Anonymous Poems, Málsháttakvæði 7

Roberta Frank

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Anon Mhkv 7^III

Roberta Frank (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Poems, Málsháttakvæði 7’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1221.

Anonymous Poems Málsháttakvæði

6 7 8

Bjarki ‘Bjarki’

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Bjarki (noun m.; °-a): Bjarki

notes

[1] Bjarki: Bǫðvarr bjarki ‘Little bear’, Biarco (Saxo 2005, I, 2, 6, 9-11, pp. 166-9; 2, 7, 4-28, pp. 170-87). Legendary hero at the court of the Danish king Hrólfr kraki ‘Pole-ladder’ (see Hrólf, FSGJ 1, 1-105; Anon Bjark; ÍF 35, 27 n. 33).

átti ‘had’

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2. eiga (verb; °á/eigr (præs. pl. 3. pers. eigu/eiga); átti, áttu; átt): own, have

hugar ‘of courage’

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hugr (noun m.): mind, thought, courage < hugarkorn (noun n.): kernel of courage

kennings

hart hugarkorn;
‘a firm kernel of courage; ’
= HEART
a firm kernel of courage; → HEART

notes

[1] hart hugarkorn ‘a firm kernel of courage [HEART]’: Heroic hearts are both small and hard; cf. HHund I 53/11-12 (NK 138): sá hafði hilmir | hart móðacarn ‘the prince had a firm courage-acorn [HEART]’. C12th kennings depicting the heart as the little ‘hard’ thing in the breast include akarn aldrklifs ‘acorn of the life-cliff [BREAST > HEART]’ and hvǫssu grjóti hugarsess ‘a sharp stone of the mind-seat [BREAST > HEART]’ (RvHbreiðm Hl 30/1-2, 5, 8) (also von See 1978; Meissner 138).

korn ‘kernel’

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korn (noun n.; °-s; -): [corn, grain] < hugarkorn (noun n.): kernel of courage

kennings

hart hugarkorn;
‘a firm kernel of courage; ’
= HEART
a firm kernel of courage; → HEART

notes

hart ‘a firm’

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harðr (adj.; °comp. -ari; superl. -astr): hard, harsh

kennings

hart hugarkorn;
‘a firm kernel of courage; ’
= HEART
a firm kernel of courage; → HEART

notes

notes

[2] Stǫrkuðr ‘Starkaðr’: Starkaðr/Starcatherus (< Stark-hǫðr ‘strong-warrior’), a legendary hero and poet featured in numerous fornaldarsögur (e.g. Gautr, FSGJ 4, 1-50; Sǫgubrot af fornkonungum, ÍF 35, 63-8; Ásmundar saga kappabana, Detter 1891; Saxo 2005, I, 6-8, pp. 390-543; cf. Beowulf ll. 2024-69 and Beowulf 2008, 229-30). See Poole (2006, 147-52) and Starkaðr Stórvirksson’s Biography in SkP VIII.

mart ‘a great’

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2. margr (adj.; °-an): many

ekki ‘not’

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2. ekki (adv.): not

var ‘was’

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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am

hann ‘he’

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hann (pron.; °gen. hans, dat. honum; f. hon, gen. hennar, acc. hana): he, she, it, they, them...

í ‘in’

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í (prep.): in, into

hvíldum ‘repose’

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hvíld (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): rest

hœgr ‘gentle’

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1. hœgr (adj.; °acc. -an/-jan; comp. hǿgri, superl. hǿgstr/hǿgastr): convenient, calm, pleasant

Hrómundr ‘Hrómundr’

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Hrómundr (noun m.): Hrómundr

notes

[4] Hrómundr: From Hróð-mund ‘glory-hand’. Titular champion and mound-breaker of Hrómundar saga Gripssonar (FSN II, 363-80), a late saga based on rímur probably derived from a now-lost Hrómundar saga.

þótti ‘seemed’

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2. þykkja (verb): seem, think

garpr ‘bold’

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garpr (noun m.): champion

notes

[4] garpr ok slœgr ‘bold and cunning’: Lit. ‘a bold man’ (noun) and ‘cunning’ (adj.).

ok ‘and’

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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also

notes

[4] garpr ok slœgr ‘bold and cunning’: Lit. ‘a bold man’ (noun) and ‘cunning’ (adj.).

slœgr ‘cunning’

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1. slœgr (noun m.): [cunning]

notes

[4] garpr ok slœgr ‘bold and cunning’: Lit. ‘a bold man’ (noun) and ‘cunning’ (adj.).

Ókat ‘made’

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aka (verb; °ekr; ók, óku; ekinn/akiðr(Búal³ 34¹)): drive

notes

[5] né einn ókat þeim á bug ‘no one made him give way’: Bugr means ‘bend, curve’; aka e-m á bug ‘make sby give way, beat sby back’ (ONP: bugr 2). Ókat is 3rd pers. sg. pret. indic. of aka (ók) plus the negative suffix -at.

þeim ‘him’

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hann (pron.; °gen. hans, dat. honum; f. hon, gen. hennar, acc. hana): he, she, it, they, them...

notes

né ‘No’

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né (conj.): nor

notes

einn ‘one’

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2. einn (pron.; °decl. cf. einn num.): one, alone

notes

á ‘’

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3. á (prep.): on, at

notes

bug ‘give way’

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bugr (noun m.; °dat. -/-i): hollow, bend

notes

Eljárnir ‘Eljárnir’

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Eljarnir (noun m.): [Eljárnir]

notes

[6] Eljárnir: Eleazar Avaran, crushed beneath the elephant he had stabbed from below in 1 Macc. VI.43-7, the only allusion to a biblical story in Mhkv and one of the more embarrassing deaths in world history. Guðbrandur Vigfússon (CPB II, 363) was first to identify Eljárnir with the Hebrew hero. Hermann Pálsson (1984, 263) sees a confusion between the pers. n. Eleazar and the adj. aljárnaðr ‘caparisoned’, used of the elephant killed by Eleazar in Gyðinga saga.

var ‘was’

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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am

trúr ‘loyal’

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trúr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): faithful

at ‘at’

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3. at (prep.): at, to

hug ‘heart’

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hugr (noun m.): mind, thought, courage

fílinn ‘the elephant’

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fíll (noun m.): [elephant]

gat ‘’

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2. geta (verb): to beget, give birth to, mention, speak of; to think well of, like, love

hann ‘he’

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hann (pron.; °gen. hans, dat. honum; f. hon, gen. hennar, acc. hana): he, she, it, they, them...

í ‘in’

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í (prep.): in, into

fylking ‘the phalanx’

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fylking (noun f.): troop

sótt ‘conquered’

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sœkja (verb): seek, attack

fullstrǫng ‘very tough’

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fullstrangr (adj.): [very tough]

hefr ‘’

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hafa (verb): have

sú ‘that’

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1. sá (pron.; °gen. þess, dat. þeim, acc. þann; f. sú, gen. þeirrar, acc. þá; n. þat, dat. því; pl. m. þeir, f. þǽ---): that (one), those

mannraun ‘test of manhood’

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mannraun (noun f.): test of manhood

notes

[8] mannraun ‘test of manhood’: This cpd occurs twice in Anon Pl 1/5^VII and 12/4^VII.

þótt ‘seemed’

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2. þykkja (verb): seem, think

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verse
prose

[3]: Skj B associates this parenthesis with the hero of the next line, Möbius (1874) and Skald, with the previous line. The praise of both heroes is litotic: for ‘not gentle’, read ‘homicidal maniac’.

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Anon Mhkv 7III

Bjarki ‘Bjarki’

notes

átti ‘had’

hugar ‘of courage’

kennings

notes

korn ‘kernel’

kennings

notes

hart ‘a firm’

kennings

notes

herlið ‘troop’

feldi ‘felled’

Stǫrkuðr ‘Starkaðr’

notes

mart ‘a great’

ekki ‘not’

var ‘was’

hann ‘he’

í ‘in’

hvíldum ‘repose’

hœgr ‘gentle’

Hrómundr ‘Hrómundr’

notes

þótti ‘seemed’

garpr ‘bold’

notes

ok ‘and’

notes

slœgr ‘cunning’

notes

Ókat ‘made’

notes

þeim ‘him’

notes

né ‘No’

notes

einn ‘one’

notes

á ‘’

notes

bug ‘give way’

notes

Eljárnir ‘Eljárnir’

notes

var ‘was’

trúr ‘loyal’

at ‘at’

hug ‘heart’

fílinn ‘the elephant’

gat ‘’

hann ‘he’

í ‘in’

fylking ‘the phalanx’

sótt ‘conquered’

fullstrǫng ‘very tough’

hefr ‘’

sú ‘that’

mannraun ‘test of manhood’

notes

þótt ‘seemed’

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Anon Mhkv 7^III