Anon Krm 25^VIII

Hjuggu vér með hjörvi.
Hitt lægir mik jafnan,
at Baldrs föður bekki
búna veit ek at sumblum.
Drekkum bjór af bragði
ór bjúgviðum hausa;
sýtir ei drengr við dauða
dýrs at Fjölnis húsum.
Eigi kem ek með æðru
orð til Viðris hallar.

Hjuggu vér með hjörvi. Hitt lægir mik jafnan, at ek veit bekki {föður Baldrs} búna at sumblum. Drekkum bjór af bragði ór {bjúgviðum hausa}; drengr sýtir ei við dauða at {húsum dýrs Fjölnis}. Ek kem eigi með orð æðru til {hallar Viðris}.

We hewed with the sword. It always makes me laugh to know that the benches {of the father of Baldr <god>} [= Óðinn] are prepared for banquets. We’ll soon be drinking beer out of {the curved trees of skulls} [DRINKING HORNS]; a fellow does not regret death in {the dwellings of glorious Fjǫlnir <= Óðinn>} [= Valhǫll]. I do not come with words of fear to {the hall of Viðrir <= Óðinn>} [= Valhǫll].

Mss: R702ˣ(31v), 147(103r), 6ˣ(91r) (Ragn); LR(222-223), R693ˣ(16v)

Readings: [1] Hjuggu vér með hjörvi: abbrev. as ‘H. v. m. h.’ R702ˣ, abbrev. as ‘Hi(’) v(’) m(’) h(’)’(?) 147, Hjuggum vér með hjörvi 6ˣ, LR, R693ˣ    [2] Hitt lægir mik (‘hitt hlægir mig’): ‘hitt hl(æ)[…]’(?) 147;    jafnan: ‘(afn)[…]’(?) 147, ‘iafnam’ LR    [3] at: so 147, 6ˣ, þat R702ˣ, LR, R693ˣ;    Baldrs: ‘balld[...]’ 147, ‘balldur’ LR;    föður: ‘(f)odur’(?) 147, ‘fedur’ 6ˣ, ‘fódurz’ R693ˣ;    bekki: ‘becke’ with caret between e and c indicating e written above the line R693ˣ    [4] búna: ‘biuna’ 6ˣ;    veit ek at sumblum: ‘v(ei)t eg […] sum[…]’(?) 147    [5] Drekkum: ‘(d[…]kum)’(?) 147, ‘drekum’ LR;    bjór: ‘(bi[…]r)’(?) 147;    af: ‘(at)’(?) 147, at 6ˣ, LR, R693ˣ    [6] ór bjúgviðum hausa: ‘o(r) b[…]guidum hausa’(?) 147    [7] sýtir ei drengr við dauða: ‘syti (eigi drengur) f(yrir) dauda’(?) 147    [8] Fjölnis: ‘(f)ioln(is)’(?) 147, ‘feolins’ LR, ‘fiolius’ or ‘fiolins’ R693ˣ;    húsum: ‘h[…] sum’ 147    [9] Eigi kem ek: so 6ˣ, ei kem ek R702ˣ, LR, R693ˣ, ‘eigi ke[...] eg’ 147;    með æðru: so 6ˣ, LR, R693ˣ, ‘med +’ with ‘+ædru’ in margin indicated by cross above line R702ˣ, ‘med (æ)dru’(?) 147    [10] orð til Viðris: ‘ord til vid[...]’ 147;    hallar: so all others, hallar with ‘alias borda’ in margin 6ˣ

Editions: Skj AI, 648, Skj BI, 655, Skald I, 320, NN §2156; Rafn 1826, 20-3, 144-7, Pfeiffer 1860, 127, CPB II, 344, Wisén 1886-9, I, 65, Krm 1891, 228, Finnur Jónsson 1893b, 90, Finnur Jónsson 1905, 156; Ragn 1906-8, 189.

Notes: [2-4]: The present ed. agrees with Kock (NN §2156) in taking the adv. jafnan ‘always’ (l. 2) together with lægir ‘makes (me) laugh’ in the same line. Kock rejects the construal of jafnan with the p. p. búna ‘prepared’ in l. 4 adopted by Finnur Jónsson (Skj B), seeing it as an example of the tendency in Skj B to present adverbials (not least jafnan) as qualifying verbs other than those which, as he sees it, they would most naturally be expected to qualify (cf. NN §§318, 331, 1178). — [2] hitt lægir mik ‘it makes me laugh’: The initial <h> in hlægir has been omitted here in keeping with Finnur Jónsson (1893b; 1905; Skj B) and Kock (Skald) to avoid double alliteration in this even D4-line.  — [3-4]: These two lines contain an acc. and inf. construction, with bekki ‘the benches’ as the acc. subject and the verb vera ‘be’ omitted, meaning lit. ‘I know the benches … [to be] prepared’. — [3] bekki föður Baldrs ‘the benches of the father of Baldr <god> [= Óðinn]’: According to Gylf (SnE 2005, 23), Baldr is the second son of Óðinn after Þórr, and Óðinn’s oldest legitimate son. The story of his popularity among the gods, his tragic killing as a result of Loki’s treachery, and the fruitless attempts of the gods to bring him back from the realm of the dead, told most fully in Gylf (SnE 2005, 45-9), is well known. The only other occurrence of ‘the father of Baldr’ as a kenning for Óðinn, however, appears to be in Anon (Styrb) 1/6^I, a stanza spoken by a finngálkn ‘monster’ in Styrb. The word bekki, acc. pl. of bekkr m. ‘bench’, refers here metonymically to Valhǫll (see also Notes to sts 4/4 and 28/9), where the speaker of Krm, as he indicates here, expects to enjoy after death the hospitality of Óðinn at a bench-lined banqueting table. — [5-6]: The mistranslation (originating with Magnús Ólafsson) of l. 6 (see Introduction) as ex concavis crateribus craniorum ‘from the round bowls of skulls’ in Worm’s edn of 1636 (Worm 1636, 222-3), and the preposterous accompanying comment, also presumably by Magnús (Faulkes 1993a, 104-7): Sperabant Heroes se in aula Othini bibituros craniorum quos occiderant ‘The heroes expected that in Óðinn’s hall they would drink from the skulls of those they had slain’, left their unfortunate mark on many early translations of Krm, as shown in the Introduction. — [5] bjór ‘beer’: The speaker is here anticipating drinking beer in Valhǫll. According to Alv 33, the Æsir gods use the word bjórr for what humans refer to as ǫl ‘ale’. If this may be believed, Ragnarr loðbrók is using here the term properly used by the Æsir for the ale (ǫl) which, according to Grí 36 (quoted in Gylf, SnE 2005, 30), is brought by valkyries to the einherjar in Valhǫll (see Notes to st. 28/9 and 29/5-6 below). — [5] af bragði ‘soon’: Or ‘at once’. The present ed. follows Finnur Jónsson (1905; Skj B) in reading af here, in contrast to earlier eds, including Finnur himself (1893b), who read at. — [6] bjúgviðum hausa ‘the curved trees of skulls [DRINKING HORNS]’: A kenning for a drinking horn with a comparable base-word, viðr róta eyrna ‘tree of the roots of the ears [HEAD > DRINKING HORN]’, occurs in Egill Lv 5/3, 4^V (Eg 9); cf. de Vries (1964-7, II, 40 n. 68). — [7] drengr ‘a fellow’: The speaker is probably referring to himself here, imagining himself as having died and subsequently enjoying the delights of Valhǫll. — [8] húsum dýrs Fjölnis ‘the dwellings of glorious Fjǫlnir <= Óðinn> [= Valhǫll]’: Another reference to Valhǫll. As well as being the name of the legendary Swedish king mentioned in Þjóð Yt 1/4 and 6/11^I, Fjǫlnir is attested as a name for Óðinn, occurring as such in Grí 47/5, Reg 18/7 (cf. SnE 2005, 8, 22) and in several skaldic kennings (LP: Fjǫlnir). On the various possible meanings of the name (‘concealer’, ‘taker of many shapes’, ‘knower of many things’, ‘wise one’) and the relationship between its two applications, see Note to Þul Óðins 2/1^III. — [9-10] með orð æðru ‘with words of fear’: The present ed. follows those previous eds who provide translations (Rafn 1826; CPB; Skj B) in understanding the phrase in this way, while noting that Wisén (1886-9, II, 341), glosses it as cum fama ignaviæ ‘with a reputation for cowardice’, and acknowledging this as a possible alternative; cf. Sigv Lv 17/3^I, where æðruorð ‘talk of fear’ appears to mean ‘verbal imputation (accusation) of fear’. — [10] til hallar Viðris ‘to the hall of Viðrir <= Óðinn> [= Valhǫll]’: Yet another reference to Valhǫll. Viðrir, meaning essentially ‘Weather-ruler’, occurs as a name for Óðinn in Lok 26/5, HHund I 13/7, as well as in Gylf (SnE 2005, 8) and frequently in skaldic poetry, both with direct reference to Óðinn and as a determinant in kennings (see LP: Viðrir). — [10] hallar ‘the hall’: Both 6ˣ and AM 761b 4°ˣ (761bˣ) fol. 556v know the alternative reading ‘borda’, i.e. borða, gen. pl. of borð ‘table’, as a variant of hallar. This would give the meaning ‘to Viðrir’s tables’ and would thus constitute another reference to Valhǫll, cf. Note to l. 3 above. AM 761b 4°ˣ, written, according to Kålund (1888-94, II, 181-2), either by or for Árni Magnússon, contains a transcript of Krm in Árni’s hand (Kålund 1888-94, II, 763). Rafn used a copy of this transcript in his 1826 edn of Krm (see Rafn 1826, 86-7) and the transcript itself in his 1829 edn, where he designated it as M (see FSN I, xvii-xix, 300-10); in both eds he recorded the reading borða as a variant (Rafn 1826, 144; FSN I, 309). The reading borða would impart aðalhending with orð ‘words’, appropriately enough, to this even-numbered line.

References

1. Bibliography
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3. FSN = Rafn, Carl Christian, ed. 1829-30. Fornaldar sögur nordrlanda. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
4. Worm, Ole. 1636. [RUNER] seu Danica Literatura Antiquissima, vulgò Gothica dicta luci reddita…. Amsterdam: J. Janson.
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6. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
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. CPB = Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and F. York Powell, eds. 1883. Corpus poeticum boreale: The Poetry of the Old Northern Tongue from the Earliest Times to the Thirteenth Century. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon. Rpt. 1965, New York: Russell & Russell.
9. Vries, Jan de. 1964-7. Altnordische Literaturgeschichte. 2 vols. 2nd edn. Grundriss der germanischen Philologie 15-16. Berlin: de Gruyter.
10. Wisén, Theodor, ed. 1886-9. Carmina Norrœnæ: Ex reliquiis vetustioris norrœnæ poësis selecta, recognita, commentariis et glossario instructa. 2 vols. Lund: Ohlsson.
11. Finnur Jónsson. 1893b. Carmina Norrœna: Rettet Tekst. Copenhagen: Nielsen & Lydiche.
12. Kålund, Kristian. 1888-94. Katalog over den Arnamagnæanske håndskriftsamling. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
13. SnE 2005 = Snorri Sturluson. 2005. Edda: Prologue and Gylfaginning. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
14. Pfeiffer, Friedrich. 1860. Altnordisches Lesebuch. Leipzig: T. O. Weigel.
15. Ragn 1906-8 = Olsen 1906-8, 111-222.
16. Finnur Jónsson. 1905. ‘Krákumál’. Oversigt over det Kgl. Danske videnskabernes selskabs forhandlinger 1905, 151-83.
17. Krm 1891 = 2nd edn (pp. 225-8) of Krm as ed. in Valdimar Ásmundarson 1885-9, I.
18. Rafn, Carl Christian, ed. 1826. Krakas Maal eller Kvad om Kong Ragnar Lodbroks Krigsbedrifter og Heltedød efter en gammel Skindbog og flere hidtil ubenyttede Haandskrifter med dansk, latinsk og fransk oversættelse, forskjellige Læsemaader, samt kritiske og philologiske Anmærkninger. Copenhagen: Jens Hostrup Schultz; London: John and Arthur Arch.
19. Faulkes, Anthony. 1993a. Magnúsarkver: The Writings of Magnús Ólafsson of Laufás. RSÁM A 40. Reykjavík: Stofunun Árna Magnússonar á Íslandi.
20. Internal references
21. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Styrbjarnar þáttr Svíakappa’ 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. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=5> (accessed 19 April 2024)
22. (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 19 April 2024)
23. Not published: do not cite (Rloð^VIII)
24. Rory McTurk 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Krákumál’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 706. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1020> (accessed 19 April 2024)
25. 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.
26. Edith Marold with the assistance of Vivian Busch, Jana Krüger, Ann-Dörte Kyas and Katharina Seidel, translated from German by John Foulks 2012, ‘ Þjóðólfr ór Hvini, Ynglingatal’ 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. 3. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1440> (accessed 19 April 2024)
27. Not published: do not cite ()
28. Not published: do not cite ()
29. Not published: do not cite ()
30. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2022, ‘Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar 9 (Egill Skallagrímsson, Lausavísur 5)’ 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, p. 179.
31. Not published: do not cite ()
32. Not published: do not cite ()