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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Keth Lv 21VIII (Ket 37)/7 — málma ‘of metal’

Hvat er þér, Dragvendill?         Hví ertu slær vorðinn?
Til hefi ek nú höggvit;         tregt er þér nú at bíta.
Hliðar þú at hjörþingi;         hefir þér eigi fyrr vorðit
bilt í braki málma,         þar er bragnar hjugguz.

Hvat er þér, Dragvendill? Hví ertu vorðinn slær? Ek hefi nú höggvit til; nú er þér tregt at bíta. Þú hliðar at hjörþingi; eigi fyrr hefir þér vorðit bilt í braki málma, þar er bragnar hjugguz.

What is the matter with you, Dragvendill? Why have you become dull? I have now struck a blow; now you are slow to bite. You give way at the sword-meeting [BATTLE]; you have not failed in the crash of metal [BATTLE] before, where warriors exchanged blows.

notes

[7] í braki málma ‘in the crash of metal [BATTLE]’: A conventional battle-kenning. Ms. 471’s barki or barka makes no sense in context. Barki would be a clear example of metathesis from braki, but barka also has an ending (-a) that could only make it the gen. pl. of brak (with metathesis to bark). The form barki is nom. sg. of a noun meaning ‘wind-pipe’ (LP: 1. barki) or a type of boat (LP: 2. barki). The form barka would be an oblique case of these two barki homonyms.  

kennings

grammar

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