SnH Lv 11II/1 — es ‘There is’
Sýr es ávallt;
hefr saurugt allt
hestr Þjóðolfs erðr;
hanns dróttins serðr.
Sýr es ávallt; hestr Þjóðolfs hefr erðr allt saurugt; hanns serðr dróttins.
There is always a sow; Þjóðólfr’s horse has a completely filthy prick; he is a master-fucker.
readings
[1] es (‘er’): om. 563aˣ
notes
[1] sýr es ávallt ‘there is always a sow’: The l. is difficult to interpret. Flat has dýr ‘animal’, which leaves the l. without alliteration and must be a scribal error. If the 563aˣ variant is kept, the l. implies ‘there is always a sow (i.e. a female beast) at hand’, suggesting that Þjóðólfr had been used as a female by his stallion. Sýr could also be a pun on the nickname of Haraldr’s father, Sigurðr sýr ‘Sow’ (cf. a similar allusion in Mgóði Lv 1 above; see also Hjǫrtr Lv 1-3), and then, indirectly, a reference to Haraldr himself (see Note to l. 4 below). Skj B emends to saurr ‘filth, semen’, and Kock (NN §2528) proposes the adj. súrr ‘sour, bitter, unfriendly’, which he translates as blöt, rinnande ‘soft, runny’ (a meaning which is unattested).
grammar
Irregular verbs: vera (to be)
| indic. | subj. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pres. | past | pres. | past | ||
| sing. pl. | 1 2 3 1 2 3 | em ert er erum eruð eru | var vart var várum váruð váru | sé sér sé sém séð sé | væra værir væri værim værið væri |
| imperative past part. | ver, verið verit | ||||