Anon (Vǫlsa) 6I
Wilhelm Heizmann (ed.) 2012, ‘Anonymous Lausavísur, Lausavísur from Vǫlsa þáttr 6’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1098.
Beri ‘Carry’
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3. bera (verb; °berr; bar, báru; borinn): bear, carry
þér ‘’
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þú (pron.; °gen. þín, dat. þér, acc. þik): you
beytil ‘the pintle’
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beytill (noun m.; °beytils): [pintle]
notes
[1] beytil ‘the pintle’: Also attested as a personal nickname, related to bauta ‘beat’ (AEW: beytill), cf. OE bȳtel, bīetl ‘hammer’. The plant name góibeytill, for field horsetail (Equisetum arvense L), which is found in Ldn (ÍF 1, 273) and Bárðar saga (ÍF 13, 110), offers an interesting parallel (Heizmann 1993a, 21). The name refers to the fertile sporangial shoots of the plant that appear in the spring. Their phallic shape has given rise to names with a second element referring to the penis, e.g. Ger. dialect Perdsjlöt ‘horse-prick’, Pfåffenschwånz ‘priest-prick’ or Dan. hundepik ‘dog-prick’, rævepik ‘fox-prick’, præstepintel ‘priest-prick’ (see Marzell and Paul 1943-79, II, 237, 245; Lange 1959, 533, 536); cf. also Eng. cuckoo-pintle/pint (Arum Maculatum), containing pintle or pint ‘penis’, also ‘bolt, pin’.
fyrir ‘before’
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fyrir (prep.): for, before, because of
brúðkonur ‘the bridesmaids’
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brúðkona (noun f.; °; -ur, gen. ·kvenna): [bridesmaids]
notes
[2] brúðkonur ‘the bridesmaids’: Usually the term brúðkona refers to the woman who sits next to the bride on the bench. Here, on the other hand, all female members of the household are addressed as potential ‘brides’ of Vǫlsi (cf. Näsström 2002, 153). It has also been suggested that brúðkonur refers to the Maurnir either as an equivalent (Olrik and Ellekilde 1926-51, I, 167; Ström 1954, 28) or in terms of a ritual role-play (Steinsland and Vogt 1981, 98-9, 102). For the possibility that Maurnir is pl., see Note to st. 4/5.
Þær ‘They’
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hann (pron.; °gen. hans, dat. honum; f. hon, gen. hennar, acc. hana): he, she, it, they, them...
skulu ‘shall’
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skulu (verb): shall, should, must
vingul ‘the dong’
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vingull (noun m.): [dong]
væta ‘moisten’
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2. væta (verb): [moisten]
í ‘this’
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í (prep.): in, into
aftan ‘evening’
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aftan (adv.): [evening]
Þiggi ‘receive’
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þiggja (verb): receive, get
[5] Þiggi Maurnir: abbrev. as ‘.þ. m.’ Flat
Maurnir ‘Maurnir’
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Maurnir (noun m.): Maurnir
[5] Þiggi Maurnir: abbrev. as ‘.þ. m.’ Flat
blæti ‘offering’
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blœti (noun n.): offering
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
þú ‘you’
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þú (pron.; °gen. þín, dat. þér, acc. þik): you
at ‘towards’
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3. at (prep.): at, to
þér ‘you’
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þú (pron.; °gen. þín, dat. þér, acc. þik): you
Vǫlsa ‘Vǫlsi’
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vǫlsi (noun m.; °-a): rod
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
The son of the house takes hold of Vǫlsi, brandishes it at his sister, and speaks a stanza which continues in the same obscene tone that he adopted at the beginning of the poem (st. 2).
[1-4]: Cf. Þry 30/3-6: Berið inn hamar, | brúði at vígia, | leggit Miǫllni | í meyiar kné ‘Bring in the hammer to consecrate the bride, put Mjǫlnir in the maiden’s lap’ (NK 115). The hammer is a widespread fertility symbol (Kommentar II, 570), and in this context it is equally as ambiguous as kné (Kommentar II, 571). The two stanzas are connected by references to penis (beytill, hamarr), bride (brúðkona, brúðr), and the female genitals (indirectly: væta ‘moisten’, directly: kné ‘lap’; cf. Fritzner: kné 1).
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