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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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ESk Geisl 7VII/1 — skulum ‘should’

skulum gǫfgan geisla
guðs hallar vér allir,
ítr þanns Óláfr heitir,
alstyrkan vel dyrka.
Þjóð veit hann und heiða
hríðblôsnum sal víða
— menn nemi môl, sem innik,
mín — jartegnum skína.

skulum vér allir dyrka vel gǫfgan geisla guðs hallar, alstyrkan, þanns heitir ítr Óláfr. Þjóð veit hann skína jartegnum víða und hríðblôsnum sal heiða; menn nemi môl mín, sem innik.

Now we all should honour well the splendid light-beam of God’s hall [HEAVEN > = Óláfr], the all-strong one, who is called glorious Óláfr. People know he shines with miracles widely beneath the storm-blown hall of heaths [SKY/HEAVEN]; may men understand my words as I tell them.

notes

[1] nú skulum ... geisla ‘now we should ... beam’: The skothending depends on hearing the s of skulum together with nu (‘nus-’) to rhyme with geis-, a reminder that skaldic poetry was meant for the ear, not the eye.

grammar

Verbs: Preterite-present verbs

The present tense of these verbs is like the past tense of strong verbs, and their past tense is weak.

eigamegakunnaskulumunumuna
indic.
pres.
sing.


pl.
1st
2nd
3rd
1st
2nd
3rd
á
átt
á
eigum
eiguð
eigu

mátt

megum
meguð
megu
kann
kannt
kann
kunnum
kunnuð
kunnu
skal
skalt
skal
skulum
skuluð
skulu
mun
munt
mun
munum
munuð
munu
man
mant
man
munum
munið
muna
indic. past stem
subj. pres. stem
subj. past stem
átt-
eig-
ætt-
mátt-
meg-
mætt-
kunn-
kunn-
kynn-
skyld-
skyl-
skyld-
mund-
myn-
mynd-
mund-
mun-
mynd-
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