Anon Óldr 14^I

Eigum (langa lœgis)
liðrœkjanda frœknum
(hyrstríðir braut heiðni)
hjalmraunar þat launa.
Hrings hefr þarfastr þengill
þrymdraugum sá bauga
— herr nýtr hodda þverris —
hingat norðr of orðit.

{{Lœgis hyr}stríðir} braut langa heiðni; eigum launa {frœknum {{hjalmraunar} lið}rœkjanda} þat. Sá hefr of orðit þarfastr þengill {{{bauga hrings} þrym}draugum} hingat norðr; herr nýtr {þverris hodda}.

{The opponent {of the fire of the sea}} [(lit. ‘fire-opponent of the sea’) GOLD > GENEROUS MAN] destroyed longstanding heathendom; we have to repay {the valiant carer {of the snake {of helmet-trial}}} [(lit. ‘snake-carer of helmet-trial’) BATTLE > SWORD > WARRIOR] for that. He has become the most useful lord {for logs {of the din {of the disk of shield-rings}}} [(lit. ‘din-logs of the disk of shield-rings’) SHIELD > BATTLE > WARRIORS] up here in the north; the people benefit from {the diminisher of hoards} [GENEROUS MAN].

Mss: Bb(112vb)

Readings: [8] orðit: orðinn Bb

Editions: Skj AI, 576, Skj BI, 571, Skald I, 276, NN §§2453, 2722; Munch and Unger 1847, 122, 141, Gullberg 1875, 15, 31-2.

Notes: [2, 4] liðrœkjanda hjalmraunar ‘carer of the snake of helmet-trial [(lit. ‘snake-carer of helmet-trial’) BATTLE > SWORD > WARRIOR]’: Ms. ‘lid’ is taken here as the variant form of linnr m. ‘snake’ (see LP: 2. liðr m.). This is very common as the base-word to sword-kennings (Meissner 154). Other possibilities include líð n. ‘ale’ as in (b) below and lið n. ‘support’ or ‘troop’ as in (c) below. The interpretation of hjalmraunar is also problematic. (a) The parallels for hjalmraun ‘helmet-trial, ‑test’ as a battle-kenning are few and weak (Meissner 200), but the parallelism of structure and placement of the stanza’s three main kenningar (each an inverted kenning, a component of each of them forming the first elements of ll. 2, 3 and 6) seems deliberate, and favours the interpretation here. (b) Hjalmraun is more plausible as a sword-kenning, giving hjalmraunar líðrœkjandi ‘carer of the ale of helmet-trial [SWORD > BLOOD > WARRIOR]’, but warrior-kennings with ‘blood’ as determinant are extremely rare (Meissner 278). (c) The other solution is to emend hjalm to gen. sg. hjalms, yielding liðrœkjanda hjalms ‘user/carer of the support of the helmet [WARRIOR]’ (so LP: liðrœkjandi) and the adv. raunar ‘really’ attached to the second clause, but the construals along these lines in Skj B and NN §2453 are not persuasive. — [3] braut ‘destroyed’: On the placing of the verb, see Introduction. — [5, 6] hrings bauga ‘of the disk of shield-rings [SHIELD]’: The context seems to require a kenning referring to a weapon, which then forms a battle-kenning with þrym ‘din’. Both baugr m. and hringr m. mean ‘ring’, as well as having various specific applications. Hringr is here taken as the base-word of a shield-kenning, alluding to the circular shape of the shield (‘disk’), and bauga is taken as the determinant, referring to decoration on the shield (‘shield-rings’); see Meissner 167, and LP: baugr 3, though LP: 2. hringr takes a different line. The main alternative involves taking baugr as base-word in a shield kenning, but the difficulty of this is pointed out in Meissner 171.  — [5, 8] hefr of orðit ‘has become’: As in most eds, ms. orðinn is here emended to orðit, since hafa takes the n. form of the p. p. Hefr forms a perfect tense conveying the continuing effects of Óláfr’s career; cf. Note to st. 9/5. Of is the expletive particle. — [6] -draugum ‘for logs’: Or ‘ghosts, undead, revenants’, cf. Note to ÞHjalt Lv 1/5.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. Meissner = Meissner, Rudolf. 1921. Die Kenningar der Skalden: Ein Beitrag zur skaldischen Poetik. Rheinische Beiträge und Hülfsbücher zur germanischen Philologie und Volkskunde 1. Bonn and Leipzig: Schroeder. Rpt. 1984. Hildesheim etc.: Olms.
6. LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
7. Munch, P. A. and C. R. Unger, eds. 1847. Oldnorsk læsebog med tilhörende glossarium. Christiania (Oslo): Dahl.
8. Gullberg, H., ed. 1875. Óláfs drápa Tryggvasonar: fragment ur “Bergsboken”. Lund: Berling.
9. Internal references
10. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2012, ‘Þorvaldr Hjaltason, Lausavísur 1’ 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. 271.