icelandstone

 A number of early Welsh poems deal with the theme of giving within the context of the poet/patron relationship. Have a look at Dadolwch Urien by Taliesin or his poems to Cynan Garwyn. There exists a translation to English of Ivor Williams�book Canu Taliesin. I recollect refences to sword-giving (�cledyf gwein carrek�(a sword with a stone scabbard-presumably a reference to gems)) and one of the main themes running through the extant poetry of the sixth century is the generosity of the lord. I have a feeling that some references are made to giving horses as well but at present I don�t have access to my books but these references should be easy enough to locate. I think that there is also an article dealing with the theme of gift-gving or generosity. I�m sure there are numerous similar references in later poetry as well - especially in the work of the poets of the Welsh Princes and the later poets of the Gentry .gutorhys@...

  icelandstone <chad@...> wrote:

Hello.

I am a student of Linguistics and Icelandic Philology at the
University of Icelandic in Reykjav�k.  I am working on an article
about the Gesta��ttur section of H�vam�l in the Poetic Edda.  I have
located a section (verses 41-52) which deals with friendship inside
the broader context of being a guest and being a host (hence the
appelation Gesta��ttur, 'guest-section').

I have done a fairly involved examination of the alliteration used in
the poem, its metrical structure, its word-usage and other linguistic
analyses.  What I am lacking is a basis for its grouping among other
IE traditions of gift-giving and friend-making. 

Verse 52 runs thus in normalized modern spelling:

Miki� eitt
skal-a manni gefa;
oft kaupir s�r � litlu lof;
me� h�lfum hleifi
og me� h�llu keri
f�kk eg m�r f�laga.

Auden translated the stanza thusly:

Not great things alone must one give to another,
praise oft is earned for nought;
with half a loaf and a tilted bowl
I have found me many a friend.


I have found a reference in Anabasis about Cyrus giving halves of
geese and half-carafes of wine to guests in his lodgings, but not
much else in other IE traditions, at least not in recorded,
transmitted stories/poems/epics, etc.  I am hoping that someone on
this list will recognize this theme and point me to another text that
I could use to support my view that this has to be a theme running
through IE society.  I have found several things in Mauss and also in
Jamison, but nothing that matches exactly.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you,

Chad Stone
Department of Literature and Linguistics
University of Iceland
Reykjav�k

chad@...



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