Anon Pl 40^VII

Hugðu brœðr at beiði
brandéls meginvandla,
þóttusk mildi mætan
menn Plácitus kenna,
unz hyr-Þróttar hittu
hjaldrserks …
... hǫfðu
hoddsendi rétt kenndan.

Brœðr hugðu meginvandla at {beiði {brandéls}} — menn þóttusk kenna mildi mætan Plácitus —, unz {{{hjaldrserks} hyr-}Þróttar} hittu … hǫfðu rétt kenndan {hoddsendi}.

The brothers considered carefully {the demander {of the sword-storm}} [BATTLE > WARRIOR] — the men thought they recognised Plácitus, renowned for generosity [or piety] —, until {the Þróttar <= Óðinn> {of the fire {of the war-shirt}}} [(lit. ‘the fire-Þróttar of the war shirt’) MAIL-SHIRT > SWORD > WARRIORS] met … they had correctly recognised {the gold-distributor} [GENEROUS MAN].

Mss: 673b(4r-v)

Readings: [2] brandéls: ‘br[...]e[...]s’ 673b, ‘br[...]egs’ 673bÞH, ‘bran[...]e[...]s’ 673bFJ    [3] mætan: ‘mæ[...]’ 673b, ‘mæra’ 673bÞH, ‘metan’ 673bFJ    [5] ‑Þróttar: ‘þrotta[...]’ 673b, ‘þrottar’ 673bÞH, 673bFJ    [6] …: ‘[...]ar[...]’ 673b, ‘kloker[...]’ 673bFJ    [7] hǫfðu: ‘[...]þv’ 673b    [8] kenndan: ‘[...]endan’ 673b, ‘kendan’ 673bFJ

Editions: Skj AI, 614-15, Skj BI, 617, Skald I, 300, NN §2137; Sveinbjörn Egilsson 1833, 27, 55, Finnur Jónsson 1887, 239, Jón Helgason 1932-3, 157-8, Louis-Jensen 1998, 112.

Notes: [6-7] hjaldrserks ...: In the prose versions at this point, Plácitus is recognised by a scar on his neck (Tucker 1998, 46-7). The first two ll. of fol. 4v in 673b are very damaged from rubbing. Finnur Jónsson (1887 and Skj A) thought he could make out ‘kloker’ (i.e. klókir ‘clever’; cf. NN §§2137, 2491), but his reading was disputed by Jón Helgason (1932-3). The word klókir is of German origin and therefore unlikely to occur in a text of this date, besides being too heavy to fill the metrical position. Jón Helgason suggested ørugg merki | at hringdrífar hǫfðu (i.e. ‘until the [men] found the safe sign, so that the ring-scatterers [GENEROUS MEN] had correctly recognised the [man]’), but only as one possibility among others. As an alternative to ørugg merki, he suggested ørr á kverkum ‘scar on the throat’, cf. ørr á hálsi in the prose text.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj A = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15a. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. A: Tekst efter håndskrifterne. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1967. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. Sveinbjörn Egilsson, ed. 1833. Brot af Placidus-drápu. Bessastaðir: Helgi Helgason.
4. Jón Helgason. 1932-3. ‘Til skjaldedigtningen’. APS 7, 150-68.
5. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
6. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
7. Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1887. ‘Plácítúsdrápa’. In Opuscula Philologica: Mindre Afhandlinger, 210-64.
8. Tucker, John, ed. 1998. Plácidus saga. EA B 31. Copenhagen: Reitzel.
9. Louis-Jensen, Jonna, ed. 1998. ‘Plácitus drápa’. In Tucker 1998, 89-130.