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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Glúmr Gráf 11I/2 — hollr ‘benevolent’

Varð á víðu borði
viggjum hollr at liggja
gætir Glamma sóta
garðs Eylimafjarðar.
Sendir fell á sandi
sævar báls at Halsi;
olli jǫfra spjalli
orðheppinn því morði.

Gætir garðs sóta Glamma, hollr viggjum, varð at liggja á víðu borði Eylimafjarðar. Sendir báls sævar fell á sandi at Halsi; orðheppinn spjalli jǫfra olli því morði.

The guardian of the fence of the steed of Glammi <sea-king> [SHIP > SHIELD > WARRIOR], benevolent to horses, had to lie on the wide shore of Eylimi’s fjord [Limfjorden]. The dispenser of the fire of the sea [GOLD > GENEROUS MAN = Haraldr] fell on the sand at Hals; the speech-blessed confidant of princes [JARL = Hákon] caused that killing.

notes

[2] hollr viggjum ‘benevolent to horses’: Hollr ‘benevolent, friendly, loyal’ frequently governs a dat. of the beneficiary (LP: hollr), and this seems to be the case here. The horses are assumed to be literal, although in context metaphorical ones (as in the ship-kenning assumed by Finnur Jónsson, noted above) might seem more likely. If literal, the reference could be to horses kept for pagan ritual purposes (see Note to st. 13 [All] on Haraldr’s religion). Alternatively (as argued by Kock in NN §§259, 2203, followed in ÍF 26) the allusion could be to one of the tólf íþróttir ‘twelve accomplishments’ that Glúmr attributes to Haraldr in st. 14. This probably incomplete stanza does not enumerate the accomplishments, and the comparable stanzas attributed to Haraldr harðráði ‘Hard-rule’ (Hharð Gamv 4II) and Rǫgnvaldr jarl Kali Kolsson (Rv Lv 1II) do not include horsemanship in their lists, but Kock includes it among a number of skills attributed to kings in Old Norse and Old English sources, and specifically (NN §259) in the eddic Rígsþula ( 35, 37, 42, 47).

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