Prose Edda - Brodeur Trans.
Skáldskaparmál
With heroes' kin, where the ravensThorn, as Arnórr sang:
Starved not; keen-hearted art thou.
He gathered, the young Wealth-Thorn,XLVII. "How should battle be periphrased ? By calling it Storm of Weapons or of Sheltering Shields, or of Odin or the Valkyrs, or of Host-Kings; and Din and Clashing. Thus sang Hornklofi:
Many great heaps of corpses
For the eagles, and his henchmen
Guided and helped the hero.
The king hath held a Spear-StormThus sang Eyvindr:
With heroes, where the eagles
Screamed at the Din of Skögul;
The red wounds spat out blood.
And that heroThus sang Bersi:
At Háar's Tempest
Wore a sark
Of gray wolf-skin.
In earlier days I seemed not
To Gunn's War-Bushes useful
In the Sleet of Hlökk, when younger
We were: so 't is said.
182
Thus sang Einarr:
The stark prince lets Hildr's Shield-SailsAs Einarr Tinkling-Scale sang:
Take the sternest crashing Storm-Wind
Of the Valkyr, where hail of bow-strings
Drives; the sword-blade hammers.
The mail-sarks of the warriors,Even as here:
Firm-woven, did not shelter
The seemly youths 'gainst Högni's
Showers of Hákon's onset.
They set the Point-Net's edge-bandAnd again:
Against the Point-Crash-Urger.
'Neath eagles' claws the king's foesXLVIII. "Weapons and armor should be periphrased in figures of battle, and with reference to Odin and the Valkyrs and host-kings: one should call a helmet Cowl, or Hood; a birnie, Sark, or Kirtle; a shield, Tent; and a shield-wall is termed Hall and Roof, Wall and Floor. Shields, periphrased in figures of warships, are called Sun, or Moon, or Leaf, or Sheen, or Garth, of the Ship; the shield is also called Ship of Ullr, or periphrased in terms of Hrungnir's feet, since he stood upon his shield. On ancient shields it
Sank at the Clash of Göndul.
183
was customary to paint a circle, which was called the 'ring,' and shields are called in metaphors of that ring. Hewing weapons, axes or swords, are called Fires of Blood, or of Wounds; swords are called Odin's Fires; but men call axes by the names of troll-women, and periphrase them in terms of blood or wounds or a forest or wood. Thrusting weapons are properly periphrased by calling them by names of serpents or fishes. Missile weapons are often metaphorically termed hail or sleet or storm. Variants of all these figures have been made in many ways, for they are used chiefly in poems of praise, where there is need of such metaphors.
So sang Víga-Glúmr:
With the Hanged-God's helmetThus sang Einarr Tinkling-Scale:
The hosts have ceased from going
By the brink; not pleasant
The bravest held the venture.
Helm-folded strife-bold Búi, -Sark of Ródi, as Tindr sang:
Who from the south went forth
Into Gunn's Crash, - and din-swift
Sigvaldi offered battle.
When came the birnied Hákon
To cast away the ring-rent
Streaming Sark of Odin,
Ródi's rocking sea-steeds were cleared.
184
Hamdir's Kirtle, as Hallfredr sang:
The war-sleet hard and streamingSörli's Garments, as he sang further:
Of Egill's weapons breaketh
Fiercely on Hamdir's Kirtles
Of the foremost wave-deer's warriors.
Thence the bright Weeds of SörliShields are called Tents of Hlökk, as Grettír sang:
In men's blood must be reddened;
I hear it clearly: Wound-Fire
In cutting showers of iron.
Hlökk's Tent-Raisers held their nosesRódi's Roof, as Einarr sang:
Together, and the heroes
Of the Rain-Storm of Hildr's Shield-Wall
Hewed at each other's beards.
Ródi's Roof's great Ice-LumpWall of Hildr, as Grettir sang, and as we have written before.
For the Rain of Freyja's Eyelids
Grows not less, my fair axe-head;
His age my lord so useth.
Ship-Sun, as Einarr sang:
In the sea Ólafr's Kinsman
Reddens the flame of the Ship-Sun.
<< Previous Page Next Page >>
© 2004-2007 Northvegr.
Most of the material on this site is in the public domain. However, many people have worked very hard to bring these texts to you so if you do use the work, we would appreciate it if you could give credit to both the Northvegr site and to the individuals who worked to bring you these texts. A small number of texts are copyrighted and cannot be used without the author's permission. Any text that is copyrighted will have a clear notation of such on the main index page for that text. Inquiries can be sent to info@northvegr.org. Northvegr™ and the Northvegr symbol are trademarks and service marks of the Northvegr Foundation.
|