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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Herv Lv 8VIII (Heiðr 25)/6 — hvassan ‘the sharp’

Vaki þú, Angantýr;         vekr þik Hervör,
eingadóttir         ykkr Sváfu.
Selðu mér ór haugi         hvassan mæki,
þann er Svafrlama         slógu dvergar.

Vaki þú, Angantýr; Hervör vekr þik, eingadóttir ykkr Sváfu. Selðu mér ór haugi hvassan mæki, þann er dvergar slógu Svafrlama.

Waken, Angantýr; Hervǫr wakes you, only daughter to you and Sváfa. Give me from the mound the sharp sword which dwarfs forged for Svafrlami.

readings

[6] hvassan: harðan R715ˣ

notes

[6] hvassan mæki ‘the sharp sword’: This half-line also occurs in Heiðr 40/3 and, in the dat. case, Heiðr 88/6; see Note there. See also Note to Heiðr 38/6. — [6-8] hvassan mæki, þann er dvergar slógu ‘the sharp sword which dwarfs forged’: I.e. Tyrfingr. In Old Norse literature dwarfs were consistently portrayed as craftsmen. In Old Norse mythology, they were said to have made a variety of magical objects valuable to the gods (Simek 1993, 68); in the later traditions of the fornaldarsögur and riddarasögur they became more narrowly associated with the crafting of weapons (Motz 1977, 49). Cf. Heiðr 26/7-8, 33/7.

grammar

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