Anon Sǫrl 1VIII (Sǫrla 1)
Rory McTurk (ed.) 2017, ‘Sǫrla þáttr 1 (Anonymous Poems, Sǫrlastikki 1)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 788.
text and translation
Fell inn forsnjalli
fyst, inn víglysti,
ýgr í austrvegi,
allr á Helpalla,
dauðr, um dalreyðar,
dáðkunnr, miskunnir.
Beit at brandmóti
brynstingr víkingum.
Inn forsnjalli, inn víglysti, ýgr í austrvegi, fell fyst, allr á Helpalla, dauðr, dáðkunnr, um {miskunnir {dalreyðar}}. {Brynstingr} beit víkingum at {brandmóti}.
‘The very brave one, the battle-eager one, fearsome in the east, fell first, lifeless onto Hel’s benches, dead, deed-renowned, during the mercies of the valley-char [SNAKE > SUMMER]. The corslet-stabber [SWORD] bit for vikings at the sword-meeting [BATTLE]. ’
notes and context
See Introduction above.
The metre of this stanza has been identified as málaháttr by van Hamel (1935-6, 278), but is metrically mixed. Lines 1-5 and 7 are regular Haðarlag, a variant of málaháttr with hendingar; see General Introduction, Section 4, in SkP I, lxvii, and SnSt Ht 79III, second Note to [All]. Lines 6 and 8, however, in which internal rhyme falls in metrical position 2 rather than 1, do not conform to any known Old Norse metre, and may be an indication of late composition.
sources
Text is based on reconstruction from the base text and variant apparatus and may contain alternative spellings and other normalisations not visible in the manuscript text. Transcriptions may not have been checked and should not be cited.
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