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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Ólhv Hryn 3II/7 — snildar ‘of the eloquent’

Þing stofnuðu jǫfrar ungir;
jarl veitti svǫr ræsi snarla;
hersar báru á hilmi dýran
— hjaldrs fýstu þeir — sakar kaldar.
Alt lagði þá frǫmuðr frægða
— fekk sætt af því stillir rekka —
snildar skýrs ok seldi várar
sitt mál í kné lituðs stála.

Ungir jǫfrar stofnuðu þing; hersar báru kaldar sakar á dýran hilmi; þeir fýstu hjaldrs; jarl veitti ræsi snarla svǫr. Frǫmuðr frægða lagði þá alt mál sitt í kné snildar skýrs lituðs stála ok seldi várar; af því fekk stillir rekka sætt.

Young lords called an assembly; hersar brought hostile charges against the worthy ruler; they were eager for battle; the jarl gave the king replies quickly. The promoter of glorious deeds [WARRIOR = Skúli] then put his entire case into the hands of the eloquent reddener of weapons [WARRIOR = Hákon] and gave pledges; by this the leader of men [RULER = Skúli] attained reconciliation.

readings

[7] snildar skýrs ok seldi várar: seldi af því sendir 81a, snildar skýrs ok síðan seldi 304ˣ;    snildar: so F, 42ˣ, 325VIII 5 b, Flat, ‘sialldar’ E

notes

[7] snildar skýrs ‘eloquent’: Lit. ‘clear of eloquence’. The adj. skýrs ‘clear’ (m. gen. sg.) agrees with lituðs (m. gen. sg.) ‘reddener’ (l. 8), and so snildar skýrs ‘eloquent’ is taken with lituðs stála ‘reddener of weapons’ i.e. ‘warrior’ (l. 8) to refer to Hákon. The Flat variant skýrr (m. nom. sg.) ‘clear’ agrees with stillir (m. nom. sg.) ‘leader’ (l. 6), thereby associating snildar skýrr ‘eloquent’ with stillir rekka ‘leader of men’ i.e. ‘ruler’ (l. 6) in reference to Skúli. Though it is syntactically simpler and contextually preferable to assign the epithet ‘eloquent’ to Skúli, since he is the one pleading his case, the Flat variant appears to be a lectio facilior. See also NN §2279.

kennings

grammar

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