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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Glúmr Gráf 4I/5 — tungur ‘tongues’

Austrlǫndum fórsk undir
allvaldr, sás gaf skǫldum
— hann fekk gagn at gunni —
gunnhǫrga slǫg mǫrgum.
Slíðrtungur lét syngva
sverðleiks reginn — ferðir
sendi gramr at grundu
gollvarpaða* — snarpar.

Allvaldr, sás gaf mǫrgum skǫldum slǫg gunnhǫrga, fórsk undir austrlǫndum; hann fekk gagn at gunni. Reginn sverðleiks lét snarpar slíðrtungur syngva; gramr sendi ferðir gollvarpaða* at grundu.

The mighty ruler, who gave many poets strikers of battle-temples [SHIELDS > WEAPONS], subdued eastern lands; he gained success in war. The god of sword-play [BATTLE > WARRIOR] made keen scabbard-tongues [SWORDS] sing; the prince sent troops of gold-throwers [GENEROUS MEN] to the ground.

readings

[5] Slíðrtungur: skíðr tungu Bb, síðþungr Flat

notes

[5] slíðrtungur ‘scabbard-tongues [SWORDS]’: The word for scabbard is normally pl. slíðrar, and this appears in RvHbreiðm Hl 18/5III tunga slíðra ‘tongue of the scabbard [SWORD]’. The sg. slíðr seen in the present kenning itself means a ‘sliver’, two of which could be bound together to make a scabbard; use of the sg. is paralleled in Mark Lv 2/4III slíðráll ‘scabbard-eel [SWORD]’.

kennings

grammar

case: acc.
number: pl.

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