Bragi Frag 5^III

Snorri Sturluson quotes these two helmingar (Bragi Frag 5 and 6), which he attributes to Bragi, within the long section of Skm dealing with kennings for ‘gold’ (SnE 1998, I, 40-5). The first is cited immediately after his narrative of why gold can be called ‘Ægir’s fire’, the second illustrates the practice of calling gold ‘the words of giants’. Both fragments praise the generosity of an unnamed person towards the poet. In the first the donor is called a ruler (stillir) and prince (jǫfurr), in the second a friend (vinr); in Frag 5 the ruler’s generosity is a reward for a poem, in Frag 6 the reason for the friend’s kindness is not specified. It is likely that these fragments belonged to a poem or poems similar to Bragi Rdr, and even possible that the first of them is from Rdr. Whether they are from the same or different poems is also unknown. The first helmingr is extant in mss R, Tˣ and W of SnE while the second is in those three mss plus U. Ms. R is the main ms. for both fragments.

Eld of þák af jǫfri
ǫlna bekks við drykkju
(þat gaf) Fjǫlnis fjalla
(með fulli mér stillir).

Of þák {eld {bekks ǫlna}} af jǫfri við {drykkju {Fjǫlnis fjalla}}; stillir gaf mér þat með fulli.

I received from the prince {fire {of the bench of mackerels}} [SEA > GOLD] for {the drink {of the Fjǫlnir <= Óðinn> of the mountains}} [GIANT = Suttungr > POETRY]; the ruler gave me that with a toast.

Mss: R(27v), Tˣ(28v), W(59) (SnE)

Readings: [1] þák: so all others, ‘þac’ corrected from ‘þat’ in scribal hand R;    af: at Tˣ    [3] fjalla: fjalli Tˣ    [4] fulli: so all others, ‘fylli’ R

Editions: Skj AI, 4, Skj BI, 4-5, Skald I, 3, NN §221; SnE 1848-87, I, 338-41, III, 55, SnE 1931, 121, SnE 1998, I, 41.

Context: See Introduction above. As mentioned, Frag 5 illustrates Snorri’s account of why gold may be called ‘fire of the sea’ in skaldic poetry. The narrative also serves to explain how skalds can vary the basic terms of the kenning type by extension of the semantic field of either or both the base-word and determinant. Snorri approves of this practice, which he calls here nýgerving (lit. ‘new creation’) as long as it is in accordance with verisimilitude (líkindi) and what is natural (eðli). As it is in the only stanza quoted to illustrate this practice, Bragi’s gold-kenning here (see Notes below) must be interpreted in the light of it. In the prose Snorri claims such semantic extension was a development sanctioned by the chief skalds (hence the appropriateness of his citing Bragi here) and carried further by more recent poets. The stanza is introduced by svá kvað Bragi skáld ‘the poet Bragi said thus’.

Notes: [2] bekks ǫlna ‘of the bench of mackerels [SEA]’: In view of the prose context provided in Skm, Snorri seems to have understood bekkr to mean ‘brook’ (Northern Engl. beck, OED: beck, n.¹, 1) here (LP: 1. bekkr) rather than ‘bench’ (LP: 2. bekkr), another possible lexical meaning with semantic extension to ‘home’ (cf. SnE 1998, II, 241-2); however, the skaldic corpus and modern scholarly opinion favour ‘bench’ (cf. LP: 2. bekkr; Meissner 96, Sigv Austv 14/8^I bekkr hlunns ‘bench of the launcher [SEA]’). — [2, 3] drykkju Fjǫlnis fjalla ‘for the drink of the Fjǫlnir <= Óðinn> of the mountains [GIANT = Suttungr > POETRY]’: The interpretation of this phrase as a poem-kenning follows Kock (NN §221; see also SnE 1998, II, 20, 458), who rejected earlier eds’ emendations of Fjǫlnis to fjǫrnis (< fjǫrnir ‘helmet’) and stillir to stillis and the interpretation of R’s fylli as from fyllr f. ‘fill’ (one’s fill of something), in the sense ‘that which fills a helmet [HEAD]’. So Skj B and LP: 1. fjǫrnir. That emended reading is probably influenced by the statement we find in Eg (ÍF 2, 182) that Bragi once composed a poem for Bjǫrn, king of the Swedes, ok þá þar fyrir hǫfuð sitt ‘and got back his head for that’. Fjǫlnir is a name for Óðinn (Grí 47/5, Reg 18/7, Þul Óðins 2/1 and Note there) and is so understood by Snorri in Gylf (SnE 2005, 8 and 22, quoting Grí 24). Here it seems to form the base-word of a giant-kenning, and presumably refers to Suttungr, the giant who stole the mead of poetry from some dwarfs and immured it in a mountain, Hnitbjǫrg, from where Óðinn obtained it, as Snorri tells in the first part of Skm (SnE 1998, I, 3-5). — [4] með fulli ‘with a toast’: That is, with a full cup of ale or mead, understanding dat. sg. of full n. ‘(full) cup, drink, toast’. Both Tˣ and W read fulli here, while R has fylli, allowing some eds to prefer this reading (as mentioned above), assuming it to be from fyllr f. (one’s) ‘fill’, a cupful. The difference in sense is slight. However, R’s fylli may in fact also be intended as fulli, since the scribe sometimes alternates <u/v> and <y> (see SnE 1998, I, liv).

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
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. OED = Murray, J. A. H. et al., eds. 1884-1928. The Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon. 2nd edn 1989. Simpson, J. A. and E. S. C. Weiner, eds. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
9. ÍF 2 = Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar. Ed. Sigurður Nordal. 1933.
10. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
11. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
12. SnE 2005 = Snorri Sturluson. 2005. Edda: Prologue and Gylfaginning. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
13. Internal references
14. Edith Marold 2017, ‘Snorra Edda (Prologue, Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál)’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols [check printed volume for citation].
15. 2022, ‘ Anonymous, Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 162-389. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=14> (accessed 26 April 2024)
16. (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Skáldskaparmál’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=112> (accessed 26 April 2024)
17. (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Gylfaginning’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=113> (accessed 26 April 2024)
19. Margaret Clunies Ross 2017, ‘ Bragi inn gamli Boddason, Ragnarsdrápa’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 27. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1130> (accessed 26 April 2024)
20. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Óðins nǫfn 2’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 735.
21. R. D. Fulk 2012, ‘ Sigvatr Þórðarson, Austrfararvísur’ 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. 578. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1351> (accessed 26 April 2024)
22. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Bragi inn gamli Boddason, Fragments 5’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 61.
23. Not published: do not cite ()
24. Not published: do not cite ()