Anon Pl 33VII
Jonna Louis-Jensen and Tarrin Wills (eds) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Plácitusdrápa 33’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 202.
Gǫr vas guðr, en verjask,
gramr þurfti her samna
trautt, áðr tíginn mætti
Trájánus vel ráni.
Bauð landreki lýða
liði ríðara fríðu
snildar framr at samna
sverðhríðar til víða.
Guðr vas gǫr, en áðr tíginn Trájánus mætti vel verjask ráni, þurfti gramr samna her trautt. Snildar framr landreki lýða bauð at samna víða fríðu liði ríðara til {sverðhríðar}.
Battle was begun, but before the noble Trajan could protect himself properly against plundering, the king had to gather an army with difficulty. The king of men, outstanding in prowess, bade [his men] gather from far and wide a fine band of knights for {the sword-storm} [BATTLE].
Mss: 673b(3v)
Readings: [3] tíginn: ‘tig[...]’ 673b, ‘tiginn’ 673bÞH, ‘tigeɴ’ 673bFJ [5] landreki: ‘landre[...]’ 673b, ‘landreki [...]’ 673bÞH, ‘landreke’ 673bFJ [6] liði: om. 673b [7] samna: ‘sam[...]’ 673b, 673bFJ, ‘samre’ 673bÞH [8] sverð‑: ‘(s)[...]þ’(?) 673b, ‘suerd’ 673bÞH, ‘suerþ’ 673bFJ
Editions: Skj AI, 613, Skj BI, 615, Skald I, 299, NN §§1251, 2315n., 2369, 2811, 2812; Sveinbjörn Egilsson 1833, 24, 52, Finnur Jónsson 1887, 238, Jón Helgason 1932-3, 156, Louis-Jensen 1998, 109.
Notes: [All]: According to the legend, an unnamed army began ravaging the Roman empire and Trajan needed to rally his forces against it. He remembered his former cavalry commander Plácitus, and asked his men where Plácitus was, but no one knew. He offered a reward to anyone who found him (st. 34), and this impelled two former soldiers who had served with Plácitus to go looking for him (st. 35). — [4] Trájánus ‘Trajan’: Ms. ‘træyanus’. On the vowel lengths in the name cf. NN §3247.
References
- Bibliography
- Sveinbjörn Egilsson, ed. 1833. Brot af Placidus-drápu. Bessastaðir: Helgi Helgason.
- Jón Helgason. 1932-3. ‘Til skjaldedigtningen’. APS 7, 150-68.
- Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
- NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
- Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1887. ‘Plácítúsdrápa’. In Opuscula Philologica: Mindre Afhandlinger, 210-64.
- Jón Helgason. 1932. ‘Nokkur íslenzk handrit frá 16. öld’. Skírnir 106, 143-68.
- Louis-Jensen, Jonna, ed. 1998. ‘Plácitus drápa’. In Tucker 1998, 89-130.
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