Hhárf Snædr 1I/4 — ker ‘the cup’
Hneggi berk æ ugg
ótta; hlýði mér drótt;
dána vekk dul at mey
drauga á kerlaug.
Drôpu lætk ór Dvalins greip
dynja, meðan framm hrynr
— rekkum býðk Regins drykk
réttan — á bragar stétt.
Berk æ ugg hneggi ótta; drótt hlýði mér; vekk dul at mey dána á kerlaug drauga; lætk drôpu dynja ór greip Dvalins, meðan hrynr framm á stétt bragar; býðk rekkum réttan drykk Regins.
I constantly carry trepidation in the rock of fear [HEART]; let the company hear me; I bring to light a delusion after the maiden’s death in the cup-liquid of the undead [POETRY]; I make the drápa ring out from the grasp of Dvalinn <dwarf> [MOUTH], as it rushes forth on the path of poetry [TONGUE]; I offer men a correct drink of Reginn <dwarf> [POETRY].
notes
[4] kerlaug ‘the cup-liquid’: Laug f. is ‘bath, washing’, or ‘hot-spring’ in an Icel. context, hence here liquid in general, and ker n. is often specifically a cup or drinking-vessel (LP: ker 1). The cpd could be regarded as a kenning for ‘drink’ or ‘ale’ (cf. TorfE Lv 1/6 kerstraumr ‘cup-stream [DRINK]’), but if so the structure of the overall poetry-kenning is unusual, with a kenning as the base-word. Kerlaug could alternatively be a river-name, as it is in Þul Á 6/4 Kerlaugar tvær ‘two Kerlaugar’ and in Grí 29/2 (NK 63), where the phrase designates a pair of rivers through which Þórr wades. — [4] kerlaug drauga ‘the cup-liquid of the undead [POETRY]’: This is clearly a kenning for ‘poetry’ alluding to the myth of the mead of poetry (see SnE 1998, I, 4-5, Meissner 427-30 and Note to Eskál Vell 1/1). However, reference to dwarfs, not the undead, would be expected in this type of kenning. (a) It is assumed here that drauga ‘of the undead’ fulfils the same function. It may deliberately maximise associations with the dead, and there is evidence for the association of dwarfs with death in early Scandinavian religion (Reichborn-Kjennerud 1934a, 282, 288). (b) The expected dwarf-name, and hence a more conventional poetry-kenning, would be supplied if dána were emended to Dáins, hence kerlaug Dáins ‘cup-liquid of Dáinn <dwarf> [DRINK > POETRY]’ (cf. Þul Dverga 1/5III). However, besides involving an emendation, this leaves drauga difficult to account for. The main possibility would be that it modifies mey to give vekk dul at mey drauga ‘I bring to light a delusion about the maiden of the undead’. This would associate the mey with death, and might account for the fear felt by the speaker, perhaps with the overall thought that the poetry brings her back to life.
kennings
- kerlaug drauga; — the cup-liquid of the undead; [POETRY]