Jonna Louis-Jensen and Tarrin Wills (eds) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Plácitusdrápa 44’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 208.
Enn bað ungra manna
ítr gramr fira samna
fljótt, ef fámeðr þœttisk
ferð, Plácitus verða.
Svinns kómu þá seima
sendis heim (né kenndi
hyrjar lunda) at hǫndum
(haukláðs) synir báðir.
Ítr gramr bað enn fira samna fljótt ferð ungra manna, ef Plácitus þœttisk verða fámeðr. Báðir {synir {svinns sendis seima}} kómu þá heim at hǫndum; né kenndi {lunda {hyrjar {haukláðs}}}.
‘The glorious king then asked the men to gather quickly a troop of young men, if Plácitus found himself short of men. Both sons of the wise distributor of gold [GENEROUS MAN > = Agapitus and Theopistus] then came home to him [lit. to his hands]; he did not recognise the trees of the fire of the hawk-ground [ARM > GOLD > MEN].’
According to the legend, once Plácitus had been reinstated as commander of the Emperor’s cavalry, he recognised that he needed new recruits, so he sent word to all parts of the empire to summon young men to the army, and his own sons answered the call.
Text is based on reconstruction from the base text and variant apparatus and may contain alternative spellings and other normalisations not visible in the manuscript text. Transcriptions may not have been checked and should not be cited.
†(E)n[...]† bað ungra manna
ítr gramr fira †sam[...]†
†[...]†, ef fámeðr þœttisk
ferð, Plácitus verða.
†[...]s† kómu þá seima
sendis heim (né kenndi
†[...]r† lund) at hǫndum
(haukláðs) synir †baþ[...]†.
(E)n[...] baþ ungra maɴa itr gramr. fira ſam | [...] ef fameþr þøtteſc ferþ placitus verþa· | [...]ſ como þa ſeima ſendeſ heim ne haɴ kende | [...](i)ar lund at hondvm hav́c laþſ ſyner baþ[...] |
(JLJ)
Skj: Anonyme digte og vers [XII], G [1]. Plácítúsdrápa 44: AI, 615, BI, 618, Skald I, 300, NN §2812; Sveinbjörn Egilsson 1833, 29, 57, Finnur Jónsson 1887, 240, Louis-Jensen 1998, 114.
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