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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Anon (Orkn) 1II/5 — valdandar ‘powerful men’

Heyrik hitt, en órir
hafa dolgar skap folgit,
þengill ríkr, af þingi
þann kvitt búandmanna,
at valdandar vildi,
vargseðjandi, margir,
at þú vigg á brim byggir
brands en Pál at landi.

Heyrik hitt, ríkr þengill, af þingi—en dolgar órir hafa folgit skap—, þann kvitt búandmanna, at margir valdandar vildi, vargseðjandi, at þú byggir vigg brands á brim en Pál at landi.

I hear this, mighty lord, from the assembly—and our enemies have concealed intent—, the rumour of the landowners that many powerful men wished, wolf-sater [WARRIOR], that you should occupy the steed of the prow [SHIP] on the sea and that Páll should be on the land.

notes

[5] valdandar ‘powerful men’: Skj B puts this word in quotation marks and does not translate it. For Kock (NN §1231), its Gmc cognates suggest a meaning of ‘lord, ruler’ but this is not entirely appropriate for the context and other C12th-C13th occurrences refer to the Christian God (ESk Geisl 1/2VII (in a variant), Anon Lil 4/8VII). The saga prose refers to ríkismenn ‘men of power’ and this more general meaning is also appropriate for the st.

grammar

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