Máni Lv 5^III

Hvat munt hafs á otri,
hengiligr, með drengjum,
karl, þvít kraptr þinn fǫrlask,
kinngrár, mega vinna?

Hvat munt mega vinna með drengjum á {otri hafs}, hengiligr, kinngrár karl, þvít kraptr þinn fǫrlask?

What will you be able to accomplish among the young men on {the otter of the ocean} [SHIP], slouching, grey-cheeked fellow, since your strength is waning?

Mss: R(35r), Tˣ(36v), W(80), U(34r), A(12r) (SnE); A(6v), W(107) (TGT); 2368ˣ(130), 743ˣ(97v) (LaufE)

Readings: [1] otri: so Tˣ, W, A, 2368ˣ, 743ˣ, ‘[…]ri’ R, akri U    [2] drengjum: so all others, drengum R    [3] þvít (‘þviat’): því 2368ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 539, Skj BI, 520, Skald I, 254; SnE 1848-87, I, 444-5, II, 332, 444, III, 88, SnE 1931, 157, SnE 1998, I, 75; SnE 1848-87, II, 154-5, 421, TGT 1884, 26, 100, TGT 1927, 73, 103-4; LaufE 1979, 394.

Context: In Skm and LaufE, otr hafs ‘otter of the ocean’ is given among the kennings for ‘ship’ in which an animal is the base-word. In TGT, hengiligr ‘slouching’ and kinngrár ‘grey-cheeked’ are used to illustrate a series of adjectives joined together without the connective ‘and’ (asyndeton, ON klauf ‘cleft’).

Notes: [All]: The circumstances in which this lausavísa was composed are not clear, but the sarcastic tone is characteristic of Máni’s poetry (see Máni Lv 2-3^II). — [1] á otri hafs ‘on the otter of the ocean [SHIP]’: The last word in l. 1 is partly erased in R, and the U reading, akri ‘cultivated field’, makes no sense in the context. — [2] drengjum ‘the young men’: Drengr is taken here in the meaning ‘young man’ as juxtaposed to the slouching old man with a grey beard. For the different meanings of drengr, see Goetting (2006). The R variant, drengum, presupposes that the word was inflected as an a-stem rather than an i-stem here, which is unusual but not impossible (see ANG §389 Anm. 4). — [3] fǫrlask ‘is waning’: This weak verb is derived from the noun  fǫr f. ‘travel, journey’ (see AEW: fǫr).

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. LaufE 1979 = Faulkes, Anthony, ed. 1979. Edda Magnúsar Ólafssonar (Laufás Edda). RSÁM 13. Vol. I of Two Versions of Snorra Edda from the 17th Century. Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar, 1977-9.
6. AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
7. ANG = Noreen, Adolf. 1923. Altnordische Grammatik I: Altisländische und altnorwegische Grammatik (Laut- und Flexionslehre) unter Berücksichtigung des Urnordischen. 4th edn. Halle: Niemeyer. 1st edn. 1884. 5th unrev. edn. 1970. Tübingen: Niemeyer.
8. SnE 1931 = Snorri Sturluson. 1931. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Ed. Finnur Jónsson. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
9. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
10. Goetting, Lauren. 2006. ‘Þegn and drengr in the Viking Age’. SS 78, 375-404.
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. Internal references
13. (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 16 April 2024)
14. (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 16 April 2024)
15. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Máni, Lausavísur 2’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 642-3.
16. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Laufás Edda’ 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=10928> (accessed 16 April 2024)