Anon Krm 23VIII/7 — meyja ‘of maidens’
Hjuggu vér með hjörvi.
Hitt tel ek jafnt, at gangi
at samtogi sverða
sveinn í móti einum.
Hrøkkvi ei þegn fyrir þegni;
þat var drengs aðal lengi;
æ skal ástvinr meyja
einarðr í dyn sverða.
Hjuggu vér með hjörvi. Hitt tel ek jafnt, at sveinn gangi í móti einum at samtogi sverða. Hrøkkvi ei þegn fyrir þegni; þat var lengi aðal drengs; ástvinr meyja skal æ einarðr í dyn sverða.
We hewed with the sword. This I consider fair, that one lad should go against another at the drawing together of swords [BATTLE]. One warrior should not give way to another; that was always the nature of a hero; the dear friend of maidens [LOVER] should always be resolute in the din of swords [BATTLE].
readings
[7] skal ástvinr meyja: ‘skal [...] astvi(n)ur meyiar’(?) 147(103r)
notes
[7] ástvinr meyja ‘the dear friend of maidens [LOVER]’: This is one of the three cases, listed by Meissner 351 as unique in skaldic poetry, of kennings meaning ‘lover’ or ‘beloved’ being used where warrior-kennings would be expected, the other two being the kennings in st. 20/3, 4 (see Note there). It is possible that these three kennings may reflect the influence of the medieval conception of the hero as a knight who does service on behalf of women. As indicated above, the argument of st. 20 seems to be that the lover or beloved of women should be in no doubt about the contrast between fighting in battle and consorting with women. There is hardly a hint of this contrast in the present stanza, however, so that the kenning meaning ‘lover’ makes a stranger impression here than those in st. 20. The word ástvinr occurs in the pl. in the neutral sense ‘dear friends’ in Egill St 7/4V (Eg 78), and in the sg. as the base-word in a ruler-kenning (‘beloved friend of people’) in Mark Eirdr 21II; it also occurs not infrequently in Christian religious contexts, see LP: ástvinr; Gamlkan Has 47/4VII and Note; and Anon Lil 37/5VII and Note.
kennings
- ástvinr meyja — the dear friend of maidens [LOVER]