Bragi Troll 1III/7 — bragar ‘of poetry’
Skald kalla mik,
skapsmið Viðurs,
Gauts gjafrǫtuð,
grepp óhneppan,
Yggs ǫlbera,
óðs skap-Móða,
hagsmið bragar.
Hvats skald nema þat?
Kalla mik skald, Viðurs skapsmið, Gauts gjafrǫtuð, óhneppan grepp, Yggs ǫlbera, skap-Móða óðs, hagsmið bragar. Hvats skald nema þat?
They call me poet, smith of Viðurr’s <= Óðinn’s> mind [(lit. ‘Viðurr’s mind-smith’) POETRY > POET], getter of Gautr’s <= Óðinn’s> gift [(lit. ‘Gautr’s gift-getter’) POETRY > POET], unscanty poet, server of Yggr’s <= Óðinn’s> ale [(lit. ‘Yggr’s ale-server’) POETRY > POET], creating-Móði <god> of poetry [POET], skilled smith of poetry [POET]. What’s a poet if not that?
notes
[7] hagsmið bragar ‘skilled smith of poetry’: This is the reading of all mss except R, which has hagskíð, lit. ‘skilled ski’. The R scribe also wrote -skíð in l. 2, against all other mss’ ‑smið. The concept of the poet as a skilled craftsman was fundamental to skaldic self-image (cf. Clunies Ross 2005a, 84-91), just as that of the poet as recipient of Óðinn’s mead was, and, in this stanza, Bragi begins with the one and ends with the other, a powerful riposte to the troll-woman’s threat of death and cosmic destruction.
kennings
- hagsmið bragar. — skilled smith of poetry. [POET]