Auðunn Lv 1^III

Maðr skyldi þó, moldar,
megja hverr of þegja,
kenniseiðs þótt kunni
kleppdǫgg Hôars lǫggvar.

Hverr maðr skyldi þó megja of þegja, þótt kunni {kleppdǫgg {lǫggvar Hôars}} {kenniseiðs moldar}.

Yet each man ought to be able to remain silent, even though he knows {the lump-dew {of Hárr’s <= Óðinn’s> cask-rim}} [VAT > BAD POETRY] {of the testing coalfish of the earth} [SNAKE = Ormr (ormr ‘snake’)].

Mss: A(3v), W(101), B(2v) (TGT)

Readings: [3] ‑seiðs: meiðs W, ‘selds’ B;    kunni: kynni W, B    [4] ‑dǫgg: ‑dǫggs B

Editions: Skj AI, 6, Skj BI, 6, Skald I, 3-4, NN §§134, 1006; SnE 1848-87, II, 98-101, 405, III, 136-7, TGT 1884, 13, 64, 166-7, TGT 1927, 42, 90-1.

Context: Óláfr Þórðarson introduces this helmingr in ch. 11 of the Málskrúðsfræði section of TGT on faulty style (De Barbarismo). He comments that barbarismus may occur with the addition of a letter, and gives the example of megja for mega ‘to be able’ in l. 2. The reason here, as he observes, is to make a long syllable of a short one and thus provide aðalhending.

Notes: [All]: Nothing is known of the original context of this helmingr, but it appears to insult an unidentified poet named Ormr (see following Note). Kock (NN §134) understood the helmingr to mean that Ormr was a man whom no skald could praise. Finnur Jónsson (Skj B) understood the import of the helmingr similarly to this edn, although he does not venture an interpretation of the kennings. — [1, 3] kenniseiðs moldar ‘of the testing coalfish of the earth [SNAKE = Ormr (ormr ‘snake’)]’: This snake-kenning plays on the common noun ormr ‘snake’, which can also be a pers. n. — [2] megja ‘to be able’: Instead of mega (see Context above). Krömmelbein (TGT 1998, 105 n. 4) wondered whether this ‘barbarism’ might not be Auðunn’s way of exemplifying Ormr’s bad poetry. — [4] kleppdǫgg lǫggvar Hôars ‘the lump-dew of Hárr’s <= Óðinn’s> cask-rim [VAT > BAD POETRY]’: Editors have found difficulty with this kenning and made various suggestions for its interpretation (cf. SnE 1848-87, III, 137; TGT 1884, 166-7; TGT 1927, 90-1; LP: kleppdǫgg, lǫgg; NN §1006), but, although the lexical elements are unusual, it conforms to standard references to the myth of the mead of poetry as Óðinn’s possession and his alcoholic drink (cf. Meissner 427-30). Lǫgg ‘the rim or ledge at the bottom of a cask or barrel’ or ‘the inside of a cask’ (CVC: lögg; Fritzner: lǫgg; ModIcel. lögg ‘drop left in a bottle’) must be understood as pars pro toto for a vat or cask, in which the mead of poetry is stored. However, the kind of poetry Ormr can produce, Auðunn alleges, is not of a mellifluous, free-flowing type, but rather kleppdǫgg ‘lump-dew’ that can stick to the bottom of the barrel, that is to say, dregs. Auðunn does not use the scatological imagery of kennings like leirr arnar ‘mud of the eagle’ (Arngr Gd 2/7^IV; cf. SnE 1998, I, 5), but the effect is similar.

References

1. Bibliography
2. TGT 1884 = Björn Magnússon Ólsen, ed. 1884. Den tredje og fjærde grammatiske afhandling i Snorres Edda tilligemed de grammatiske afhandlingers prolog og to andre tillæg. SUGNL 12. Copenhagen: Knudtzon.
3. SnE 1848-87 = Snorri Sturluson. 1848-87. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar: Edda Snorronis Sturlaei. Ed. Jón Sigurðsson et al. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Legatum Arnamagnaeanum. Rpt. Osnabrück: Zeller, 1966.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. CVC = Cleasby, Richard, Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and W. A. Craigie. 1957. An Icelandic-English Dictionary. 2nd edn. Oxford: Clarendon.
9. Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
10. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
11. TGT 1927 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1927b. Óláfr Þórðarson: Málhljóða- og málskrúðsrit. Grammatisk-retorisk afhandling. Det kgl. Danske Videnskabernes Selskab. Historisk-filologiske meddelelser 13, 2. Copenhagen: Høst.
12. TGT 1998 = Krömmelbein, Thomas, ed. and trans. 1998. Dritte grammatische Abhandlung. Studia nordica 3. Oslo: Novus.
13. Internal references
14. (forthcoming), ‘ Óláfr hvítaskáld Þórðarson, The Third Grammatical Treatise’ in Tarrin Wills (ed.), The Third Grammatical Treatise. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=32> (accessed 25 April 2024)
15. Not published: do not cite (Arngr Gd 2^IV)