Anon (Ragn) 5^VIII (Ragn 35)

Alls ‘at all’

(not checked:)
allr (adj.): all

engi ‘none’

(not checked:)
2. engi (pron.): no, none

[1] engi: ‘einghi’ or ‘eingin’ 1824b

notes

[1] engi yðvarn ‘none of you’: Here the 2nd pers. pl. poss. adj. yð(v)arr ‘your’ (pl.), in the m. acc. sg., agreeing with and qualifying the negative pron. engi, ‘no(o)ne’, the object of sá ‘saw’, is used in a partitive sense.

sá ‘saw’

(not checked:)
2. sjá (verb): see

ek ‘I’

(not checked:)
ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me

yðvarn ‘of you’

(not checked:)
yðvarr (pron.; °f. yður; pl. yðrir): your

notes

[1] engi yðvarn ‘none of you’: Here the 2nd pers. pl. poss. adj. yð(v)arr ‘your’ (pl.), in the m. acc. sg., agreeing with and qualifying the negative pron. engi, ‘no(o)ne’, the object of sá ‘saw’, is used in a partitive sense.

þar ‘’

(not checked:)
þar (adv.): there

er ‘where’

(not checked:)
2. er (conj.): who, which, when

upp ‘up’

(not checked:)
upp (adv.): up

lokinn ‘opened’

(not checked:)
1. lúka (verb): end, close

fundum ‘we found’

(not checked:)
2. finna (verb): find, meet

Heila ‘Heila’

notes

[3] Heilavá*g ‘Heilavágr’: An unlocated and possibly legendary p. n. (a) The ms. reading ‘vangh’ is retained by Örnólfur Thorsson (Ragn 1985) alone, without explanation. It is true that vangr m. ‘(green) field, stretch of grass’ occurs frequently as a final element in place names (CVC: vangr II; Rygh 1898, 84), but it is difficult to see how this fits with the first element, Heila-, which is almost certainly the gen. sg. of heili m. ‘brain’, unless ‘field of the brain’ referred, in the manner of a kenning, to the head as part of the body and hence conceivably to a head-shaped promontory. (b) The phrase upp lokinn ‘opened up’ in l. 2 seems more appropriate to a partly enclosed space, such as is formed by a bay or a fjord (see Fritzner: lúka upp 1). Emendation to Heilavág, acc. sg. of Heilavágr ‘Bay of the brain’ (?) is accordingly adopted here (as by Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) and Kock (Skald)), even though this leaves the first element in the word unexplained. Heilivágr occurs in Sturl Hákkv 28/7^II heilivágr allra sorga ‘soothing balm (lit. bay) of all torments [WINE/ALE]’, but it is unclear whether it has any connection with the present p. n. (c) Bugge (1878, 53-4) and others emend to vang Heita ‘field of Heiti <sea-king> [SEA]’ (for Heiti, as a sea-king name, see Þul Sækonunga 3/4^III). (d) CPB and Rafn (FSN) emend to the meaningless varg heila ‘wolf of the brain’ (?).

vá*g ‘vágr’

(not checked:)
vágr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i/-; -ar): sea, wave < Heilavágr (noun m.)

[3] ‑vá*g: ‘vangh’ 1824b

notes

[3] Heilavá*g ‘Heilavágr’: An unlocated and possibly legendary p. n. (a) The ms. reading ‘vangh’ is retained by Örnólfur Thorsson (Ragn 1985) alone, without explanation. It is true that vangr m. ‘(green) field, stretch of grass’ occurs frequently as a final element in place names (CVC: vangr II; Rygh 1898, 84), but it is difficult to see how this fits with the first element, Heila-, which is almost certainly the gen. sg. of heili m. ‘brain’, unless ‘field of the brain’ referred, in the manner of a kenning, to the head as part of the body and hence conceivably to a head-shaped promontory. (b) The phrase upp lokinn ‘opened up’ in l. 2 seems more appropriate to a partly enclosed space, such as is formed by a bay or a fjord (see Fritzner: lúka upp 1). Emendation to Heilavág, acc. sg. of Heilavágr ‘Bay of the brain’ (?) is accordingly adopted here (as by Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) and Kock (Skald)), even though this leaves the first element in the word unexplained. Heilivágr occurs in Sturl Hákkv 28/7^II heilivágr allra sorga ‘soothing balm (lit. bay) of all torments [WINE/ALE]’, but it is unclear whether it has any connection with the present p. n. (c) Bugge (1878, 53-4) and others emend to vang Heita ‘field of Heiti <sea-king> [SEA]’ (for Heiti, as a sea-king name, see Þul Sækonunga 3/4^III). (d) CPB and Rafn (FSN) emend to the meaningless varg heila ‘wolf of the brain’ (?).

fyrir ‘before’

(not checked:)
fyrir (prep.): for, before, because of

hvítum ‘the white’

(not checked:)
hvítr (adj.; °-an; -ari, -astr): white

[3] hvítum: ‘hvit[…]’ 1824b

kennings

notes

[3] hvítum ‘white’: This is m. dat. sg., qualifying hesti ‘horse’, the base-word in the ship-kenning in l. 4, which according to Olsen (Ragn 1906-8, 219) refers to a ship with a white sail. It is perhaps more likely that it refers to the ship’s hull, thought of as coloured like a white (i.e. a grey) horse. On its red-coloured prow, see Note to l. 8 below.

hesti ‘horse’

(not checked:)
hestr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): horse, stallion

kennings

máva ‘of seagulls’

(not checked:)
már (noun m.): gull

kennings

máva ‘of seagulls’

(not checked:)
már (noun m.): gull

kennings

rastar ‘of the path’

(not checked:)
1. rǫst (noun f.; °rastar; rastir): (a measure of distance)

kennings

rastar ‘of the path’

(not checked:)
1. rǫst (noun f.; °rastar; rastir): (a measure of distance)

kennings

Ok ‘And’

(not checked:)
3. ok (conj.): and, but; also

við ‘with’

(not checked:)
2. við (prep.): with, against

notes

[5] við lási lúðra ‘with our ships at anchor’: Lit. ‘at the locking-up of floating vessels’. The basic meaning of lúðr m. appears to be ‘hollowed-out tree-trunk’, from which it develops varied meanings (so Kock NN §1468; Christiansen 1952, 102, 105-6), e.g. ‘wooden stand for a millstone; cylinder-shaped wind instrument; hollowed-out wooden container; cradle’ (Fritzner: lúðr). The first three of Fritzner’s meanings but not the fourth are accepted by Holtsmark (1946). An important and contentious occurrence of the word lúðr is in Vafþr 35/6 (NK 51), where it is said that the giant Bergelmir var á lúðr um lagiðr ‘was placed on a lúðr’. Snorri’s interpretation (in SnE 2005, 11, cf. 121) of the word, seemingly as an ark on which Bergelmir escaped drowning, is questioned by Holtsmark, following Fritzner, and she assumes the meaning ‘wind-instrument’ in the present context, proposing the emendation of lási m. dat. sg. to láti, dat. sg. of læti n. pl. ‘noise’, thus giving: við láti lúðra ‘to the sound of trumpets’. However, others have envisaged nautical associations in the Vafþr context. Christiansen (1952, 105) suggests, if not ‘boat’, then a bench within a boat on which the giant was laid. Olsen (1964, 16-17 and 17 n.) accepts the meaning ‘millstone stand’ in Vafþr, but suggests that the meaning there is that Bergelmir was placed on such a stand which was then placed on a ship and abandoned to the waves; he compares Baldr’s funeral ship (SnE 2005, 46) and Scyld Scefing’s abandonment to the waves as a child in Beowulf, ll. 6-7, 45-6. See further Lorenz (1984, 152-56). Discussing in relation to Scyld Scefing the word lúðr as used in Vafþr and by Snorri, Fulk (1989, 316, 318) grants it the meaning ‘floating vessel’. Taking into account the synecdochic tendency of much skaldic diction (not least where ships are concerned, see Lie 1952, 46-50; cf. Þul Skipa 1-10^III and the first Note to 36/6, below), the present ed., with Kock (NN §1468), favours the meaning ‘ship’ for lúðr here.

lási ‘at anchor’

(not checked:)
láss (noun m.; °láss, dat. lási/lás; lásar): lock

notes

[5] við lási lúðra ‘with our ships at anchor’: Lit. ‘at the locking-up of floating vessels’. The basic meaning of lúðr m. appears to be ‘hollowed-out tree-trunk’, from which it develops varied meanings (so Kock NN §1468; Christiansen 1952, 102, 105-6), e.g. ‘wooden stand for a millstone; cylinder-shaped wind instrument; hollowed-out wooden container; cradle’ (Fritzner: lúðr). The first three of Fritzner’s meanings but not the fourth are accepted by Holtsmark (1946). An important and contentious occurrence of the word lúðr is in Vafþr 35/6 (NK 51), where it is said that the giant Bergelmir var á lúðr um lagiðr ‘was placed on a lúðr’. Snorri’s interpretation (in SnE 2005, 11, cf. 121) of the word, seemingly as an ark on which Bergelmir escaped drowning, is questioned by Holtsmark, following Fritzner, and she assumes the meaning ‘wind-instrument’ in the present context, proposing the emendation of lási m. dat. sg. to láti, dat. sg. of læti n. pl. ‘noise’, thus giving: við láti lúðra ‘to the sound of trumpets’. However, others have envisaged nautical associations in the Vafþr context. Christiansen (1952, 105) suggests, if not ‘boat’, then a bench within a boat on which the giant was laid. Olsen (1964, 16-17 and 17 n.) accepts the meaning ‘millstone stand’ in Vafþr, but suggests that the meaning there is that Bergelmir was placed on such a stand which was then placed on a ship and abandoned to the waves; he compares Baldr’s funeral ship (SnE 2005, 46) and Scyld Scefing’s abandonment to the waves as a child in Beowulf, ll. 6-7, 45-6. See further Lorenz (1984, 152-56). Discussing in relation to Scyld Scefing the word lúðr as used in Vafþr and by Snorri, Fulk (1989, 316, 318) grants it the meaning ‘floating vessel’. Taking into account the synecdochic tendency of much skaldic diction (not least where ships are concerned, see Lie 1952, 46-50; cf. Þul Skipa 1-10^III and the first Note to 36/6, below), the present ed., with Kock (NN §1468), favours the meaning ‘ship’ for lúðr here.

lúðra ‘our ships’

(not checked:)
lúðr (noun m.; °lúðrs, dat. lúðri/-; lúðrar): [flour-bin, vessel]

[5] lúðra: ‘ludrra’ or ‘ludrar’ 1824b

notes

[5] við lási lúðra ‘with our ships at anchor’: Lit. ‘at the locking-up of floating vessels’. The basic meaning of lúðr m. appears to be ‘hollowed-out tree-trunk’, from which it develops varied meanings (so Kock NN §1468; Christiansen 1952, 102, 105-6), e.g. ‘wooden stand for a millstone; cylinder-shaped wind instrument; hollowed-out wooden container; cradle’ (Fritzner: lúðr). The first three of Fritzner’s meanings but not the fourth are accepted by Holtsmark (1946). An important and contentious occurrence of the word lúðr is in Vafþr 35/6 (NK 51), where it is said that the giant Bergelmir var á lúðr um lagiðr ‘was placed on a lúðr’. Snorri’s interpretation (in SnE 2005, 11, cf. 121) of the word, seemingly as an ark on which Bergelmir escaped drowning, is questioned by Holtsmark, following Fritzner, and she assumes the meaning ‘wind-instrument’ in the present context, proposing the emendation of lási m. dat. sg. to láti, dat. sg. of læti n. pl. ‘noise’, thus giving: við láti lúðra ‘to the sound of trumpets’. However, others have envisaged nautical associations in the Vafþr context. Christiansen (1952, 105) suggests, if not ‘boat’, then a bench within a boat on which the giant was laid. Olsen (1964, 16-17 and 17 n.) accepts the meaning ‘millstone stand’ in Vafþr, but suggests that the meaning there is that Bergelmir was placed on such a stand which was then placed on a ship and abandoned to the waves; he compares Baldr’s funeral ship (SnE 2005, 46) and Scyld Scefing’s abandonment to the waves as a child in Beowulf, ll. 6-7, 45-6. See further Lorenz (1984, 152-56). Discussing in relation to Scyld Scefing the word lúðr as used in Vafþr and by Snorri, Fulk (1989, 316, 318) grants it the meaning ‘floating vessel’. Taking into account the synecdochic tendency of much skaldic diction (not least where ships are concerned, see Lie 1952, 46-50; cf. Þul Skipa 1-10^III and the first Note to 36/6, below), the present ed., with Kock (NN §1468), favours the meaning ‘ship’ for lúðr here.

fyrir ‘off’

(not checked:)
fyrir (prep.): for, before, because of

landi ‘shore’

(not checked:)
land (noun n.; °-s; *-): land

vér ‘we’

(not checked:)
vér (pron.; °gen. vár, dat./acc. oss): we, us, our

undum ‘took pleasure’

(not checked:)
una (verb): be content, love

hallar ‘of the hall’

(not checked:)
1. hǫll (noun f.; °hallar, dat. -u/-; hallir): hall

kennings

hallar ‘of the hall’

(not checked:)
1. hǫll (noun f.; °hallar, dat. -u/-; hallir): hall

kennings

ríkri ‘in the mighty’

(not checked:)
ríkr (adj.): mighty, powerful, rich

[7] ríkri möllu: ‘rika mollu’ 1824b

kennings

möllu ‘enclosure’

(not checked:)
malla (noun f.): °lille ring, malle

[7] ríkri möllu: ‘rika mollu’ 1824b

kennings

hrafns ‘of the raven’

(not checked:)
hrafn (noun m.; °hrafns; dat. hrafni; hrafnar): raven

kennings

hrafns ‘of the raven’

(not checked:)
hrafn (noun m.; °hrafns; dat. hrafni; hrafnar): raven

kennings

fyrir ‘before’

(not checked:)
fyrir (prep.): for, before, because of

notes

[8] fyrir rauðum stafni ‘before the red prow’: The C11th skald Valgarðr á Velli speaks of a ship belonging to Haraldr harðráði which bar skolpt inn rauða ‘carried its red skull’ (Valg Har 10/5^II), i.e. had the carved head of a dragon, painted red, attached to its fore-stem as a prow-ornament, see Jesch (2001a, 145-7); cf Ragn 36/8, below.

rauðum ‘the red’

(not checked:)
rauðr (adj.; °compar. -ari): red

notes

[8] fyrir rauðum stafni ‘before the red prow’: The C11th skald Valgarðr á Velli speaks of a ship belonging to Haraldr harðráði which bar skolpt inn rauða ‘carried its red skull’ (Valg Har 10/5^II), i.e. had the carved head of a dragon, painted red, attached to its fore-stem as a prow-ornament, see Jesch (2001a, 145-7); cf Ragn 36/8, below.

stafni ‘prow’

(not checked:)
stafn (noun m.; °dat. -i/-; -ar): prow

notes

[8] fyrir rauðum stafni ‘before the red prow’: The C11th skald Valgarðr á Velli speaks of a ship belonging to Haraldr harðráði which bar skolpt inn rauða ‘carried its red skull’ (Valg Har 10/5^II), i.e. had the carved head of a dragon, painted red, attached to its fore-stem as a prow-ornament, see Jesch (2001a, 145-7); cf Ragn 36/8, below.