Re: Hrafns Saga 9B

> Ok er Bergþórr frá þetta, at Magnús hafði kveðit vísu,
> hafði hann týgilig orð um, at eigi mundi svá búit sjatna.

> And when Bergthor heard of this, that Magnus had recited
> (the) poem, he had (týgilig?) word concerning, that would
> so prepared (to) subside (?).

> And when Berþórr heard this, that Magnús had recited a
> verse, he had boastful (<týgilig mól>=<overmodige ord>
> Lexicon poeticum, 1931) words (neut plural) about [it],
> that [it] would not abate as matters stand (ie things
> would not end there)..

And when Bergþór heard that Magnús had recited a verse, he
used threatening words about [it], [saying] that as things
stand, [the matter] would not subside.

<Týgiligr> is a variant of <tygiligr>, which is in CV. In
the absence of any comment by Baetke or GPH I’m inclined to
think that CV are probably wrong in seeing it as an error
for <rýgiligr>; one ms. does have <rȳgilig>, but that seems
rather to be a copying error for <týgilig>.

Ah, here we go: the word also appears in the following vísa,
in her notes to which GPH discusses it. She says that
though the word is usually given as <tygiligr>, the long
vowel <ý> is to be preferred on metrical grounds. The
meaning ‘threatening, challenging, big’ is apparently
adduced from its occurrences here and in Grettis saga; its
etymology is unclear. It has been related to Middle Low
German <tugelik> ‘valid, competent’, used of witnesses, with
a semantic development to ‘threatening words’ perhaps by way
of ‘emphatic assertion, strong claims’.

> En þau orð spyrr Magnús prestr ok kvað vísu:

> But priest Magnus hears this word and recited a verse:

> But (And) Magnus [the] priest is-informed-of those words
> (neut plural) and recited a verse.

And Magnús [the] priest hears of those words and recited a
verse:

> Margr mundi sá sendir
> sókngífrs numinn lífi,
> linna vangs, fyr löngu,
> lundr, es nú rekr undan,
> ef brynhríðar beiði
> biti týgilig skytja,
> niðr drepr skald, und skildi,
> skeggi, mál sem eggjar.

Our text has <skýja> at the end of the sixth line, but GPH
has <skytja> without comment or any indication of ms.
variation, so I’m taking it as the correct version. It’s
the old genitive (sing. and plur.) of <skyti> ‘marksman,
shooter, archer’ (CV), a word used here as a sort of kenning
for ‘man’.

Many a sender
of battle-witch would have been deprived of life
long ago, field of snakes’
tree, he who now gets away,
if war-storm’s demander
were bitten by men’s threatening —
skald draws down, below shield,
[his] beard — talk as by blade edges.

In order to produce a more or less understandable version
with the individual lines almost intact, I had to convert
active ‘bit’, with subjects ‘men’s big words’ and ‘blade
edges’ and direct object ‘war-storm’s demander’, into
passive ‘were bitten by’, with subject ‘war-storm’s
demander’. Beyond that I had to move the translation of
<mundi> to the second line and that of <sá> to the fourth.

A <sókngífr> ‘battle-witch, attack-witch’ is an axe; its
<sendir> ‘sender’ is a warrior. <Linna vangr> ‘snakes’
field’ is a kenning for ‘gold’; its <lundr> ‘tree’ is a
(wealthy) man. <Brynhríð> ‘war-storm’ (or as GPH would more
literally have it, ‘mail-coat-storm’) is ‘battle’, and its
<beiðir> ‘demander’ is a warrior.

> Margr mundi sá sókngífrs sendir numinn lífi fyr löngu,
> lundr linna vangs, es nú rekr undan, ef týgilig mál biti
> brynhríðar skýja beiði und skildi sem eggjar.

> Many would [be] that sender of [the] battle-troll (ie axe)
> (ie warrior) taken (ie deprived) of [his] life a
> long-time-before (ie long since), tree of the field of
> serpents (is this another kenning for <warrior>?), who
> [it] now drives away (ie who now escapes, <reka>, Z7), if
> boastful speeches bit (cut) [the] craver of [the] clouds
> of battle (‘mail-storm’) (ie warrior) under [his] shield
> like edges [do]. (Fellow) Warrior, many a warrior who now
> escapes, would long since have been deprived of his life
> if boastful speeches cut the warrior under his shield like
> (sword) edges do.

> Skald drepr skeggi niðr.

> [The] scaldic-poet dips (<drepa>, Z.ii.3) [his] beard
> down:

I’m going to replace this with GPH’s corresponding version:

> Margr sendir síkngífrs, sá er nú rekr undan, mundi fyr
> lǫngu numinn lífi, linna vangs lundr, ef týgilig mál
> skytja biti brynhríðar beiði sem eggjar — skáld drepr niðr
> skeggi und skildi.

Many a warrior [sender of axe [battle-witch]], he who now
gets away (unscathed), would long ago have been deprived of
life, man [tree of gold [snakes’ field]], if threatening
words of men [shooters] bit a warrior [demander of battle
[war-storm]] like blade edges — the skald [i.e., Magnús]
drops his beard down below [i.e., behind] his shield.

Her reading of the vísa differs in two respects. First, she
takes <sá> to belong with <es>, ‘he who’; this seems to me
syntactically more natural than combining the determiner
with <sókngífrs sendir> and separating the latter from
<margr>, though I freely admit that my syntactic sense is
still very poorly developed. Secondly, she associates the
locative prepositional phrase <und skildi> with the verb
<drepa> rather than with <biti>; this actually seems to me a
more natural reading of the word order in the verse.

> Margur hraustur drengur mundi fyrir löngu sviptur lífi,
> maður minn, sá sem nú er heill á húfi, ef stóryrði bitu
> skildi búinn hermann sem sverðseggjar.

> Many a valiant bold man would before a long deprive life,
> my man, so as now is whole at a hull of a ship (?), if big
> words bit should prepared a warrior as a sword's edge.

Many a brave fellow would long ago have been bereft of life,
my man, he who now is safe and sound, if strong expressions
bit warrior equipped with shield like a sword’s edge.

> Skáldið drúpir höfði.

> The poet droops from sorrow his head.

The skald is downcast [‘bows (his) head’].

> Ok eftir þat er þessar vísur váru kveðnar, þá söfnuðu
> þeir Þorvaldr ok Bergþórr liði ok gera til Magnúss.

> And after that when these verses were recited, then
> Thorvaldr and Bergthor gathered (their) troops and makes
> for Magnus.

> And after that when these verses were recited, then they,
> Þorvaldr and Bergþórr assemble a host and prepare (make
> ready) for Magnús.

And after these <vísur> were recited, Þorvald and Bergþór
gathered troops and proceed against Magnús.

Baetke offers what amounts to ‘proceed against’ for <gera
til e-s>.

> Ok er hann spyrr þetta, ferr hann á fjall þat, er
> Sölólfsfell heitir, ok þar eru þau í einum helli, meðan
> þeir Þorvaldr váru í firðinum.

> And when he gets wind of this, he goes to that mountain,
> which is called sale-something-mountain, and they were
> there in a cave, while Thorvaldr and the others were in
> the inlet.

> And when he is-informed-of this, he journeys to that
> mountain, which is-called Sölólfsfell
> (Sölólfr’s-Mountain), and they (Magnús and Jórunn, hence
> <þau>] are there in a certain cave, while they, Þorvaldr
> [and co.] were in the fjord.

And when he hears of this, he travels to the mountain that
is called Sölólfsfell, and they stayed there in a certain
cave while Þorvald and his companions were in the fjord.

On the face of it this is ‘Sölólf’s mountain’, but a
masculine name <Sǫlólfr> is not otherwise known. On the
other hand, a prototheme <Sǫl-> does appear in a few names
(<Sǫlmundr>, <Sǫlva> (f), <Sǫlvarr>, <Sǫlveig> (f),
<Sǫlvi>), so a name <Sǫlólfr> isn’t out of the question.
The mountain is now <Mýrafell>.

> Rannsökuðu þeir víða bæi ok leituðu þeira Magnúss ok fóru
> við þat á braut af heraði, at þeir fundu þau eigi.

> They seached the farm high and low and searched for Magnus
> and company and and went with that away from the district,
> at they didn't find them.

> They ransacked widely [the] farms (acc plural) and
> searched-for them, Magnús [and Jórunn] and journeyed with
> that (ie after doing all that) away from [the] district,
> [so] that they found them (ie Magnús and Jórunn) not.

They ransacked farms far and wide and sought them, Magnús
[and Jórunn], and travelled away from the district, not
having found them them [‘under those circumstances, that
they did not find them’].

> Ok eftir þat snerist Jórunn í karlaföt ok fór með Magnúsi
> presti suðr á Eyrar á laun ok eftir þat af landi á braut.

> And after that, Jorunn changed herself into men's clothing
> and went with Priest Magnus south to Eyrar in secret and
> after that away from Iceland.

> And after that Jórunn was-changed into men’s-attire, and
> journeyed with Magnús  [the] priest south to Eyrar in
> secret and after that away from [the] land (ie from
> Iceland)

And after that Jórunn changed into men’s clothing and
travelled with Magnús [the] priest south to Eyrar
[‘Islands’] in secret and after that away from [the]
country.

> Ok er þau kómu í Nóreg, gerði hann boð til hennar at ráði
> Erlends múgamanns.

> And when they arrived in Norwary, he made an offer (of
> marriage?) to her with the consent of Erlend (Foreigner)
> crowd-of-people. (similar to Z. maðr 1: múgr manns, crowd
> of people) (Z. ráð 5: at ráði frænda hernnar, with the
> consent of her kinsmen)

> And when they came to Norway, he made an offer (of
> marriage) to her (or possibly prepared a wedding feast,
> <boð>, Z2, for her) with [the] consent (<ráð>, Z5) of
> Erlendr [the] commoner (lit: man of the common people –
> probably not Erlendr [the] mobster )

And when they arrived in Norway, he made her an offer [i.e.,
of marriage] with the consent of Erlend <múgamaðr>
[‘commoner, plebeian’].

The etymology of the name <Erlendr> is uncertain. In
particular, it is not known whether it is actually related
to <erlendr> ‘foreign’, though this is probably the most
common hypothesis. Another is that it, like <Erlingr>, is a
derivative of <jarl> (from Proto-Scand. *erlaR), and the
first element has also been connected with PScand *harja-
‘army’ and *arja- ‘noble, distinguished, foremost’.

> Hann var hirðmaðr Sverris konungs ok frændi Jórunnar.

> He was King Sverri's king's-man and a relative of
> Jorunn's.

> He was a king´s-man of King Sverrir and a kinsman of
> Jórunn.

He was a liege man of King Sverrir and Jórunn’s kinsman.

His byname is very odd, since a <hirðmaðr> was definitely
not a <múgamaðr>, and GPH says that in Norway the two terms
were used in specific opposition.

> Magnús var lengi í Nóregi ok gat margt barna við Jórunni.

> Magnus stayed a long time in Norway and had many children
> with Jorunn.

> Magnús was a long-time in Norway and begat many children
> with Jórunn.

Magnús stayed in Norway for a long time and had many
children with Jórunn.

> Kali hét maðr, hann var Halldórsson.

> A man was named Kali; he was the son of Halldor.

> [There] was a man called Kali, he was [the]
> son-of-Halldórr.

There was a man called Kali; he was Halldór’s son.

> Hann átti Ingiríði Snorradóttur.

> He married Ingirid, the daughter of Snorri.

> He married Ingiríðir daughter-of-Snorri.

He married Ingiríð Snorradóttir.

> Hon fífldist frá Kala at þeim manni, er Ljótr hét.

> She acted as a seducer against Kali to them a man, who was
> named Ljotr.

> She acted-as-seducer against Kali towards that person
> (man), who was-called Ljótr.

She cuckolded Kali with the man who was called Ljót.

> Hann var sonr Sela-Eiríks.

> He was a son of Sela-Eirik.

> He was [the] son of Sela-Eiríkr.

He was Sela-Eirík’s [‘Seal-’] son.

> Ok er þeir Þorvaldr ok Kali urðu þess varir, þá gerðu þeir
> sát fyrir Ljóti ok sá inn þriði maðr, er Þórðr hét ok var
> Kalason.

> And when Thorvaldr and Kali happened to have a
> presentiment of that, then they set up on ambush for Ljoti
> and the third man, who was named Thordr and was a son of
> Kali. (similar to Z. vara: þess varir mik, at, I have a
> presentiment that)

> And when they, Þorvaldr and Kali, became aware (<varr>,
> adj) of that, then they prepared an ambush ahead-of Ljótr,
> and-also that-one, the third person (man) (ie in the
> ambush party), who was-called Þórðr, and was [the]
> son-of-Kali.

And when Þorvald and Kali became aware of that, they and the
third man, who was called Þórð and was Kali’s son, set up
an ambush for Ljót.

> Ok er þeir fundu Ljót, sóttu þeir hann þrír með vápnum, en
> hann varðist svá vel, at þeir gátu hann seint sóttan.

> And whe they met (up with) Ljot, they attacked him three
> with weapons, but he defended himself so well, that they
> were slowly able to overcome him. (CV SÆKJA 4: overcome)

> And when they met Ljótr, they, [the] three [of them]
> attacked him with weapons, but (and) he defended-himself
> so well, that they were-able to overcome him [only]
> slowly.

And when they met Ljót, the three of them [‘they three’]
attacked him with weapons, but he defended himself so well
that they could overcome him (only) slowly.

> Þá eggjaði Kali Þorvald, at hann skyldi sækja at
> djarfliga, ok sagði klæki vera, at þeir fengi eigi einn
> mann sóttan.

> Then Kali egged on Thorvaldr, that he should attack
> boldly, and said it is cowardice that they weren't able to
> overcome a single man.

> Then Kali urged Þorvaldr, that he should attack boldly,
> and said [it] to be cowardice, that they were not able to
> overcome one person (man).

Then Kali egged Þorvald on to [‘that he should’] attack
boldly and said that it was a disgrace that they could not
overcome one man.

> Svá lauk þeira fundi, at þeir vágu Ljót.

> So their battle ended, that they killed Ljot.

> Their meeting (or fight) ended such that they slew Ljótr.

Their battle ended thus, that they killed Ljót.

> Um þat víg orti Eilífr vísu:

> Eilifr composed a verse concerning that slaying:

> About that slaying Eilífr wrote a verse:

Eilif made a verse about that killing:

> Kali bauð kjark at selja
> kaldráðum Þorvaldi,
> nýtik Fjölnis flýti-
> feng, en til var engi.
> Þórðr munat virðum virðask,
> vann á dauðum manni,
> áðr sló á hodda hlæði
> hvikan, með spjót it mikla.

The vísa above was missing the last words in lines 1 and 6;
I’ve added them above.

Kali offered to deliver courage
to evil-minded Þorvald —
I make use of Fjölnir’s swift-
booty — but there was none.
Þórð will not be esteemed by men:
[he] wounded a dead man —
earlier destroyer of treasures was seized by
wavering — with the great spear.

Baetke offers <Mut> ‘courage’ as a gloss for <kjarkr>, and
it seems to fit the context. <Fjölnir> is one of Óðin’s
many names, and the booty in question is the mead of poetry
that he stole, so the kenning <Fjölnis flýtifengr> is for
‘poetry’. I don’t know why <flýti-> ‘swift’; GPH seems to
think that it’s actually ‘swiftly-conveyed’, and while she
doesn’t say so, I’ll guess that this is a reference to
Óðin’s having absconded with it in the form of an eagle.

In the last two lines I had once again to convert active to
passive in order to keep the lines intact: the actual
subject is <hvikan>, which struck the <hlœðir hodda>
‘destroyer of treasures’. <Hlœðir> is an agent noun not
from <hlœða> ‘to load’ but from <hlaða> Z4 (with dative) ‘to
fell, to lay prostrate’, and by extension ‘to destroy’.
This is a kenning for a (generous) man.

GPH’s equivalent of Version B:

> Kali bauð at selja kjark kaldráðum Þorvaldi, en til var
> engi — nýti ek flýti-feng Fjǫlnis. Þórðr munat virðask
> virðum — vann á dauðum manni með spjót it mikla — áðr sló
> hvikan á hodda hlœði.

My translation above actually follows this very closely,
apart from the change of active to passive at the end.

> Kali bauð at selja kaldráðum Þorvaldi kjark, en engi
> var til.

> Kali offered to deliver courage (spirit, Lexicon poeticum,
> 1931) to [the] evil-minded Þorvaldr, but [he] was no-one
> towards [it] (ie he may as well have not been there, he
> was not up to the challenge)

I take <engi> to refer to <kjarkr> and <vera til> to have
the meaning ‘exist, be present, be available’.

> Nýtik flýtifeng Fjölnis.

> I derive-benefit from [the] hasty-supply of Fjölnir
> (poetry).

See comments above on <flýtifeng>.

> Þórðr munat virðask virðum, vann á dauðum manni með it
> mikla spjót.

> Þórðr will-not be-esteemed by men, [he]
> did-a-bodily-injury to a dead person (man) with the great
> spear.

> Áðr sló hvikan á hodda hlæði

> Already [one] slew [the] wavering loader of treasures
> (generous person)

Earlier wavering seized treasures’ destroyer.

See <slá> Z7 <sló ótta á marga> ‘many were seized with
fear’.

> Kali bauðst til að selja hinum kaldráða Þorvaldi kjark, en
> hann var enginn til.

> Kali offered his service to deliver Thorvaldr, the
> evil-minded vigor, when he was in a meadow. (CV BJOÐA 2
> reflexive: to offer oneself, volunteer one’s service)

<Bauðst til e-s) is simply ‘offered to do something’; here
it’s to impart something. <Þorvaldi> is a dative, so
Þorvald is the recipient, not the thing imparted. The thing
imparted will be in the accusative, so it must be <kjark>.
Zoëga’s definition of <kjarkr> is a bit inadequate:
‘courage’ or perhaps ‘spirit’ would be better here.
<Enginn> is the pronoun.

> Kali volunteered-himself to deliver courage (spirit) to
> the evil-minded Þorvaldr, but (and) he was no-one towards
> [it] (ie he may as well have not been there, he was not up
> to the challenge)

<Hann var enginn til> seems to be ‘there was none
available’, with <hann> and <enginn> both agreeing with
<kjarkr> in gender — more or less ‘it was none present’.

> Eg yrki fljótgerða vísu.

> I composed a fleetly-made (?) verse.

> I compose a quickly-made verse.

Past tense.

> Þórður mun ekki hljóta virðingar manna, því að hann vann á
> dauðum manni með hinu mikla spjóti sínu.

> Thordr will not get man's honor, because he did
> bodily-injury to death a man with his large spear.

> Þórðr will not get [the] esteem of persons (men), because
> he did-a-bodily-injury to a dead person (man) with that
> great spear of his.

I agree with Alan’s reading.

> Áður hafði maðurinn verið hikandi.

> Previously the man had been wavering. (CV hika = hvika =
> to falter, waver, shrinking)

> Already the-person (man) had been wavering (=<hvikandi>)

I agree with Rob’s interpretation of <áður>.

Brian