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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Sigv Lv 24I/3 — knǫrrum ‘ships’

Hô þótti mér hlæja
hǫll of Nóreg allan
— fyrr vask kenndr á knǫrrum
klif, meðan Ôleifr lifði.
Nú þykki mér miklu
— mitt stríð es svá — hlíðir
— jǫfurs hylli varðk alla —
óblíðari síðan.

Hô, hǫll klif þótti mér hlæja of allan Nóreg, meðan Ôleifr lifði; vask fyrr kenndr á knǫrrum. Nú þykki mér hlíðir miklu óblíðari síðan; svá es stríð mitt; varðk alla hylli jǫfurs.

The high, sloping cliffs seemed to me to laugh over all Norway while Óláfr was alive; I was once recognized on ships. Now the slopes seem to me much less agreeable since; such is my affliction; I have lost all favour of the ruler.

readings

[3] knǫrrum: knerri F

notes

[3] vask fyrr kenndr á knǫrrum ‘I was once recognized on ships’: This line seems to be a claim on the skald’s part that he was a recognized and valued retainer of the king. Alternatively, the import could be a plaintive ‘I sail no longer’. Konráð Gíslason (1892, 191) suggested that this responds to the question, ‘Do you know all of Norway?’ and implies ‘I have sailed so much on the seas about Norway that I know very well what this country looks like, seen from the sea’ (similarly Flo 1902, 110).

grammar

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