Anon Mhkv 29III
Roberta Frank (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Poems, Málsháttakvæði 29’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1242.
Orða ‘for words’
(not checked:)
orð (noun n.; °-s; -): word
er ‘They’
(not checked:)
2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
leitat ‘seek’
(not checked:)
leita (verb): seek, look for, attack
mér ‘my’
(not checked:)
ek (pron.; °mín, dat. mér, acc. mik): I, me
í ‘in’
(not checked:)
í (prep.): in, into
munn ‘mouth’
(not checked:)
munnr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): mouth
mælgin ‘the chatter’
(not checked:)
mælgi (noun f.): [chatter]
verðr ‘is’
(not checked:)
1. verða (verb): become, be
oss ‘to us [me]’
(not checked:)
vér (pron.; °gen. vár, dat./acc. oss): we, us, our
heyrinkunn ‘well known’
(not checked:)
heyrinkunnr (adj.): well known
notes
[2] heyrinkunn ‘well known’: That is, ‘known to all (through hearsay)’. The cpd occurs in poetry only in Mhkv, see st. 9/7 above.
Yggjar ‘of Yggr’
(not checked:)
1. Yggr (noun m.): Yggr
kennings
bjór Yggjar,‘the strong drink of Yggr ’
= POETRY
the strong drink of Yggr → POETRY
notes
[3] bjór Yggjar ‘the strong drink of Yggr <= Óðinn> [POETRY]’: This kenning for ‘poetry’ is found elsewhere only in Bjbp Jóms 1/6I (as noted by Kreutzer 1977, 107, 116). Bjórr refers to a beverage, probably based on honey, with high alcoholic content; prose citations suggest an imported luxury (ONP: bjórr).
bjór ‘the strong drink’
(not checked:)
1. bjórr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -): beer
kennings
bjór Yggjar,‘the strong drink of Yggr ’
= POETRY
the strong drink of Yggr → POETRY
notes
[3] bjór Yggjar ‘the strong drink of Yggr <= Óðinn> [POETRY]’: This kenning for ‘poetry’ is found elsewhere only in Bjbp Jóms 1/6I (as noted by Kreutzer 1977, 107, 116). Bjórr refers to a beverage, probably based on honey, with high alcoholic content; prose citations suggest an imported luxury (ONP: bjórr).
hverr ‘who’
(not checked:)
2. hverr (pron.): who, whom, each, every
eiga ‘possess’
(not checked:)
2. eiga (verb; °á/eigr (præs. pl. 3. pers. eigu/eiga); átti, áttu; átt): own, have
myni ‘might’
(not checked:)
munu (verb): will, must
notes
[4] ósýnt ‘unclear’: The emendation (of ms. ‘ysynt’) was first suggested by Jón Sigurðsson (Möbius 1874, 12 n.).
þykkir ‘seems’
(not checked:)
2. þykkja (verb): seem, think
lýða ‘of men’
(not checked:)
lýðr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -; -ir): one of the people
kennings
kyni lýða.‘to the race of men. ’
= HUMANS
to the race of men. → HUMANS
notes
[4] kyni lýða ‘to the race of men [HUMANS]’: This kenning occurs elsewhere only in Refr Þorst 1/4.
kyni ‘to the race’
(not checked:)
1. kyn (noun n.; °-s; -): kin
kennings
kyni lýða.‘to the race of men. ’
= HUMANS
to the race of men. → HUMANS
notes
[4] kyni lýða ‘to the race of men [HUMANS]’: This kenning occurs elsewhere only in Refr Þorst 1/4.
Eyvit ‘not at all’
(not checked:)
eyvit (adv.): nothing, not at all
mun ‘will’
(not checked:)
munu (verb): will, must
atfrétt ‘inquiry’
(not checked:)
atfrétt (noun f.): [inquiry]
notes
[5] atfrétt ‘inquiry’: A cpd noun formed from the verb frétta (at e-u) ‘inquire (about sth.)’; attested in poetry only here, see ONP: atfrétt.
stoða ‘help’
(not checked:)
stoða (verb): to stay, support, back
allmjǫk ‘very much’
(not checked:)
allmjǫk (adv.): very much
erum ‘are’
(not checked:)
2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
vér ‘we’
(not checked:)
vér (pron.; °gen. vár, dat./acc. oss): we, us, our
lynd ‘inclined’
(not checked:)
lyndr (adj.; °superl. -astr): minded
til ‘to’
(not checked:)
til (prep.): to
hroða ‘coarseness’
(not checked:)
1. hroði (noun m.): [coarseness]
notes
[6] hroða ‘coarseness’: This word is attested with the meanings ‘coarseness, trash, disturbance, storm’ (LP, CVC, Fritzner: hroði; cf. hrjóða ‘unload, empty out’). Skj B translates hroði as chikane ‘spitefulness’, Jón Sigurðsson as ‘rude quid’ (cf. Möbius 1874, 67) and Möbius (1874) inserts a question mark. The rest of the line (allmjǫk erum vér lynd til) was emended by Wisén (1886-9, I) to allmjǫk er mér lund til ‘I very much have a nature for’, a suggestion accepted by Skj B and Skald. The resulting line has the right number of syllables and the noun lund is easier to interpret than the adj. lynd ‘tempered, naturally inclined’ (either n. nom. pl. or f. nom. sg. rather than the expected m. nom. pl.). Nevertheless, the ms. reading has been retained in the present edn because there is no significant metrical difference between the D4-lines in this stanza (allmjǫk erum vér lynd til hroða) and in st. 15/3 (ørgrands erum vér lengst á leit) (both have neutralisation on the unstressed verb erum in metrical position 3).
þeygi ‘not at all’
(not checked:)
þeygi (adv.): not at all
var ‘was’
(not checked:)
2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
sjá ‘this’
(not checked:)
1. sjá (pron.; °gen. þessa dat. þessum/þeima, acc. þenna; f. sjá/þessi; n. þetta, dat. þessu/þvísa; pl. þessir): this
[7] sjá: ‘[...]’ R, ‘sia’ RFJ, RJS
aflausn ‘release’
(not checked:)
aflausn (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): [release]
notes
[7] aflausn ‘release’: The word can also refer to ‘a discharge, loose bowels, diarrhea’. Aflausn is attested only here in poetry. See ONP: aflausn, Fritzner IV: aflausn. Skj B translates it as svar ‘response’, Möbius (1874, 41) as ich habe mich losgemacht ‘I have loosened, disengaged myself’. Cf. ESk Geisl 71/6VII leysa brag ‘deliver a poem’. Both senses – a literary release and a bodily discharge – may be operative in this line.
ill ‘bad’
(not checked:)
illr (adj.): bad, evil, unwell
eiga ‘have it’
(not checked:)
2. eiga (verb; °á/eigr (præs. pl. 3. pers. eigu/eiga); átti, áttu; átt): own, have
notes
[8] nú skal eiga hverr, er vill ‘now anyone who wants it shall have it’: Skm (SnE 1998, I, 5) tells how Óðinn, after drinking the mead of poetry, flew back to the home of the gods, where he vomited much of his cargo into waiting vats. But he had such a fright that he voided some of the mead backwards. That part became the fool-poet’s share, and Hafði þat hverr er vildi ‘Anyone who wanted could have it’. The kenning ‘mud [= droppings] of the eagle’ for worthless poetry occurs three times in skaldic verse; at least two of these occurrences are directly dependent on Skm (see Frank 1981, 168-9). Alternatively, the sentence could refer to the fact that, unlike skalds who composed panegyrics in honour of magnates, the present poet does not dedicate his poem to any one in particular (‘anyone who wants it shall have it’).
skal ‘shall’
(not checked:)
skulu (verb): shall, should, must
notes
[8] nú skal eiga hverr, er vill ‘now anyone who wants it shall have it’: Skm (SnE 1998, I, 5) tells how Óðinn, after drinking the mead of poetry, flew back to the home of the gods, where he vomited much of his cargo into waiting vats. But he had such a fright that he voided some of the mead backwards. That part became the fool-poet’s share, and Hafði þat hverr er vildi ‘Anyone who wanted could have it’. The kenning ‘mud [= droppings] of the eagle’ for worthless poetry occurs three times in skaldic verse; at least two of these occurrences are directly dependent on Skm (see Frank 1981, 168-9). Alternatively, the sentence could refer to the fact that, unlike skalds who composed panegyrics in honour of magnates, the present poet does not dedicate his poem to any one in particular (‘anyone who wants it shall have it’).
nú ‘now’
(not checked:)
nú (adv.): now
notes
[8] nú skal eiga hverr, er vill ‘now anyone who wants it shall have it’: Skm (SnE 1998, I, 5) tells how Óðinn, after drinking the mead of poetry, flew back to the home of the gods, where he vomited much of his cargo into waiting vats. But he had such a fright that he voided some of the mead backwards. That part became the fool-poet’s share, and Hafði þat hverr er vildi ‘Anyone who wanted could have it’. The kenning ‘mud [= droppings] of the eagle’ for worthless poetry occurs three times in skaldic verse; at least two of these occurrences are directly dependent on Skm (see Frank 1981, 168-9). Alternatively, the sentence could refer to the fact that, unlike skalds who composed panegyrics in honour of magnates, the present poet does not dedicate his poem to any one in particular (‘anyone who wants it shall have it’).
hverr ‘anyone’
(not checked:)
2. hverr (pron.): who, whom, each, every
notes
[8] nú skal eiga hverr, er vill ‘now anyone who wants it shall have it’: Skm (SnE 1998, I, 5) tells how Óðinn, after drinking the mead of poetry, flew back to the home of the gods, where he vomited much of his cargo into waiting vats. But he had such a fright that he voided some of the mead backwards. That part became the fool-poet’s share, and Hafði þat hverr er vildi ‘Anyone who wanted could have it’. The kenning ‘mud [= droppings] of the eagle’ for worthless poetry occurs three times in skaldic verse; at least two of these occurrences are directly dependent on Skm (see Frank 1981, 168-9). Alternatively, the sentence could refer to the fact that, unlike skalds who composed panegyrics in honour of magnates, the present poet does not dedicate his poem to any one in particular (‘anyone who wants it shall have it’).
er ‘who’
(not checked:)
2. er (conj.): who, which, when
notes
[8] nú skal eiga hverr, er vill ‘now anyone who wants it shall have it’: Skm (SnE 1998, I, 5) tells how Óðinn, after drinking the mead of poetry, flew back to the home of the gods, where he vomited much of his cargo into waiting vats. But he had such a fright that he voided some of the mead backwards. That part became the fool-poet’s share, and Hafði þat hverr er vildi ‘Anyone who wanted could have it’. The kenning ‘mud [= droppings] of the eagle’ for worthless poetry occurs three times in skaldic verse; at least two of these occurrences are directly dependent on Skm (see Frank 1981, 168-9). Alternatively, the sentence could refer to the fact that, unlike skalds who composed panegyrics in honour of magnates, the present poet does not dedicate his poem to any one in particular (‘anyone who wants it shall have it’).
vill ‘wants it’
(not checked:)
vilja (verb): want, intend
notes
[8] nú skal eiga hverr, er vill ‘now anyone who wants it shall have it’: Skm (SnE 1998, I, 5) tells how Óðinn, after drinking the mead of poetry, flew back to the home of the gods, where he vomited much of his cargo into waiting vats. But he had such a fright that he voided some of the mead backwards. That part became the fool-poet’s share, and Hafði þat hverr er vildi ‘Anyone who wanted could have it’. The kenning ‘mud [= droppings] of the eagle’ for worthless poetry occurs three times in skaldic verse; at least two of these occurrences are directly dependent on Skm (see Frank 1981, 168-9). Alternatively, the sentence could refer to the fact that, unlike skalds who composed panegyrics in honour of magnates, the present poet does not dedicate his poem to any one in particular (‘anyone who wants it shall have it’).
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
They seek in my mouth for words; the chatter is well known to us [me]; who might possess the strong drink of Yggr <= Óðinn> [POETRY] seems unclear to the race of men [HUMANS]. That inquiry will not at all help; we are very much inclined to coarseness; this release was not at all bad; now anyone who wants it shall have it.
This stanza seems to shift registers, as the elevated, poetic words in the first helmingr are succeeded by down-to-earth and even vulgar ones in the second.
Stanza/chapter/text segment
Use the buttons at the top of the page to navigate between stanzas in a poem.
Information tab
- text: if the stanza has been published, the edited text of the stanza and translation are here; if it hasn't been published an old edition (usually Skj) is given for reference
- sources: a list of the manuscripts or inscriptions containing this stanza, with page and line references and links (eye button) to images where available, and transcription where available
- readings: a list of variant manuscript readings of words in the main text
- editions and texts: a list of editions of the stanza with links to the bibliography; and a list of prose works in which the stanza occurs, allowing you to navigate within the prose context
- notes and context: notes not linked to individual words are given here, along with the account of the prose context for the stanza, where relevant
Interactive tab
The text and translation are given here, with buttons to toggle whether the text is shown in the verse order or prose word order. Clicking on indiviudal words gives dictionary links, variant readings, kennings and notes, where relevant.
Full text tab
This is the text of the edition in a similar format to how the edition appears in the printed volumes.
Chapter/text segment
This view is also used for chapters and other text segments. Not all the headings shown are relevant to such sections.