Emily Lethbridge (ed.) 2012, ‘Bjarni byskup Kolbeinsson, Jómsvíkingadrápa 27’ 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. 983.
Ein drepr fyr mér allri
— él gnúði mjǫk stála —
— álmr spann af sér odda —
ítrmanns kona teiti.
Góð ætt of kemr grimmu
— gripu þeir í bug snœrum
gunnrakkastir gumnar —
gœðings at mér stríði.
Ein kona ítrmanns drepr allri teiti fyr mér; {él stála} gnúði mjǫk; álmr spann odda af sér. Góð ætt gœðings of kemr grimmu stríði at mér; þeir gunnrakkastir gumnar gripu í bug snœrum.
A certain nobleman’s wife kills all joy for me; {the storm of steel weapons} [BATTLE] roared greatly; the elm-bow kicked arrow-points from itself. The good kinswoman of a chieftain brings cruel torment upon me; those extremely battle-bold men gripped on the curve of the spear-thongs.
Mss: R(54r)
Readings: [5] kemr grimmu: abbrev. as ‘k̄ gri’ R
Editions: Skj AII, 6, Skj BII, 6, Skald II, 4; Fms 11, 170, Fms 12, 245, Jvs 1879, 112-13.
Notes: [All]: Lines 1, 4, 5 and 8 form the fourth appearance of the stef ‘refrain’; see Introduction. — [3] spann ‘kicked’: The 3rd pers. sg. pret. indic. of sperna ‘spurn, kick with the feet’. Ms. spann is retained here, as an assimilated by-form of sparn (see CVC: sperna; ANG §272. 2 Anm. 2). A minor emendation produces the more familiar form sparn (so LP (1860): sperna; also Jvs 1879; Skj B; Skald). Line 3 is discussed in the Note to RvHbreiðm Hl 28/6III. — [6] í bug snœrum ‘on the curve of the spear-thongs’: Bugr is ‘bend, bight, (inner) curve, concave side’, e.g. í bug hringinum ‘the inside curve of the ring’ (CVC: bugr). Snœri is related to snœra ‘to tie, twist’ (AEW: snœra), and denotes a cable, cord or thong of various sorts. In battle contexts, it normally denotes the thongs by which spears are held (ÞjóðA Magnfl 17/6II, and cf. the compounds snœrispjót, snœridarr ‘thonged spear’, LP: snœri), so that this seems the most likely sense here, and it is assumed in Fms 12 and Skj B. Contextually, though, a bow-string would also be an attractive possibility. — [7] gunnrakkastir ‘extremely battle-bold’: Cf. st. 10/6 ógnrakkastir ‘extremely terror-bold’ or ‘battle-bold’, of the Jómsvíkingar. On the strong adj. here, see Note to st. 7/3, 4.
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