Anon (LaufE) 8III
Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Lausavísur, Stanzas from Laufás Edda 8’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 645.
introduction
This half-stanza (Anon (LaufE) 8) is recorded only in three mss, namely, 742ˣ (main ms.), 1496ˣ and 164ˣ. In all mss it is incorporated into the section of LaufE that deals with heiti and kennings for animals (LaufE 1979, 265-6, 341-2), but it is not found in any of the main mss of the LaufE X and Y redactions. In 164ˣ, which is a LaufE X ms., it is written sideways in the margin of fol. 11r (see LaufE 1979, 266 n.), and in 742ˣ and 1496ˣ it is written as the continuation of Þjóð Haustl 5/1-4, which is given in LaufE (and in 742ˣ, 1496ˣ and 164ˣ) as an illustration of a kenning for ‘ox’ (LaufE 1979, 266): hier er vxin kalladur þrymseilar hualur ‘here the ox is called whale of the bowstring’ (closely similar in 742ˣ and 1496ˣ). Hence it looks as though the scribes of 742ˣ and 1496ˣ believed that the helmingr formed the second half of Þjóðólfr’s stanza (see also Jón Helgason 1966a, 178), and it is given in all mss without any accompanying comment. The half-stanza has been edited by Jón Helgason (loc. cit.) and the text from 164ˣ is printed in diplomatic form in LaufE (LaufE 1979, 266 n.). No firm date can be assigned to the helmingr on the basis of metre and diction (but see Notes below).
text and translation
Kveða skal hróðr fyr hríðar
hræblakks viðum sævar
— drykkr var Dúrnis rekkum
døkkr — ljósara nøkkvi.
Skal kveða nøkkvi ljósara hróðr fyr {viðum {hræblakks sævar hríðar}}; {drykkr Dúrnis} var døkkr rekkum.
‘I must recite somewhat more transparent praise before the trees of the corpse-dark sea of battle [BLOOD > WARRIORS]; the drink of Dúrnir <dwarf> [POETRY] was obscure to the men. ’
notes and context
See Introduction above.
[1]: This line contains three internal rhymes (-eð- : -óð- : -íð-). — [3]: The syntactic break after metrical position 4 (Dúrnis) in this odd Type A-line is highly unusual (see Kuhn 1983, 134-7; Gade 1995a, 137-41) and could mean that the half-stanza is quite late.
readings
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.
-
AM 742 4°x (742x) — 6r - 6r
images -
Thott 1496 4°x (1496x) — 38r - 38r
images -
AM 164 8°x (164x) — 11r - 11r
Kveða skal hróðr fyr hríðar
images
hræblakks viðum sævar
— drykkr var Dúrnis †róchum†
døkkr — ljósara nøkkvi.
editions and texts
LaufE 1979, 266 n., Jón Helgason 1966a, 178.
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