Cookies on our website

We use cookies on this website, mainly to provide a secure browsing experience but also to collect statistics on how the website is used. You can find out more about the cookies we set, the information we store and how we use it on the cookies page.

Continue

skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

Menu Search

ÞjóðA Magn 8II/6 — sagðak ‘I had said’

Skjǫld bark heim frá hjaldri
— hlauzk mér til þess — gauzkan
— ramr vas suðr á sumri
sverðdynr — ok þó brynju.
Vôpn gatk fríð, en fljóði
fyrr sagðak þat kyrru;
þar fekk’k hjalm, es hilmir
harðfengr Dani barði.

Bark gauzkan skjǫld heim frá hjaldri, ok þó brynju; hlauzk mér til þess; ramr sverðdynr vas suðr á sumri. Gatk fríð vôpn, en sagðak þat fyrr kyrru fljóði; fekk’k hjalm þar, es harðfengr hilmir barði Dani.

I carried a Gautish shield home from the battle, and even a byrnie; this was my lot; a mighty sword-tumult [BATTLE] took place in the south in the summer. I got handsome weapons, and I had said that before to the tranquil lady; I gained a helmet there, where the valiant ruler thrashed the Danes.

notes

[5-6] en sagðak þat fyrr kyrru fljóði ‘and I had said that before to the tranquil lady’: Reference to women is quite conventional in skaldic poetry, whether the mourning womenfolk of the enemy side or the exultant celebrators on the skald’s side, and Þjóðólfr presents both in sts 1 and 4 above (see further Frank 1990). The point here seems to be that Þjóðólfr had anticipated gaining the spoils of victory mentioned throughout the st., but whether he predicted this to a Dan. woman (as suggested by Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson in ÍF 28) or to a Norw. supporter (cf. the women from Sogn in st. 1) is unclear.

grammar

Close

Log in

This service is only available to members of the relevant projects, and to purchasers of the skaldic volumes published by Brepols.
This service uses cookies. By logging in you agree to the use of cookies on your browser.

Close

Word in text

This view shows information about an instance of a word in a text.