Anon (ÓT) 3I
Kate Heslop (ed.) 2012, ‘Anonymous Lausavísur, Lausavísur from Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar in mesta 3’ 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. 1085.
Leika ‘swing’
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3. leika (verb): play
barðs ‘of the stem’
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barð (noun n.): prow, stern (of a ship)
kennings
byrhreins barðs‘of the breeze-reindeer of the stem, ’
= SHIP
the breeze-reindeer of the stem, → SHIP
notes
[1-2] á borði byrhreins barðs ‘on the gunwale of the breeze-reindeer of the stem [SHIP]’: Borð, lit. ‘board’, is here a collective noun, referring to the planking of the ship’s hull, hence ‘ship’s side, hull, gunwale’ (Jesch 2001a, 140; ONP: borð 2). The kenning byrhreins barðs is pleonastic, as byrhreinn ‘breeze-reindeer’ alone signifies ‘ship’ without the additional determinant barðs ‘of the stem’. Sveinbjörn Egilsson (Fms 2; cf. Fms 12), takes barðs as an adj., equivalent to barðaðs ‘stem-bearing’. An alternative arrangement is á barðs borði byrhreins. This may be construed in several ways. (a) Sveinbjörn Egilsson (SHI) has ‘on the edge (borð) of the stem (barð) of the breeze-reindeer’, and this may lie behind Finnur Jónsson’s på skibets side ‘on the ship’s side’ in Skj B, but borð in a nautical context does not usually mean ‘edge’ (cf. LP: borð 3, 4). The image of oars passing the stem, or prow, of the ship is also odd. (b) Finnur Jónsson in LP takes both borð barðs ‘board of the stem’ and byrhreinn ‘breeze-reindeer’ as ship-kennings (LP: borð 3; byrhreinn).
á ‘on’
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3. á (prep.): on, at
notes
[1-2] á borði byrhreins barðs ‘on the gunwale of the breeze-reindeer of the stem [SHIP]’: Borð, lit. ‘board’, is here a collective noun, referring to the planking of the ship’s hull, hence ‘ship’s side, hull, gunwale’ (Jesch 2001a, 140; ONP: borð 2). The kenning byrhreins barðs is pleonastic, as byrhreinn ‘breeze-reindeer’ alone signifies ‘ship’ without the additional determinant barðs ‘of the stem’. Sveinbjörn Egilsson (Fms 2; cf. Fms 12), takes barðs as an adj., equivalent to barðaðs ‘stem-bearing’. An alternative arrangement is á barðs borði byrhreins. This may be construed in several ways. (a) Sveinbjörn Egilsson (SHI) has ‘on the edge (borð) of the stem (barð) of the breeze-reindeer’, and this may lie behind Finnur Jónsson’s på skibets side ‘on the ship’s side’ in Skj B, but borð in a nautical context does not usually mean ‘edge’ (cf. LP: borð 3, 4). The image of oars passing the stem, or prow, of the ship is also odd. (b) Finnur Jónsson in LP takes both borð barðs ‘board of the stem’ and byrhreinn ‘breeze-reindeer’ as ship-kennings (LP: borð 3; byrhreinn).
borði ‘the gunwale’
(not checked:)
borð (noun n.; °-s; -): side, plank, board; table
notes
[1-2] á borði byrhreins barðs ‘on the gunwale of the breeze-reindeer of the stem [SHIP]’: Borð, lit. ‘board’, is here a collective noun, referring to the planking of the ship’s hull, hence ‘ship’s side, hull, gunwale’ (Jesch 2001a, 140; ONP: borð 2). The kenning byrhreins barðs is pleonastic, as byrhreinn ‘breeze-reindeer’ alone signifies ‘ship’ without the additional determinant barðs ‘of the stem’. Sveinbjörn Egilsson (Fms 2; cf. Fms 12), takes barðs as an adj., equivalent to barðaðs ‘stem-bearing’. An alternative arrangement is á barðs borði byrhreins. This may be construed in several ways. (a) Sveinbjörn Egilsson (SHI) has ‘on the edge (borð) of the stem (barð) of the breeze-reindeer’, and this may lie behind Finnur Jónsson’s på skibets side ‘on the ship’s side’ in Skj B, but borð in a nautical context does not usually mean ‘edge’ (cf. LP: borð 3, 4). The image of oars passing the stem, or prow, of the ship is also odd. (b) Finnur Jónsson in LP takes both borð barðs ‘board of the stem’ and byrhreinn ‘breeze-reindeer’ as ship-kennings (LP: borð 3; byrhreinn).
byr ‘of the breeze’
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byrr (noun m.; °-jar/-s; -ir, acc. -i/-u(SigrVal 188¹³)): favourable wind < byrhreinn (noun m.): [breeze-reindeer]
kennings
byrhreins barðs‘of the breeze-reindeer of the stem, ’
= SHIP
the breeze-reindeer of the stem, → SHIP
notes
[1-2] á borði byrhreins barðs ‘on the gunwale of the breeze-reindeer of the stem [SHIP]’: Borð, lit. ‘board’, is here a collective noun, referring to the planking of the ship’s hull, hence ‘ship’s side, hull, gunwale’ (Jesch 2001a, 140; ONP: borð 2). The kenning byrhreins barðs is pleonastic, as byrhreinn ‘breeze-reindeer’ alone signifies ‘ship’ without the additional determinant barðs ‘of the stem’. Sveinbjörn Egilsson (Fms 2; cf. Fms 12), takes barðs as an adj., equivalent to barðaðs ‘stem-bearing’. An alternative arrangement is á barðs borði byrhreins. This may be construed in several ways. (a) Sveinbjörn Egilsson (SHI) has ‘on the edge (borð) of the stem (barð) of the breeze-reindeer’, and this may lie behind Finnur Jónsson’s på skibets side ‘on the ship’s side’ in Skj B, but borð in a nautical context does not usually mean ‘edge’ (cf. LP: borð 3, 4). The image of oars passing the stem, or prow, of the ship is also odd. (b) Finnur Jónsson in LP takes both borð barðs ‘board of the stem’ and byrhreinn ‘breeze-reindeer’ as ship-kennings (LP: borð 3; byrhreinn).
hreins ‘reindeer’
(not checked:)
1. hreinn (noun m.; °; hreinar): reindeer < byrhreinn (noun m.): [breeze-reindeer]
kennings
byrhreins barðs‘of the breeze-reindeer of the stem, ’
= SHIP
the breeze-reindeer of the stem, → SHIP
notes
[1-2] á borði byrhreins barðs ‘on the gunwale of the breeze-reindeer of the stem [SHIP]’: Borð, lit. ‘board’, is here a collective noun, referring to the planking of the ship’s hull, hence ‘ship’s side, hull, gunwale’ (Jesch 2001a, 140; ONP: borð 2). The kenning byrhreins barðs is pleonastic, as byrhreinn ‘breeze-reindeer’ alone signifies ‘ship’ without the additional determinant barðs ‘of the stem’. Sveinbjörn Egilsson (Fms 2; cf. Fms 12), takes barðs as an adj., equivalent to barðaðs ‘stem-bearing’. An alternative arrangement is á barðs borði byrhreins. This may be construed in several ways. (a) Sveinbjörn Egilsson (SHI) has ‘on the edge (borð) of the stem (barð) of the breeze-reindeer’, and this may lie behind Finnur Jónsson’s på skibets side ‘on the ship’s side’ in Skj B, but borð in a nautical context does not usually mean ‘edge’ (cf. LP: borð 3, 4). The image of oars passing the stem, or prow, of the ship is also odd. (b) Finnur Jónsson in LP takes both borð barðs ‘board of the stem’ and byrhreinn ‘breeze-reindeer’ as ship-kennings (LP: borð 3; byrhreinn).
fyr ‘for’
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fyr (prep.): for, over, because of, etc.
þér ‘you’
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þú (pron.; °gen. þín, dat. þér, acc. þik): you
einum ‘alone’
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2. einn (pron.; °decl. cf. einn num.): one, alone
gramr ‘rulers’
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1. gramr (noun m.): ruler
á ‘on’
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3. á (prep.): on, at
foldu ‘earth’
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fold (noun f.): land
fremri ‘more outstanding’
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framr (adj.; °compar. framari/fremri, superl. framastr/fremstr): outstanding, foremost
fár ‘few’
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3. fár (adj.; °compar. fǽrri/fárri(Mág² 11), superl. fǽstr): few
sex ‘Six’
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sex (num. cardinal): six
[4] sex tigir: so Flat, ‘.lx.’ 61, 62, sex tigum 53, sex tigi 54, Bb
tigir ‘ty’
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tigir (num. cardinal): [ty]
[4] sex tigir: so Flat, ‘.lx.’ 61, 62, sex tigum 53, sex tigi 54, Bb
ára ‘oars’
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2. ár (noun n.; °-s; -): year, year’s abundance
Mér ‘my’
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ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
leikr ‘plays’
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3. leika (verb): play
kennings
Einn ok annarr sveipr ǫldu‘One and another sweeper of the wave ’
= OAR
One and another sweeper of the wave → OAR
ok ‘and’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
kennings
Einn ok annarr sveipr ǫldu‘One and another sweeper of the wave ’
= OAR
One and another sweeper of the wave → OAR
annarr ‘another’
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1. annarr (pron.; °f. ǫnnur, n. annat; pl. aðrir): (an)other, second
[5] annarr: ǫnnur 53, 54, Bb
kennings
Einn ok annarr sveipr ǫldu‘One and another sweeper of the wave ’
= OAR
One and another sweeper of the wave → OAR
kennings
Einn ok annarr sveipr ǫldu‘One and another sweeper of the wave ’
= OAR
One and another sweeper of the wave → OAR
sveipr ‘sweeper’
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sveipr (noun m.): [sweeper, a swerve]
kennings
Einn ok annarr sveipr ǫldu‘One and another sweeper of the wave ’
= OAR
One and another sweeper of the wave → OAR
í ‘in’
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í (prep.): in, into
greipum ‘grip’
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greipr (noun m.): grip, hands
því ‘therefore’
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því (adv.): therefore, because
verðk ‘I must’
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1. verða (verb): become, be
borðs ‘of the gunwale’
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borð (noun n.; °-s; -): side, plank, board; table
kennings
barða borðs;‘the whale of the gunwale; ’
= SHIP
the whale of the gunwale; → SHIP
notes
[7] barða borðs ‘the whale of the gunwale [SHIP]’: (a) While not entirely satisfactory, this kenning, first proposed by Sveinbjörn Egilsson (SHI; see also NN §2108), is the best resolution of the difficulties these words present. There is no other extant ship-kenning based on a word for ‘whale’. Barði m. ‘whale’ is moreover rather rare. It occurs once in the skaldic corpus, in a snake-kenning (barði lyngs ‘whale of the heather’, ESkál Vell 30/5-6), but not in ON prose, though it does exist in ModIcel.; cf. also ON barðhvalr m. ‘baleen whale’, possibly ‘sperm whale’ (ONP). The repetition of words from the first helmingr must be deliberate, and this may strengthen the case for a recherché kenning. Line 7’s sveipr ǫldu ‘sweeper of the wave [OAR]’ also lacks certain parallels, though cf. Ótt Hfl 4/6 sundvarpaði, apparently ‘sea-thrower [OAR]’. (b) Finnur Jónsson takes barði borðs as a circumlocution for ‘ship’, made up of barði ‘ship’ plus borðs ‘of planking’ (LP: 2. barði, see also borð 3). It cannot be a kenning on this basis, however, as barði means ‘ship’ by itself (Meissner 222), and ‘ship of planking’ is not a very convincing circumlocution. (c) Kock (Skald; NN §514) takes borðs á barði with the rest of ll. 7-8, which is a possible alternative.
á ‘on’
(not checked:)
3. á (prep.): on, at
barða ‘the whale’
(not checked:)
barði (noun m.; °-a): whale
kennings
barða borðs;‘the whale of the gunwale; ’
= SHIP
the whale of the gunwale; → SHIP
notes
[7] barða borðs ‘the whale of the gunwale [SHIP]’: (a) While not entirely satisfactory, this kenning, first proposed by Sveinbjörn Egilsson (SHI; see also NN §2108), is the best resolution of the difficulties these words present. There is no other extant ship-kenning based on a word for ‘whale’. Barði m. ‘whale’ is moreover rather rare. It occurs once in the skaldic corpus, in a snake-kenning (barði lyngs ‘whale of the heather’, ESkál Vell 30/5-6), but not in ON prose, though it does exist in ModIcel.; cf. also ON barðhvalr m. ‘baleen whale’, possibly ‘sperm whale’ (ONP). The repetition of words from the first helmingr must be deliberate, and this may strengthen the case for a recherché kenning. Line 7’s sveipr ǫldu ‘sweeper of the wave [OAR]’ also lacks certain parallels, though cf. Ótt Hfl 4/6 sundvarpaði, apparently ‘sea-thrower [OAR]’. (b) Finnur Jónsson takes barði borðs as a circumlocution for ‘ship’, made up of barði ‘ship’ plus borðs ‘of planking’ (LP: 2. barði, see also borð 3). It cannot be a kenning on this basis, however, as barði means ‘ship’ by itself (Meissner 222), and ‘ship of planking’ is not a very convincing circumlocution. (c) Kock (Skald; NN §514) takes borðs á barði with the rest of ll. 7-8, which is a possible alternative.
fyr ‘to’
(not checked:)
fyr (prep.): for, over, because of, etc.
þér ‘you’
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þú (pron.; °gen. þín, dat. þér, acc. þik): you
[8] þér: so 53, 54, Bb, om. 61, 62, Flat
vægja ‘yield’
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1. vægja (verb): yield
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
[3] mun á: This syllabic structure in a metrical dip is normally found in later skaldic poetry.
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