ǪrvOdd Lv 13VIII (Ǫrv 46)
Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Ǫrvar-Odds saga 46 (Ǫrvar-Oddr, Lausavísur 13)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 859.
vartu ‘you were’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
á ‘on’
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3. á (prep.): on, at
Selund ‘Sjælland’
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Selund (noun f.): Sjælland, Zealand
[2] Selund: Sælundi 344a, 343a, Sælǫndum 173ˣ
feldak ‘I felled’
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falla (verb): fall
bræðr ‘brothers’
[3] bræðr bölharða: bræðr mjök bölharða 344a, bræðr í böð harða 343a, bræðr böðharða 471, er ek bræðr felda 173ˣ
böl ‘the harm’
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bǫl (noun n.; °-s, dat. bǫlvi): evil < bǫlharðr (adj.)
[3] bræðr bölharða: bræðr mjök bölharða 344a, bræðr í böð harða 343a, bræðr böðharða 471, er ek bræðr felda 173ˣ
notes
[3] bölharða ‘harm-hard’: This is the reading of 7 and 344a. The cpd is a hap. leg. and its meaning is presumably that the berserk brothers were tough when faced with the rigours of battle. Skj B and Skald prefer the reading of 471 (supported by that of 343a), böðharða ‘battle-hard’, a cpd attested from several skaldic poems (cf. LP: bǫðharðr).
harða ‘hard’
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harðr (adj.; °comp. -ari; superl. -astr): hard, harsh < bǫlharðr (adj.)
[3] bræðr bölharða: bræðr mjök bölharða 344a, bræðr í böð harða 343a, bræðr böðharða 471, er ek bræðr felda 173ˣ
notes
[3] bölharða ‘harm-hard’: This is the reading of 7 and 344a. The cpd is a hap. leg. and its meaning is presumably that the berserk brothers were tough when faced with the rigours of battle. Skj B and Skald prefer the reading of 471 (supported by that of 343a), böðharða ‘battle-hard’, a cpd attested from several skaldic poems (cf. LP: bǫðharðr).
Brand ‘Brandr’
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brandr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): sword, prow; fire
ok ‘and’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
Ásmund ‘Ásmundr’
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ásmundr (noun m.; °; -ar): Ásmundr
inn ‘the’
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2. inn (art.): the
En ‘But’
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2. en (conj.): but, and
þú ‘you’
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þú (pron.; °gen. þín, dat. þér, acc. þik): you
heima ‘at home’
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2. heima (adv.): at home
í ‘in’
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í (prep.): in, into
höll ‘hall’
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1. hǫll (noun f.; °hallar, dat. -u/-; hallir): hall
konungs ‘the king’s’
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konungr (noun m.; °dat. -i, -s; -ar): king
[8] konungs: kominn 173ˣ
skrökmála ‘babbler of’
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skrǫkmál (noun n.) < skrǫkmálasamr (adj.)
[9] skrökmála‑: ‘skrokmæla’ 471
notes
[9] skrökmálasamr ‘babbler of lies’: Lit. ‘falsehood-talkative’. This hap. leg. cpd echoes the kynmálasamr ‘marvellously talkative’ of Ǫrv 45/7.
samr ‘lies’
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samr (adj.; °compar. -ari): same < skrǫkmálasamr (adj.)
notes
[9] skrökmálasamr ‘babbler of lies’: Lit. ‘falsehood-talkative’. This hap. leg. cpd echoes the kynmálasamr ‘marvellously talkative’ of Ǫrv 45/7.
skauð ‘cunt’
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1. skauð (noun f.; °; -ir): °pjok, svækling, "tøsedreng"; uhyre; (I) forhud (på hests penis)
[10] skauð: ‘skud’ 344a
notes
[10] hernumin skauð ‘you forcibly taken cunt’: A very strong insult. Skauð is often translated ‘wretch, coward, good-for-nothing’ (cf. Skj B’s translation and LP: skauð), and undoubtedly the general implication of the term is that a man referred to in such language is unmanly. However, skauð, a f. noun, has the specific sense of the internal female genitalia (cf. OE sceað, ModEngl. sheath, Lat. vagina) and Fritzner: skauð 1 gives citations of the term’s pejorative use when applied to a man. In combination with the adjectival p. p. hernumin ‘captured, taken by force’ there is no doubt of the pejorative implication of skauð, as the verb hernema is frequently used of women captured in raids or fighting and forced to become men’s concubines; see Fritzner: hernema 2 and the use of the same p. p. in Ǫrv 50/7.
hernumin ‘forcibly taken’
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hernema (verb)
notes
[10] hernumin skauð ‘you forcibly taken cunt’: A very strong insult. Skauð is often translated ‘wretch, coward, good-for-nothing’ (cf. Skj B’s translation and LP: skauð), and undoubtedly the general implication of the term is that a man referred to in such language is unmanly. However, skauð, a f. noun, has the specific sense of the internal female genitalia (cf. OE sceað, ModEngl. sheath, Lat. vagina) and Fritzner: skauð 1 gives citations of the term’s pejorative use when applied to a man. In combination with the adjectival p. p. hernumin ‘captured, taken by force’ there is no doubt of the pejorative implication of skauð, as the verb hernema is frequently used of women captured in raids or fighting and forced to become men’s concubines; see Fritzner: hernema 2 and the use of the same p. p. in Ǫrv 50/7.
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
As for Ǫrv 45.
In this stanza Oddr accuses Sigurðr of not being present when he, in company with Ásmundr and Hjálmarr, fought on the Danish island of Selund (ModDan. Sjælland, ModEngl. Zealand) against five berserk brothers, Brandr, Ásmundr, Agnarr, Ingjaldr and Álfr. According to the saga, Oddr killed all the brothers without suffering a single wound (Ǫrv 1888, 66-7; Ǫrv 1892, 35-6). — This stanza has ten lines, instead of the usual eight, and most eds regard ll. 5-6 as a later insertion; however, they are present in all mss and the names correspond to those of the five berserk brothers in the prose saga. Ms. 173ˣ has ll. 5-6 but omits ll. 9-10.
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