Þorm Lv 19I/2 — stiklandi ‘shooter’
Ála þryngr at éli
ǫrstiklandi miklu;
skyldut skelknir hauldar
— skalmǫld vex nú — falma.
Búumk við sókn, en slœkni-
seggr skyli -orð of forðask,
es at geirþingi gǫngum,
gunnreifr, með Ôleifi.
Ǫrstiklandi þryngr at miklu éli Ála; hauldar skyldut falma skelknir; skalmǫld vex nú. Búumk við sókn, en gunnreifr seggr skyli of forðask slœkniorð, es gǫngum at geirþingi með Ôleifi.
The arrow-shooter [WARRIOR = Óláfr] presses towards the great storm of Áli <legendary king> [BATTLE]; freeholders should not waver, frightened; a sword-age [BATTLE] swells now. Let us prepare ourselves for an attack, and a war-happy man ought to shun weakling-words when we go to the spear-assembly [BATTLE] with Óláfr.
readings
[2] ‑stiklandi: so J2ˣ, Bæb, 68, Holm4, 325V, Kˣ, Hb, 142ˣ, 566aˣ, papp4ˣ, 761bˣmarg, ‑skilandi Holm2, ‑stiklanda 972ˣ, 321ˣ, 325VII, Bb, Flat, Tóm, DG8, ‑stiklandar 61
notes
[1, 2] ǫrstiklandi þryngr ‘the arrow-shooter [WARRIOR = Óláfr] presses’: The ms. variants of þryngr are mostly mere alternate spellings (see CVC: þröngva). There are two main interpretations of the construction, and an alternative using the variant -stiklanda: (a) On the analysis offered here, ǫrstiklandi is the subject of þryngr, cf. Arn Þorfdr 18/2II mildingr þrǫng at hildi ‘the bountiful one stormed into battle’. (b) The verb is well attested in impersonal usage with at, meaning ‘draws nigh, approaches’ (see Vígf Lv 1/3; LP: þryngva), and this is how eds (beginning with Bartholin 1689, 174) have understood it: ‘the battle draws nigh’. Accordingly, the cpd has generally been interpreted as a vocative (as in Skj B, ÍF 6 and ÍF 27). (c) Finnur Jónsson (1932-3) argues for reading ǫrstiklanda as a dat., ‘for the arrow-shooter’, on the ground that direct address to the king is uncommon in other skalds’ verses; but cf. the next stanza, and ǫrstiklanda is for the most part the reading of the less reliable mss. — [2] ǫrstiklandi ‘the arrow-shooter’: The resemblance to Stiklastaðir, the name of the battlefield, introduces the possibility of paranomasia.
kennings
- Ǫrstiklandi — The arrow-shooter [WARRIOR = Óláfr]
grammar
case: nom.