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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Hfr ErfÓl 20I/8 — mjǫks ‘much’

†Samr† vas ôrr of ævi
oddbragðs, hinns þat sagði,
at lofða gramr lifði,
læstyggs burar Tryggva.
Vesa kveðr ǫld ór éli
Ôleif kominn stála;
menn geta máli sǫnnu
mjǫks verr an svá — ferri.

Ôrr oddbragðs, hinns sagði þat, at gramr lofða lifði, vas †samr† of ævi læstyggs burar Tryggva. Ǫld kveðr Ôleif vesa kominn ór éli stála; menn geta ferri sǫnnu máli; mjǫks verr an svá.

The envoy of the point-thrust [BATTLE > WARRIOR], who said that the ruler of warriors [= Óláfr] was alive was … about the life of the deceit-shunning son of Tryggvi [= Óláfr]. People say Óláfr escaped the blizzard of steel weapons [BATTLE]; men guess [things] further from the true story; it is much worse than that.

notes

[8] mjǫks verr ‘it is much worse’: Konráð Gíslason and Eiríkur Jónsson (Nj 1875-8, II, 243-4) object to mjǫk before a comp. adj. (verr ‘worse’) and suggest attaching mjǫk to the main clause in ll. 7-8 rather than the intercalary. Finnur Jónsson follows them (Hkr 1893-1901, IV, 102; Fsk 1902-3, 132; Skj B), but more recent eds accept mjǫks verr without comment (ÍF 26; ÍF 29; Hkr 1991; see also NS §61 Anm.). The statement mjǫks verr an svá, lit. ‘it is much worse than so’, presumably expresses disbelief at the optimistic rumour, reported in the stanza, about Óláfr having escaped.

grammar

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