Hold onto your stomachs folks: I've been having a go at some stanzas
of Krákumál [ http://www.hi.is/~eybjorn/ugm/skindex/krml.html ].
I've had help with some lines, but my efforts haven't been vetted in
their entirity, so you can blame me for any mistakes and
misunderstandings.
As Haukur has already translated, explained and glossed stanzas 1-5
[ http://www.hi.is/~haukurth/norse/reader/krakm.html ], I thought
I'd carry on from there. Have any of these have been attempted
already in the annals of the Norse Course group? I did find some
old messages discussing the poem, including Finnur Jónsson's Danish
translation [ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/norse_course/message/914?
viscount=100 ] and a translation by Haukur of the final stanza.
I've also looked at Thomas Percy's English translation printed in
1763 as `The Dying Ode of Regner Lodbroc' [ http://www-
db.library.nottingham.ac.uk/egil/runic_poetry/ ], with caution (cf.
Introduction to Old Norse, lxxi, which mentions one famous
mistake, `varat' being translated "was", ignoring the negative
suffic `-at' "not").
Note on spelling. The alliteration requires that the sound spelt
<hr> in normalised Old Icelandic (representing a voiceless alveolar
trill) was pronounced /r/ (voiced) by the author of at least some of
the stanzas of this poem. This was a feature of some Old Norse
dialects such as Old Norwegian. Examples `ræ' = `hræ-' "corpse,
carrion"; `rafn' = `hrafn' "raven"; `rottar' = `hrottar' "swords".
In the editions at the URL above, these forms with <r> are printed
where the alliteration demands it and where it doesn't affect the
alliterative scheme (e.g. v8/2); but <hr> is used where the
alliteration suggests it might be original, cf. v9/5-6, hreggský,
hringa, hratt. Coincidence, or a clue that the poem wasn't the work
of one author?
Another note on spelling. Archaic forms: es = er "when, which"; þás
= þá er "when"; vas = var "was". `gingum' = `gengum' "we
went/walked"; fingum = `fengum' "we gave".
6. Hjoggum vér með hjörvi.
Herr kastaði skjöldum,
þás rægagarr rendi
ræstr at gumna brjóstum.
Beit í Skarpaskerjum
skrubíldr at hjaldri.
Roðinn vas randar máni,
áðr Rafn konungr felli.
Dreif ór hölða hausum
heitr á brynjur sveiti.
We hewed with sword. The army threw down their shields when the
corpse-hound (=sword), set in motion on the breasts of men, put
[them] to flight. The lancet of strife (=sword) bit in battle at
Skarpa Skerries. Reddened was the shield's moon (=sword) before
King Rafn fell. From the skulls of men hot blood sprayed onto
hauberks.
According to Finnur Jónsson's notes, the place Skarpaskerjar is
unknown. I see that the singular Skarpasker occurs in Heimskringla,
where Laing identifies it with Scarborough castle in England, but
then a lot of rocks have the quality of being sharp. Thomas Percy
has the corpse-hound ((h)ræ-gagarr) as a spear, but it's a sword in
Eysteinn Björnsson's analytical glossary of kennings [
http://www.hi.is/~eybjorn/ugm/kennings/kennings.html ].
7. Hjoggum vér með hjörvi.
Hátt grenjuðu rottar,
áðr á Ullarakri
Eysteinn konungr felli.
Gingum golli fáðir,
grundar vals af bröndum,
rækyndill smó rauðar
rítr - at hjalma móti.
Svíra virtr ór sárum
sveif of hjarna kleifar.
We hewed with sword. Swords howled loudly before King Eystein fell
in Ullarakr. We went from our ship to the meeting of helmets (=war)
adorned with gold of the field-of-the-hawk (=gold of the arm, i.e.
golden arm-rings). The corpse-candle (=sword) pierced red shields.
The unfermented beer of necks (=blood) ran from wounds over the
cliffs of the brain (=head).
It's been pointed out to me that `bröndum' probably refers to just
one ship. Faulkes: `brandr', "one of a pair of carved ornamental
strips of wood along the sides of a ship's prow (or stern?)", and by
synechdoche (pars pro toto, taking the part for the whole), the
whole ship. An alternative suggestion that has been made to me: "We
walked, adorned with gold, from our ships to the corpse-field" (i.e.
the battlefield), with `grundar vals' genitive indicating
destination, in apposition with "meeting of helmets". But FJ
takes `vals' to be "hawk's" rather than "of the slain". I assume
TP's "cloven" is because he's taken `kleifar' "cliffs" to be some
form of the verb `kljúfa', but I don't see how that can be, unless
there is a textual variant here. FJ elabourates in his
translation "flows down over neck and shoulder", but Lexicon
Poeticon just glosses "cliffs of the brain" as "head".
Note. Ullarakr "field of wool"?, Saxo refers to a plain
called "laneus" (woolly) as the site of one of Ragnarr´s battles,
cf. Rory McTurk "Studies in Ragnars saga loðbrókar", p. 126. But
from a grammatical point of view, it would be just as possible to
understand this name as "Plain of Ullr". Also mentioned in Hrólfs
saga Gautrekssonar, Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar, and at least one
other source that I haven't tracked down yet... FJ: a plain near
Uppsala. Modern Ulleråker (Ulleråkerssområdet), a district of
Uppsala.
8. Hjoggum vér með hjörvi.
Hafa gátu þá rafnar
fyr Inndyriseyju
rna bráð at slíta.
Fingum fálu hestum
fullan verð at sinni
- illt vas eins at gæta -
með uppruna sólar.
Strenghömlur sák stíga ;
stökk malmr á skör hjalmi.
8. Then ravens managed to get plenty of flesh to tear before
Inndyri's Isle. We gave the horses of the ogress (=wolves) a full
meal that time at sunrise. It was hard to watch/heed/guard one.* I
saw string-rods (=arrows) rise. Metal (=arrows) struck helm on its
rim.
*I wasn't what what exactly line `illt vas eins at gæta' is
referring to. Presumably not an admission of squeamishness! Some
possible translations or paraphrases that have been offered to
me: "it was hard to keep an eye on each and everyone", "it was
impossible to look out for every single man"; "there was so much
going on that it was impossible to pay attention to one person at a
time".
The placename is unknown according to FJ, possible made-up.
9. Hjoggum vér með hjörvi.
Háðum rendr í dreyra,
þás benstara bræddum
fyr Borgundarholmi.
Hreggský slitusk hringa,
hratt almr af sér malmi.
Völnir fell at vígi,
vasat einn konungr meiri.
Val rak vítt of strandir,
vargr fagnaði tafni.
9. We caused shields [to be covered in] blood when we fed the wound-
starling(s) off Bornholm. Clouds of sword-storm (=clouds of battle
= shields) were torn apart. Bow thrust metal (=arrows) from
itself. Völnir fell in battle. There was no king greater. The
dead washed up far along the strand. Wolf rejoiced in its bloody
prey (morsels of carrion).
Háðum rendr í dreyra, FJ: "Vi rødfarvede skjoldene i blod" = "we
painted shields red with blood". The verb HEYJA normally
means "conduct", "perform" or "hold" in the sense of hold an event,
or fight a battle. But for a similar usage with this sense
of "make", "cause to be", I've been referred to Þórsdrápa
9: "háðu ... stríðan straum" = "caused a violent stream".
10. Hjoggum vér með hjörvi.
Hildr vas sýnt í vexti,
áðr Freyr konungr felli
í Flæmingja veldi.
Náði blár at bíta
blóði smeltr í gyltan
Högna kufl at hjaldri
harðr bengrefill forðum.
Mær grét morginskæru
mörg, en tafn fekksk vörgum.
10. Battle was clearly/visibly increasing before King Freyr fell in
the realm of the Flemings (=Flanders). Hard wound-hoe (=sword),
enamalled with blood, succeeded in biting Högni's gilt cloak (=gilt
byrnie) in battle long ago. Many a girl wept over that clash at
morning. Food/carrion was given to wolves.
Other online versions have `ferðum', dative of `ferð' "journey", in
place of `forðum' "of old".