Rloð Lv 9VIII (Ragn 26)
Rory McTurk (ed.) 2017, ‘Ragnars saga loðbrókar 26 (Ragnarr loðbrók, Lausavísur 9)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 676.
Orrostur ‘battles’
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orrusta (noun f.; °-u; -ur): battle
[1] Orrostur hefi ek áttar: ‘Orrost(ur) hef eg (att)ar’(?) 147
hefi ‘have’
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hafa (verb): have
[1] Orrostur hefi ek áttar: ‘Orrost(ur) hef eg (att)ar’(?) 147
ek ‘I’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
[1] Orrostur hefi ek áttar: ‘Orrost(ur) hef eg (att)ar’(?) 147
áttar ‘engaged in’
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2. eiga (verb; °á/eigr (præs. pl. 3. pers. eigu/eiga); átti, áttu; átt): own, have
[1] Orrostur hefi ek áttar: ‘Orrost(ur) hef eg (att)ar’(?) 147
er ‘were’
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2. er (conj.): who, which, when
ágætar ‘magnificent’
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ágætr (adj.; °compar. ágǽtari/ágǽtri, superl. ágǽtastr/ágǽztr): excellent
mörgum ‘many’
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2. margr (adj.; °-an): many
[3] mörgum: ‘m[…]urgum’ 1824b, ‘[…]rgu(m)’(?) 147
mönnum ‘people’
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maðr (noun m.): man, person
mein ‘harm’
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mein (noun n.; °-s; -): harm, injury
notes
[4] fimm tigu ok eina ‘fifty-one’: Lit. ‘five tens and one’. In none of the surviving accounts of Ragnarr loðbrók can as many battles as this (in which he takes part) be counted. It is noteworthy that in folk narrative, as Olrik (1921, 75; 1992, 52) has indicated, the number five tends to signify ‘many’. It seems likely that the number fifty, as it occurs here and in Krm, was originally chosen to suggest a large number, and that ok eina ‘and one’ has been added in each case to fill out the line with a rhyming cadence. See further the second Note to Krm 28/2-4.
tigu ‘’
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tigr (noun m.; °-ar/-s(DN II (1309) 80¹², etc.); -ir, acc. -u): a ten of, a decade; a ten of, a decade
[4] fimm tigu: ʟ all
notes
[4] fimm tigu ok eina ‘fifty-one’: Lit. ‘five tens and one’. In none of the surviving accounts of Ragnarr loðbrók can as many battles as this (in which he takes part) be counted. It is noteworthy that in folk narrative, as Olrik (1921, 75; 1992, 52) has indicated, the number five tends to signify ‘many’. It seems likely that the number fifty, as it occurs here and in Krm, was originally chosen to suggest a large number, and that ok eina ‘and one’ has been added in each case to fill out the line with a rhyming cadence. See further the second Note to Krm 28/2-4.
ok ‘’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
notes
[4] fimm tigu ok eina ‘fifty-one’: Lit. ‘five tens and one’. In none of the surviving accounts of Ragnarr loðbrók can as many battles as this (in which he takes part) be counted. It is noteworthy that in folk narrative, as Olrik (1921, 75; 1992, 52) has indicated, the number five tends to signify ‘many’. It seems likely that the number fifty, as it occurs here and in Krm, was originally chosen to suggest a large number, and that ok eina ‘and one’ has been added in each case to fill out the line with a rhyming cadence. See further the second Note to Krm 28/2-4.
eina ‘one’
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1. einn (num. cardinal; °f. ein, n. eitt; pl. einir; superl. debil. -asti(Anna238(2001) 155³²)): one; alone
notes
[4] fimm tigu ok eina ‘fifty-one’: Lit. ‘five tens and one’. In none of the surviving accounts of Ragnarr loðbrók can as many battles as this (in which he takes part) be counted. It is noteworthy that in folk narrative, as Olrik (1921, 75; 1992, 52) has indicated, the number five tends to signify ‘many’. It seems likely that the number fifty, as it occurs here and in Krm, was originally chosen to suggest a large number, and that ok eina ‘and one’ has been added in each case to fill out the line with a rhyming cadence. See further the second Note to Krm 28/2-4.
Eigi ‘I did not’
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3. eigi (adv.): not
[5] Eigi hugðumz orma: ‘eigi hugda mig (ormar)’(?) 147
hugðumz ‘think that’
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2. hyggja (verb): think, consider
[5] Eigi hugðumz orma: ‘eigi hugda mig (ormar)’(?) 147
orma ‘snakes’
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ormr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): serpent
[5] Eigi hugðumz orma: ‘eigi hugda mig (ormar)’(?) 147
at ‘would cause’
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3. at (prep.): at, to
[6] at aldrlagi mínu: ‘at allðr lagimí […]v’ 1824b, ‘(at) alldur (lagi) m(in)u’(?) 147
aldrlagi ‘death’
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aldrlag (noun n.; °; *-): death
[6] at aldrlagi mínu: ‘at allðr lagimí […]v’ 1824b, ‘(at) alldur (lagi) m(in)u’(?) 147
notes
[6] aldrlagi ‘death’: Lit. ‘laying down of life’. The same cpd occurs in RvHbreiðm Hl 15/7III, with reference to Ívarr inn beinlausi’s killing of King Ælle.
mínu ‘my’
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minn (pron.; °f. mín, n. mitt): my
[6] at aldrlagi mínu: ‘at allðr lagimí […]v’ 1824b, ‘(at) alldur (lagi) m(in)u’(?) 147
* ‘’
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(non-lexical)
[7] * mjök verðr mörgu sinni: ‘þat verdr maurgv sinne’ with míok written above the line, its initial letter above the space between verdr and maurgv 1824b, ‘(þad verdur miog m)aurgu sinni’(?) 147
mjök ‘very’
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mjǫk (adv.): very, much
[7] * mjök verðr mörgu sinni: ‘þat verdr maurgv sinne’ with míok written above the line, its initial letter above the space between verdr and maurgv 1824b, ‘(þad verdur miog m)aurgu sinni’(?) 147
verðr ‘comes to pass’
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1. verða (verb): become, be
[7] * mjök verðr mörgu sinni: ‘þat verdr maurgv sinne’ with míok written above the line, its initial letter above the space between verdr and maurgv 1824b, ‘(þad verdur miog m)aurgu sinni’(?) 147
mörgu ‘often’
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2. margr (adj.; °-an): many
[7] * mjök verðr mörgu sinni: ‘þat verdr maurgv sinne’ with míok written above the line, its initial letter above the space between verdr and maurgv 1824b, ‘(þad verdur miog m)aurgu sinni’(?) 147
sinni ‘that’
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2. sinni (noun n.; °-s;): time, occasion; company, following
[7] * mjök verðr mörgu sinni: ‘þat verdr maurgv sinne’ with míok written above the line, its initial letter above the space between verdr and maurgv 1824b, ‘(þad verdur miog m)aurgu sinni’(?) 147
þat ‘which’
[8] þat er minst varir sjálfan: ‘er mínnz varít sialfan’ 1824b, ‘er minzt varit sialfan’ 147
er ‘’
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2. er (conj.): who, which, when
[8] þat er minst varir sjálfan: ‘er mínnz varít sialfan’ 1824b, ‘er minzt varit sialfan’ 147
minst ‘least’
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3. minni (adj. comp.; °superl. minnstr): less, least
[8] þat er minst varir sjálfan: ‘er mínnz varít sialfan’ 1824b, ‘er minzt varit sialfan’ 147
varir ‘expects’
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5. vara (verb): expect
[8] þat er minst varir sjálfan: ‘er mínnz varít sialfan’ 1824b, ‘er minzt varit sialfan’ 147
notes
[8] varir ‘expects’: This minor emendation is adopted here, as by all other eds except Rafn (FSN), who retains the 1824b reading varit ‘(has) expected’ (?).
sjálfan ‘oneself’
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sjalfr (adj.): self
[8] þat er minst varir sjálfan: ‘er mínnz varít sialfan’ 1824b, ‘er minzt varit sialfan’ 147
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Ragnarr sails to England, where he is defeated by King Ælle and captured, but refuses to say his name. He is thrown into a snake-pit, where his magic shirt keeps him safe from the snakes until it is removed. He then says, in the prose introducing this stanza (Ragn 1906-8, 158): ‘Gnydia mundu nu grisir, ef þeir visse, hvat enn gamle þyldi’ ‘“The young pigs would grunt if they knew what the old one was suffering”’ (cf. Ragn 27, below).
The notion of Ragnarr’s death in a snake-pit seems to have been influenced by traditions of the hero Gunnarr’s death in the same circumstances, reflected in Akv 31 and Vǫls ch. 39 (Ragn 1906-8, 101) and elsewhere in Norse tradition, as well as in Þiðr (Þiðr 1905-11, II, 314), which is based predominantly on German sources (Finch 1993b). As applied to Gunnarr the snake-pit motif seems to be of German origin, though it is likely to have had its ultimate origin in the Orient or North Africa (Krappe 1940-1; cf. Dronke 1969, 65-7). According to de Vries (1923a, 252-3), it was the similarity of the names Ælle (Ella) and Atli that attracted the motif to the biography of Ragnarr; according to Krappe (1940-1, 24), it was the fact that Ragnarr was known to have slain a serpent (cf. Ragn 1, above). — The first half-stanza bears a striking resemblance to Krm 28/2-4, as do ll. 5-6 to Krm 24/5-6 and to a lesser extent to Krm 28/5-8. On various theories about the possible relationships between Krm and these Ragn stanzas, see the Introduction to Krm. A common source for these stanzas seems likely. — [7-8]: Rafn (FSN) and Örnólfur Thorsson (Ragn 1985) follow 1824b in reading þat verðr mjök mörgu sinni | er … (with mjök supplied from above the line) ‘(there) very often happens that which …’. Valdimar Ásmundarson (Ragn 1891; cf. also Vigfusson and Powell, CPB) emends to þat verðr mörgum manni | er … ‘to many a man happens that which …’. Olsen (Ragn 1906-8, 212) and Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) read verðr mjǫk mǫrgu sinni | þats … ‘(there) very often happens that which …’, with þat ‘that’ moved from the beginning of l. 7 to that of l. 8; Eskeland (Ragn 1944), Guðni Jónsson (FSGJ) and Ebel (Ragn 2003) follow them in this respect. Kock (Skald; NN §2372) differs here from Olsen and Finnur only in placing mjǫk ‘very’ at the beginning of the line, before rather than after verðr ‘happens’, in order to let the alliteration fall on the first and third syllables in a line of A-type (cf. Gade 1995a, 131-4). Kock is followed here by the present ed. Whatever word order is assumed, þat ‘that’ is clearly the nom. subject of verðr ‘happens’ and the verb varir ‘expects’ in the rel. clause introduced by er ‘which’ in l. 8 is most simply described as impersonal, with m. acc. sg. sjálfan ‘oneself’ as its ‘logical subject’ (cf. Stefán Einarsson 1945, 169-70).
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