Anon Óldr 26I
Kate Heslop (ed.) 2012, ‘Anonymous Poems, Óláfs drápa Tryggvasonar 26’ 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. 1056.
Borit ‘borne’
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3. bera (verb; °berr; bar, báru; borinn): bear, carry
hefk ‘I have’
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hafa (verb): have
hróðr ‘praise’
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hróðr (noun m.): encomium, praise
enn ‘further’
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2. enn (adv.): still, yet, again
hjǫrvi ‘’
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hjǫrr (noun m.): sword
kennings
ôsu þeys hjǫrva;‘gods of the breeze of swords; ’
= WARRIORS
the breeze of swords; → BATTLE
gods of the BATTLE → WARRIORS
kennings
ôsu þeys hjǫrva;‘gods of the breeze of swords; ’
= WARRIORS
the breeze of swords; → BATTLE
gods of the BATTLE → WARRIORS
hóf ‘restraint’
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2. hóf (noun n.; °-s; gen. -a): moderation, reason
sœmði ‘suited’
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sœma (verb): honour
vel ‘well’
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vel (adv.): well, very
lófa ‘of the palm’
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lófi (noun m.; °-a; -ar): palm of hand
kennings
ôr elda lófa‘the envoy of fires of the palm ’
= GENEROUS MAN
fires of the palm → GOLD
the envoy of the GOLD → GENEROUS MAN
lófa ‘of the palm’
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lófi (noun m.; °-a; -ar): palm of hand
kennings
ôr elda lófa‘the envoy of fires of the palm ’
= GENEROUS MAN
fires of the palm → GOLD
the envoy of the GOLD → GENEROUS MAN
elda ‘of fires’
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eldr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i/-(HómÍsl¹(1993) 24v²⁴); -ar): fire
kennings
ôr elda lófa‘the envoy of fires of the palm ’
= GENEROUS MAN
fires of the palm → GOLD
the envoy of the GOLD → GENEROUS MAN
elda ‘of fires’
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eldr (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i/-(HómÍsl¹(1993) 24v²⁴); -ar): fire
kennings
ôr elda lófa‘the envoy of fires of the palm ’
= GENEROUS MAN
fires of the palm → GOLD
the envoy of the GOLD → GENEROUS MAN
þeys ‘of the breeze’
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þeyr (noun m.; °; -jar/-ir): breeze, thawing wind
kennings
ôsu þeys hjǫrva;‘gods of the breeze of swords; ’
= WARRIORS
the breeze of swords; → BATTLE
gods of the BATTLE → WARRIORS
þeys ‘of the breeze’
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þeyr (noun m.; °; -jar/-ir): breeze, thawing wind
kennings
ôsu þeys hjǫrva;‘gods of the breeze of swords; ’
= WARRIORS
the breeze of swords; → BATTLE
gods of the BATTLE → WARRIORS
fyr ‘before’
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fyr (prep.): for, over, because of, etc.
ôsu ‘gods’
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2. Áss (noun m.; °áss, dat. ási/ás; ásar): god
kennings
ôsu þeys hjǫrva;‘gods of the breeze of swords; ’
= WARRIORS
the breeze of swords; → BATTLE
gods of the BATTLE → WARRIORS
ítr ‘’
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ítr (adj.): glorious
ôr ‘the envoy’
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1. árr (noun m.; °dat. ár; ǽrir/árar, acc. áru): messenger
[4] ôr: ítr Bb
kennings
ôr elda lófa‘the envoy of fires of the palm ’
= GENEROUS MAN
fires of the palm → GOLD
the envoy of the GOLD → GENEROUS MAN
notes
[4] ôr ‘envoy’: Ms. ítr ‘magnificent’ would seem most naturally to belong with the rest of l. 4, yielding ítr mest* at hlut flestum ‘most magnificent in most respects’. But the only word with which ítr (m. nom. sg.) can agree is the suffixed -k of hefk ‘I have’ in l. 1, which is implausible both syntactically and semantically (the statement that the skald is ‘most magnificent’ accords poorly with the modesty topoi elsewhere in the poem). Skj B emends to ôr (dat. of ôrr ‘envoy, messenger’), which has the additional advantage of providing a dat. obj. for sœmði ‘suited’. Kock’s construal (NN §1223; Skald) involves reading ítrs and taking it as a substantive qualifying hróðr (i.e. ‘praise of the magnificent one’), and is not convincing overall.
mestr ‘’
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meiri (adj. comp.; °meiran; superl. mestr): more, most
mest* ‘the greatest’
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meiri (adj. comp.; °meiran; superl. mestr): more, most
[4] mest*: mestr Bb
notes
[4] mest* ‘greatest’: There is no m. nom. sg. noun in the helmingr for ms. mestr ‘most’ (adj.) to qualify, so it must be emended, here to n. nom. sg. (modifying hóf ‘restraint’); mest could alternatively be taken as an adv.
at ‘in’
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3. at (prep.): at, to
hlut ‘respects’
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hlutr (noun m.; °-ar, dat. -i/-; -ir, acc. -i/-u): part, thing
flestum ‘most’
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fleiri (adj. comp.; °superl. flestr): more, most
Áðr ‘before’
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áðr (adv.; °//): before
mun ‘will’
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munu (verb): will, must
óss ‘of the estuary’
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óss (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): estuary, mouth
kennings
elris glóða óss.‘of the alder of the embers of the estuary.’
= GENEROUS MAN
the embers of the estuary. → GOLD
the alder of the GOLD → GENEROUS MAN
notes
[5] óss ‘of the estuary’: Ms. ‘oss’ is taken in Skj B as oss ‘to us, our’, hence oss mun áðr þrjóta at brag ‘my powers in composing will be exhausted before ...’, and the determinant of the gold-kenning as not óss but fljóts in l. 8 (see Note below).
óss ‘of the estuary’
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óss (noun m.; °-s, dat. -i; -ar): estuary, mouth
kennings
elris glóða óss.‘of the alder of the embers of the estuary.’
= GENEROUS MAN
the embers of the estuary. → GOLD
the alder of the GOLD → GENEROUS MAN
notes
[5] óss ‘of the estuary’: Ms. ‘oss’ is taken in Skj B as oss ‘to us, our’, hence oss mun áðr þrjóta at brag ‘my powers in composing will be exhausted before ...’, and the determinant of the gold-kenning as not óss but fljóts in l. 8 (see Note below).
an ‘’
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2. an (conj.): than
glóða ‘of the embers’
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glóð (noun f.): ember
kennings
elris glóða óss.‘of the alder of the embers of the estuary.’
= GENEROUS MAN
the embers of the estuary. → GOLD
the alder of the GOLD → GENEROUS MAN
glóða ‘of the embers’
(not checked:)
glóð (noun f.): ember
kennings
elris glóða óss.‘of the alder of the embers of the estuary.’
= GENEROUS MAN
the embers of the estuary. → GOLD
the alder of the GOLD → GENEROUS MAN
elris ‘of the alder’
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elri (noun n.): alder-tree
kennings
elris glóða óss.‘of the alder of the embers of the estuary.’
= GENEROUS MAN
the embers of the estuary. → GOLD
the alder of the GOLD → GENEROUS MAN
þrek ‘valour’
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þrekr (noun m.): powerful
notes
[6] at virkum ‘for the dear one’: This interpretation avoids emendation, but is slightly forced and does not provide aðalhending in l. 6. Skj B emends þrek to sterks ‘strong’, qualifying elris ‘of the alder’ in the man-kenning, and virkum to verkum ‘deeds’, as dat. object of yppa ‘extol, raise up’.
at ‘for’
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3. at (prep.): at, to
virkum ‘the dear one [Óláfr]’
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virkr (adj.): considerate
notes
[6] at virkum ‘for the dear one’: This interpretation avoids emendation, but is slightly forced and does not provide aðalhending in l. 6. Skj B emends þrek to sterks ‘strong’, qualifying elris ‘of the alder’ in the man-kenning, and virkum to verkum ‘deeds’, as dat. object of yppa ‘extol, raise up’.
greppr ‘poet’
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greppr (noun m.; °; -ar): poet, man
megi ‘will be able’
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mega (verb): may, might
ǫllum ‘all the’
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allr (adj.): all
yppa ‘to extol’
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yppa (verb): extol, lift up
ǫrnfljótr ‘the eagle-swift’
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ǫrnfljótr (adj.): [eagle-swift]
[8] ǫrnfljótr: ‘orn fliotr’ or ‘orn fliotz’ Bb
notes
[8] ǫrnfljótr ‘eagle-swift’: This unusual epithet (though cf. NN §2991) comments on the skald’s speed in composing, a common boast, especially in later poetry (Kreutzer 1977, 206-7). ‘Eagle’ may possibly allude to Óðinn (alias Bǫlverkr) taking the shape of an eagle to carry off the mead of poetry (SnE 1998, I, 4-5). If the ms. reading is rather gen. sg. ǫrnfljóts, the epithet will qualify elris glóða óss ‘alder of the embers of the estuary [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN]’. Finnur Jónsson in Skj B emends ǫrn to ǫrr ‘bold’ and reads fljóts ‘of the river’, providing the determinant of the gold-kenning (see Note to l. 5 óss).
at ‘’
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3. at (prep.): at, to
brag ‘The poem’
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bragr (noun m.; °-ar): poem, poetry
þrjóta ‘come to an end’
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þrjóta (verb; str. 2; þrýtr, þraut, þrutu, þrotinn): end, fail
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
|
Borit hefk hróðr enn hjǫrva |
I have, further, borne praise before gods of the breeze of swords [BATTLE > WARRIORS]; the greatest restraint suited well the envoy of fires of the palm [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN] in most respects. The poem for the dear one [Óláfr] will come to an end before the eagle-swift poet will be able to extol all the valour of the alder of the embers of the estuary [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN].
[1-4]: As it stands in the ms. this stanza appears to be corrupt, and the first helmingr cannot be construed without emending (see Notes below). There appear to be two tvíkent kennings, the first with ôsu ‘gods’ (l. 3) as base-word, referring to the audience, and the second with ôr ‘envoy’ (l. 4, emended from ítr) as base-word, referring either to the skald or to Óláfr himself. The determinants of the two kennings could be reversed, but this would result in a tripartite l. 3. — [5-8]: The helmingr is problematic and has been emended by all previous eds (see Nj 1875-8, II, 63-7 for a survey of the early scholarship). The construal tentatively proposed in the Text above avoids emendation.
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