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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Anon (StSt) 2VIII (StSt 2)/7 — góma ‘of the gums’

Skal hann í helju         hvíldar njóta
ok margskonar         meina kenna.
Þá mun Sturlaugr         inn starfsami
með góma kvern         grafinn í stykki.

Hann skal njóta hvíldar í helju ok kenna margskonar meina. Sturlaugr inn starfsami mun þá grafinn í stykki með kvern góma.

He shall enjoy rest in Hel and experience many kinds of injuries. Then Sturlaugr inn starfsami (‘the Industrious’) will be torn to shreds with the hand-mill of the gums [TEETH].

notes

[7] með kvern góma ‘with the hand-mill of the gums [TEETH]’: One of a relatively small number of skaldic kennings for the teeth (Meissner 133), often found with the determinant gómr ‘roof or floor of the mouth, gums’; cf. VSt Erf 1/3III sker góma ‘skerries of the gums’, Sturl Hákkv 29/3II gómsker ‘the gum-skerries’. Ms. 1006ˣ substitutes knífum ‘knives’ for kvern, and this is followed by FSN and FSGJ, although it makes the line unmetrical.

kennings

grammar

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