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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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BjRagn Lv 4VIII (Ragn 29)/7 — mann ‘man’

Þat var fyrst, er fórum,
— Freys leika tók ek heyja —
þar er einiga áttum
öld, í Rómaveldi.
Þar lét ek of grön grána
— gall örn of valfalli —
at mannskæðu morði
mitt sverð dregit verða.

Þat var fyrst, er fórum í Rómaveldi, þar er áttum einiga öld; ek tók heyja leika Freys. Þar lét ek sverð mitt verða dregit of grána grön at mannskæðu morði; örn gall of valfalli.

The first thing was that we went into the realm of Rome, where we had no allies; I proceeded to conduct the games of Freyr <god> [BATTLES]. There I let my sword be drawn across a grey moustache in man-harming combat; an eagle screamed above fallen slain.

readings

[7] mannskæðu: ‘menn sc[…]’ 1824b

notes

[7] mannskæðu ‘man-harming’: I.e. ‘mortal’; so Olsen (Ragn 1906-8, 214; cf. Skj B) and most subsequent eds. The same adj. is used in Þhorn Gldr 2/6I (of a warrior) and Anon Nkt 50/5II (of a disease). Valdimar Ásmundarson (Ragn 1891) reads menskerða, gen. pl. of menskerðir m. ‘necklace-destroyer [GENEROUS MAN]’, thus presumably understanding the phrase at menskerða morði to mean ‘in the slaying of chieftains’, i.e. ‘in battle’, which gives tolerable sense in the context.

grammar

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