðir (noun m.): Hamðir
[4] Hamðis: ‘handis’ 344a, ‘hanndiss’ 343a, ‘hamdis’ or ‘handis’ 471
kennings
skyrtur Hamðis‘the shirts of Hamðir <legendary hero> ’
= MAIL-SHIRTS
the shirts of Hamðir <legendary hero> → MAIL-SHIRTS
notes
[2] skyrtur Hamðis ‘the shirts of Hamðir <legendary hero> [MAIL-SHIRTS]’: Hamðir and his brother Sǫrli were legendary heroes who attacked the Gothic king Jǫrmunrekkr (Ermanaric) in his hall, according to the eddic poem Hamð. Kennings for mail-shirts are often constructed with a hero’s name as determinant.
skyrtur ‘the shirts’
(not checked:)
skyrta (noun f.; °-u; -ur): shirt
kennings
skyrtur Hamðis‘the shirts of Hamðir <legendary hero> ’
= MAIL-SHIRTS
the shirts of Hamðir <legendary hero> → MAIL-SHIRTS
notes
[2] skyrtur Hamðis ‘the shirts of Hamðir <legendary hero> [MAIL-SHIRTS]’: Hamðir and his brother Sǫrli were legendary heroes who attacked the Gothic king Jǫrmunrekkr (Ermanaric) in his hall, according to the eddic poem Hamð. Kennings for mail-shirts are often constructed with a hero’s name as determinant.
Guðr ‘Battle’
(not checked:)
guðr (noun f.): battle
notes
[5] guðr geisaði ‘battle raged’: The same collocation is in Ív Sig 37/7II. The verb geisa ‘rage’ often collocates with a noun for fire, as we find here in l. 6 (cf. Ólhv Hák 1/3II, Anon Lil 70/5VII).
geisaði ‘raged’
(not checked:)
geisa (verb): rage
notes
[5] guðr geisaði ‘battle raged’: The same collocation is in Ív Sig 37/7II. The verb geisa ‘rage’ often collocates with a noun for fire, as we find here in l. 6 (cf. Ólhv Hák 1/3II, Anon Lil 70/5VII).
gekk ‘penetrated’
(not checked:)
2. ganga (verb; geng, gekk, gengu, genginn): walk, go
eldr ‘fire’
(not checked:)
eldr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i/-(HómÍsl¹(1993) 24v²⁴); -ar): fire
[6] eldr: glóð 344a
notes
[6] eldr ‘fire’: Ms. 344a reads glóð ‘red-hot embers’ here, which makes sense, but provides excess alliteration.
þá ‘when’
(not checked:)
2. þá (adv.): then
er ‘the’
(not checked:)
2. er (conj.): who, which, when
notes
[7] Vinðum ‘the Wends’: A Slavic people living in the area along the eastern and southern shores of the Baltic Sea. Scandinavian rulers led campaigns against them, which were regarded as particularly meritorious because the Wends were not Christian (cf. Mark Eirdr 4/1II and Note). The legendary King Herrauðr is here being credited with similar exploits.
vá ‘won’
(not checked:)
1. vega (verb): strike, slay
sigr ‘a victory’
(not checked:)
sigr (noun m.; °sigrs/sigrar, dat. sigri; sigrar): victory
konungr ‘king’
(not checked:)
konungr (noun m.; °dat. -i, -s; -ar): king
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
After challenging Oddr to reveal his name, the king’s retainer Sjólfr offers him a drinking horn full of ale and speaks this stanza.
Sjólfr calls Oddr by his name, after having learnt it for the first time. The stanza takes the form of a standard challenge to Oddr’s manliness and his willingness to participate in fights, while asserting the speaker’s own prowess and experience, in this case in battles that King Herrauðr led against the Wends and in which, by implication, Sjólfr participated but Oddr did not.
Stanza/chapter/text segment
Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.
Information tab
- text: if the stanza has been published, the edited text of the stanza and translation are here; if it hasn't been published an old edition (usually Skj) is given for reference
- sources: a list of the manuscripts or inscriptions containing this stanza, with page and line references and links (eye button) to images where available, and transcription where available
- readings: a list of variant manuscript readings of words in the main text
- editions and texts: a list of editions of the stanza with links to the bibliography; and a list of prose works in which the stanza occurs, allowing you to navigate within the prose context
- notes and context: notes not linked to individual words are given here, along with the account of the prose context for the stanza, where relevant
Interactive tab
The text and translation are given here, with buttons to toggle whether the text is shown in the verse order or prose word order. Clicking on indiviudal words gives dictionary links, variant readings, kennings and notes, where relevant.
Full text tab
This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.
Chapter/text segment
This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.