Ásb Ævkv 8^VIII (OStór 11)

Annat var, þá er inni.
Alllítt vér spörðumz
at samtogi sverða;
sjaldan ek latta,
at brynpálmar brýndir
biti hvassliga seggi;
þó var Ormr at ímun
æ oddviti þeira.

Annat var, þá er inni. Vér spörðumz alllítt at {samtogi sverða}; ek latta sjaldan at {brýndir brynpálmar} biti seggi hvassliga; Ormr var þó æ oddviti þeira at ímun.

It used to be different, when inside. We held back very little at {the drawing together of swords} [BATTLE]; seldom did I hinder that {the sharpened mailcoat-palms} [SWORDS] should sharply bite warriors; even so, Ormr was always their leader in battle.

Mss: Flat(70va), 2845(24r), 554h βˣ(63v) (OStór)

Readings: [2] spörðumz: ‘spaurduzt’ 2845, ‘spǫrðum’ 554h βˣ    [3] sam‑: sem 554h βˣ    [4] latta: so 2845, ‘lasta’ Flat, latti 554h βˣ    [5] brynpálmar brýndir: rómu, hjálm ok branda 554h βˣ;    bryn‑: ‘brun’ 2845    [6] biti: býr 554h βˣ;    hvassliga: ‘hussliga’ 2845, hvatliga 554h βˣ;    seggi: ‘seige’ 554h βˣ    [7] þó: þá 554h βˣ;    ímun: ‘́j́mu’ 554h βˣ    [8] æ: allra 554h βˣ

Editions: Skj AII, 344, Skj BII, 366-7, Skald II, 198, NN §§186, 3397D; ÓT 1689, 14, Fms 3, 220, Flat 1860-8, I, 528, Þorleifur Jónsson 1904, 214, Guðni Jónsson 1935, 184-5 (ch. 7), Guðni Jónsson 1946-9, 11, 457-8 (ch. 7), Faulkes 2011b, 71 (ch. 7) (OStór).

Notes: [2] alllítt ‘very little’: Litotes for ‘not at all’. Both Skj B and Skald emend to alllítit, with the same meaning, to give a six-syllable dróttkvætt line (without internal rhyme). — [3]: This line is the same as Egill Lv 41/7^V (Eg 71) as well as Anon Krm 23/3 (Ragn). — [4]: As it stands, this is a fornyrðislag line of five syllables. Skj B emends to sjaldan ek þess latta ‘I seldom held back from this’, while Skald emends to sjaldan ek hjaldrs latta ‘I seldom [i.e. never] held back from battle’ (cf. NN §186), but neither emendation produces a metrical line. — [5] brynpálmar ‘the mailcoat-palms [SWORDS]’: The cpd is a hap. leg. The kenning belongs to a common type in which swords are referred to by a base-word denoting a long, sharp object (e.g. icicle, stick) and a determinant denoting a piece of armour or a defensive weapon, such as a mailcoat or shield (cf. Meissner 152-3). In skaldic poetry the noun palmr, later pálmr, is used as a simplex and in the literal sense of a palm tree or palm branch, the first recorded examples being in the C12th poems Leið 30/8^VII and Rv Lv 29/4^II, both in Christian contexts. Here, however, and in Anon Krm 15/10 pálmr strenglágar ‘the palm of the bowstring-groove’, an arrow-kenning, pálmr is used in a metaphorical not a literal sense.

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. Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
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. Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1946-9. Íslendinga sögur. 13 vols. Reykjavík: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan. Rpt. 1953.
8. Faulkes, Anthony. 2011b. Two Icelandic Stories: Hreiðars þáttr, Orms þáttr. New edition. London: Viking Society. First published [n. d. (1967)].
9. ÓT 1689 = [Anonymous] 1689. Saga þess haloflega herra Olafs Tryggvasonar, Noregs kongs. Skálholt: Jón Snorrason.
10. Þorleifur Jónsson. 1904. Fjörutíu Íslendinga-Þættir. Reykjavík: Sigurður Kristjánsson.
11. Guðni Jónsson, ed. 1935. Íslendinga þættir. Reykjavík: Sigurður Kristjánsson.
12. Internal references
13. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Flateyjarbók’ 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=44> (accessed 26 April 2024)
14. 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Orms þáttr Stórólfssonar’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 602. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=80> (accessed 26 April 2024)
15. 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Ragnars saga loðbrókar’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 616. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=81> (accessed 26 April 2024)
16. Rory McTurk (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Poems, Krákumál 15’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 747.
17. Rory McTurk (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Poems, Krákumál 23’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 764.
18. Katrina Attwood (ed.) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Leiðarvísan 30’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 167-8.
19. Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2022, ‘Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar 71 (Egill Skallagrímsson, Lausavísur 41)’ 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. 291.
20. Judith Jesch (ed.) 2009, ‘Rǫgnvaldr jarl Kali Kolsson, Lausavísur 29’ 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. 605-6.