Anon Mhkv 8III
Roberta Frank (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Poems, Málsháttakvæði 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. 1222.
Bana ‘death’
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bani (noun m.; °-a; -ar): death, killer
þóttusk ‘determined’
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2. þykkja (verb): seem, think
þeir ‘They’
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hann (pron.; °gen. hans, dat. honum; f. hon, gen. hennar, acc. hana): he, she, it, they, them...
notes
[1] þeir ‘they’: This apparently refers to the fearless heroes of the preceding stanza.
bíða ‘to face’
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bíða (verb; °bíðr; beið, biðu; beðit): wait, suffer, experience
vel ‘well’
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vel (adv.): well, very
Brandingi ‘Brandingi’
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Brandingi (noun m.): Brandingi
notes
[2] Brandingi: Giant-name (Þul Jǫtna I 6/2); otherwise unknown.
svaf ‘slept’
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sofa (verb): sleep
notes
[2] svaf … í hel ‘slept to death’: The sense is that he slept until he died, he died from sleeping too much. Í hel ‘to death’ is used here in the meaning ModDan. ihjæl, ModNorw. ihjel (cf. Skj B Brandinge sov sig endelig ihjæl lit. ‘Brandingi finally slept himself to death’).
loks ‘at last’
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loks (adv.): finally
notes
[2] svaf … í hel ‘slept to death’: The sense is that he slept until he died, he died from sleeping too much. Í hel ‘to death’ is used here in the meaning ModDan. ihjæl, ModNorw. ihjel (cf. Skj B Brandinge sov sig endelig ihjæl lit. ‘Brandingi finally slept himself to death’).
í ‘to’
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í (prep.): in, into
notes
[2] svaf … í hel ‘slept to death’: The sense is that he slept until he died, he died from sleeping too much. Í hel ‘to death’ is used here in the meaning ModDan. ihjæl, ModNorw. ihjel (cf. Skj B Brandinge sov sig endelig ihjæl lit. ‘Brandingi finally slept himself to death’).
hel ‘death’
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1. hel (noun f.; °-jar, dat. -ju): death, Hel, hell
notes
[2] svaf … í hel ‘slept to death’: The sense is that he slept until he died, he died from sleeping too much. Í hel ‘to death’ is used here in the meaning ModDan. ihjæl, ModNorw. ihjel (cf. Skj B Brandinge sov sig endelig ihjæl lit. ‘Brandingi finally slept himself to death’).
Mardallar ‘of Mardǫll’
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Mardǫll (noun f.): Mardǫll
var ‘was’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
glysligr ‘glittering’
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glysligr (adj.): specious, glittering
grátr ‘the weeping’
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grátr (noun m.): weeping, crying
gleðr ‘gladdens’
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gleðja (verb): gladden, rejoice
mann ‘another’
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maðr (noun m.): man, person
er ‘who’
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2. er (conj.): who, which, when
opt ‘often’
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opt (adv.): often
er ‘is’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
kátr ‘happy’
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kátr (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): cheerful, glad
Ásmundr ‘Ásmundr’
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ásmundr (noun m.; °; -ar): Ásmundr
notes
[5] Ásmundr: A sea-king sometimes known as Gnóðar-Ásmundr, after his ship Gnóð; hero of the popular Egils saga einhenda ok Ásmundar berserkjabana (FSN III, 365-407). See also Anon GnóðÁsm, Þul Sækonunga 4/7 and Note to Þul Skipa 3/1.
tamði ‘accustomed’
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temja (verb): tame
Gnóð ‘Gnóð’
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Gnoð (noun f.): ship, Gnóð
við ‘to’
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2. við (prep.): with, against
gjálfr ‘the sea’
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gjalfr (noun n.; °-s): surge, waves
gulli ‘in gold’
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gull (noun n.): gold
mælti ‘spoke’
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1. mæla (verb): speak, say
Þjazi ‘Þjazi’
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Þjazi (noun m.): Þjazi
notes
[6] Þjazi: Giant who, with his brothers, divided their father Ǫlvaldi’s gold by taking mouthfuls in turn (SnE 1998, I, 3); hence the gold-kenning ‘giant’s speech’, alluded to in this line. Cf. þingskil Þjaza ‘Þjazi’s <giant’s> assembly declarations [GOLD]’ (Anon Bjark 6/3). See Meissner 227. This gold-kenning was current in C12th Orkney: glórǫdd Gauta hellis ‘the gleaming-voice of the Gautar of the cave’ (Rv Lv 7/4-5II); kveðja þursa ‘the greeting of giants’ (RvHbreiðm Hl 71/6).
sjálfr ‘himself’
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sjalfr (adj.): self
Niðjungr ‘Niðjungr’
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niðjungr (noun m.): descendant
skóf ‘scraped’
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skafa (verb): plane, smoothe
notes
[7] skóf ‘scraped’: This is 3rd pers. sg. pret. of the verb skafa ‘shave, scrape’ (see st. 26/5) used figuratively (‘take, strip, steal’). See OED: shave for such slang meanings from at least the C14th on. The taking of a horn from a mound recalls the removal of a hart’s horn from a burial mound in Anon Sól 78/4-6VII. Amory (1985, 24 n. 42 and 1990a, 262 n. 43) argues that in Mhkv horn refers to the ‘corner’ of the mound. The story alluded to, like the name, remains obscure.
af ‘from’
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af (prep.): from
haugi ‘a burial mound’
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haugr (noun m.; °-s, -i; -ar): mound, cairn
horn ‘a horn’
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horn (noun n.; °-s; -): horn
hølzti ‘exceedingly’
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hølzti (adv.): [exceedingly]
eru ‘these are’
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2. vera (verb): be, is, was, were, are, am
nú ‘now’
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nú (adv.): now
minni ‘stories’
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1. minni (noun n.; °-s; -): memory
forn ‘old’
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forn (adj.; °compar. -ari, superl. -astr): ancient, old
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
They determined to face death well; Brandingi at last slept to death; the weeping of Mardǫll <= Freyja> was glittering; the one who is often happy gladdens another. Ásmundr accustomed Gnóð <legendary ship> to the sea; Þjazi himself spoke in gold; Niðjungr scraped a horn from a burial mound; these are now exceedingly old stories.
[3]: This line, like l. 6 below, alludes to a well-known kenning. Mardallar (nom. Mardǫll < marr-þǫll ‘sea-fir-tree’; see Þul Ásynja 3/6) is a name for Freyja; her grátr ‘weeping’ is ‘gold’: see Gylf (SnE 2005, 29) and Skm (SnE 1998, I, 43-4), which cites five examples of this kenning-type, mostly from ESk Øxfl. Cf. SnSt Ht 42/6-8 fagrregn hvarma Mardallar ‘the fair rain of the eyelids [TEARS] of Mardǫll <= Freyja> [GOLD]’. Freyja’s tears glitter in Mhkv because they are gold; grátr Mardallar [GOLD], a kenning elsewhere, is used descriptively in this stanza. The kenning type has limited distribution outside Skm (see Guðrún Nordal 2001, 330; Meissner 227). See also Anon Bjark 5/6.
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