2016–2017 Double Issue
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89 uses is ON halda [‘to hold’], the usual ON verb for this expression. 23 (3.6) Kristi – this is gen.sg. form of Latin Christus (the phrase is trú Kristi [‘Christ’s faith’]), not of Icelandic Kristr, where Kristi also features but as a dative case form (see also the comment on line 1.7). (3.7) stein – [n.masc.acc.sg. of steinn ‘stone’]. Kjartan is killed in the ambush of Bolli and Guðrún’s brothers; the fight between them takes place near a certain large stone in the Swine Valley, Svínadal (Laxdæla saga 49). (3.7) dal á Svína – stands for á Svínadal in the sentence [Kjartan] dó við stein á Svínadal, í knjám Bolla [‘[Kjartan] died on Bolli’s knees next to a stone in Svínadal’]; see “Noun Phrase Word Order” above). (3.8) dǫr-þollr – dǫr- [bare stem from n.neut. darr ‘spear’], þollr [n.masc.nom.sg. ‘fir- tree; peg, thole’ (the latter is a cognate)]; the whole means ‘spear-tree’, a kenning for WARRIOR . The form dǫr- marks the text as late. In ON, the same form would have been the plural umlauted stem from neuter noun darr [‘spear’], however, this particular usage is unattested in classical dróttkvætt, where the word darr, if used in plural, is always in genitive (darra-) and hardly ever used in kennings for WARRIOR ; 24 its normal role is as a determinant for kennings of BATTLE (see e.g. commentary on 7.7). In the rímur tradition, however, the earlier-neuter plural dǫrr was re-interpreted as a singular form (and also changed gender to masculine in some cases, see [OR: 70]). It is this later form that our poet uses to coin a kenning – but coins it according to an ancient model. 4. Bolle var fremdar fúllúr, fra̋n veitte Rÿnar ma̋na, őlúcka meſt han̄ æſte, őva7t þa̋ vő hn̄ Ki r tan, főtbÿte bra̋ han̄ bitrúm, brúggar ſier daúdans múggú, I Sele fiell dracoNs dÿkia, dreifer, i vopnageifu. 4. Bolli var fremdar-fullr, fránn, veitti Rínar mána, ólukka mest hann œsti óvart þá vá hann Kjartan. Fótbíti brá hann bitrum, bruggar sér dauðans muggu, í seli féll drakons díkja dreifir í vápnageyfu. Regular word order Bolli var fremdar-fullr. Fránn [Bolli] veitti Rínar mána. Ólukka mest œsti hann [=Bolla] óvart, þá hann [=Bolli] vá Kjartan. Hann [=Bolli] brá bitrum Fótbíti. [Bolli] bruggar sér dauðans muggu. Drakons díkja dreifir [=Bolli] féll í seli í vápnageyfu. Approximate English translation Bolli was quite an extraordinary man, brilliant, distributed the moon of Rhine [→ GOLD ], a very ill fate made sure that, all of a sudden, he killed Kjartan. He wielded a sharp [sword called] Leg-Cutter, brewed the snowstorm of death for himself [by killing his brother Kjartan], in a shieling fell the dragon’s dike’s [→ GOLD ’s] scatterer [→ WARRIOR (Bolli)], in a snowstorm of weapons [→ BATTLE ]. Commentary (4.1) fremdar-fullr – fremdar- [n.fem.gen.pl. of fremd ‘honour’]; fullr [adj.masc.nom.sg. ‘full’] (on the manuscript spelling fullur, see “The Close” above). A compound adjective meaning ‘very honourable’. (4.2) fránn – [adj.masc.nom.sg. ‘shining’], a poetic ON adjective only used as an epithet for serpents (and, by extension, swords). Agreed with Bolli, fránn allows the phrase to be read as a pun, a double- or even triple- edged comment. Bolli was a promising and great man, so a ‘shining’ one, yet he was also the snake in his double betrayal of his foster-brother Kjartan, first when he married Kjartan’s bride Guðrún, then when he killed Kjartan, making an epithet characteristic of a serpent fitting. (4.2) Rínar mána – Rínar [n.fem.gen.sg. of Rín ‘Rhine’], mána [n.masc.acc.sg. of máni ‘moon’]. The light-emitting properties of the moon make máni a heiti for FIRE , and ‘moon of the Rhine’ is a straightforward ‘fire of all waters’ → GOLD kenning (see also line 1.2). In this verse, ‘distributing gold’ is a poetic indication of Bolli’s high social status, even though Laxdæla does not mention him giving away any gold. 90 (4.3) ólukka mest hann œsti – œsti [v.3.sg.pret.ind. of æsa/œsa ‘to incite, stir up’]; ólukka [n.fem.nom.sg. lit. ‘un-luck’, here ‘evil fate’], hann [pron.masc.acc.sg. of hann ‘he’]. Here, hann is the accusative object of the verb and ólukka is the nominative subject, assigning agency to luck as an active force, as is usual in Icelandic lore. Ólukka is here translated into English as ‘evil fate’ to avoid any misleading implications that the killing of Kjartan was an accident of ‘luck’ in its modern English sense. (4.5) Fótbíti brá hann bitrum – Fótbíti [n.masc.dat.sg. of Fótbítr ‘Leg-Cutter’, a sword-name]; brá [v.3.sg.pret.ind. of bregða ‘to set in swift motion, brandish’], bitrum [adj.masc.dat.sg. of bitr lit. ‘bitter’ (a cognate), here ‘sharp’]. Both the noun bítr and adjective bitr are derived from the same ON verb bíta [‘to cut’] (cognate of English to bite), producing an etymological stem-rhyme; bitr is regularly used as an epithet for swords in ON because of the meaning of the verb. Both -bíti and bitrum are dat. sg. because bregða calls for a dative of instrument (lit. ‘he [Bolli] brandished with a sharp sword’). (4.6) bruggar sér dauðans muggu – bruggar [v.3.sg.pres.ind. of brugga ‘to brew’], sér [pron.dat.sg. ‘to himself’], dauðans [n.masc. gen.sg. of dauði ‘death’, with a suffixed definite article], muggu [n.fem.acc.sg. of mugga ‘soft-drizzling mist’, here a heiti for STORM ]. ON brugga, although cognate with English brew, is normally used in the sense ‘to trouble, confound; to concoct, scheme’ and almost never with the sense of cooking, as here, where the object is mugga, a kind of wet snowstorm. The expression (Bolli) bruggar sér dauðans muggu [‘brews himself a storm of death’] refers to the doom of revenge that Bolli prepares for himself by killing Kjartan. (4.7‒8) drakons díkja dreifir – dreifir [n.masc.nom.sg. ‘scatterer’, a nomen agentis from v. dreifa ‘scatter, disperse’]; díkja [n.neut.gen.pl. of díki/dík ‘dike’]; drakons [n.masc.gen.sg. of drakon ‘dragon’]. In ON, dreki was more common for ‘dragon’, but drakon is also found. On the use of dík as a heiti for BED here, see “Kennings” above; the whole is a straightforward extended kenning for MAN / WARRIOR referring to Bolli: ‘scatterer of BED of the dragon’ → ‘scatterer of GOLD ’ → WARRIOR . (4.8) vápnageyfu – geyfu [n.fem.dat.sg. of geyfa ‘an unusually dark snowstorm’, related to n.fem. gufa ‘vapour’]; vápna [n.neut.gen.pl. of vápn ‘weapon’]. The whole reads as a kenning ‘snowstorm of weapons’ → BATTLE . Geyfa is neither in ClVig nor in LP and is another mark of the lateness of the text; on vápn in this kenning, see “Kennings” above. 5. All=nett var Őſvÿfs dőtter, olle þő Sliſa Bolla, barst hen̄e dőms i draúma, dim̄ giæfa Sin̄ar æfe. Þidranda-bana Brűder, beck af ſtÿgen ̄ , fra̋ Reckúm, þreif bú7t, vid öfſa ÿfren̄, un̄úr fallda vard Nun̄a. 5. All-nett var Ósvífsdóttir, olli þó slysi Bolla; barsk henni dóms í drauma dimm-gæfa sinnar æfi; Þiðranda-bana, brúðar bekk af stígin, frá rekkum þreif burt við ofsa yfrinn; Unnr falda varð nunna. Regular word order [Guðrún] Ósvífsdóttir var all-nett, þó [hon] olli slysa Bolla. Dimm-gæfa æfi sinnar barsk henni í dóms drauma; [Guðrún,] stígin af brúðar- bekk, þreif Þiðrandabana burt frá rekkum við ofsa yfrinn. Unnr falda [= Guðrún] varð nunna. Approximate English translation Guðrún, the daughter of Ósvífr, was [a] splendid [woman], however she made life difficult for [her husband] Bolli. The bad luck that was to be her lot in life revealed itself to her in a fateful dream. [She] snatched [Gunnar] the Killer of Þidrandi from the hands of men [of her groom Þorkel], having stepped down from the women’s bench, and provided him [= Gunnar] with lots of wealth. Unn of female headgear [→ WOMAN (Guðrún)] became a nun. Yüklə 6,76 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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