Rloð Lv 7VIII (Ragn 23)
Rory McTurk (ed.) 2017, ‘Ragnars saga loðbrókar 23 (Ragnarr loðbrók, Lausavísur 7)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 670.
Spari ‘be sparing of’
(not checked:)
2. spara (verb): spare, withhold
[1] Spari manngi röf Rínar: ‘(sp)ari mangi Rauf […]ar’(?) 147
manngi ‘Let no person’
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manngi (pron.): no
[1] Spari manngi röf Rínar: ‘(sp)ari mangi Rauf […]ar’(?) 147
röf ‘the amber’
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rǫf (noun f.): amber
[1] Spari manngi röf Rínar: ‘(sp)ari mangi Rauf […]ar’(?) 147
kennings
röf Rínar,‘the amber of the Rhine, ’
= GOLD
the amber of the Rhine, → GOLD
Rínar ‘of the Rhine’
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Rín (noun f.): [Rhine]
[1] Spari manngi röf Rínar: ‘(sp)ari mangi Rauf […]ar’(?) 147
kennings
röf Rínar,‘the amber of the Rhine, ’
= GOLD
the amber of the Rhine, → GOLD
röskr ‘a brave man’
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rǫskr (adj.): brave
[2] ef röskr vili hermenn: ‘ef […] vil(i) […]’(?) 147
vili ‘should want’
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vilja (verb): want, intend
[2] ef röskr vili hermenn: ‘ef […] vil(i) […]’(?) 147
her ‘’
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herr (noun m.; °-s/-jar, dat. -; -jar, gen. -ja/herra): army, host < hermaðr (noun m.): warrior
[2] ef röskr vili hermenn: ‘ef […] vil(i) […]’(?) 147
menn ‘soldiers’
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maðr (noun m.): man, person < hermaðr (noun m.): warrior
[2] ef röskr vili hermenn: ‘ef […] vil(i) […]’(?) 147
verr ‘worse’
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verri (adj. comp.): worse, worst
[3] verr samir hoskum hilmi: ‘[…] (s[…]mir […]skum hilmi)’(?) 147
samir ‘befits’
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2. sama (verb): befit
[3] verr samir hoskum hilmi: ‘[…] (s[…]mir […]skum hilmi)’(?) 147
hoskum ‘a wise’
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horskr (adj.; °compar. -ari): wise
[3] verr samir hoskum hilmi: ‘[…] (s[…]mir […]skum hilmi)’(?) 147
hilmi ‘ruler’
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hilmir (noun m.): prince, protector
[3] verr samir hoskum hilmi: ‘[…] (s[…]mir […]skum hilmi)’(?) 147
hringa ‘of rings’
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1. hringr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -; -ar): ring; sword
[4] hringa: ‘[…]ga’ 147
notes
[4] fjölð ‘multitude’: This, the reading of 147, is adopted in this edn as in almost all previous eds. Ms. 1824b’s fold ‘land’ is adopted in FSN but hardly makes sense in the context.
drengja ‘one of men’
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drengr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -; -ir, gen. -ja): man, warrior
[4] en drengja: ‘en dre(ng)’(?) 147
notes
[5-6] ilt er standa fram ‘it is no good entering’: Lit. ‘it is bad to step forward’. The inf. marker at ‘to’ (‘it is no good to …’) that might be expected to precede the inf. standa is not present here, presumably for metrical reasons. Cf. the second Note to st. 1/5, 8, above.
notes
[5-6] ilt er standa fram ‘it is no good entering’: Lit. ‘it is bad to step forward’. The inf. marker at ‘to’ (‘it is no good to …’) that might be expected to precede the inf. standa is not present here, presumably for metrical reasons. Cf. the second Note to st. 1/5, 8, above.
borg ‘the gate’
[5] í borghlið baugum: ‘íborg lið bavga’ 1824b, ‘[…]’ 147
hlið ‘of a stronghold’
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2. hlið (noun n.; °-s; -): gate < borghlið (noun n.): °gateway of a fortress/stronghold, portal; city-gate, town-gate
[5] í borghlið baugum: ‘íborg lið bavga’ 1824b, ‘[…]’ 147
baugum ‘rings’
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baugr (noun m.; °dat. -i/-; -ar): ring
[5] í borghlið baugum: ‘íborg lið bavga’ 1824b, ‘[…]’ 147
notes
[5] baugum ‘with rings’: CPB and Rafn (FSN) retain (m. acc. pl. or gen. pl.) bauga, giving little sense in the context; Valdimar Ásmundarson (Ragn 1891), Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) and Guðni Jónsson (FSGJ) emend to baugi (dat. sg.) ‘ring’; all other eds, including the present, emend to dat. pl. baugum ‘rings’; and all eds (other than those of CPB and FSN) take baugi/baugum as qualified by the adj. brandrauðum ‘fire-red’ in l. 6, which formally could be either m. dat. sg. or dat. pl. Kock (NN §3181) defends the pl. reading here on the grounds, first, that <u> is more likely than <i> to have given rise to the <a> found in 1824b’s reading bauga; second, that the conventional attribution in poetry of the adj. rauðr ‘red’ to the noun hringr ‘ring’ occurs more often in the pl. than in the sg.; and third, that the pl. reading is consistent with the hermenn pl. ‘soldiers’ and the fjölð hringa ‘multitude of rings’ mentioned in ll. 2 and 4 respectively.
brand ‘with fire’
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brandr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): sword, prow; fire < brandrauðr (adj.)
[6] brandrauðum fram standa: ‘[…] (audum) fra(m) […]da’(?) 147
rauðum ‘red’
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rauðr (adj.; °compar. -ari): red < brandrauðr (adj.)
[6] brandrauðum fram standa: ‘[…] (audum) fra(m) […]da’(?) 147
fram ‘entering’
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fram (adv.): out, forth, forwards, away
[6] brandrauðum fram standa: ‘[…] (audum) fra(m) […]da’(?) 147
notes
[5-6] ilt er standa fram ‘it is no good entering’: Lit. ‘it is bad to step forward’. The inf. marker at ‘to’ (‘it is no good to …’) that might be expected to precede the inf. standa is not present here, presumably for metrical reasons. Cf. the second Note to st. 1/5, 8, above.
standa ‘’
(not checked:)
standa (verb): stand
[6] brandrauðum fram standa: ‘[…] (audum) fra(m) […]da’(?) 147
notes
[5-6] ilt er standa fram ‘it is no good entering’: Lit. ‘it is bad to step forward’. The inf. marker at ‘to’ (‘it is no good to …’) that might be expected to precede the inf. standa is not present here, presumably for metrical reasons. Cf. the second Note to st. 1/5, 8, above.
all ‘very’
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all- ((prefix)): very < allmargr (adj.): very many
[7] allmarga veit ek jöfra: ‘all […] ek iau(fra)’(?) 147
marga ‘many’
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2. margr (adj.; °-an): many < allmargr (adj.): very many
[7] allmarga veit ek jöfra: ‘all […] ek iau(fra)’(?) 147
veit ‘know of’
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1. vita (verb): know
[7] allmarga veit ek jöfra: ‘all […] ek iau(fra)’(?) 147
ek ‘I’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
[7] allmarga veit ek jöfra: ‘all […] ek iau(fra)’(?) 147
jöfra ‘kings’
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jǫfurr (noun m.): ruler, prince
[7] allmarga veit ek jöfra: ‘all […] ek iau(fra)’(?) 147
auðr ‘wealth’
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1. auðr (noun m.; °-s/-ar, dat. -i/-): wealth
[8] auðr: ‘vaðr’ 1824b, ‘[…]’ 147
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
After his sons’ defeat of Eysteinn, their further victory at Vífilsborg (Avenches), and their triumphant progress to Lúna (Luni) (where they abandon the idea of proceeding as far as Rome), Ragnarr, now at home in his kingdom, resolves to win a fame no less lasting than theirs. He decides to invade England with only two ships, and here responds to the forebodings expressed by his wife Kráka-Áslaug, now known as Randalín since her leadership of the land division in the expedition against Eysteinn.
The overall meaning of this stanza is hard to grasp. It seems to be that an aspiring military leader must be prepared to part with his wealth in order to attract followers, because a large following will serve him better than a large store of rings, which are of no use in leading an attack on a stronghold, and also because he will not wish to be remembered as one who hoarded wealth. — [2]: The present edn follows 1824b in reading ef röskr vili (pres. subj.) ‘if a brave man should want’, i.e. ‘if he, (himself) brave, should want …’ (so also Olsen (Ragn 1906-8), Eskeland (Ragn 1944), Örnólfur Thorsson (Ragn 1985) and Ebel (Ragn 2003)). Though not so common in prose, the use of the pres. subj. in ef-clauses is amply attested in poetry, see CVC: ef B. Rafn (FSN) normalises 1824b’s ‘rauskr’ to röskr and retains the 1824b reading vili, Valdimar Ásmundarson (Ragn 1891; also CPB) emends to ef röskva vill (pres. indic.) ‘if he wants brave (soldiers)’, with röskva ‘brave’ as a m. acc. pl. adj. agreeing with and qualifying hermenn ‘soldiers’, and is followed in this respect by Finnur Jónsson (Skj B), Kock (Skald) and Guðni Jónsson (FSGJ). — [7-8]: The meaning is literally: ‘I know very many kings (to be) dead, when wealth lives’, and the construction acc. and inf. with the inf. vera ‘be’ omitted. Konráð Gíslason and Eiríkur Jónsson (Nj 1875-89, II, 17-19, n. 16) offer two possible interpretations of these lines: first: ‘I know of many a king whose wealth is his monument’, i.e. who is remembered more for his wealth than for his prowess or generosity; and second: ‘I know of many a king who died leaving wealth behind him’, i.e. at the height of his prosperity. They prefer the former interpretation, seeing the lines as contrasting semantically with Hávm 76/1, 4-6 (NK 29): Deyr fé …; enn orðztírr | deyr aldregi, | hveim er sér góðan getr ‘Cattle [i.e. riches] die …; but the good reputation of one who achieves it never dies’. Most who have offered a translation have preferred the former interpretation, and it is perhaps the likelier: Ragnarr may be saying here that if he invades with only limited resources (see the Context above) and is defeated and killed, then he will not be accused after death of having hoarded riches during his lifetime.
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