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

Sigv Frag 1III/4 — in ‘the’

Þat frák víg á vatni
verðung jǫfurs gerðu,
nadda él en, nýla,
næst telk eigi in smæstu.

Frák verðung jǫfurs gerðu nýla þat víg á vatni, en telk næst eigi in smæstu él nadda.

I heard the prince’s retinue recently fought that battle on the water, and next I will recount not the smallest storms of barbs [BATTLES].

readings

[4] eigi in (‘æigi hin’): so W, engin R, eigin , ‘ong en’ U

notes

[4] eigi in ‘not the’: (a) This seems likely to be the starting point for the various ms. readings. It yields the phrase eigi in smæstu ‘not the smallest’, hence by litotes, ‘far from minor’, i.e. ‘major (battles)’. See also Note to ll. 3-4. Elision is assumed in  eigi (i)n to avoid a superfluous syllable. (b) Faulkes prints engin (SnE 1998, I, 80) but points out (ibid., 204) that the form engin would not be expected before the C14th, and Finnur Jónsson (LP: 2. engi) states that engin here must certainly be read as engi en (= engi in) ‘none the’, ‘not the’. This also seems possible. Again, elision of engi (i)n must be assumed, and elision is presumably intended in Skj B’s eng en.

kennings

grammar

Pronouns and determiners: Definite article

The definite article is normally suffixed to nouns, except in some cases where it is used with an adjective. If the noun form ends in a vowel, the 'i' in the article is dropped. If the noun form ends in 'um', the 'm' and 'i' are both dropped. E.g. hesta (acc. pl.) > hestana (acc. pl. definite); hestum (dat. pl.) > hestunum (dat. pl. definite)

masc.fem.neut.
sing. N
A
G
D
inn
inn
ins
inum
in
ina
innar
inni
it
it
ins
inu
pl. N
A
G
D
inir
ina
inna
inum
inar
inar
inna
inum
in
in
inna
inum
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.