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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Rloð Lv 10VIII (Ragn 27)/8 — dýrum ‘of beasts’

Gnyðja mundu grísir,
ef galtar hag vissi,
— mér er gnótt at grandi —
grafa inn rönum sínum
ok harðliga hrína;
hafa mik sogit ormar;
nú man ek nár af bragði
ok nær dýrum deyja.

Grísir mundu gnyðja, ef vissi hag galtar, grafa inn rönum sínum ok hrína harðliga; mér er gnótt at grandi; ormar hafa sogit mik; nú man ek nár af bragði ok deyja nær dýrum.

The porkers would grunt if they knew the boar’s predicament, would dig in with their snouts and squeal mightily; for me there is harm in plenty; snakes have sucked me; I’ll soon be a corpse and die in the proximity of beasts.

readings

[8] ok nær dýrum deyja: ‘(og […]ær) dy(rum dey)ia’(?) 147ˣ

notes

[8] nær dýrum ‘in the proximity of beasts’: Various previous translations of this phrase have betrayed eds’ reluctance to accept that dýr n. ‘animal’ can refer to a snake (cf. the ormar ‘snakes’ of l. 6). It is true that in LP, Fritzner, CVC and ONP it is hard to find clear cases of dýr in the meaning ‘snake’, but Fritzner: skriðdýr, assigns skriðdýr the same meaning as skriðkvikendi ‘creeping animals’, which clearly covers reptiles, and it is surely not impossible that poetic licence would allow dýr to do so as well.

grammar

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