Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 21’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1127.
Lung frák lýða þengils
— lá reis of skut — geisa,
en svǫrð of her herða;
hljóp stóð und gram Róða.
Þjóð fær þungra skeiða
þrǫng rúm skipat lǫngum;
stál lætr styrjar deilir
stinn kløkk í mar søkkva.
Frák lung lýða þengils geisa en svǫrð herða of her; lá reis of skut; {stóð Róða} hljóp und gram. Þjóð fær lǫngum skipat þrǫng rúm þungra skeiða; {deilir styrjar} lætr stinn stál søkkva kløkk í mar.
I heard that the ship of the ruler’s men rushed along and that the rope tightened above the army; the sea rose around the stern; {the stud-horses of Róði <sea-king>} [SHIPS] ran beneath the prince. People will for a long time man the narrow rowing-stations of the heavy warships; {the controller of strife} [WARRIOR] lets stiff prows sink yielding into the sea.
Mss: R(47v), Tˣ(49v), W(142), U(47r) (l. 1), U(51v) (SnE)
Readings: [1] Lung: Lyng W; frák (‘fra ec’): ‘frá[…]’ U(51v); lýða: lýsa W [2] skut: so all others, skot R [3] svǫrð: sverð U(51v); her herða: ‘[…]arða’ W [4] hljóp: hljóð W; und: um U(51v); Róða: so Tˣ, W, rjóða R, bjóða U(51v) [5] Þjóð: þik U(51v) [6] þrǫng: ‘þ[…]g’ W, þrǫngt U(51v)
Editions: Skj AII, 58, Skj BII, 66, Skald II, 38; SnE 1848-87, I, 630-1, II, 370, 384, III, 116, SnE 1879-81, I, 4, 76, II, 12; SnE 1931, 226, SnE 2007, 14; Konráð Gíslason 1895-7, I, 14.
Context: As st. 20 above. Refhvǫrf occurs in the first two words of the even lines in this stanza.
Notes: [All]: The headings are xiiij. háttr ‘the fourteenth verse-form’ (Tˣ) and ǫnnur in minni ‘the second lesser’ (U(47r)). — [All]: The following antitheses constitute the refhvǫrf: lá ‘lay’ (taken as 3rd pers. sg. pret. indic. of liggja ‘lie’ rather than as the noun lá ‘sea’) : reis ‘rose’ (l. 2); hljóp ‘ran’ : stóð ‘stood’ (taken as 3rd pers. sg. pret. indic. of standa ‘stand’ rather than as the noun stóð ‘stud-horses’) (l. 4); þrǫng ‘narrow’ : rúm ‘wide’ (taken as an adj. rather than as the noun rúm n. pl. ‘rowing-stations’) (l. 6); stinn ‘stiff’ : kløkk ‘yielding’ (l. 8). — [1] lung ‘the ship’: See Note to Þul Skipa 2/7. — [3] svǫrð ‘the rope’: Walrus skins (svǫrð) were cut up and used for ropes. — [4] stóð ‘the stud-horses’: Stóð (n. nom. sg.) is a collective referring to a group of stud-horses (mares and a stallion). — [4] Róða ‘of Róði <sea-king>’: Rjóða (‘rioþa’) ‘redden’ has been altered in R to Róða (‘roþa’ R*). For the sea-king Róði, see Note to Þul Sea-kings l. 5 (see also Þul Sækonunga 3/7). — [5] skeiða ‘warships’: This type of ship appears to have been larger than a snekkja ‘warship’ (see Note to st. 20/6 above and Jesch 2001a, 126-7).
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