VIKING SOCIETY FOR NORTHERN RESEARCHTEXT SERIESGENERAL EDITORS

Alison Finlay and Carl Phelpstead

VOLUME Iv
TWO ICELANDIC STORIES
Edited by Anthony Faulkes

TWO
ICELANDIC STORIES
Hrei‹ARS ÁTTR
ORMS ÁTTR

EDITED BY

ANTHONY FAULKESSECOND EDITIONVIKING SOCIETY
FOR NORTHERN RESEARCH
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON

2011

© Viking Society for Northern Research
ISBN: 978-0-903521-73-4
First published 1967 with the help of a gift to the University ofCambridge in memory of Dorothea Coke, Skæret, 1951
Reprinted with minor additions 1978
New edition with corrections and further additions 2011

Printed by Short Run Press Limited, Exeter

GENERAL EDITOR’S PREFACE [1967]
This, the fourth volume to be published in our Text Series, comprises two remarkable Icelandic tales. The first, Hrei›ars áttr, isin an ancient narrative form. It is one of the oldest Icelandic shortstories preserved and its archaic style adds greatly to its interest.
The story also gives an insight into medieval humour, very different from that of today.
The second tale, Orms áttr, differs greatly in age and typefrom Hrei›ars áttr. It is a late composition and reveals a tastethat grew in Iceland in the late Middle Ages, a taste for stories ofadventure, magic and feats of strength.
The spelling of both texts has been normalised. In the first case,since the text is archaic, an archaic spelling is adopted. In thesecond, the spelling used by the editor approaches that of Modern
Icelandic.
It is hoped that these two texts will provide an introduction to
Icelandic narrative prose of different ages, and be especially ofservice to students who are not satisfied to read snippets in standard
handbooks.
I wish to thank Mr Richard Perkins, who read a proof of the
Glossary, and Mr David Thomas, who has given great assistancein the production of this book. On behalf of the Society I must
express our great gratitude to the Managers of the Dorothea Coke
Fund of the University of Cambridge for the kind consideration
they gave to our request for financial help towards its publication.
G.T.-P.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I owe my thanks to Professor G. Turville-Petre for his help andguidance at all stages of the making of this book, and to Professor
P. Foote for his many useful suggestions and corrections; to theArnamagnæan Institute for kindly lending me proofs of the textof Hrei›ars áttr from the forthcoming edition of Hulda preparedby Miss Jonna Louis-Jensen; and to Gestur orgeirsson of
Stórólfshvoll for showing me round the neighbourhood of Ormr’s
former home in most inclement weather.
A.F.
[1967]PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION
For this new edition the text has been entirely reset and numerous
additions and corrections made, as well the binding being restored
to something like that of the original edition.
A.F.
[2011]

CONTENTS
General Editor’s Preface
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations and Manuscripts
Introduction
The áttr in Icelandic literature
Hrei›ars áttrOrms áttr
Hrei›ars áttrOrms áttr
Textual Notes
General Notes
Glossary
Index of Proper Names

v
vi
viii
1
5
20
41
57
79
81
102
166

ABBREVIATIONS
Flb.

Flateyjarbók I–III (ed. Gu›brandur Vigfússon and C. R.
Unger, 1860–68).
ÍF Íslenzk fornrit I– (1933– ).
Ln. Landnamabók (ed. Finnur Jónsson, 1900).
Msk. Morkinskinna (ed. Finnur Jónsson, 1932).
NN 		 E. A. Kock, Notationes Norrœnæ (1923–44). [References
are to the paragraphs.]
Skj. 		Den norsk-islandske Skjaldedigtning A I–II; B I–II (ed.
Finnur Jónsson, 1912–15).
¯rv. ¯rvar-Odds saga (ed. R. C. Boer, 1888).

MANUSCRIPTS
A
B
F
H
M
S

AM 66 fol. (Hulda).
AM 567 4to.
GkS 1005 fol. (Flateyjarbók).
GkS 1010 fol. (Hrokkinskinna).
GkS 1009 fol. (Morkinskinna).
GkS 2845 4to.

All Icelandic quotations, including those in the textual notes pp.
79–80, are given in normalised form.

INTRODUCTION
The ﬂáttr in Icelandic literature
The primary meaning of the word ﬂáttr (plural ﬂættir) is ‘a strand’(in a rope), but it early developed various metaphorical meanings
with the basic sense of ‘a subsidiary part of something’. Whenused in medieval manuscripts of pieces of narrative writing, it
refers to episodes or ‘strands’ of a story subsidiary to the main
theme.1 Since many such episodes were themselves originallyindependent stories, the word has come to be used by modern
editors to describe a particular kind of short story in Icelandic
prose. Just as the word saga, meaning simply ‘something told, astory’, has also acquired the more particular sense of ‘a narrativein Icelandic prose of certain dimensions’, so the word ﬂáttr, fromits older sense of ‘episode’, has come to be the name of a particulargenre, ‘a narrative in Icelandic prose of limited dimensions’. The
two words, as they are now used, indicate a difference between
two genres similar to that between the novel and the short story inmodern English literature.
Icelandic short stories, therefore, came to be called ﬂættir because
many of them are preserved as episodes in sagas, chiefly Sagas ofKings.2 Indeed hardly any ﬂættir exist as independent stories in
1 e.g. Flb. I, 558, II, 176 (headings of extracts from Orkneyinga saga

included in the sagas of Óláfr Tryggvason and Óláfr the Saint); I 299,
533 (extracts from Hallfre›ar saga). Cf. the prologue to Flateyjarbók:. . . frá Óláfi konungi Tryggvasyni me›r öllum sínum ﬂáttum &c. The
word ﬂáttr is not used in the headings of any of the many episodes inMorkinskinna (c. 1275). Note also the words ﬂttr and bragﬂttr in
Lexicon Poeticum, rev. Finnur Jónsson (1931).
2 The most important collections of this kind are in Flateyjarbók (GkS
1005 fol.) and Morkinskinna (GkS 1009 fol.).

2

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

manuscripts older than the fifteenth century,1 though there is little
doubt that many of them were originally independent, and some
may be older than the sagas into which they have been incorporated.
There is often reason to think that the texts of such stories werealtered, particularly by being shortened, when they were included
as parts of larger works.
Some ﬂættir are probably older than the oldest Sagas of Icelanders. They are often about the dealings between some Icelander
and one of the kings of Norway. They are therefore to be considered
an offshoot from the writing of Sagas of Kings, though as thegenre developed, ﬂættir also came to be written on many othersubjects, including themes similar to those of the Sagas of
Icelanders and the Heroic Sagas. But in the first place they seemto have been written to assert the position and importance of the
Icelander at the court of Norway (the heroes of many of them arecourt poets). They may therefore have facilitated the transition
from the writing of stories about the kings of Norway to thetreatment of purely Icelandic subjects.
The distinction between a ﬂáttr and a saga (in the modern sensesof the words as names of literary genres) is not primarily one oflength. It is also a question of subject-matter, treatment and style.2
The saga, like its equivalent in verse form, the epic, is a leisurely
affair, that can delve deeply into motive and spend many words
on circumstantial description and details of subsidiary importance(such as, for instance, genealogy). The ﬂáttr, like the epic lay,must make its effect with bolder strokes, and must be content
merely to suggest complexity of motive with subtle outline, although
1 Among the oldest are GkS 2845 4to and the parts of Flateyjarbók
written in the fifteenth century. The older parts of Flateyjarbók also include
a few independent ﬂættir, but not a random collection.
2 See J. C. Harris, ‘Genre and Narrative Structure in some Íslendinga
ﬂættir’, Scandinavian Studies, 44 (1972), 1–27.

INTRODUCTION

3

this does not mean that the form precludes the same profundity
and insight into character as can be achieved on the larger canvas.
Most of the stories now classed as ﬂættir contain only a singlestranded story, often a single episode or group of closely related
episodes about one man, while the sagas usually tell the whole
life-story of a man or group of men, or the history of a family oreven a district. The Sagas of Kings mostly relate the events of areign or dynasty. The heroes of ﬂættir are often historically unimportant men (sometimes they are not even named), and the events
related historically insignificant, but the sagas tell of the great deedsof great men, of the heroes of Icelandic antiquity or the kings andjarls of Scandinavia; or else they tell of the lives of holy men. Mostof the Sagas of Icelanders relate to the period from the end of thesettlement of Iceland in 930 to the death of St Óláfr in 1030, andalthough they are not lacking in humour, they are on the wholedevoted to a serious reconstruction of this heroic age of Iceland.
Many ﬂættir, however, relate to later periods, and many are humorous
stories obviously written purely for entertainment. Although thesedifferences may in part be due to the accidents of preservation,
there do seem to have been traditional restrictions about the proper
subject for a saga which did not apply to the ﬂáttr. The ﬂáttr seems
in many ways to have been a less formal sort of composition than
the saga (the closest equivalent in English is perhaps ‘anecdote’)
and could with some justification be considered to stand in thesame relation to the saga as the fabliau stood to the more formal
romance in other parts of Europe. For this reason the ﬂættir cannot
be thought of as the raw material for sagas, or the sagas as expandedor amalgamated ﬂættir;1 they are two distinct genres.
1 This view is revived by Wolfgang Lange, ‘Einige Bemerkungen zur
altnordischen Novelle’, Zeitschrift für Deutsches Altertum, LXXXVIII(1957–8), 150–59.

4

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

Many of the ﬂættir contain a high proportion of conversation,and in accordance with the lighter tone of many of them, the styleoften gives the impression of being colloquial, in contrast to themore formal style of the sagas. This is probably a deliberate attemptby their authors to achieve a style closer to that of oral storytelling. It is not likely that any of the ﬂættir that survive are literaltranscriptions of oral tales, although like the sagas, some may bebased on oral sources (especially those that contain old verses
may be based on oral traditions in prose handed down as accompaniments to the verses). But the ﬂættir as we have them are literaryworks, bearing all the marks of careful composition and deliberate
artistry. Most of them are concerned with the portrayal of character,and such a preoccupation with character is not typical of oral storytelling. Oral tales undoubtedly existed in medieval Iceland, but
nothing at all is known of their form or style, and little of theirsubjects. The word ﬂáttr, which is the name of a highly-developed
literary genre, must not be applied to them.1

1 On the ﬂættir as a genre, see J. Lindow, ‘Old Icelandic ﬂáttr’, Scripta
Islandica 29 (1978), 3–44; J. Harris, ‘Theme and Genre in some“Íslendinga ﬂættir” ’, Scandinavian Studies 48, 1–28 (1976). On folktale parallels see John Lindow, ‘Hrei›ars ﬂáttr heimska and AT 326’,
Arv 34 (1978), 152–79. [AT 326 (Folklore Fellows Communications
184, 114–15) = Grimm No 4, The story of the boy who went out into theworld to learn fear; cf. p. 14 below]. Cf. the folk-tale parallels to Hróa
ﬂáttr, discussed in Dag Strömbäck, ‘Uppsala, Iceland and the Orient’,
Early English and Norse Studies Presented to Hugh Smith (1963), 178–90.
[Hróa ﬂáttr is based on Senex cæcus in the collection of Märchen known
as The Seven Sages; also in The Thousand and One Nights and in Indian,
Arabian and Near Eastern Collections. Cf. the Middle English (15thcentury) Tale of Beryn.

INTRODUCTION

5

Hrei›ars ﬂáttr
There is nothing in the story of Hrei›arr that could not actually
have happened. Unlike many medieval stories, it has no supernatural elements, and it does not assume in the reader a particularreligious or moral outlook. The only thing the modern reader
might find somewhat foreign is the joke that is the climax of thestory, Hrei›arr’s gift of a silver pig to King Haraldr. This is areference to the king’s father’s nickname (s‡r, ‘sow’). The humourof this is somewhat different from the adult humour of today. But
although this may seem to us a childish joke, it is noteworthy
that its point is not made over-obvious: the reference is not
explained and the name s‡r is not even mentioned in the ﬂáttr. To
understand it the reader is required to have some intelligence aswell as some special knowledge.
The story is entirely human, and both externally and psychologically realistic. Exception has been taken to the unlikely
manner of Hrei›arr’s escape from King Haraldr in Uppland,1 but
although he appears to escape rather too easily, there is nothing
impossible in the actual fact of his escape. If the author lets theincident pass without trying to make the details more convincing,
it is only because he is more interested in the reactions of his
characters to events than in the events themselves.2 More serious
criticism is invited by the conclusion of the story, where King
Magnús rewards Hrei›arr for a eulogistic poem with an island
off the coast of Norway—a most unlikely payment—and then
immediately buys it back from him. This is both historically andpsychologically inappropriate, but it is the only part of the story
1 See ÍF X, xciii.
2 On similar features in the narrative of Au›unar ﬂáttr see A. R. Taylor,‘Au›unn and the bear’, Saga-Book XIII (1946–53), 78–96, esp. 90.

6

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

that is unsatisfactory; like many later authors, the author of
Hrei›ars ﬂáttr found it difficult to wind up his story convincingly.
Otherwise the story is outstanding in its realism; in particular
it is worth noting that although Hrei›arr, like many other storyheroes, is said to have exceptional strength, he never does anything
requiring supernatural strength. Neither his manner of killing King
Haraldr’s courtier nor his ability to keep up with galloping horses(being ridden by fully armed men) are beyond the bounds ofpossibility.
The realism of the story is due entirely to the art of the author,
for there appears to be no historical basis for it. It is a work offiction. Although it is set against the real historical background of
the period of joint rule of King Magnús the Good and Haraldrhar›rá›i (‘the harsh’) in the year 1046, none of the charactersapart from the two kings seems to have existed. There are only
eight personal names in the story (other characters, for instancethe courtier killed by Hrei›arr, are nameless). Besides the twokings, the only character whose existence is confirmed from othersources is Glúmr (line 3), if this really is the same man as the heroof Víga-Glúms saga. But the incident referred to is not mentioned
elsewhere, and was perhaps invented to connect the hero of
Hrei›ars ﬂáttr with a known historical character. The geographicalreferences in the ﬂáttr are also vague; there is only one to a definite
place (Bjƒrgyn), the others are only to localities. The island King
Magnús gave Hrei›arr is not named. Nothing of the poem composed by Hrei›arr in honour of the king survives, and probably
neither the poem nor the poet ever existed.
The historical background of the story is based on the traditionof the uneasy joint rule of the half-brother and son of St Óláfr.
King Magnús’s reputation as a good king (and his nickname) seems
to derive partly from the story of his rebuke by the poet Sigvatr inINTRODUCTION7

his ‘Outspoken Verses’1 (in which the king is compared to Hákon
inn gó›i) and his subsequent reform as a ruler, and partly from thefact that by his early death he left as sole ruler of Norway theforceful but unlucky Haraldr; Magnús’s memory was evidently
made the sweeter by contrast with his successor. But Haraldr’s
reputation for harshness is probably equally undeserved: although
there is some support in early verses for the view that he was adifficult man to deal with,2 there is no evidence that his nickname
is older than the thirteenth century.3 In the Sagas of Kings andscaldic verses generally he is represented as a strong and courageous ruler, and almost the only criticism expressed of him concerns
his ill-fated expedition to England in 1066.4 But the contrast
between the characters of the two kings seems to have beenmagnified in oral tradition, which must have been reinforced byAdam of Bremen’s patently biassed account of King Haraldr,5influenced mainly by the fact that Adam’s sources were Danish,
and so hostile to Haraldr, and also perhaps by ecclesiastical rivalry
1 Bersƒglisvísur, ÍF XXVIII, 26–31; Msk., 26–30. See M. Olsen ‘Om
Balder-digtning og Balder-kultus’, Arkiv för Nordisk filologi, XL (1924),
148–75, esp. 155–7.
2 e.g. ÍF XXVIII, 123, verse 114 (ﬁjó›ólfr).
3 See ÍF XXVIII, xxxix, note 1. But Saxo Grammaticus, Gesta Danorum(ed. A. Holder, 1886), p. 371, gives him the cognomen malus. The
nickname Harfagera given him in the Old English Chronicle D (Anno1066), thence into other English histories, indicates confusion of the two
Haraldrs, rather than knowledge of the second Haraldr’s nickname.
4 ÍF XXVIII, 190, verse 159 (ﬁjó›ólfr); Skj. B I 324, verse 13 (Arnórr
jarlaskáld).
5 Adam of Bremen, Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum(written about 1070), lib. III, cap. xiii ff., esp. cap. xvii (ed. B. Schmeidler
in Scriptores Rerum Germanicarum . . . ex Monumentis Germaniae
Historicis (1917), 153 ff.).

8

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

between the Norwegian Church and the archbishopric of Bremen.
There is also a possibility that Haraldr, after his stay in Constantinople, favoured the Eastern Church in the disputes that at thattime existed between it and the Western Church.1
The older histories2 have nothing to say of any friction between
these two kings, but in the stories composed in Iceland in the early
thirteenth century there develops a thriving literary tradition about
it, and it becomes the background for many episodes in Sagas ofKings. There is an apparent contradiction between the pictures ofHaraldr in some of these stories: some are sympathetic to him,
while in others he appears as arrogant, arbitrary and cruel. In fact
there is no real contradiction. They simply reveal two sides of amany-faceted personality. In tradition, Haraldr had soon becomea heroic figure of stature comparable to the heroes of Germanic
antiquity—in one early poem he is directly associated with Sigur›r
the dragon-slayer3—and this was partly the result of his romantic
expeditions to Russia and Constantinople and the probably fictional
but nevertheless fascinating stories that grew up around his
adventures there. There is scarcely any other Norwegian king about
whom more stories are told. In these stories he always has
something of the aura of romance about him, and his character iscast in the traditional heroic mould; he is depicted as fearless,strong-willed, inspiring immense personal loyalty in his followers,
but harsh to his enemies and to those who offended him. His sense
1 Cf. ÍF XXVIII, xxxix ff.; Magnús Már Lárusson, ‘On the so-called“Armenian” bishops’, Studia Islandica XVIII (1960), 23–38; Sigfús
Blöndal, Væringjasaga (1954), pp. 165–6.
2 i.e. Ágrip (c. 1190) and Theodoricus, Historia de antiquitate regum
Norwagiensium (c. 1180).
3 Skj. B I 354 (Illugi Bryndœlaskáld). Cf. also Rau›úlfs ﬂáttr, in SagaÓláfs konungs hins helga (ed. O. A. Johnsen and Jón Helgason (1941),
p. 676, where the same association is made.

INTRODUCTION

9of humour is broad but unreliable: in a story that shows him in thebest possible light, he still appears as a man it is dangerous tooffend.1 His character is more rounded and true to life in Icelandic
stories than that of any other of the early Norwegian kings, though
it probably owes more to the romantic interpretation of story-tellers
than to the man himself.2
The author of Hrei›ars ﬂáttr has used this traditional interpretation of the characters of the two kings (though he seems to haveadded some personal details of his own invention), but it is uncertain whether he had any literary sources for it. The tradition
does not appear in the older synoptic histories, and it is doubtful
whether any version of a Haralds saga har›rá›a existed before
the compilation of the sagas in the Morkinskinna collection about
1220—that this could have been known to the author of the ﬂáttris unlikely. He may have known some of the other ﬂættir concernedwith Haraldr. There are three other stories that include references
to the king’s sensitivity about his father’s nickname. Like Hrei›ars
ﬂáttr, these are all included in Morkinskinna, and they were
probably all written in the early thirteenth century. One tells how
King Haraldr insulted King Magnús’s half-brother ﬁórir with asatirical verse against his father. On the suggestion of King
Magnús, ﬁórir retaliates with a verse satirising Haraldr’s father,in which the insulting nickname s‡r is introduced.3 Another story
concerns the Icelander Halldórr Snorrason. Haraldr forced Halldórr
to take a sconce that Halldórr considered unjust. Halldórr said: ‘It
may well be that you can force me to drink, but I am quite surethat Sigur›r Sow would not have been able to force Snorri thePriest to do it.’ He is here implying that his father Snorri was both
1 Stúfs ﬂáttr (ÍF V, 281–90).
2 Cf. the account of his character in Sneglu-Halla ﬂáttr, ÍF IX, 263).
3 Msk., 109–10.

10

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

of nobler breeding and of stronger character than Haraldr’s farmer
father Sigur›r.1 The third story concerns another Icelander, Stúfrﬁór›arson. King Haraldr made an obvious joke about the nicknameof Stúfr’s father, Kƒttr (‘Cat’). Instead of replying, Stúfr merely
laughed. Haraldr guessed that Stúfr was thinking of the corresponding joke about his own father’s nickname, but on this occasion
he takes no offence, and the whole episode is kept on a plane ofbantering and good humour.2
There is no evidence of a literary relationship between thesefour stories. They may all derive independently from an oral
tradition (which may be genuine) about the nickname s‡r and King
Haraldr’s sensitivity about it.
The oldest manuscript that contains Hrei›ars ﬂáttr is Morkinskinna (GkS 1009 fol., M), written about 1275. This manuscript
contains a collection of Sagas of Kings of Norway from Magnús
the Good onwards which is thought to have been first compiled
about 1220. The surviving version in M includes many episodesor ﬂættir about Icelanders who had dealings with kings of Norway,
among which is Hrei›ars ﬂáttr, but it is uncertain how many ofthese were in the original compilation. A version of the sagas of
Magnús the Good and Haraldr har›rá›i survives in Flateyjarbók
which is derived from the same original compilation, but here
many of the ﬂættir in M, including Hrei›ars ﬂáttr, are lacking.
The authors of two other collections of Sagas of Kings, Heimskringla and Fagrskinna, also used a version of the Morkinskinna
compilation that must have been older than M, but they did not
1 Halldórs ﬂáttr Snorrasonar (Msk., 149, ÍF V, 269).
2 Stúfs ﬂáttr (Msk., 252, ÍF V, 283–4). Halldórs ﬂáttr and Stúfs ﬂáttrcan be read in Stories from Sagas of Kings, ed. Anthony Faulkes (2007).
Punning on personal names is associated with King Haraldr also in
Hemings ﬂáttr (ed. G. F. Jensen, 1962), pp. 12–13, where there is also
possibly an implied reference to the nickname s‡r.

INTRODUCTION

11

include any of the ﬂættir about Icelanders, though there is evidence
that they knew some of them.1 This may mean that the originalMorkinskinna compilation included fewer ﬂættir than the surviving
version in M, though the inclusion or omission of various episodes
may also reflect the different aims and methods of the writers ofthese books. Snorri Sturluson, certainly, was more interested in
the political history of Norway than in any well-told but slight
anecdotes about Icelanders. But it is likely nevertheless that someat least of the ﬂættir in M were added to the compilation after it
was first made, and many were almost certainly originally independent stories, in some cases older than the sagas in which
they are preserved as chapters.
The style of the text of Hrei›ars ﬂáttr in M is comparable tothat of the best classical Sagas of Icelanders. It is characterised bygreat verbal economy, frequent ellipsis (sometimes sentences arecompressed almost to the point of obscurity2), and asyndeton. The
narrative is swift-moving, straightforward and clear, and the impression of speed is increased by the unusual frequency with which
the verb comes at the beginning of the sentence. There is little
external description either of people or places (there are remarkably
few proper names), and unlike many of the sagas, there is little
space devoted to genealogy and scarcely any preamble.3 But thesparseness of detail in the narrative is in strong contrast to thecircumstantial accounts of the conversations, which take up wellover half the story, and it is in these that the author shows particularskill in revealing the characters of the speakers with mastery andeconomy.
1 See ÍF XI, cxiii, cxvi.
2 e.g. lines 166–8. The sentence is clearer in A and H.
3 Note the unusually laconic manner in which the otherwise unknown
Eyvindr is introduced into the story (line 340): not even his father’s nameis mentioned.

12

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

To a certain extent these stylistic features must represent theindividual style of the author (or his school), although some (e.g.
the high proportion of conversation, the paucity of proper names)
are characteristic of the genre. The simplicity and verbal compression, however, may in large measure be due to the text having
been shortened at some time. It is in itself likely that a short text,
when it is interpolated into a long saga, will be shortened andadapted to make it fit its new context, apart from any tendency toalter the style in conformity with the style of the work into which
it is interpolated. There are some ﬂættir that survive in two versions,both as interpolations in Sagas of Kings and as independent stories.
In some cases there is reason to believe that the independent
versions, although they only survive in later manuscripts, represent
the original texts more faithfully than the interpolated ones, which
often seem to have been shortened and adapted.1 Some of the sagas
that are characterised by verbal compression comparable to thatin Hrei›ars ﬂáttr also survive (fragmentarily) in more prolix
versions that are thought to be closer to the originals.2 On theother hand, the texts of the sagas thought to have been composedat the beginning of the period of saga-writing are characterised byverbosity and diffuseness.3 If, as is thought, Hrei›ars ﬂáttr was
also composed at the beginning of this period, the style has
evidently been revised to make it conform to the taste for verbal
economy that appears to have developed later in the classical1 e.g. Sneglu-Halla ﬂáttr, Stúfs ﬂáttr, Gull-Ásu-ﬁór›ar ﬂáttr (see ÍF
IX, cix ff.; V, xcii f.; XI, cxiv ff.). Cf. Bjarni A›albjarnarson, Om denorske kongers sagaer (1937), pp. 154–9.
2 See Víga-Glúms saga (ed. G. Turville-Petre, 2nd ed., 1960), pp. xxii–
xxxii; ÍF II, lxxxii ff. (Egils saga).
3 e.g. Hei›arvíga saga (see ÍF III, cxxxiii, cxxxvii) and Fóstbrœ›rasaga (see ÍF VI, lxx ff.; but cf. now Jónas Kristjánsson, Eddas and Sagas,
1988, 279–80).

INTRODUCTION

13

period. Although it is in some ways a pity not to have the original
version of such a work, there is little doubt that such stylistic changes
as have been made will on the whole have been for the better.
The construction of Hrei›ars ﬂáttr is simple and straightforward.
The narrative is built round the various conversations between
Hrei›arr and the two kings.1 The story is mostly single-stranded.
On the occasions where the author has to tell of two simultaneous
events, however, he gets into difficulty, but it is only at these points
that the narrative is handled at all clumsily.2 This is perhaps anotherindication that the ﬂáttr was first composed before the techniqueof saga-writing had fully developed. The unusual lapse into thefirst person referring to the narrator (in a place where the author istrying to extricate himself from one of these chronologicalmuddles)3 is also an indication that the conventions of the classicalsagas had not become universal at the time the ﬂáttr was written.
But apart from this, the ﬂáttr is not primitive either in style orconstruction. Its simplicity and straightforwardness are not thesame as are associated with ‘oral style’, they are the result ofconscious literary art (whether of the author or redactor) and there
is no reason to think that Hrei›ars ﬂáttr as it survives is a transcription of an oral story, or that the story itself was ever transmitted
except on parchment.
The main point of the story is the development of the characterof Hrei›arr. This owes something to the traditional story-hero of
the type of the stupid youth who turns out to be a great hero
(although it is doubtful whether the author could have known any
1 Compare in this respect the construction of Au›unar ﬂáttr (cf. thearticle referred to above, p. 5, note 2).
2 lines 416–25, 363 ff., 376. In the later version in A and H these muddles
are mostly sorted out.
3 line 376. The only other case in Morkinskinna is in another of theﬂættir, Frá Eysteini konungi ok Ívari (Msk., 354 line 6).

14

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

stories of this kind in written form), but Hrei›arr is more than
this. In his first conversations with his brother he reveals that heknows full well what he wants and how to get it (cf. lines 12, 25,64)1 and the perspicacious King Magnús can see that Hrei›arr has
his wits about him, even if his behaviour is eccentric (cf. line 145).
The extent of Hrei›arr’s cleverness is revealed gradually as thestory advances, but it is only at the end that the author finallyadmits that his hero’s folly was, at least in part, an act (lines 465–6).
Hrei›arr, gifted but inexperienced, wants to experience the whole
range of human emotions, especially anger, which his gentle nature
has not allowed him to feel; only after he has done this, it is implied,
and after his beneficial contact with the personality of King
Magnús (cf. note to line 115) does he become a whole man, fully
realise his potentialities and fulfil himself. The author has aremarkably articulate understanding of the nature of artistic
creativity. Hrei›arr has the first prerequisite of the artist, an eyefor detail, as Magnús acknowledges (cf. lines 172, 197 ff.), and it
is rare in such an early story to find such a convincing descriptionof an artist’s self-discovery and of a poet’s gradual attainment of
his full powers (cf. lines 368, 441 ff., 464). Gentleness of character,
typical perhaps of the intellectual, is also a surprising virtue to be
stressed so much in this sort of story. Rather self-conscious,
perhaps, is the refusal of the provincial genius to adopt the fine
fashions of court, smacking of the inverted snobbery which one
fears may have been the author’s own. Basically a humorous
character-sketch, the portrayal of Hrei›arr is remarkably true tolife, and full of individual and realistic details, which are nearly
1 ﬁór›r’s refusal to take his brother abroad is paralleled in Egils saga
(ÍF II, 102–04) and Áns saga bogsveigis (Fornaldar sögur Nordrlanda,
ed. C. C. Rafn, 1829–30, II, 328). The relationships between the pairs ofbrothers in these three stories are similar in other ways too.

INTRODUCTION

15

all conveyed dramatically through his words in his conversations
with his brother and the two kings. Particularly well constructedis Hrei›arr’s first interview with King Magnús, which is a masterpiece of dramatic comedy. Although the story is mainly concernedwith Hrei›arr’s getting the better of King Haraldr, the author makes
quite clear that his more subtle management of King Magnús isthe greater achievement. But perhaps the most remarkable thing
about the portrayal of Hrei›arr’s character is that it is dynamic.
His character develops, unlike the static pasteboard figures of somany other medieval stories.
The author has arranged his characters in contrasting pairs: thetwo kings Magnús and Haraldr, the two brothers Hrei›arr andﬁór›r. The contrast between the two last is stressed several times(most clearly at line 98): ﬁór›r, the obviously successful, clever,handsome, but undersized, Hrei›arr apparently an idiot, ugly,
immensely strong, but with latent intellectual gifts, because ofwhich he eventually completely overshadows his conventionaland mediocre brother, who is not even mentioned in the second
half of the story. ﬁór›r’s character is drawn in less detail than his
brother’s, but with telling strokes none the less: his concern forappearances and bourgeois outlook are revealed in his words withmerciless accuracy (lines 27, 221 ff.). The author relents somewhat,
however, by balancing his hopeless pomposity with a touch ofkindness: ﬁór›r loves his brother and is unwilling to reveal his
defects to the king, although his honesty compels him to do so(lines 98 ff.).
Hrei›ars ﬂáttr survives in another medieval version found in
two manuscripts, Hulda (AM 66 fol., A) of the fourteenth century,and Hrokkinskinna (GkS 1010 fol., H) of the fifteenth century.
These two manuscripts contain very similar texts of a later
redaction of the same collection of sagas as is found in M. There
are numerous differences between the texts of the sagas in this16

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

later redaction and that in M. They have been expanded withinterpolations from several sources, especially Heimskringla, andsome ﬂættir have been added. The style has also been modified inaccordance with the taste of the fourteenth century. Most of theabruptness and verbal economy of the earlier text has beensmoothed out, and the impression given is often one of verbosity.
The text of Hrei›ars ﬂáttr in this version is very different fromthat in M. Most of the archaisms have been replaced,1 some of the
ineptitudes in the narrative and some of the obscurities have been
rationalised,2 and a characteristic trick of the redactor of thisversion is to replace a single word in the older version by a pair ofnear-synonyms.3 The result is the same story told in different words
and in a different, less striking, style. But there are scarcely any alterations or additions of substance, except in the matter of place-names.
The later version makes two more definite localisations than
the text of M. At the beginning of the story, it specifies the brothers’
point of departure from Iceland as Gásar, while M simply says
Eyjafjƒr›r (as Gásar was the principal harbour in Eyjafjƒr›r, one
would probably have assumed this anyway). At the end, the later
version says that the farm where Hrei›arr settled is called Hrei›arssta›ir. This identification was probably made after the ﬂáttr was
written, and again it was a natural assumption since there wasactually a farm of that name in Svarfa›ardalr. The redactor clearly
preferred more definite localisations to the vagueness of theoriginal. A similar tendency for redactors of early texts to supply
proper names lacking in the original versions appears in the textual
1 But the suffixed pronoun occurs twice (gerik), see Fornmanna sögur,VI (1831), 201, 208.
2 e.g. lines l66–8 are clearer in A and H; cf. p. 13, note 2 above.
3 e.g. line 145 hugkvæmir: ok hƒf›ingjadjarfir adds A; line 161 viti:e›r sjóninni adds A; line 235 ágang: spotti ok áfangi A; line 441 kynligast:
nokkut stirt ok einrœnligt A.

INTRODUCTION

17

history of other ﬂættir in Sagas of Kings.1 A third alteration in the
text of Hrei›ars ﬂáttr in the later redaction is the replacement ofBjƒrgyn (line 34) by ﬁrándheimr. This is evidently to make thelocalisation conform with that of the other stories that take place
during the period of joint rule by Magnús the Good and Haraldrhar›rá›i, which mostly take place in ﬁrándheimr.2
The texts of the later version may be derived not directly from
M but from a closely related sister manuscript. If so, they may insome cases contain readings closer to the original than those of
M. But the texts in A and H are chiefly useful because they canhelp us to reconstruct passages in M that are illegible because ofdamage to the manuscript (mainly at the bottom corners of eachpage). This edition follows the text of M (though the spelling has
been normalised3) supplemented by A in the places where the textof M is illegible. In some cases, however, the texts of the later
version depart so far from M that such reconstruction is impossible.
The oldest surviving manuscript of the ﬂáttr (M) was written
about 1275, but the story is thought to have been first writtenmuch earlier than this. The influence of other written texts cannot
be demonstrated, and it is believed that the ﬂáttr was written in
the oldest period of saga-writing, at the end of the twelfth or
beginning of the thirteenth century. The evidence for this is chiefly
1 e.g. Sneglu-Halla ﬂáttr, see ÍF IX, cxi; Íslendings ﬂáttr sƒgufró›a,see ÍF XI, cxiii and 335, note 1.
2 Cf. Fornmanna sögur, VI (1831), 195. This localisation is not inMorkinskinna, and the redactor of the Hulda–Hrokkinskinna version isprobably following Heimskringla (see ÍF XXVIII, 102). The episode
immediately preceding Hrei›ars ﬂáttr in Morkinskinna is localised inthe Vík, but this has been transferred to a different part of the saga in thelater version. Concern for consistency in localisation seems to have been
the reason for much of the rearrangement of episodes in the later redaction.
3 Cf. p. 37, note 1 below.

18

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

linguistic. The language of Hrei›ars ﬂáttr is more archaic thanthe main text of the Sagas of Kings in M, although similararchaisms occur in the texts of other ﬂættir in the same manuscript.
We find in Hrei›ars ﬂáttr (in M) three cases of the suffixed negative
and three of the suffixed pronoun (see glossary, -a, -k). Althoughthese forms are common in prose of the twelfth century and inverse of all periods (as part of the artificial language of poetry, thesecond also often as a metrical convenience), they are rare in
thirteenth-century prose except in proverbs, legal formulas, andother stereotyped expressions.1 There are also the following forms
which seem to have fallen out of use by the thirteenth century:
ﬂars (later ﬂar er), ﬂeygi (equivalent of ﬂó eigi), vilgis (intensive
adverb), and er for the second person singular of vera. We alsofind several words not recorded elsewhere, perhaps because they
had fallen out of use by the time the bulk of saga literature cameto be written (kœja, álpun, grópasamliga, sver›skór, ósyknligr);and some unusual constructions (mazk vel, ferr undan vi› fót, sem
yfir kykvendum, ætla drepa—the last is the usual construction in
poetry, though it is rare in prose).
The value of early dating on this evidence is however doubtful.
It is always difficult to know when individual words and forms
became obsolete. Very few of the sagas survive in manuscripts
old enough for us to be sure that the texts we have give an accurate
picture of the vocabulary of the period when they were first written.
Morkinskinna is a comparatively old manuscript, and too few
manuscripts of the thirteenth century survive for us to be able tobe sure what words in it are really archaisms. Some of the unusual
words mentioned above have cognates in modern Icelandic,2 andrather than archaisms, they may simply have been colloquialisms
1 See Einar Ól. Sveinsson, Dating the Icelandic Sagas (1958), p. 101.
2 See glossarv s.v. álpun; ÍF X, 248, note 2.

INTRODUCTION

19

in Old Icelandic, permissible in the informal ﬂáttr, but avoided insagas (the meanings of some of these words suggest this: kœja ‘toworry’, álpun ‘tomfoolery’, grópasamliga ‘boastfully’ or ‘uncouthly’); and the same may apply to the cases of unusual syntax(with fara undan vi› fót compare modern Icelandic hlaupa vi›
fót; and cf. the note to line 70). Some of the apparent archaisms
may be the result of scribal error (e.g. ﬂú er(t),1 ætla (at) drepa,ósyknligr; see notes to lines 419, 102). It may further be notedthat all the examples of the suffixed negative and pronoun occur
in the speeches of Hrei›arr in the early part of the ﬂáttr, and they
may be intended by the author to be understood as provincialisms
or even vulgarisms (they seem to have fallen out of use in Norway
earlier than in Iceland2), characterising the rustic speech of theinexperienced peasant at the court of Norway. Dialectal usages
and archaisms do not seem to be used for comic effect elsewherein early Icelandic literature, but there was a high degree of linguistic
awareness as early as the twelfth century (as the First GrammaticalTreatise testifies), and such usages are by no means impossible
with a writer having such a command of language as the author of
Hrei›ars ﬂáttr has. In view of this, the early dating of the ﬂáttrcannot be regarded as certain; all that can be said is that it wasprobably written before the middle of the thirteenth century.
Nothing is known about the author of Hrei›ars ﬂáttr, and there
is little evidence to show where in Iceland it was written. The
Icelandic place-names all relate to the north of the country
1 This form also occurs in the Stockholm Homily Book (see Homiliu-

Bók, Corpus Codicum Islandicorum Medii Aevi VIII (1935), 40b, line21), but here too it might be an error. Cf. A. Noreen, Altisländische undaltnorwegische Grammatik (4th ed., 1923), p. 359.
2 Both forms are common in the Stockholm Homily Book, written
about 1200 in Iceland, but neither occurs in the Norwegian Homily Book,
written probably only slightly later in Norway.

20

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES(Eyjafjƒr›r) and the apparent reference to Víga-Glúmr alsosuggests northern tradition. But the ﬂáttr has little in common
with the sagas thought to have been written in the north of Icelandin the early thirteenth century (the oldest Sagas of Kings, Fostbrœ›rasaga—but cf. p.12, note 3 above), and the phrase nor›r í Svarfa›ardal (line 462), if it derives from the author and not from a later
copyist, suggests a place of origin in the south or west of Iceland.
The literary merits of Hrei›ars ﬂáttr have long been acknowledged, and there are numerous editions and translations. The older
version is printed in the editions of Morkinskinna (facsimile in
Corpus Codicum Islandicorum Medii Aevi, VI (1934), 6r–7v),
and with an introduction by Bjƒrn Sigfusson in ÍF X (1940).
Among the many popular Icelandic editions that in Ritlist og
Myndlist, II (1948), is most noteworthy, since it has an introduction
by Einar Ól. Sveinsson (reprinted in the same author’s Vi›
uppspretturnar (1956), pp. 164–5). The later version is edited inFornmanna sögur, VI (1831), 200–218; and a new edition of Hulda
by Jonna Louis Jensen is eventually to be published in the series
Editiones Arnamagnæanæ.
The Morkinskinna version is translated rather freely into English
with the title ‘Hreidar the Halfwit’ by Jacqueline Simpson in The
Northmen Talk (1965), pp. 119–32; with the title ‘Hreidar the Fool’
by Hermann Pálsson in Hrafnkel’s saga and other Icelandic stories(Penguin Books 1971), pp. 94–108; and as ‘Hreidar’s tale’ in The
Complete Sagas of Icelanders, ed. Vi›ar Hreinsson (1977), I 375–84.
Orms ﬂáttr
Hrei›ars ﬂáttr is one of the oldest Icelandic ﬂættir, but Orms ﬂáttris one of the latest, and it is a work of a very different kind. It
contains a collection of stories about the feats of strength of the
Icelandic hero Ormr Stórólfsson, who lived in the tenth century.

INTRODUCTION

21

The first four chapters tell of those he performed in his youth inIceland, the remainder are about his adventures abroad, mainly in
Norway. The chief episode of this second part concerns his fights
with two monsters on an island off the coast of Norway, which hekills to avenge his Danish friend Ásbjörn. This part of the story issimilar in style and subject to the Heroic Sagas (fornaldar sögur),
except that instead of telling of events of the far past, before thesettlement of Iceland, it tells of the adventures of a historical tenthcentury Icelander.
The stories told about Ormr in Iceland before his travels abroad
are much more like those found in Sagas of Icelanders. They takeplace partly on Ormr’s father’s farm in the south of Iceland andpartly at the Alﬂingi. It is these stories that will be more to thetaste of the modern reader rather than the conventional monsterfights of the second part. Although all the stories in the ﬂáttr containgross exaggerations and absurdities, the first four chapters do givea fairly convincing picture of life on an Icelandic farm (probably
valid for the fourteenth century if not for the tenth), with a wealthof technical terms connected with farming, and of the social lifeat the Icelandic national assembly. Both here and in the last two
chapters, where Ormr, famous after his defeat of the monsters,
shows off his strength to jarl Eirekr and Einarr ﬂambarskelfir, theauthor writes with an obvious sense of humour, and reveals that
he does not take his invincible hero, or his reputed achievements,
too seriously (cf. line 614); indeed on occasion he appears quite
sceptical (even about the stories which he himself probably madeup, e.g. line 132). He treats the traditional ‘strong man’ of Icelandic
tradition with some irony, portraying him as a man unable to resista challenge to his brute strength even if he seriously injures himself
in carrying it out (lines 170 ff., 614).
Although Orms ﬂáttr is obviously almost entirely fiction, mostof the characters are historical, or at least have historical names.

22

TWO ICELANDIC STORIESThe existence of Ormr himself and his family is well attested inLandnámabók and several other sources (the name Stórólfshvóll
still survives in the south of Iceland), and Ormr’s reputation forstrength seems to be old.1 But it is uncertain how much of thetales told of his feats of strength in the ﬂáttr is based on traditionand how much is made up by the author. The three stories in chs
1–3, for instance, are clearly modelled on the three stories told ofGrettir’s boyhood.2 In both accounts hostility between father andson is the prime motive and there are many verbal correspondences.3 There is little doubt that Orms ﬂáttr is the borrower.
The details of the stories in the ﬂáttr are different from those in
Grettis saga, but some of the motives are found in other sagas andsome are part of the stock material of folk-tale.4ﬁórálfr Skólmsson is also a historical character with a traditional
1 He is called Ormr inn sterki in Ln., pp. 106–08 (Hauksbók), 218–19(Sturlubók); and in Njáls saga (ÍF XII, 52), Egils saga (ÍF II, 59) andGríms saga lo›inkinna.
2 Grettis saga, ch. 14. This was first pointed out by R. C. Boer, ‘Zur
Grettissaga’, Zeitschrift für deutsche Philologie, XXX (1898), 66–71. The
episode in ch. 3 might also be compared with the ‘theft’ of hay in Hœnsaﬁóris saga (ÍF III, 13–16). For the legal and social background to suchstories see ÍF V lxxiv f. and III, xxx f. and p. 16, note 3 and references there.
3 Compare lines 33–5 with ÍF VII, 36/16–20, 42/9 f.; lines 52–3 with
ÍF VII 38/17–18, 39/10; line 122 with ÍF VII, 38/16 f. With the first ofthese passages cf. also Áns saga bogsveigis, in Fornaldar sögur Nordrlanda (ed. C. C. Rafn, 1829–30), II, 326–7.
4 Compare the stories of Ketill hængr’s youth (Fornaldar sögur
Nordrlanda II, 109–13). For some folk-tale parallels see references in
F. Panzer, Studien zur germanischen Sagengeschichte I (1910), 348–9.
Cf. also Jón Árnason, Íslenskar ﬂjó›sögur og æfint‡ri I (1862), 494–5.
The motive of the young hero’s conflict with his father is also found in
Egils saga (ÍF II, 80 ff.) and Hervarar saga ok Hei›reks (ed. G. TurvillePetre and C. Tolkien, 1956, p. 24).

INTRODUCTION

23

reputation for strength.1 He is associated with Ormr in Grettis
saga, where it says:
It is the opinion of most men that Grettir was the strongest in the landsince Ormr Stórólfsson and ﬁórálfr Skólmsson ceased their feats ofstrength.2

Grettis saga was certainly known to the author of Orms ﬂáttr, and
it is possible that he invented the episode of ch. 4 on the basis of
this passage. There is no other evidence that traditional stories
about the two heroes existed. The episode is given a realistic turnby its setting in the booth of the historical Jörundr go›i.3 Melkólfr
is not known from other sources. His name (which is of Irish origin)
is one that is usually given to a slave in the sagas.
The hostility between Stórólfr and Dufﬂakr is also mentioned
in Landnámabók, where the tradition that they both had supernatural powers is also found.4 But it appears that the author ofOrms ﬂáttr did not use Landnámabók. If he had, he would probably
have included the story it tells of the two neighbours, and also
have given the names of Ormr’s brother and sister and wife which
are found there.5 But the genealogical material in ch. 1 (lines 1–25)
is taken, sometimes word for word, but more often somewhat
abbreviated, from ch. 23 of Egils saga, which is itself following asource independent of Landnámabók.6 The version of Egils saga
1 See Fagrskinna (ÍF XXIX, 10, 74); Heimskringla, ÍF XXVI, 187;
Ln., pp. 75, 194. There is part of a drápa about him extant by ﬁór›r Særeksson (eleventh century; Skj. B I, 302–03), and verse 13 of Íslendingadrápa(by Haukr Valdísarson, probably thirteenth century; Skj. B I, 539 ff.) isdevoted to him.
2 ÍF VII, 187.
3 See ÍF II, 60; XII, 28; Ln., pp. 107 and 218.
4 See note to line 27.
5 Ln., pp. 106–09, 218–20.
6 See ÍF II, xxxii ff.

24

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

used by the author of Orms ﬂáttr must have been more like theversions in the Wolfenbüttel codex and Ketilsbók than the modified
redaction found in Mö›ruvallabók.1 But another source seems tohave been used as well, for neither Egils saga nor Landnámabók
gives the name of Stórólfr’s wife (ﬁórarna, v.l. ﬁórunn), who issaid to be the sister of ﬁorbjörn skólmr, and Orms ﬂáttr alone
gives the latter the name ﬁorbjörn—elsewhere he is called either
ﬁorgeirr or simply Skólmr.2 Nor is the fact that Stórólfr was killedby Dufﬂakr and avenged by Ormr mentioned in other surviving
books. As the source for the latter statement, Orms ﬂáttr mentions
an otherwise unknown Íslendingaskrá. Although it is possible that
this work was invented by the author of Orms ﬂáttr, there would
have been little point in such a fabrication. Íslendingaskrá may
have been the name of one of the books thought to have been
current in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries containing genealogical records similar to those in Landnamabók,3 and it may wellbe that it was the source of all the facts in Orms ﬂáttr mentioned
above that are not derived from Egils saga.
There is only one of Ormr’s feats of strength told in the ﬂáttrthat is also told of him in an independent source. In verse 15 ofHaukr Valdísarson’s Íslendingadrápa,4 a poem in which the deeds
of famous Icelanders of the saga age are celebrated, we are toldthat the seaman Ormr challenged twelve of jarl Eirekr’s men to
single combat and fought them with a beam which he swung atthem, forcing the jarl to tell his men to retreat. This is clearly thesame story as that told in ch. 10 of Orms ﬂáttr, though there aresome obvious differences of detail which make it unlikely that
1 See Finnur Jónsson, Den oldnorske og oldislandske Litteraturs
Historie (2nd ed., 1920–24), II, 757; and cf. ÍF II, 57–8, footnotes.
2 e.g. Ln., pp. 75, 194.
3 Cf. Jón Jóhannesson, Ger›ir Landnámabókar (1941), p. 176.
4 Skj. A I, 556 ff., B I, 539 ff.

INTRODUCTION

25

the author of Orms ﬂáttr took his story direct from the poem. He
probably derived it independently from oral tradition. Íslendingadrápa is only preserved in one fourteenth-century manuscript,1and nothing is known of the author besides his name. It is often
presumed to be a twelfth-century poem, although it is perhaps
more likely that it was inspired by the same interest in Icelandic
national history that brought about the great flowering of sagawriting in the thirteenth century. But at any rate it shows that atleast one of the stories about Ormr in the ﬂáttr is based on a tradition
originating not later than the thirteenth century.
In Orms ﬂáttr this story is made a sort of re-enactment of thebattle of Svöldr, and the motive of one of the defenders of Ormr
inn langi fighting with a huge pole seems to have been traditionallyassociated with this battle, for it is found attached to another
Icelandic hero, ﬁorsteinn uxafótr, in the Greatest Saga of Óláfr
Tryggvason,2 where ﬁorsteinn is said to have fought in the battlewith a ship’s boom (beitiáss, cf. Ormr’s berlingsáss) and to havebeen reproved by the king for fighting in such an ungentlemanly
manner. There must be a connection between the two stories,
although the exact relationship is not clear. The connection of thestory with ﬁorsteinn need not be older than the fourteenth century,
while Íslendingadrápa shows that it was told of Ormr in the thirteenth.
There is a separate ﬂáttr about ﬁorsteinn in Flateyjarbók, but
the story of him fighting on Ormr inn langi with a pole is not in it.
But it is interesting to note that there is clearly a literary relationship
1 AM 748 4to, reproduced in facsimile in Fragments of the Elder andthe Younger Edda (Corpus Codicum Islandicorum Medii Aevi, XVII,1945).
2 Flb. I, 491; Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta (ed. Ólafur Halldórsson), II (1961), 284. Cf. A. L. Binns, ‘The Story of ﬁorsteinn uxafót’,
Saga-Book, XIV (1953–7), 51–2; also F. Panzer, Studien zur germanischen
Sagengeschichte, I (1910), 349.

26

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

between Orms ﬂáttr and ﬁorsteins ﬂáttr, and there are many
detailed verbal correspondences.1 It is difficult to see which is theborrower, and neither story can be dated precisely enough to see
which is the older.
Orms ﬂáttr is carefully fitted into the chronology of the historicalevents of the late tenth and early eleventh centuries in Norway (itis chiefly for this reason, and because Ormr is made a sort ofchampion of the dead King Óláfr Tryggvason at the court of jarl
Eirekr, that the ﬂáttr was included in the saga of the king in
Flateyjarbók), but even so the connection of Ormr with jarl Eirekr
and Einarr ﬂambarskelfir can scarcely have any basis in fact. Ketillhængr’s settlement in Iceland is thought to have taken place about
890. It is hardly likely that Ormr was born long after say 930. Yet
according to Orms ﬂáttr he was only thirty at the time of his firstvoyage to Norway, which is made four years before the coming topower of Óláfr Tryggvason (995). He can hardly have been acontemporary of ﬁórálfr Skólmsson, who fought with King Hákon
A›alsteinsfóstri at Fitjar in about 960, and also of Einarr ﬂambarskelfir after the accession of jarl Eirekr in the year 1000, though
after his other achievements the episode with Einarr’s bow is sotame as hardly to seem worth anyone’s while to invent.2
The author has taken great care to give his story the outward
appearance of historicity.3 Although Ásbjörn prú›i and Virfill (v.l.
Vífill) are fictional characters, they are provided with relatives
1 e.g. compare lines 447–51, 32, 428–30, 308–09, 423–7, 462, 313–16,
491–5 of Orms ﬂáttr with Flb. I, 254/18–20, 256/17, 257/10–12 and
27–30, 259/4 and 25–36.
2 Einarr’s reputation as a bowman is confirmed from Heimskringla (ÍFXXVI, 362–3, XXVII, 27). In the margin of F the year 960 is given as thedate of Ormr’s birth.
3 He is oddly concerned to account for the preservation of Ásbjörn’sverses, see lines 456 ff., 474.

INTRODUCTION

27

whose names are taken from historical sources. Véseti í Borgundarhólmi is known from Heimskringla and Jómsvíkinga saga, and(Áslákr) Bifru-Kári from Landnámabók, ﬁór›ar saga hre›u andﬁorsteins ﬂáttr uxafóts. Eyvindr snákr and Bergﬂórr bestill, said
to be Asbjörn’s cousins (apparently on the mother’s side, cf. line
221) appear in the traditional list of the crew of Óláfr’s flagship
Ormr inn langi, though nothing further is known of them.1 The
name Asbjörn itself may also have been suggested by this list,
where it is coupled with a certain Ormr, although there is nothing
to connect this pair more closely with the foster-brothers in Ormsﬂáttr. Özurr hörzki is not known from other sources, but the name
Herrö›r for a jarl of Gautland is probably taken from either
Krákumál 2 or Ragnars saga lo›brókar; in both the jarl is probably
a fictional character. The conquering of Gautland by two isolated
viking adventures at this date, the late tenth century, is obviously
not historical.
The episode of the monster fights on Sau›ey has many affinities
with the Heroic Sagas, particularly with the group of sagas about
the family of heroes originating from the island of Hrafnista(Hrafnistumenn). Many Icelanders traced their ancestry to thisfamily,3 and the sagas about them seem to have been written tocelebrate the deeds of the forefathers of some Icelandic families.
Örvar-Odds saga seems to be the oldest of the group (probably
written in the late thirteenth century), and others were written
afterwards to complete the chronicle (Ketils saga hængs and Gríms
saga lo›inkinna about Oddr’s father and grandfather; Áns saga
bogsveigis about another of Ketill’s descendants). Ormr Stórólfs1 ÍF XXVI, 345.
2 verse 5, Skj. B I, 650.
3 e.g. Gunnarr of Hlí›arendi, Jón Loptsson, Egill Skalla-Grímsson, Au›r(wife of Gísli Súrsson).

28

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

son was also descended from this family, and Orms ﬂáttr may
have been written to demonstrate that the heroic qualities of the
Hrafnistumenn were still present in their Icelandic descendants.
The author of Orms ﬂáttr has borrowed many story-motives
from Örvar-Odds saga. The episode of the sibyl’s prophecy toÁsbjörn is imitated from that of the prophecy to Örvar-Oddr: bothheroes show hostility to the prophetess and disbelieve her prophecy,
and both are told they will die in a certain place (naturally neither
can resist going there to test the prophecy). There are several casesof verbal borrowing,1 and the verses spoken by the prophetesses
in the two stories are very similar (such visionary verses are foundin the sagas only here and in Hrólfs saga kraka, ch. 3). That it is
the author of Orms ﬂáttr who is the borrower is shown by his useof the words ﬂessi sveit (line 193), a detail which he thoughtlessly
took over from his model.
Viking expeditions like those related in ch. 6 are commonplacesin the Heroic Sagas, but here again there are verbal echoes ofÖrvar-Odds saga.2 The relationship between the two fosterbrothers has been said to be modelled on that of Örvar-Oddr andÁsmundr,3 but the identification seems to have been influenced
by the chance similarity in the pairs of names; in fact, therelationship of Oddr with ﬁór›r stafnglámi is much more likely tohave been the model for the author of the ﬂáttr. ﬁór›r is killed by
the half-monster Ögmundr Eyﬂjófsbani, on whom Oddr is therefore
bound to take vengeance, just as Ásbjörn is killed by Brúsi and1 Cf. lines 190–92, 196–200 of Orms ﬂáttr with ¯rv. 11/2 ff., 13/8 ff.,

15/11 ff. The prophecy episode also has similarities with that in Vatnsdœla
saga (ÍF VIII, 29–30).
2 Cf. line 269 with ¯rv. 51/14–15.
3 See Finnur Jónsson, Den oldnorske og oldislandske Litteraturs
Historie (2nd ed., 1920–24), II, 757; R. C. Boer, ‘Zur Grettissaga’,
Zeitschrift für Deutsche Philologie, XXX (1898), 69 note 1.

INTRODUCTION

29

avenged by Ormr. The motive of the monster’s attack on theguardians of the ship while the leader is away is present in bothstories.
Some of the details of Ormr’s fight with Brúsi and the cat may
have been suggested by episodes in this saga too. The three arrows
Ormr shoots at the cat which she catches in her mouth recall thearrow shot by Oddr at a hostile giantess which she sweeps awaywith her hand.1Örvar-Odds saga survives in two versions. The older, found in
two fourteenth-century manuscripts, is believed to have been
written in the late thirteenth century. The other version survives
in manuscripts of the fifteenth century and later, and contains
several episodes not in the older manuscripts. It is not certain whenthese episodes were written, but it is likely that they were interpolated into the saga in the fourteenth century. One of them, about
the dealings of Oddr and his men with the half-monster Ögmundr
and his mother (who takes the form of a finngálkn, half human,
half cat-like animal),2 contains close verbal correspondences with
the Sau›eyjar episode in Orms ﬂáttr. One of the more striking ofthese is where Oddr tears off Ögmundr’s beard and all the skin of
his face, just as Ormr does to Brúsi.3 It cannot be told for certain
which is the borrower in this case. It is perhaps more likely thatthe version of Örvar-Odds saga used by the author of Orms ﬂáttr
contained this episode, though it is also possible that the redactorof the later version of the saga used Orms ﬂáttr as a source. There
1 ¯rv. 43–5; cf. also the fight with Álfr bjálki, ¯rv. 178. For similarities
between stories in Orms ﬂáttr and Ketils saga hængs see p. 22, note 4
above and p. 30 below.
2 ¯rv. 126–37 (lower text). The finngálkn is described at 127 and 128.
3 ¯rv. 136. Compare also lines 252–3, 307–09, 488–91, 462, 517–19 ofOrms ﬂáttr with ¯rv. 126/13–14, 128/6 and 28–30, 129/21–4, 133/28–134/2.

30

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

is otherwise no reason to think that the interpolated version of thesaga is older than Orms ﬂáttr.
Many other details in this part of Orms ﬂáttr are part of thecommon stock of story-motives used in many sagas. The friendly
female relative of the troll, Menglö›—the name occurs also in
two late eddic poems, Grógaldr and Fjölsvinnsmál, which are not
however necessarily older than Orms ﬂáttr—is a figure thatreappears in many other stories.1 The breaking of the cat’s back,2the burning of the dead monsters’ bodies (presumably to prevent
them walking),3 and the prayer and miraculous victory of the heroin the extremity of his need4 are motives found in many places,
and in such cases it is unrealistic to speak of sources. The magic
gloves given Ormr by Menglö› recall the strength-giving glovesof ﬁórr, as well as the gloves Agnarsnautar, with the power to heal
wounds, in Gull-ﬁóris saga.5 The name (Ófótan or Ófóti for a
giant appears in Ketils saga hængs and in ﬂulur in Snorra Edda.
The stone over the mouth of the giant’s cave recalls the story of
the Cyclops in the Odyssey, Book IX.
1 e.g. Frí›r in Kjalnesinga saga. See M. Schlauch, Romance in Iceland(1934), pp. 113–15. It has been suggested that the motive of the supernatural black cat, and its hostility both to the hero and its stepdaughter
Menglö›, owes something to Celtic tradition. See Einar Ól. Sveinsson,‘Celtic elements in Icelandic tradition’, Béaloideas, Journal of the Folkloreof Ireland Society (1959 for 1957), p. 18. But it is likely that the motive
in Orms ﬂáttr is derived from Örvar-Odds saga.
2 Cf. ÍF VI, 301; XIV, 283; Flb. I, 260 (ﬁorsteins ﬂáttr).
3 Cf. ÍF IV, 170; VII, 122; ¯rv. 130; Flb. I, 260.
4 Cf. ÍF VI, 240; VIII, 170; XII, 448, 452; Flb. I, 338, Bár›ar sagaSnæfellsáss (ed. G. Vigfússon, 1860), p. 43. See the paper of A. L. Binns
quoted above (p. 25, note 2), pp. 54–60.
5 Snorra Edda (ed. Finnur Jónsson, 1931), pp. 29, 105, Gull-ﬁóris saga(ed. Kr. Kålund, 1898), pp. 10, 33; cf. also Konrad Maurer, Ísländische
Volkssagen (1860), p. 314.

INTRODUCTION

31

The Sau›eyjar episode is a story of the same general type as the
Sandhaugar episode in Grettis saga, but the dependence of the authorof Orms ﬂáttr on this saga at this point is not great.1 Much has
been made of the alleged similarity between the names of the scenesof these two stories, but this was based on a misreading of the textof Orms ﬂáttr. In both vellum manuscripts the name is clearlySau›ey(jar) not Sandey(jar),2 and in any case both names are very
common in Scandinavia. There is nothing to suggest that the authorof Orms ﬂáttr had any actual islands in mind (cf. note to line 201).
The fact that in a (modern) Faroese version of the story the giant iscalled Dollur and so presumably lived on Dollsey, an island which
has in modern times come to be called Sandøy (this Faroese localisation of the story was probably suggested by another story
preserved in Flateyjarbók3) does not alter the position: the Sandhaugar of Grettis saga and the Sau›eyjar of Orms ﬂáttr cannot be
connected. There is also little similarity between the trollkona in
1 It is much exaggerated by R. C. Boer in his article quoted above,

p. 22, note 2, and in Die altenglische Heldendichtung, I (1912), 175–87.
2 At every occurrence of the name (although of course they do not distinguish › and d). The Skálholt edition (see below, p. 37), which was probably
based on a paper manuscript, has Sandey(jar). Fornmanna sögur III (1827)
prints Sau›ey(jar) consistently in the text but in a footnote (p. 214) quotes
the reading of Flateyjarbók at the first occurrence as Sandey. Flb. I prints
Sandey on the first occurrence of the name only, elsewhere Saudey(jar),i.e. Sau›ey(jar); this is corrected to Saudey (i.e. Sau›ey) in the corrigendaof the edition (III, 698). The error is perpetuated, and has been made thebasis of some ill-grounded assumptions, by R. W. Chambers, Beowulf:
An Introduction (1921, and subsequent editions), pp. 66, 189, note 1,
309, note 8; and N. K. Chadwick, ‘The Monsters and Beowulf’, The AngloSaxons: Studies . . . presented to Bruce Dickins (1959), pp. 187–8.
3 Flb. II, 441. The Faroese ballad is Ormar Tórólvsson, see p. 37, note
2 below. There is no reason to think that this Faroese localisation is basedon any local tradition connected with this island.

32

TWO ICELANDIC STORIESGrettis saga and the cat in Orms ﬂáttr. The description of Grettir’s
opponent as a cat (ketta) is found only in a modern emendation ofa perfectly legible text.1 The use of the word fleinn (line 501) recalls
the heptisax of Grettis saga, which is at first called a fleinn,2 but theword is a generic one for a shafted weapon and the similarity may
be accidental. Although the author of Orms ﬂáttr knew and used
Grettis saga, his Sau›eyjar episode is not just a reworking ofGrettir’s feats at Sandhaugar.3
The early scholars of northern antiquities were particularlyinterested by the poetry in Orms ﬂáttr, which was supposed toexpress the viking hero’s indifference to suffering and death.
Ásbjörn’s Death Song was accordingly edited with a Latin translation by T. Bartholin in Antiquitates Danicæ (1689), pp. 158–62.
From here it became known to William Herbert, who published
an English translation in Select Icelandic Poetry, I (1804), 52–5.
It must be admitted, however, that the enthusiasm displayed bythese early scholars for this poem was largely misplaced. There islittle sign of the true heroic spirit in it, although there is a certain
amount of elegiac feeling in verse 4, perhaps the only effective
verse in the ﬂáttr. The main inspiration for these verses was clearly
literary, and many of them are no more than feeble imitations ofearlier poetry. Verses 1 and 3 are modelled on verses in ÖrvarOdds saga and Grettis saga.4 The chief model for Ásbjörn’s Death
Song was Krákumál, a twelfth-century poem put into the mouthof the dying Ragnarr lo›brók. The metre of the two poems
1 Grettis saga (ed. G. Magnússon and G. Thordarson, 1859), p. 151.

The manuscript has kvinnuna. R. W. Chambers in his extract from thesaga (op. cit., p. 159) prints k(ett)una. Cf. also N. K. Chadwick, loc. cit.
2 ÍF VII, 215.
3 Compare also lines 503–04 and 318 ff. of Orms ﬂáttr with ÍF VII,
120/5–11 and 121/14 ff.
4 ¯rv. 15; ÍF VII, 203, verse 50.

INTRODUCTION

33(irregular dróttkvætt) is very similar, particularly in the frequency
with which the b-line begins with an unstressed syllable, and theuse of a first-line refrain. There are also verbal borrowings.1
Ásbjörn’s Death Song is also influenced by other autobiographical poems in the sagas. Just as the dying Hjálmarr in ÖrvarOdds saga sends a poem to his sweetheart, so Ásbjörn sends his
as a last greeting to his mother, and there are also verbal borrowings.2
The list of Ásbjörn’s comrades in verses 9 and 10 is imitated fromthat in Hjálmarr’s Death Song.3 The poem in Orms ﬂáttr isdelivered under similar circumstances to Hallmundarkvi›a in
Grettis saga—both are overheard and reported by a woman, both
invoke a friend to take vengeance.4 The first line refrain isborrowed from another verse in Grettis saga (verse 14, line 1);that it is secondary in Orms ﬂáttr is shown by the fact that it fits the
1 Compare verse 12 with Krákumál (Skj. B I, 649 ff.) verse 26, andalso with the verse of Ragnarr in Vƒlsunga saga ok Ragnars sagalo›brókar (ed. M. Olsen, 1906–08), p. 159; and line 404 with Krákumálverse 23/3. Pálmr is used in kennings for weapons in Old Norse only inOrms ﬂáttr line 406 and Krákumál verse 15/10. The river-name Ífa isrecorded only in Orms ﬂáttr line 377 and Krákumál verse 4/5 (in Egils
saga verse 33 it is an editorial guess).
2 Compare Orms ﬂáttr lines 346–53 and 358–9 with ¯rv. 103/11–12,
104/3–4 and 16; the latter is a common formula, cf. Hervarar saga (ed.
G. Turville-Petre and C. Tolkien, 1956), 59/1, note. Hjálmarr’s Death
Song also occurs in Hervarar saga, but the poem in Orms ﬂáttr is more
like the version in Örvar-Odds saga.
3 ¯rv. 104–05 (not preserved in the oldest manuscripts, but was probably
in the original version of the saga, see ¯rv., xxviii). The list or ﬂula is not in
Hervarar saga. Such ﬂulur are traditional in heroic poetry, cf. Hálfs saga
ok Hálfsrekka, the Old English Widsiﬂ, the poem on the battle at Brávellir
known to Saxo Grammaticus (see Sigur›ur Nordal, Litteraturhistorie: Norgeog Island (Nordisk Kultur, VIII: B (1953), p. 89); A. Olrik, ‘Bråvallakvadets kæmperække’, Arkiv för Nordisk Filologi, X (1894), 223–87).
4 ÍF VII, 203–04.

34

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

context in only two of the verses in which it is used. Örvar-Oddr’sÆvidrápa may also have been known to the author of the ﬂáttr.1
The language of the verses is in general simple and easily comprehensible. There is little to suggest that they are older than the prose,or that they are not by the author of the prose. Both prose andverse use the same sources (Grettis saga and Örvar-Odds saga). All
the verses concern the fictional hero Ásbjörn, and there is no evidence
that there were any traditions about him older than Orms ﬂáttr.
There are some evident disparities between the prose and the verses,
e.g. line 368 (see note), and the reference to Mi›jungs traustir mágar(verse 8) which does not correspond to anything in the prose. But
it is doubtful if this is enough to suggest that the verses could not beby the author of the prose. The fact that the companions of Ásbjörn
listed in verses 9–10 do not figure in the prose is not significant,for the same applies to the list of heroes in Hjálmarr’s Death Song.
The author of Orms ﬂáttr has made free and sometimes uncriticaluse of earlier written stories, and many of the stories he tells of Ormr
appear to be reworkings of stories originally attached to other heroes.
This suggests that genuine traditions about Ormr were not widespreadin his time. But some stories about him must have existed, asÍslendingadrápa and Grettis saga show, and it is impossible tosay definitely what in the ﬂáttr is made up by the author and what
he has derived from tradition. The formulas such as ﬂat segja sumir
menn, ﬂat er allra manna mál, ﬂat er enn sagt (lines 90, 132, 440,
614, 179, 57, 307) are literary conventions and do not necessarily
imply the use of oral sources, although the words Sér ﬂessa alls
merki enn í dag (line 83, cf. note) do suggest a local tradition.
Orms ﬂáttr is preserved in three medieval manuscripts. The
oldest is Flateyjarbók (F),2 where the ﬂáttr is found as part of
1 Compare lines 350–59, 272–6 with ¯rv. 198 ff., verses 5, 24, 4.
2 Cols. 272–8, printed in the editions of Flateyjarbók (facsimile in

Corpus Codicum Islandicorum Medii Aevi, I, 1930), and in Fornmanna

INTRODUCTION

35

Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar, and this part of the compilation was
written c. 1387–95. The second is GkS 2845 4to (S),1 written in
the early fifteenth century. Only the beginning of the story (to ok
vendir um heyinu, line 130) is preserved in the fragmentary AM
567 4to V (B), which was written in the late fifteenth century. In
S and B Orms ﬂáttr appears as a separate story.
The texts of Orms ﬂáttr in S and B are both derived from a lost
manuscript closely related to F. It is not certain whether or not
this lost manuscript was actually derived from F,2 but the texts of
the ﬂáttr in the three manuscripts are very nearly identical. The
text of this edition follows F (with the spelling normalised),corrected in cases of obvious scribal error from S.
Orms ﬂáttr must have been written some time before thecompilation of Flateyjarbók, since the text there is clearly a copy,
probably at more than one remove from the author’s manuscript.
It is likely that the ﬂáttr was originally a separate story. Amongthe sagas known to the author were Örvar-Odds saga, believed tohave been written in the late thirteenth century, and Grettis saga,
which in its present form (apparently the form in which the authorof Orms ﬂáttr knew it) was probably written in the early fourteenth
century (though some recent scholars have speculated that it mightin fact be as late as the fifteenth century). It is possible that theversion of Örvar-Odds saga known to the author of Orms ﬂáttr
was the revised and interpolated one, and this can scarcely havebeen made long before the middle of the fourteenth century. Ormsﬂáttr is therefore likely to have been written in the second or third
sögur, III (1827), 204–28, with variants from paper manuscripts; and inseveral popular Icelandic editions.
1 Facsimile: The Saga Manuscript 2845, 4to (Manuscripta Islandica,ed. Jón Helgason, vol. 2, 1955).
2 ibid., Jón Helgason’s introduction pp. x–xi.

36

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

quarter of the fourteenth century. The author may well have lived
in the south of Iceland in the neighbourhood of Ormr’s home in the
district of Rangárvellir, where, if anywhere, traditions about thehero are likely to have been preserved.
In editing a text of the middle of the fourteenth century there islittle point in archaising the spelling in accordance with the system
usually used for thirteenth-century texts. In this edition of Ormsﬂáttr, therefore, a spelling more in keeping with the conventions of
the fourteenth century is used. No attempt is made to indicate in
the spelling all the changes in pronunciation that must have takenplace in Icelandic by the time the ﬂáttr was written, but in accordancewith common usage in fourteenth-century manuscripts the following
spellings have been adopted: the sounds usually represented by thesymbols ‘ƒ’ and ‘ø’ had fallen together and are not distinguished;
the modern symbol ‘ö’ is used for both (F generally uses ‘π’ or ‘o’).
Similarly the sounds usually represented by ‘œ’ and ‘æ’ had also
fallen together and are not distinguished; ‘æ’ is used for both. The
diphthongisation of short vowels before ‘ng’ is reflected in thespellings ‘-eing-’ and ‘-aung-’ for older ‘-eng-’ and ‘-ƒng-’, ‘-øng-’.
After ‘v’, ‘ó’ is written instead of ‘á’ (thus ‘vón’, ‘hvórr’ for ‘ván’, ‘hvárr’).
In low-stressed words ‘y’ and ‘i’ are not distinguished (thus ‘firir’,‘ﬂikkja’ for ‘fyrir’, ‘ﬂykkja’). The consonant groups ‘rl’ and ‘ll’
(after ‘a’) are not distinguished (thus ‘kall’, ‘jall’ for ‘karl’, ‘jarl’);and ‘rst’ is not distinguished from ‘st’ (thus ‘fyst’ for ‘fyrst’). The
spelling ‘ft’ replaces ‘pt’ (‘oft’, ‘loft’ for ‘opt’, ‘lopt’). In the endingsof verbs in the middle voice ‘-st’ and ‘-zt’ replace ‘-sk’ and ‘-zk’.
There are some spellings that are usual in F that have not been
adopted in this edition because they seem to have been severely
restricted both geographically and chronologically. Such are thespelling ‘-æi-’ for ‘-ei-’ (a habit apparently influenced by
Norwegian spelling), and ‘orb’ for ‘orf’ (lines 61, 63), which neverattained a very wide currency. But such forms as ‘bá›i’ (= ‘bæ›i’),INTRODUCTION

37‘ei’ (negative adverb), the analogical ‘vor›inn’ (= ‘or›inn’, pp. of‘ver›a’), and the ending ‘-i’ for the first person singular of thepast tense of weak verbs (older ‘-a’), which are much commoner,
have been retained in the places in which they occur in F.1
As with all forms of normalisation of manuscript spellings, somecompromises are necessary. F does not distinguish ‘d’ and ‘›’, but
in this edition the two symbols have been used in the positions
considered appropriate for the fourteenth century. F is inconsistentin the use of double consonants, and does not use the accent; inboth these matters ordinary usage has been followed. Neverthelessit will be seen that the presentation of the text in this edition
represents a move towards less alteration of the manuscript, andis an attempt to avoid minimising the differences between two
texts separated by at least a century both in date of composition
and in the dates of the manuscripts in which they survive.
The story of Ormr has enjoyed great popularity, not only in
Iceland, where besides the three surviving medieval manuscripts,
it was copied into at least twenty-six later ones, and printed in theeditio princeps of Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar (Skálholt, 1689; apparently from a paper manuscript), but also in other countries. A poem
was made about Ormr (either in Iceland or, perhaps, the Faroes)from which are derived two Faroese and two Swedish ballads.2
1 The spellings used for the forms of nakkvarr (in both texts) werechosen in the light of the investigation by Hreinn Benediktsson, ‘Óákv.
forn. nokkur, nokku›’, Íslenzk Tunga, III (1961–2), 7–38.
2 Ormar Tórólvsson and Brúsajökils kvæ›i, in Færöiske Kvæder (ed.
V. U. Hammershaimb), II (1855), 74–92 (reprinted with other versions inFøroya kvæ›i: Corpus carminum Færoensium, I, 3 (ed. N. Djurhuus,1963), 498–533); Essbjörn Prude och Ormen Stark and Ulf den Starke in
Svenska fornsånger, I (ed. A. I. Arwidsson, 1834), 87–106. The relationship of the four poems to each other and to Orms ﬂáttr is discussed by
R. C. Boer, Die altenglische Heldendichtung, I (1912), 187–99.

38

TWO ICELANDIC STORIESThe story has changed considerably during the oral transmissionof these ballads, which were not written down until the lateeighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Only the central episodeof the adventure with the monsters is preserved in them, but it isvery probable that ultimately these poems are derived from awritten version of Orms ﬂáttr. There is no reason to think that thiswas very different from the surviving one, though in their present
form the ballads contain a considerable admixture of conventional
story-motives from other sources.
For modern scholars the ﬂáttr has chiefly been interesting because
in Ormr and Ásbjörn’s fights with the monsters there was thought
to be a close parallel to the monster fights in the Old English poem
Beowulf. The similarity between the two stories was first noted
briefly by J. H. E. Schück in 1886,1 and simultaneously, but independently and in much greater detail, by S. Bugge.2 Bugge pointed
out a large number of alleged correspondences between the twostories, which he thought proved that they were closely related, andwas of the opinion that a version of the Beowulf story was carried
from England to Iceland and there became attached to Ormr (andGrettir). Many of Bugge’s parallels are fanciful, and some of the
motives, like the hero’s youthful laziness and great strength, arecommon features of many stories. There is no close resemblance
between Grendel and the cat of the ﬂáttr. Even less convincing is theattempt to identify Ásbjörn and Ormr with Æschere and Yrmenlaf.
Bugge’s views have been much criticised by later scholars, whohave not been willing to admit any such close relationship between
the two stories. Especially critical was R. C. Boer, who stressed
the dependence of Orms ﬂáttr on earlier written stories, and1 Svensk Litteraturhistoria, I (1886–90), 62.
2 ‘Studien über das Beowulfepos’, Beiträge zur Geschichte der Deutschen
Sprache und Literatur, XII (1887), 58–68 and 360–65.

INTRODUCTION

39

maintained that because of this it could not be considered an
independent analogue of the Beowulf story.1
In spite of this, however, F. Panzer treated not only Orms ﬂáttrbut also the Faroese and Swedish ballads based on the same story
as independent versions of the ‘Bear’s Son’ story.2 Panzer’s wayof approaching these questions has not been followed by mostlater Beowulf scholars, and his method was sharply criticised byBoer in his book on Beowulf of 1912,3 where he again stressed theliterary borrowings in Orms ﬂáttr, and tried to prove that the ballads
were dependent on it. In 1921 R. W. Chambers reviewed thequestion in his monumental study of Beowulf 4 and concluded that,even though Orms ﬂáttr depended in some degree on Grettis saga,
it was still possible that it preserved some elements from an earlier
version of the fight with the monsters independently of the saga,
though he stressed that these elements were not very striking. Boer
was again critical even of this moderate opinion.5
Fr. Klaeber, in his first edition of Beowulf,6 was willing to admit‘a genetic relation of some kind’ between Beowulf and Orms ﬂáttr,but was more hesitant in his third edition.7 One of the most recent
writers to touch on the subject was A. L. Binns in an article
primarily concerned with ﬁorsteins ﬂáttr uxafóts.8 He discussed
1 ‘Zur Grettissaga’, Zeitschrift für Deutsche Philologie, XXX (1898),

65–71.
2 Studien zur germanischen Sagengeschichte, I (1910), 344–63.
3 Die altenglische Heldendichtung, I (1912), 175–99.
4 Beowulf: An Introduction (1921), pp. 53–4, 65–7.
5 ‘Beowulf’, English Studies, V (1923), 109. Chambers’s reply: ‘Beowulf’sfight with Grendel, and its Scandinavian parallels’, English Studies, XI(1929), 82–4.
6 Beowulf and the Fight at Finnsburg (1922), p. xiv.
7 1936, p. xvi, note 2.
8 ‘The Story of ﬁorsteinn uxafót’, Saga-Book, XIV (1953–7), 36–60,
esp. 54–60.

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the motive of the prayer of the hero and his miraculous defeat of
the monster and showed that this motive was not really a parallelto anything in Beowulf, but that the stories which contain it, farfrom being survivals of a very old Scandinavian folk-tale, ought
rather to be considered as ‘treatments of a highly propagandist
Christian tale, more or less associated with King Óláf (Tryggvason)and his introduction of Christianity to the North’.
There is no doubt that the Sau›eyjar episode in Orms ﬂáttr
contains many similarities to the account in Beowulf of the fightsof the hero with Grendel and Grendel’s mother, and there is atleast one motive in Orms ﬂáttr which is parallelled in Beowulf
but which cannot be derived from Grettis saga: this is the relationship of the two monsters as mother and son. Orms ﬂáttr, however,seems to have derived this motive from Örvar-Odds saga(Ögmundr and his finngálkn mother), where it is found in a story
that has little further resemblance to the Beowulf episodes. Mostof the similarities between Orms ﬂáttr and Beowulf are of thisgeneral nature, and must be considered part of the common stockof narrative material current in stories from the whole of Europe,rather than as elements confined to one particular type of story.
Orms ﬂáttr and Beowulf cannot be considered as versions ofessentially the same story; they are two stories which happen to
share certain narrative elements. Orms ﬂáttr cannot be used inany attempt to reconstruct a hypothetical prototype story which
may be assumed to lie behind both Beowulf and its Scandinavian
analogues. The final judgement of Chambers seems best: ‘The
resemblance between the Orm-story and Beowulf seems to me
too vague to help us very much.’1

1 Beowulf: An Introduction (2nd ed., 1932), p. 453.

INTRODUCTION

41

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45

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47

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49

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51

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53

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55

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57

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TWO ICELANDIC STORIESORMS ﬁÁTTR

59

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61

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63

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65

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67

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TWO ICELANDIC STORIESORMS ﬁÁTTR

69

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71

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73

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75

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77

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TWO ICELANDIC STORIESTEXTUAL NOTES79

TEXTUAL NOTES
Hrei›ars ﬂáttrFor the text of M the facsimile edition has been used. The readings of A
and H are quoted from proofs of the edition of Hulda still to be publishedkindly provided by the Arnamagnæan Institute, see p. 20 above.
1 The heading is illegible in M, but probably read Frá Hrei›ari (the wordﬂáttr is not used in headings in M); Af Hrei›ari ok ﬁór›i A, Capitulum.
Hrei›ars ﬂáttr H. 17 hálfu: M omits the l. 59–65 The words in brackets
are illegible in M and are supplied from A. 76 Handkrœkjumsk: Momits the m. 82 kømr: M omits the m. 104 Ekki written twice in M.
113 einum: M omits the m. 122 at: M omits the t. 147 skilja: M omits
the i. 152 gengr: M omits the r. 176 fleygir: written fleygr (i.e. fleygar)
in M. 221 klæ›um: M omits the m. 233 grettir vaskliga: emendation;
greit vaxligr M, karlmannligr A and H. 241, 249 The words in brackets
are illegible in M and are supplied from A. 243, 247 The text of M isdamaged, and the texts of A and H do not correspond closely enough forthe missing words to be supplied from them. There is room for three orfour words in both places. The two words before hir›inni may be nú me›,and the sentence perhaps ended ok Hrei›ari ferr vel nú me› hir›inni. In
the edition in Væringjar: leskaflar fyrir unglinga úr íslenzkum bókmenntum
I, ed. Hö›ver Sigur›sson (1950), the lacuna is filled Dval›isk hann núme›. The missing words in line 247 may have been um ﬂetta mál. 257
einum: M omits the i. 276 me›: mér M. 278 ﬂá: ﬂó M. 336 hannomitted in M. 362 ﬂœttisk: ﬂóttisk M. 368 hefi omitted in M. 417 The
first ok illegible in M. 419–426 The words in brackets are illegible in M
and are supplied with the help of A.

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TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

Orms ﬂáttrThe readings of both manuscripts are taken from the facsimile editions,see pp. 34–5 above.
24 Stórólfr: so S; ﬁórólfr F. 36 ﬂangat til: so S; ﬂann veg F. 60 sag›i
Ormr: so S; er Ormr sag›i F. 63 í sundr written twice in F. 70 tekr: so
S; tek F. 74 hvirfla: so S; F omits the f. 84 heyit: F omits the h. 86
Dufﬂaksholti: so S; F omits the i. 96 leitat: so S; F omits the e. 135
hafa: so S; F omits. 136 í: so S; F omits. 136 Dug›i: so S; F omits the ›.
152 ór: so S; ok F. 153, 165 Melkólfr: so S; Mækólfr F (probably anerror, since this spelling is not found elsewhere in Old Norse; the name isfrom the Irish Maelcoluim). 185 var: so S; F omits the r. 245 nor›r: so
S; F omits the second r.
247 á ofanver›um dögum: á dögum S,
ofanver›um dögum F. 260 Virfli: Virlvi F. 307 at (2): so S; F omits.
322 ﬂeirra: afla adds F (dittography). 354 er: so S; ek F. Where the line
is repeated in verses 6 to 11 the word is abbreviated e. in F, but written er
each time in S. 396 ok written twice in F. 406 brynpálmar: emendation;
brunpálmar F and S. 421 er (2): so S; F omits. 439 hinni: so S; F omits.
466 afl: so S; F omits the l. 482 bjarginu: so S; bjargina F. 490 klærnar:
F omits the first r. 547 kva› written twice in F. 552 seint: so S; synt F.
563 sag›i Ormr: so S; F omits. 583 ﬂor›i: F adds j (i.e. í or jall). 608
siglutrét: so S (‘-treid’); siglutré F.

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81

GENERAL NOTES
Hrei›ars ﬂáttr
1/3 The reference to Glúmr is omitted in A and H. The use of the namealone, without patronymic, implies that it is the well-known Víga-Glúmr
Eyjólfsson, the hero of Víga-Glúms saga, who is meant, though the author
also fails to give the name of the father of the otherwise unknown Eyvindr(line 340). Chronologically it is possible for the grandfather of Hrei›arr
and ﬁór›r, who are apparently in the prime of life at the beginning ofHaraldr hardrá›i’s reign (1046), to have been a younger contemporary of
Víga-Glúmr (c. 930 to 1003), but Víga-Glúmr’s killing of a man called
Hrei›arr is not mentioned in Víga-Glúms saga or any other source.
1/9 A and H specify that the brothers sailed from Gásar, which was theprincipal harbour in Eyjafjƒr›r.
1/16 Under Icelandic law a man’s property was divided equally between
his sons after his death, irrespective of which was the eldest, or else washeld by them as common property. Cf. Grágás, I (ed. V. Finsen, 1852), 220.
1/34 According to A and H the brothers landed in ﬁrándheimr, not Bjƒrgyn.
1/36 Kœja (spelt køia in M) is not recorded elsewhere, and the etymology
is doubtful: it is not certain whether the vowel should be æ or œ, but thespelling in M (which usually distinguishes the two sounds) implies œ.
1/50 Ships were generally beached during the winter and launched again
in the spring. A trumpet was used to summon all available hands to dragthe ships up the beach when they arrived at Norwegian harbours in theautumn, and penalties were imposed on those who failed to respond to
this summons without good reason, see Norges gamle Love indtil 1387,
II (ed. R. Keyser and P. A. Munch, 1848), 45, 208, 250–01. Skip(s)dráttr
is mentioned also in Grágás (ed. V. Finsen, 1852), I, 13, and II, 69–70,
but conditions in Iceland would make the use of a trumpet inappropriate
there, and other methods of summoning help were used.
Björn Sigfússon (ÍF X, 248) assumes that Hrei›arr asks the meaningof ‘assembly’ because he is familiar with ship-launchings in Iceland, but

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TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

not with public meetings; but it is perhaps more likely that his ignorance
is only pretended, and that he knows perfectly well what the fanfare isfor: his devious questions are only a prelude to his insistence on attending
the assembly.
1/65 Instead of ﬂessarar, the form ﬂessar would be more in keeping withthe language of the text in Morkinskinna.
1/70 The usual present tense of ná in Old Icelandic is náir, and nær isusually considered a late form. But the two forms reflect a variation in
Primitive Germanic in the stem of weak verbs of the hafa type between-æî- and -î-, and so both forms must have been current in Old Icelandic,
though the usual literary form is náir. There is therefore no reason tointerpret nær here as an adverb (‘then one’s strength is almost nothing’,
cf. the punctuation in ÍF X, 249) since it gives better sense as a verb(‘when one’s strength is inadequate’).
1/71 Compare the proverb Margur er knár, ﬂó hann sé smár ‘many alittle fellow is tough’ (Gu›mundur Ólafsson, Thesaurus adagiorum (ed.
G. Kallstenius, 1930), no. 2285).
1/80 vi› fót: S. Blöndal, Islandsk-Dansk Ordbog (1920–24), glosses
hlaupa vi› fót as ‘halvt løbe’.
1/102 ósyknligr is an otherwise unknown word and may be the result of
scribal error. It would appear to be compounded from sykn ‘free of legal
charges’, a legal term applied to a man released from outlawry. Ósyknligr
would presumably mean ‘unlikely to become sykn, irredeemable’. This
would be a very odd usage, and the description accords ill with theinsistence elsewhere in the story that Hrei›arr is a mild person (it is only
King Magnús who realises that one day he will lose his temper). Moreoverin this context a word referring to physical appearance would be moresuitable, and it may be that the original reading was ós‡niligr (‘unsightly’).
A and H have seinheppiligr (‘slow to achieve success, backward’).
Compare the description of the similar character Grímr Eyjúlfsson in
Gull-ﬁóris saga (ﬁorskfir›inga saga, ÍF XIII, 197).
1/115 Gæfa was conceived as a sort of power emanating from a person
predisposing their undertakings to success. Thus a gæfuma›r is someone

GENERAL NOTES

83

for whom everything always turns out right (like Au›unn in Au›unarﬂáttr). Konungs gæfa (or gipta) was a power emanating from a king which
could extend its influence over people in his service or those who cameinto contact with him. In Hrei›ars ﬂáttr the implication is that by contact
with the king Hrei›arr will be cured of his mental retardment and becomea gæfuma›r, much as the touch of a king’s hand was believed to be able
to cure certain physical illnesses.
1/117 Rjá›r is usually found in the phrase rjá›r ok rekinn (‘persecuted’),and here presumably means ‘chased off’ (passive). An intransitive
meaning would, however, be more natural in the context (‘dashed away,rushed off like a fool’). Cf. ÍF VII, 231: Hann kvazk ni›r hafa lagt at rjá‘he said he had given up horseplay’; and the reading of A later in Hrei›ars
ﬂáttr (line 315): ﬂví at mér tekr at lei›ask ﬂessi rjá ‘because I am getting
tired of this horseplay’.
1/121 nær á hvat sem fyrir var is to be taken with gengr: ‘he almost
tripped over whatever was in front of him’. Cf. the reading of A: barhann sik upp mjƒk ok sásk lítt fyrir ok gekk nær (á) hvat sem fyrir var.
1/123 Ankle-length breeches in Old Icelandic are always associated withthe clothing of very young men or idiots, and were considered unseemly
or ridiculous for grown men. They seem to have been the traditional attireof the unpromising hero in his youth, to be discarded when he finallyattained his full heroic stature, see H. Falk, Altwestnordische Kleiderkunde(1919), p. 119. Note the readings of A (leistabrókum: ‘breeches with footpieces’) and H (leistalausum brókum: ‘breeches without foot-pieces’).
1/131 ﬁykki ﬂér nú vel: perhaps ‘are you favourably impressed?’ rather
than ‘are you content?’
1/165 Mikinn tekr ﬂú af: ‘You speak strongly, you exaggerate, you are
overdoing it.’ Mikinn is the acc. sg. m. of the adjective mikill, apparently
used as an adverb on the analogy of adverbs in -an like gjarnan, jafnan,
which appear to have been apprehended as acc. sg. m. of the adjectives
gjarn, jafn. Cf. gengu skipin mikinn (Flb. II, 16).
1/167 at lofgjarnliga sé vi› mælt: either ‘that they (i.e. other people) havebeen the victims of flattery’ or ‘that they have been guilty of speaking

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TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

flatteringly of you’. In either case, it is clear that the sentence is intended
as an elaborate compliment. A reads: Háttung er flestum ƒ›rum at oflofa›ir
sé ef lofsamliga er vi› mælt.
1/170 This feature of the king’s appearance is not mentioned elsewhere,
although according to Snorri Sturluson (Heimskringla, ÍF XXVIII, 198–9)
Haraldr har›rá›i had a similar defect, in that one of his eyebrows was set
higher than the other.
1/173 Haraldr har›rá›i (the son of Sigur›r s‡r) and King Magnús’s father
St Óláfr (the son of Haraldr grenski) were half-brothers: their motherwas Ásta Gu›brandsdóttir.
1/214 This probably does not mean that Hrei›arr was being made ahir›ma›r, but only that he was to be allowed to stay with the hir›menn asa temporary guest. New members of the hir› had to be accepted by therest of the hir›menn, and membership was a higher honour than would
have been accorded Hrei›arr at this stage (cf. ÍF V, 288).
1/230 vi› rá› ﬁór›ar: perhaps ‘under ﬁór›r’s supervision’ rather than‘according to ﬁór›r’s advice’.
1/233 grettir vaskliga: the text of M here seems meaningless, and theoriginal reading may be irrecoverable (the reading of A and H is probably
the guess of an intelligent scribe). The first word may have been somepart of the verb gretta, although it may have been a noun; greppr vaskligr(‘a fine-looking fellow’) would fit the context well, and the comparative
rarity of the word might account for the corruption. But it is perhaps
possible to keep the reading of the manuscript (see p. 79 above) and takegreit(t) as a neuter adjective used adverbially in an intensive sense (seegrei›r in glossary) and vaxligr as an adjective related to vaxa. The phrase
might then be rendered ‘right doughty’, or ‘really grown up’. See Kleine
Erzählungen aus Landnámabók und Morkinskinna, ed. W. H. Vogt (1935),
p. 51, and Væringjar I, ed. Hlö›ver Sigur›sson (1950), pp. 85 and 92.
1/237 kom vi› sem mátti: ‘happen what might, whatever happened’. It isalso possible to read this as an independent clause introducing the next
sentence (with a full stop after ómállatr), ‘It went as it would’, ‘Things

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85

went as might be expected’, or ‘He responded as best he could’, or ‘asmuch as he could’.
1/245 According to all the Scandinavian accounts Magnús the Good andHaraldr har›rá›i were joint rulers over Norway from the time of Haraldr’s
return to Scandinavia from the East in 1046 until Magnús’s death thesame year (though according to Morkinskinna they ruled together for
two years) and so evidently the author intends us to think of these events
as taking place during that year. Haraldr continued to reign alone until
his death at Stamford Bridge in 1066.
1/260 ff. This passage has by earlier editors been punctuated with a fullstop after konungs and a comma after ƒ›rum ok, thus making the clauseok beri . . . ƒ›rum ok conditional, qualifying em ek um ﬂat hræddr. The
present arrangement seems better, taking ok beri . . . ƒ›rum to indicate
the possible result of the preceding clause. M has a punctuation markafter ƒ›rum.
1/281 fylgi has usually been emended to fylgi› (imperative plural) but
the third person singular (or plural) optative (‘let someone take’) is not
impossible.
1/289 ver›r: on the nominative where one might expect the accusative,
see A. Heusler, Altisländisches Elementarbuch (4th ed., 1950), § 446,
pp. 141–2; A New Introduction to Old Norse II (2004), 3.9.4. Cf. 2/242,
2/542 below.
1/322 fær: the manuscript contraction f with superscript curl is normalised
ferr (to fara) in ÍF X, 256, but it could equally well stand for fær. The
idiom fara hƒndum usually means ‘to feel, touch’, and fá hƒndum ‘grasp
with the hands’ is more suitable to the context here.
1/329 The use of the comparative is odd, since there is no second element
to the comparison and it is not easy to see what should be supplied (A andH completely rephrase the sentence). Cf. ÍF VII, 259: Eigi er ﬂat it hœgra
‘that is not the easier thing (for them to be doing)’, i.e. of the two possible
activities suggested. Enn, en (which is in fact the spelling of the manuscripthere) or in with a comparative in a negative sentence is common in verse

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TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

and appears to be idiomatic and pleonastic; e.g. ﬁrymskvi›a verse 25.
See Finnur Jónsson, Lexicon Poeticum (1931), s.v. 1 enn 4. The meaning
here may be ironical: ‘that is not made easier by the fact that he has now
got away’. Cf. A. Heusler, op. cit., §§ 162 and 392, pp. 51 and 119.
1/340 Lendr ma›r (‘landed man’) was a high-ranking man holding landin fief from the king in return for various services (especially military
service). The term corresponds in meaning to the medieval Scottish rankof ‘thane’.
1/351 Heilagr (‘sacred’) as a legal term means ‘under the protection of
the law’, óheilagr ‘outside the protection of the law, not entitled tocompensation for injury or death’. A person who started a fight could in
so doing make himself an outlaw in Norse law, and a man who killed his
assailant in self-defence was not liable to pay compensation. See Norges
gamle Love indtil 1387, I (ed. R. Keyser and P. A. Munch, 1846), 68;
Grágás I (ed. V. Finsen, 1852), 145. Compare the phrase stefna e-m tilóhelgi (‘to summons s-one on a charge warranting outlawry’) used when
depriving a man of his legal rights after he has been killed so that one is
not liable to pay compensation for him. See e.g. ÍF XII, 161; Víga-Glúms
saga (ed. G. Turville-Petre, 2nd ed., 1960), 16.
1/412 f. King Haraldr’s father, Sigur›r Hálfdanarson, had been nicknamedS‡r (‘Sow’), and Hrei›arr’s gift of a silver sow is an insulting reminder
to the king of this fact, and touches on a sore point with him. The originof the nickname, which is also sometimes applied to the goddess Freyja,
is somewhat obscure: the author of Hrei›ars ﬂáttr evidently understood
it to mean ‘sow’, and it is translated scrofa in Historia Norvegiæ. But thenickname often declines differently from the common noun, having gen.
s‡rs, s‡rar or súrar instead of s‡r, dat. and acc. s‡r instead of sú (this last
peculiarity is shared by k‡r when used as a nickname), see A. Noreen,
Altisländische und altnorwegische Grammatik (4th ed., 1923), p. 286;
A. M. Sturtevant, ‘Old Norse Phonological Notes’, Journal of English
and Germanic Philology XLII (1943), 539–40. Because of this, otherorigins have been proposed for it (‘Syrian’, *Sivƒr, *Sigvƒr), see J. de
Vries, Altnordisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (1961), p. 574. But since
sows were probably sacred to Freyja, as boars were to Freyr, it is likely

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87

that when applied to her the nickname meant ‘the sow-goddess’. Applied
to the farmer-king Sigur›r it may have been intended to imply that he
was mean, and he certainly has that reputation in literary sources (seeSaga Óláfs konungs hins helga (ed. O. A. Johnsen and Jón Helgason,
1941), pp. 737, 741, 762; cf. ÍF XXVII, 41), but this may have been due
to the misunderstanding of the nickname by saga-writers: it perhaps
originally meant ‘worshipper or devotee of the sow-goddess’. As a farmer,
Sigur›r is particularly likely to have concerned himself with a fertility
god or goddess.
1/419 With ætla the infinitive with at is generally found in prose, and theplain infinitive here is probably to be explained as an archaism, since thisconstruction is also found in poetry.
1/434 The following conversation is remarkably similar to that between
Stúfr and King Haraldr in Stúfs ﬂáttr (ÍF V, 286 ff.).
1/462 In A and H the name of Hrei›arr’s home is specified as Hrei›arssta›ir (ﬂar sem sí›an heitir á Hrei›arsstƒ›um A). This is probably theaddition of a redactor who knew there was a farm of that name in
Svarfa›ardalr and assumed that it had been named after this Hrei›arr.
Although this is not impossible, it is rather more likely that the farm wasnamed after another Hrei›arr (the name is comparatively common), andthat it was only associated with the probably fictional hero of this story
after the ﬂáttr had been written. Hrei›arssta›ir is otherwise first mentioned
in a document of 1473, see Diplomatarium Islandicum V (1899–1902), 718.
1/467 Nothing is known of Hrei›arr’s descendants, any more than of his
forbears, those who are mentioned being mere names. The statement here
is conventional, and its vagueness strengthens the impression given
elsewhere that Hrei›arr and his brother are fictional characters.

Orms ﬂáttr
2/2 f. The genealogy given here has been subject to some confusion,
perhaps partly scribal, partly due to the author, and partly to his source.
From other sources (particularly Landnámabók and Ketils saga hængs) it

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can be seen that it ought to read: Ketill hængr hét ma›r, son ﬁorkels
Naumdælajalls, en mó›ir Ketils hét Hrafnhildr, dóttir Ketils hængs ór
Hrafnistu.
2/2–3 Hængr was at first a nickname (‘the hooked one’?), and later cameto be used also as a personal name. It is a contraction of hœingr, related tohór ‘hook’; a male salmon is called hængr from the shape of its mouth. A
legendary account of the origin of the nickname is given in Ketils sagahængs, ch. 1.
2/5 Haraldr hárfagri Hálfdanarson (Dofrafóstri), king of Norway c. 885–
931, was the first king of Norway to extend his rule over the wholecountry, and opposition to him on the part of petty landowners is the
traditional reason given in many of the sagas for the emigration of manyof the Norwegian settlers of Iceland. The legend of his being fosteredby the troll Dofri is related most fully in Flb. I, 565–6, though it isreferred to in many other sagas, mostly late ones; there is no evidence
that it is older than the late thirteenth century. See Finnur Jónsson, ‘Sagnet
om Harald hårfagre som “Dovrefostre”’, Arkiv för Nordisk Filologi XV(1899), 262–7.
The sons of Hildirí›r (so called because of the early death of theirfather Björgólfr, and also perhaps because they were illegitimate) wereHárekr and Hrærekr, both favourites of King Haraldr. The story of howHængr killed them to avenge the death of his friend ﬁórólfr Kveld-Úlfssonon the king, and so had to flee the country, is told in Egils saga, ch. 23,
which is the author’s main source for this passage.
2/11 firir útan Rangá, sc. hina ‡tri (cf. ÍF II, 58).
2/19 The lawspeaker was a sort of president of the Icelandic parliament
under the Commonwealth, and his main duty was the recitation of thecode of laws at the annual assembly (Alﬂingi). In fact Úlfljótr, who issaid to have drawn up the code of laws for the first session of the Alﬂingi
when it was founded, is likely to have been the first lawspeaker (seeÍslendingabók, ch. 3). Hrafn became lawspeaker in 930.
2/21 Go›i was the title of the holders of the go›or› in ancient Iceland.
These were primarily secular chieftains, though their office included

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priestly functions in heathen times (the word go›i is related to go›‘(heathen) god’). The office was usually hereditary, although it could
also be sold, given away, and even lent or divided. The power of thesechieftains was not territorial, but extended only over those men who
voluntarily allied themselves with them, although naturally a go›i’sfollowers would mostly come from his own district.
2/22 Cf. Egils saga (ÍF II, 60): Hrafn var gƒfgastr sona Hœngs. By hisalteration of his source the author of Orms ﬂáttr shows that he wants toaccentuate the importance of the father of his hero.
2/27 There are several stories of shape-shifters in Old Icelandic, and it istold in Ln. (pp. 109, 220, 237) how Stórólfr and his neighbour Dufﬂakr(see below lines 85 ff.) fought together one night in the forms of a bear
and a bull respectively. The bear won, but both men were injured andwere confined to bed afterwards. See P. E. K. Kålund, Bidrag til enhistorisk-topografisk Beskrivelse af Island, I (1877), 230–31.
2/48 Akfæri means the harness and gear used to fasten a load on a horse,
but the term can also include a cart or sledge and the accompanying tackle.
The context here does not make it clear whether carts were being used
or not.
2/58 Eing means uncultivated grassland in its natural state, usually somedistance from the farm, as opposed to the tún, the cultivated levelledhayfields round the farm buildings.
2/64 Fjór›ungr (‘quarter’) was a unit of weight, equal to 20 merkr or
one-eighth of a vætt, i.e. about 4.3 k. or 10 lb. avoirdupois.
2/82 Ákvæ›isteigr is a day’s mowing for one man, the amount of meadow
reckoned to be a full day’s work for one man to mow. As a measure, it
was probably the same as dagslátta, i.e. about three-quarters of an acre.
2/83 The author was probably writing in the middle of the fourteenth
century. The place where Ormr is supposed to have done his mowing is
now known as Ormsvöllur, though there is nothing to distinguish it fromthe surrounding countryside today. See P. E. K. Kålund, Bidrag til enhistorisk-topografisk Beskrivelse af Island, I (1877), 230–31.

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2/85–6 Place-names in several languages are formed in this way withprepositions, e.g. Noke (Old English æt ﬂæm acum), Rye (æt ﬂære iege),
Istanbul (from the Greek for ‘in the city’).
2/88 Elda grátt silfr means literally ‘to smelt drossy silver’, or perhaps‘to smelt silver so that it becomes grey (through oversmelting)’, i.e. tobehave so that one’s relationship with another person turns out badly, tobe on bad terms. See Halldór Halldórsson, Íslenzk or›tök (1954), pp.
318–19,2/94 at (1): ‘So that’. The word is omitted in S, and earlier editors haveemended it to ok, but this is perhaps not strictly necessary. It seems to bea case of mixture of constructions: ‘S. had so many cattle that . . .’, ‘S.
had many cattle, so that . . .’.
2/110 The larger stack would be about 24 foot long, 12 high, and 12
wide. Dufﬂakr says it had probably sunk (sigit), that is become compressedby its own weight so that its weight in relation to its size would be muchgreater than that of a newly made stack. The amount of hay carried byOrmr in this stack alone would have weighed at least twelve tons (thenormal weight of hay is reckoned to be 100 kilos per cubic metre atminimum)!
2/111 ﬂykkt . . . hatt . . . sigit are neuter adjectives agreeing with an impliedhey (kleggi is masculine). Similarly in line 112 hinu minna (sc. heyi).
2/133 The author’s tendency to ironic understatement gives the impression
here that the distance between the two farms is quite short. In fact (as his
original readers would have known) Dufﬂaksholt is about three kilometresfrom Stórólfshvóll.
2/147 In the fourteenth century a kúgildi was reckoned equal in value to
one hundra›, i.e. 120 ells of homespun 2 ells wide (worth 31/3 ounces ofsilver).
2/148 The author, however, omits to tell us any more of these quarrels,
beyond again mentioning that Dufﬂakr killed Stórólfr (below, line 288).
2/156 Aurskór appears also in Búalög (Sögurit XIII: 1, 1915), p. 9: fimmálnar kemr á at gera sláttuljái e›r aurskó e›r annat slíkt búsmí›i. See

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also p. 25 of the same work. The first element is apparently aurr ‘mud’,though it is possible that the word was originally a scribal corruption of
járnskór.
2/163 The custom of brewing ale in large quantities for the use of thosepresent at the Alﬂingi is well described in ¯lkofra ﬂáttr (ÍF XI, 83 ff.).
2/189 Prú›r means ‘fine, stately; gentle, courteous (cf. háttprú›r, si›prú›r); gallant, brave (cf. hugprú›r)’. As a nickname prú›i could in thiscase be translated ‘the gallant’, but it probably usually implied chiefly
finery in dress, see ÍF V, 225, XIV, 70; Saga Óláfs konungs hins helga(ed. O. A. Johnsen and Jón Helgason, 1941), p. 810.
2/190 Besides the episode in Örvar-Odds saga on which this is clearlymodelled, this custom is well documented in other sagas, e.g. Eiríks sagarau›a (ÍF IV, 206–09), Vatnsdœla saga (ÍF VIII, 29–30), Víga-Glúms
saga (ed. G. Turville-Petre, 2nd ed., 1960, p. 21).
2/193 ﬁessi sveit implies that the prophetess had some attendants withher, like the one in Örvar-Odds saga who was accompanied by fifteen
boys and fifteen girls (the plural völvur at line 191 is clearly used in a
generic sense, and in the following episode there is no question of there
being more than one prophetess at Virfill’s house). Since they are notmentioned again, however, it seems that the author has taken this detailfrom his source automatically, without fully assimilating it.
2/201 á Nor›mæri (nor›r á Mæri S): the author does not seem todistinguish between á Nor›mæri (here, cf. also line 221) and nor›r áMæri (lines 238, 245; cf. nor›r firir Mæri, lines 212, 296). In fact there
were two districts, Nordmærr and Sunnmærr (now Nordmøre andSunnmøre), separated by Raumsdalr. The geography of the islands whereÁsbjörn died is (perhaps intentionally) vague, though some of theconfusion could be scribal.
2/222 ﬂar i.e. in Hör›aland, see lines 230, 238. He did not yet venture to
Nordmærr.
2/234 The ceremony is described in Gísla saga and Fóstbrœ›ra saga (ÍFVI, 22–3, 125).

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2/248 The jarls of Hla›ir (now Lade, near Trondheim in northern Norway)
were a powerful family in the tenth and eleventh centuries. Hákon (innríki) Hla›ajarl was ruler of Norway from c. 974 to 995, though like theother members of his family he never assumed the title of king. AfterÁsbjörn and Ormr’s first visit to Mærr they were engaged on viking
voyages for two years, and in the third Ásbjörn made his fatal expedition
to Sau›ey, and this is said to have been about the same time as Hákon’s
death (see line 428). The visit to Eyvindr and Bergﬂórr must therefore bethought of as having taken place in 992.
2/255 On sacred oxen see the article ‘Blotnaut’ by C. N. Gould in Studies
in honour of Hermann Collitz (1930), pp. 141–54. Blótnaut can mean
either ‘(a) a bovine animal destined for sacrifice, or (b) one which is theobject of worship’ (p. 143, n. 15). Animals chosen for the former purpose
were usually selected for their massive size, and the latter kind were
thought to be imbued with size and strength by virtue of the act ofworshipping them (note the use of the verb ver›a here). Cf. Vƒlsunga
saga ok Ragnars saga lo›brókar (ed. M. Olsen, 1906–08), p. 133. Oxen
were particularly associated with the worship of Freyr.
2/268 vetr hinn ﬂri›ja i.e. since Ormr first came to Norway (cf. vetr hinnfjór›a line 282).
2/272 Sei›r means ‘magic, magic rites’, particularly those performed tofind out the future, but can also refer to the chant or incantation forming
part of those rites, and to the song in which the prophecy is expressed;
and perhaps to the platform or structure on which prophetesses performed
their rites (cf. ÍF V, 106). Á sei›i here could therefore mean ‘in her songof prophecy’ or ‘during her magic rites’ or ‘as she sat on her seat ofprophecy’. Sei›r was a particularly disreputable form of magic, generally
only practised by women, and considered dishonourable for men to
indulge in. For details of the rites involved, besides the episodes referred
to above (note to line 190) see ÍF V, 99, 105–06, and the full treatment of
Dag Strombäck, Sejd (1935).
2/273 The line as it stands in F is a syllable short. S inserts ok before
saung, and this gives an acceptable line (an unstressed syllable at the
beginning of the b-line is not uncommon in verses of this date, and such

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lines are also found at 347, 351, 379, 409, and frequently in Krákumál,
one of the author’s models), though 5-syllable lines are also foundelsewhere in the verses in this text (lines 403, 405). E. A. Kock (NN2620; Den Norsk-Isländska Skaldediktningen II (1949), 197) makes thisline more regular by changing laungum to fyr laungu, but this is hardly
justifiable since it alters the sense.
2/277 A similar line appears in a verse in Landnámabók, ÍF I, 361, verse
29/8.
2/292 Íslendingaskrá: see Introduction, p. 27.
2/305 eigi var hon ok vel eyg: litotes. This detail is somewhat reminiscentof the description of Grendel in Beowulf 726 f.: him of eagum stod | ligge
gelicost | leoht unfæger. See S. Bugge, ‘Studien über das Beowulfepos’,Beiträge zur Geschichte der Deutschen Sprache und Literatur XII (1887),
59–60.
2/309 There is some discrepancy in the numbers. The cat killed twenty
men, and three got away, while earlier (line 295) we were told that Ásbjörn
went to the island with twenty-four men. Some seventeenth-century
manuscripts alter this first number to twenty-three, but it is probable thatlines 295–6 originally read vid fjór›a mann ok tuttuganda, the usual way
of saying that there were twenty-four men including their leader; a copyist
may have misread the ordinal as cardinal numbers. The motive of thethree men who escaped and sailed away without waiting for their leader
has only a slight resemblance to that of the ‘faithless companions’ inversions of the ‘Bear’s Son’ story (cf. Beowulf (ed. Fr. Klaeber, 3rd ed.,1936), pp. xiii–xiv).
2/340 sem heill bilar: ‘when his good luck deserts him’. But heill seems
to be used sometimes in a personified sense, implying the notion of‘guardian spirit’: ‘when his guardian spirit deserts him’. Cf. Hálfs saga
ok Hálfsrekka (ed. A. Le Roy Andrews, 1909), p. 114:
Y›r munu dau›ardísir allar,
heill kve›k horfna
frá Hálfsrekkum.

94

TWO ICELANDIC STORIESThe concept of heill is closely allied to that of hamingja (line 461) andgæfa (Hrei›ars ﬂáttr, line 115).
2/341 This method of execution seems to have been quite widespread in
the Middle Ages, especially in eastern Europe. In Icelandic sources it isalso described in two accounts of the Battle of Clontarf (Brjánsbardagi)
which was fought in Ireland in 1014 (the execution of the viking Bró›ir),
see Njáls saga (ÍF XII, 453) and ﬁorsteins saga Sí›u-Hallssonar (ÍF XI,
302). The historicity of these accounts is doubtful. According to Saxo
Grammaticus (Gesta Danorum, ed. A. Holder (1886), p. 403), the same
method of execution was used on some vikings who raided Denmark andwere captured at Jómsborg during the reign of Erik the Good (1095–
1103). Another account is found in Helmold’s Cronica Slavorum, book I,
ch. 52 (ed. J. M. Lappenberg, rev. B. Schmeidler (1909), p. 103), relating
to the treatment of Christians by rioting heathen slaves in Wagria andPolabia in the early twelfth century. This form of execution was prescribedin various parts of Germany and eastern Europe in the late Middle Ages
as a punishment for damaging trees, see Jacob Grimm, Deutsche
Rechtsalterthümer (4th ed., 1899), II, 39–40, 269–70. The ferocity of thepunishment is probably to be explained by assuming that it had earlier
been a punishment for damaging sacred trees (tree-worship is well attested
as part of the religion of the ancient Germanic races), and was perhaps
understood as the symbolic restitution of the bark of the tree by theoffender. In still earlier times the practice, rather than being a punishment,
may have been a form of sacrifice to a tree-god. In Christian times thechief fascination of evisceration must have been simply its cruelty, and it
has apparently retained this fascination into modern times. According toa tract called Popish Cruelty, display’d by Facts (London 1745), p. 10, it
was used by ‘the 1rish Popish Rebels’ upon a Scottish protestant in 1641.
The author of Orms ﬂáttr probably knew of the practice from Njáls saga
or ﬁorsteins saga.
2/349 svanhvít may be an adjective, but it could also be the name ofÁsbjörn’s mother. Cf. E. H. Lind, Norsk-isländska Dopnamn (1905–15),
col. 984.
2/354 See textual note. With this line (and the following one) cf. Sigvatr’s
Austrfararvísur 9/1, ‘Kátr var ek opt, ﬂá er úti’. E. A. Kock (NN 2495 A)

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suggested taking inni as first person sg. pres. tense of the verb inna ‘tospeak of, relate’, since the adverb (‘inside’) is unsuitable to the context infive of the seven verses in which the refrain occurs. But since this line isborrowed word for word from a verse in Grettis saga (ÍF VII, 52), where
inni is certainly the adverb, it must be assumed that the reading of S iscorrect, and that the author of the verses chose the refrain because it
expressed his general meaning adequately although it was not entirely
appropriate for every verse in which he used it. For similar criticism of arefrain in Vƒluspá, see the edition of Sigur›ur Nordal (1952), pp. 3–8.
2/360 f. Note the rhyme aungvar—ﬂraungvar; similarly in the next verse.
It is impossible to say whether these two words represent aungr a. andﬂraung f. (noun) or aungvar f. pl. (noun) and ﬂraungr a. The meaning is
the same in either case.
2/363 fóru: S has fórum, which would accord better with the similar lines
at 355–6, 387, etc.
2/367 Cf. leggfjƒturs . . . | lundr í Eyrar sundi, Skj. A I, 308, and Heimskringla, ÍF XXVII, 289 (Hárekr Eyvindarson, 1027).
In the verse in Orms ﬂáttr, lundr (‘tree’) is a half-kenning for ‘man’.
Kennings for ‘man’ using lundr as the basic word (e.g. au›ar lundr, seimalundr, hjƒrs lundr ‘tree of riches, tree of the sword’) became so common
in scaldic verse that eventually lundr came to be used on its own as a
poetical term for ‘man’. The same half-kenning is found in the first verse
in Hrólfs saga kraka (ed. D. Slay, 1960), p. 8 (lof›ungs lundar). Halfkennings are quite common in scaldic verses, especially late ones, andare particularly frequent in the verses in Víglundar saga, Gísla saga andKormaks saga, when they have not been emended out of existence byeditors. Certainly in late verses like these in Orms ﬂáttr there is no
justification for trying to complete such kennings by emendation (Finnur
Jónsson in Skj. B II, 365 emends line 366 to hjörs langskipum lag›i; cf.
NN 184 and R. Meissner, Die Kenningar der Skalden (1921), pp. 78 ff.).
2/368 tældr í trygg›um hardly accords with the context of the poem sinceÁsbjörn has not been betrayed by Brúsi.
2/373 Geitir is a giant-name, and ‘horse of the giant’ is a kenning forwolf. To give drink to the greedy wolf is to shed blood, to fight.

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Traditionally the wolf was the mount of giantesses, but in such a late
poem this variation is nothing unexpected. It may have arisen from
imitation of kennings using a neuter word like troll, e.g. trolls fákr ‘thehorse of the troll(-wife)’ (ÍF XXVIII, 178).
2/374 There is no necessity for Finnur Jónsson’s and E. A. Kock’s
alteration of rekk to rökk ‘it grew dark’ (Skj. B II, 366; E. A. Kock, Den
Norsk-Isländska Skaldediktningen II (1949), 198). The second half ofthe verse reads in prose word-order: Svinnr seggr gaf raunmargan rekk
vargi at dökkri rómu, ok nam höggva sárt at Ífuminni: ‘the wise (keen)
warrior (Ormr) gave many a man to the wolf (i.e. killed them) in the dark
battle, and did strike hard at the mouth of the Ífa’.
2/377 The river Ífa is not identifiable, although it is presumably supposed
to be in Gautland if this verse is referring to the expedition of ch. 6. The
author probably took the name from Krákumál verse 4 (lƒg›um upp íÍvu), cf. p. 33, note 1 in the Introduction above. In Vafﬂrú›nismál verse
16 a river-name Ífing occurs.
2/380 tuggu herjans is obviously a kenning for ‘sword’, though the literalmeaning is obscure. Tugga means ‘something bitten, a mouthful’, andúlfs tugga ‘the mouthful of the wolf’ is an accepted kenning for ‘sword’,referring to the story of how a sword was wedged in the mouth of thewolf Fenrir, see Edda Snorra Sturlusonar (ed. Finnur Jónsson, 1931),
p. 37. Herjan is a name of Ó›inn, but it may here be intended as a synonymof úlfr (‘the ravager’, cf. herja ‘to harry’), or it may be a scribal corruptionof a word meaning ‘wolf’. R. Meissner, in Die Kenningar der Skalden (1921),
p.150, suggests hergarmr ‘dog of battle’. Cf. NN 2495.
2/381–2 skerjum Elfar must refer to Elfarsker, though for two halves of acompound to be placed in different half-verses is unparalleled in scaldic
verse. Although the apparently intransitive use of forma here is very
unusual, E. A. Kock’s suggestion (NN 2495) that elfar should be taken as
the object of this verb (‘create rivers’ i.e. of blood) is hardly acceptable,
since the compound Elfarsker is so common (it occurs several times inÖrvar-Odds saga, one of the author’s sources for these verses), and thewords su›r í skerjum would be meaningless on their own. The departurefrom normal metrical usage is not really surprising in a poem of this date;

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there is also no grammatical break between the two halves of verse 11.
Cf. also Einarr Skúlason’s Geisli, verse 17 lines 1–2: á Stikla | ví›lendrstƒ›um (‘. . . at Stiklasta›ir’, Skj. A I 462). See K. Reichardt, ‘A
Contribution to the Interpretation of Skaldic Poetry: Tmesis’, Old Norse
Literature and Mythology, A Symposium, ed. E. C. Polomé (1969), pp.
200–226.
2/384 Mi›jungr is among the names of giants listed in manuscripts ofSnorri’s Edda, but the meaning of Mi›jungs traustir mágar here is obscure.
It may be intended as a kenning for ‘warriors’, or, if Mi›jungr is a personalname, it may refer to a story about Ormr that the author of the ﬂáttr has
omitted to tell us. It is also possible that Mi›jungs is a scribal error formi›lungs (‘middlingly trustworthy’ i.e. ‘untrustworthy’), but the reference
would still be obscure. It is further conceivable that ‘Mi›jungr’ refers toﬁórálfr.
2/410 Although a line with only three syllables is perhaps an acceptable
licence in a poem of this date, it is probable that the author intended
Ormr to be pronounced with two syllables (Ormur). The development ofa epenthetic vowel u between a consonant and final -r took place in
Icelandic about the end of the thirteenth century.
2/428 AD 995. Óláfr Tryggvason was the first king of Norway to attempt
to Christianise the country methodically, and he was also instrumental inbringing about the acceptance of the new religion in Iceland.
2/434 It is odd that Ormr should be made to sail from Rey›arfjör›r, which
is on the east coast of Iceland, rather than from somewhere in the south
or west near his home.
2/441 Prímsigning (Latin prima signatio) was a sort of preliminary
baptism, where the sign of the cross was made over a person. After
submitting to this ceremony men were allowed to associate with both
Christians and heathens, being neither completely committed to Christianity nor completely divorced from heathendom. The author probably
imagined Ormr to have been baptised during the mission of ﬁangbrandr
to Iceland in 997, when several of the leading men of the country wereconverted (see Íslendingabók, ch. 7).

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2/461 Hamingja is often conceived as a personal entity (cf. heill line 340
and gæfa, Hrei›ars ﬂáttr, line 115). Víga-Glúmr’s hamingja comes tohim from his maternal grandfather on the latter’s death and takes theform of a gigantic woman in a dream, and is thus a sort of guardian spirit
watching over the fortunes of a family, see Víga-Glúms saga (ed. G.
Turville-Petre, 2nd ed., 1960), p. xi. In Ormr’s case it is probably intended
to be understood as the spiritual power invested in him by baptism, evena guardian angel, which is set against the supernatural powers of darkness
that are on Brúsi’s side (trollskapr).
2/469 Sau›ey sc. hina ‡tri, since she already possessed the lesser Sau›ey.
2/471 Ormr cannot marry Menglö› because she is not a Christian, andshe cannot become Christian because of her nature, being half a troll.
Compare the story of the cairndweller Brynjarr in ﬁorsteins ﬂáttr uxafóts(Flb. I, 255), who, although by his nature unable to receive the benefitsof baptism, yet thinks it may do him some good if his name is given inbaptism to another person.
2/475 I.e. to the other island, Sau›ey hin ‡tri, where Brúsi lived. Part of
the reason for Ormr’s success on his expedition (besides the advantage
of his Christianity) was that he chose to go to Menglö›’s island first.
2/484 It is not apparent what the significance of this action is. The
decorations or patterning on the sword (implied in the prefix mála-, cf.
Víga-Glúms saga (ed. G. Turville-Petre, 2nd ed., 1960), note to 14/33)
perhaps included runes with magical power, or the sword may have hada cross-shaped hilt (in the Faroese ballad Brúsajökils kvæ›i, which isderived from Orms ﬂáttr, verse 64, the hero cuts a cross in the door of thecave); so the laying down of the sword in the entrance may be an act ofmagic to prevent the escape of the trolls or to prevent more coming inand attacking Ormr from the rear. In one version of Hei›reks saga,
Svafrlami uses a málajárn to prevent two dwarfs from escaping (the verb
used is vígja). See The Saga of King Hei›rek the Wise, ed. C. Tolkien(1960), p. 68. Alternatively Ormr may simply leave his sword behind toleave his hands free, or because he knows that such weapons will beuseless against trolls (as they are against Grendel, Beowulf, lines 801 ff.).
2/518 ﬂegar ek heyr›a ﬂín getit: presumably referring to Ásbjörn’s

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mention of Ormr in verse 12, with its threat of vengeance. Compare thereaction of King Ella when the dying Ragnarr lo›brók revealed in a similarverse that vengeance could be expected to be taken on his slayer, seeVƒlsunga saga ok Ragnars saga lo›brókar (ed. M. Olsen, 1906–08), p. 159.
2/526 This method of execution seems to have been particularly associatedwith vengeance for the slaying of a father. Examples are Torf-Einarr’s
vengeance for his father Rƒgnvaldr on Halfdan háleggr (ÍF XXXIV, 13),the vengeance for the death of Ragnarr lo›brók by his sons on King Ella
(Ragnars saga, ed. cit., p. 168; also related by Saxo Grammaticus, Gesta
Danorum (ed. A. Holder, 1886), p. 315), and Sigur›r the dragonslayer’s
vengeance for his father Sigmundr on Lyngvi (Reginsmál verse 26). In
later stories, like Sigur›ar saga ﬂƒgla, in Late Medieval Icelandic
Romances II (ed. Agnete Loth, 1963), 127, where the phrase is rísta uglu,
and refers to an act of torture, not an execution, the practice seems to be
described simply for its sadistic appeal. In Orms ﬂáttr it is Ormr’s answer
to Brúsi’s method of killing Ásbjörn, and the author seems to have had aparticular interest in strange methods of taking life. In origin the practiceis almost certainly a form of sacrifice to an eagle-god, probably Ó›inn(who assumes the form of an eagle in the story told in Edda Snorra
Sturlusonar (ed. Finnur Jónsson, 1931), p. 85; cf. also the eagle that hovers
over Valhƒll, Grímnismál, verse 10). In Orkneyinga saga Torf-Einarr issaid to give Hálfdan to Ó›inn til sigrs sér (‘in order to bring himself
victory’). On another interpretation of the origin of the phrase rísta bló›örn
see Roberta Frank, ‘The blood-eagle again’, Saga-Book XXII, 287–9;‘The blood-eagle once more. B. Ornithology and the interpretation ofskaldic verse’, Saga-Book XXIII, 81–3.
2/540 Eirekr was the son of Hákon inn ríki (cf. line 248). Together withKing Óláfr of Sweden and King Sveinn of Denmark, he was one of thechief opponents of Óláfr Tryggvason at his last battle (Svöldr, AD 1000).
After the latter’s death the kingdom of Norway was divided between thethree victors, though the actual government was left chiefly to Eirekr andhis brother jarl Sveinn. Eirekr was the more dynamic of the two and was
the virtual ruler of Norway until about 1013 when he went to England tosupport King Knútr. During this time most of Óláfr Tryggvason’s workin Christianising Norway was undone, although both Eirekr and his brother100

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were nominally Christians (see ÍF XXVI, 370–72). In the following
episodes of the ﬂáttr Ormr is clearly being set up as a champion of thedead Óláfr Tryggvason among the enemies who succeeded him.
2/548 The two benches in a Norse hall were along the longer walls, andthe ‘higher’ bench was the one facing the sun, i.e. on the north wall (cf.
Msk., p. 289). The king’s (or jarl’s) high seat was in the middle of the hall
halfway along this higher bench, and the seats closest to the high seatwere the most honourable, while those nearer to the ends of the tables
were lower in rank (Óláfr kyrri, 1067–93, is said to have been the first
Norwegian king to introduce the custom of having the high seat at thegable end of the hall, on a cross-bench, Msk., p. 290). Ormr was given aseat on the higher bench, but útarliga, that is down towards the end of thehall near the door, a position of rather low rank. This is probably thereason for his quietness and aloofness (lines 548–9).
2/552 The gallant defence of Ormrinn langi (‘the Long Serpent’), KingÓláfr’s flagship in his last battle, against overwhelming odds, is described,
among other places, in Heimskringla (ÍF XXVI, 357 ff.).
2/554 Cf. Oddr Snorrason’s Saga Óláfs Tryggvasonar (ed. Finnur Jónsson,1932), p. 231: ﬁessi orrosta (i.e. at Svöldr) hefir verit frægst á Nor›rlƒndum, fyrst af vƒrn drengiligri, er Ormrinn var vari›r, ok ﬂví næst af
atsókninni ok sigrinum, er ﬂat skip var hro›it er engi ma›r ætla›i at
unnit myndi ver›a á vatni fljótanda.
2/569 Skei› is often used synonymously with dreki or langskip, but usuallyrefers only to large warships with sixty or more oars, as opposed to thesmaller snekkja. See H. Falk, ‘Altnordisches Seewesen’, Wörter undSachen IV (1912), 104–05.
2/573 Berlingsáss is not recorded elsewhere in Icelandic, though there
are several cognate words in other languages which all mean some kindof beam or pole, see Carl J. S. Marstrander, Bidrag til det norske Sprogs
Historie i Irland (1915), 21–2, 132; OED, s.v. barling. It was probably
some part of a ship’s equipment, perhaps the same as beitiáss, ‘tacking
boom’, the boom on the lower edge of a sail. Cf. Introduction, p. 25 above.
2/574 The length of an ell has varied considerably at different times andGENERAL NOTES

101

in different places, but in Iceland in the Middle Ages it seems to havebeen about 48 cm. This would make Ormr’s club about 20 foot long.
2/582 Hreytispeld(i) is not recorded elsewhere and the meaning is
unknown. ‘Top’ (the child’s toy) would fit the context, but is difficult tojustify by the etymology. Speld(i) is a small flat piece of wood, hreytameans ‘to scatter’. The compound might mean something like a chip ofwood such as flies from an axe, or perhaps a piece of wood used as ashovel or spatula. It could even refer to an equivalent of the English ‘tipcat’. Sem hreytispeldi therefore may mean ‘like a small piece of wood, as
if it were a mere splinter’. But Helgi Gu›mundsson has suggested thathreytispeldi might mean ‘bull-roarer’ (cf. hrjóta, ‘roar’), i.e. ‘a flat slipof wood a few inches long . . . fastened by one end to a thong for whirling
it round, when it gives an intermittent whirring or roaring noise’ (OED).
This would fit the context perfectly. See Helgi Gu›mundsson, ‘Hreytispeldi’, Gripla III (1979), 224–6.
2/594 Í ﬁrándheimi goes with ﬂar (locative), not verit. ﬁrándheimr nearly
always means the district (now Trøndelag) rather than the town (nowTrondheim) which in the Middle Ages (until the fifteenth century) was
called Ni›aróss (an attempt was recently made to revive this name) or
Kaupangr. Gimsar is in the ﬁrandheimr district, and so the meaning mustbe ‘to the place where he had been before, (which was) in ﬁrándheimr’.
The events of the previous episode were also localised in ﬁrándheimr (atHla›ir, see line 541). Of course it is difficult to say how clear an idea theauthor of Orms ﬂáttr had of the geography of Norway.
2/606 The rulers of Norway used to travel round the landowners insuccession (fara at veizlum), and these were obliged to provide for the
king or jarl and his retinue for a certain length of time each. This was aform of taxation which formed a substantial part of the royal revenue. Cf.
ÍF XXVII, 100.
2/608 According to Flb. I, 520, Eirekr gained possession of the ship after
the battle of Svöldr, and when he had sailed it back to the Vík he had it
broken up (‘but some men say that he had it burnt’) because it had a list
and would no longer steer properly. In its time Ormrinn langi was reputed
to have been the biggest ship ever built in Norway (see Flb. I, 433).

102

TWO ICELANDIC STORIESGLOSSARYÖ, ƒ, and ø are treated as a single letter, and so are æ and œ.
Words that appear in both texts are glossed under the spelling used in
Hrei›ars ﬂáttr. When such words are spelt very differently in Orms ﬂáttra cross reference is included under the later spelling. Words that appear
in only one of the texts are glossed under the spelling used for that text.
When words glossed under their spelling in Orms ﬂáttr may be difficult
to identify, the usual normalised thirteenth-century spelling is added inbrackets.
Words, phrases, and meanings that appear only in the verses arepreceded by †.
All words in the texts are glossed except common pronouns, but only
select references are given. 1 before a line-number refers to Hrei›ars
ﬂáttr, 2 to Orms ﬂáttr.
The following abbreviations are used:a.
abs(ol).
acc.
adv.
art.
aux.
comp.
conj.
dat.
def.
e-m
e-n
e-s
e-t
e-u
f.
gen.
imp.
impers.
indecl.
inf.
interrog.
irreg.
m.
md.

adjective
absolute(ly)accusative
adverb(ial)articleauxiliarycomparative
conjunction
dativedefinite
einhverjum
einhvern
einhvers
eitthvert
einhverju
feminine
genitive
imperativeimpersonal
indeclinableinfinitive
interrogative
irregular
masculine
middle voice

n.
neg.
nom.
num.
ord.
o-self
p.
pers.
pl.
poss.
pp.
prep.
pres. (p.)
pret.-pres.
pron.
rel.
sg.
s-one
s-thing
subj.
subst.
sup.
sv.
vb.
wv.

neuternegativenominative
numeralordinaloneself
past
personpluralpossessive
past participle
preposition(al)present (participle)
preterite-present
pronounrelativesingularsomeonesomethingsubjunctive
substantive
superlativestrong verb
verb
weak verb

GLOSSARY-a neg. suffix used with verbs: era
is not 1/21, muna will not 1/64,væria would not be 1/72.
á (1) prep. (1) w. acc. (motion) to,in, on, at; into 1/121; onto 1/227,
2/310. (2) w. dat. (rest) at, in, on
1/80, in place-names 2/184(cf. í). (3) as adv. in this (matter)
1/166; on it, on board 2/587;
spenar eru ~ there are teats on it
1/413.
á (2) f. river.
á (3) 1/110, 458 see eiga.
á›an adv. a little while ago 1/43;
just now, just 1/168.
á›r adv. before; first 1/145;
previously 1/347; ~ (en) as conj.
(often followed by subj.) before
1/40, 375, 2/609.
af prep. (with dat.) from 2/357; of(partitive) 1/71; away from; off
1/141, 291; by 1/225, 2/54, 252;
because of 2/5; on the part of
1/243 (see ﬂverra); ~ ﬂví forthis reason 2/28, as adv. from
2/108; ﬂa›an ~ see ﬂa›an.
afbrag› n. paragon, superior;~ annarra manna an outstandingly fine person, a mostunusual person (ironic) 1/38;
hvert ~ Ormr var annarra
manna what an exceptional
person O. was 2/139.
afgangr m. excess, surplus; me›afgaungum to spare 2/97.
afglapi m. idiot 1/32.
afl n. strength; at afli in strength
1/6; hafa ~ vi› e-m to have the103strength for s-one, to be a matchfor s-one 2/466.
aflafátt a. n. wanting in strength,
in the phrase e-m ver›r aflafátt
one is not strong enough 2/468.
aflamunr m. difference instrength, svó var ﬂeirra mikill ~so great was the difference
between them in strength 2/323.
afletja (-latta) wv. to dissuade,speak against, be against s-thing
2/257.
aflraun f. trial of strength, a gameinvolving strength 1/241; a featof strength 2/54, 162, 483.
áfram adv. forward, onward.
afskipti n. pl. dealings (withs-thing); veita sér engi ~ um notto concern o-self with, havenothing to do with 1/111.
aftr see aptr.
ágangr m. aggression, annoyance,teasing, horseplay 1/235.
áheyrsli a. indecl., ver›a ~ to getto hear (of s-thing) 1/86.
akfæri n. pl. driving-tackle 2/48,
see note.
ákvæ›isteigr m. 2/82, see note.
aldr (gen. aldrs) m. age; á unga
aldri as a boy, when he wasyoung 1/105; tvítögr at aldri
twenty years old 2/150; maturity,
manhood: ﬂegar at ~ fær›ist yfirhann as soon as he came of age
2/217.
aldri adv. never 2/335; intensive
neg. (without reference to time)
not at all (cf. hvergi) 1/46.

104

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

allstars‡nn a. with fixed gaze:
aldrigi adv. never.
vera ~ to stand staring 1/81.
alin (pl. álnar) f. ell 2/574.
†allstórr a. very big; pl. as subst.
all- intensive prefix very.
allstórir the mighty ones 2/363.
alláræ›islítill a. of very small
allundarligr a. very strange
courage; eigi ~ by no means
1/440.
lacking in pluck 1/430.
allvel adv. very well; very good,allgó›r a. very good, very
very nice 1/154; taka ~ vi› e-m
successful 1/218.
give s-one a hearty welcome†alllítt adv. very little, i.e. not at
2/246.
all 2/403.
álpun f. foolery, clumsy way ofallmikill a. very great 2/433.
walking; vi› ~ Hrei›ars with H.
allnær adv. very close 1/226.
rushing about like that 1/79 (notallr a. all, every; allir everyone
recorded elsewhere; cf. modern
1/31, 2/429, †we all 2/387;
Icelandic álpa(st) to walkcomplete 1/232 (see annarr);clumsily, fool around).
whole 2/180, 458, 509; ﬂann
dag allan the whole of that day alﬂingi n. the Icelandic annual
general assembly.
2/71; hafi ﬂik allan troll may thealﬂ‡›a f. the people, the generaltrolls carry you off entire (i.e.
public; ok ﬂat er eigi sé í alﬂ‡›u
altogether) 1/415; n. as subst.
viti and which is not publicly
allt everything; ﬂessa alls of all
known, obvious to all 1/161.
this, of all these events 2/83;
me› ƒllu in everything, in every andlit n. face; bíta í ~ e-m bites-one in the face 2/491.
way 1/430; ﬂví ƒllu betra sem
all the better in that 1/270; with annarr pron. and ord. num. (1)another, other 1/28; any othersup. allra helzt most of all,
1/23; annars sta›ar elsewhere;
especially 1/241; n. as adv. alltí ö›rum sta› see sta›r; allr
completely entirely, altogether;annarr ma›r a completely new
upp allt at right up to 2/510; alltman 1/232; a›rir others, otherí milli fjalls ok fjöru right frompeople 1/128; annat anything
the mountains to the shore 2/12.
else, otherwise, any different
allrífligr a. very profitable, likely
1/368; †annat var it was
to be rewarding (particularly
different, things were different
used of journeys); ﬂó at eigi sé
2/354. (2) the second 2/17; vetr
allrífligt though the mission
annan for a second wintermay not be a very rewarding
2/535; til annars dags until theone 1/400.
next day 2/476. (3) one (ofalls conj. since.

GLOSSARYtwo): á a›ra hƒnd mér on one
side of me, at my side 1/294;me› annarri hendi with one
hand 2/166; annarr . . . annarr
the one . . . the other: auga ﬂitt
annat . . . annat one of youreyes . . . the other 1/170;
annarri hendi . . . en annarriwith one hand . . . and with theother 2/495; hvórr skyldi annars
hefna the one should avenge theother 2/235; hverr at ö›rum one
after the other 2/307.
annask (a›) wv. to take care of;~ sik to look after o-self 1/107.
aptr, aftr adv. back, backwards
2/516; again 2/598.
árfer› f. season, harvest; segja
mönnum firir ~ tell men what
the harvest would be like 2/192.
árla adv. early.
armr a. poor, wretched (as a termof contempt) 2/241.
áróss m. river mouth, estuary 2/8.
aska f. ash, ashes 2/529.
áss m. a beam of wood, pole 2/65.
ástríki n. affection, love 2/33.
at (1) conj. that 1/250; in orderthat 1/249; so that 1/455, 2/94
(see note); inasmuch as 2/553;
ﬂat bjarg . . . ~ such a rock . . .
that, i.e. a rock of such a size that
2/464; ﬂar til . . . ~ at the pointof the story . . . where 2/225;
pleonastic hversu seint ~ howslowly 2/552; as rel. particle (=er) 1/185, 2/255, 467 (1).
at (2) particle with inf. to, in order105

to; ~ fara (permission) to go
1/255.
at (3) prep. (with dat) at, in, to; up
to 2/126, 127; towards 2/487;
engaged in 1/374; †in (battle)
2/371, 374, 408; ~ hƒf›inu headfirst 1/324; according to 2/234;~ ﬂví sem (er) according to what
1/185, 195; ~ ﬂví er ek hygg in
my opinion 1/409; ~ ﬂví becauseof this, as a result of this 1/261;
as adv. in it, in this 1/311; ekki ~minna gaman no less fun forthat, even more fun because ofthat 1/91.
atgervi f. accomplishments 2/223.
átján num. eighteen.
atsókn f. attack, offensive 2/553.
átt, átti 1/4, 314 see eiga.
átta num. eight.
au›sénn a. obvious, clear 2/52.
auga n. eye 1/170.
aung- see engi.
†aungvar (ƒngvar) f. pl. straits;~ ﬂraungvar narrow straits
2/360 (see note).
aurskór m. horseshoe; ~ einir a
set of (four) horseshoes 2/156,
see note.
austr adv. in the east.
axla (a›) wv. to shoulder, raise
and put on the shoulder 2/609.
bá›i see bæ›i and bá›ir.
bá›ir (f. bá›ar, n. bæ›i, bá›i)pron. pl. both.
bak n. back; á ~ backwards;
ganga e-n á ~, brjóta e-n á ~106

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES(involuntarily) 1/208; bar saman
aftr (um e-t) bend s-one overfundi (acc. pl.) ﬂeirra they
backwards (over s-thing) 2/496,
happened to meet 2/230; ~ til to516; á baki honum on his backhappen; ok beri sva til at for
2/526.
then it might happen that 1/260;
bálkr m. partition, interior wall;~ vi› to happen; í . . . ﬂví er vi›
screen 2/324 (apparently aboutberr involving whatever may
shoulder high, cf. line 505).
happen, whatever it involves†banadægr n. death-day 2/338.
1/400. Md. †betake o-self,bani m. death 2/213, 583; ganga
travel 2/210; berask vi› to passtil banans to go to one’s deathby, be prevented, be avoided
1/395; cause of death, slayer;
1/263; berask at to happen;ver›a e-m at bana to kill s-one
hversu at hafdi borizt um e-t
2/91.
how s-thing had come aboutbanna (a›) wv. to forbid; absol.:
2/425.
ﬂó at hann banni even if heberja (bar›a) wv. to hit, beat 1/24;
forbid it 1/272.
~ á mƒnnum assault people
bardagi m. battle 2/267.
1/22.
batna (a›) wv. to improve, getbetter; tók ekki at ~ began to get berlingsáss m. pole, spar, boom
2/573, see note.
worse (rougher) 1/313.
bestill m. a nickname, apparently
bei›a (dd) wv. to ask (e-s forderived from bast n. bast, barks-thing), demand 1/351; md.
2/238.
bei›ask e-s to ask for s-thing for
betr adv. comp. better; ﬂess ~ er,o-self 1/112.
er meir lí›r fram hans ævi it
bein n. bone.
gets better the older he gets
bekkr m. bench.
1/464; ﬂví ~ er 1/61, see sí›r.
bendi n. rope, a piece of rope usedbetri a. comp. better 1/441, 2/451;
as a harness for carrying an. as adv. era ﬂér ﬂá betra it
bundle of hay 2/114.
will not then be better (easier)bera (bar) sv. to carry 2/84; bring;for you 1/22.
svó mikit . . . sem ek bæra as
much as I could carry 2/121; var beygja (g›) wv. to bend
(transitive) 2/161.
ﬂá inn borit then it (the hay)bezt adv. sup. best; en mér ﬂœtti ~was carried in 1/136; ~ upp toat but which it seems to me best
pass up 2/40, bring forward,
should 1/263; †~ mun at ﬂegja itmake public 1/55; ~ eld at makewill be best to be silent 2/214.
a fire, light a fire 2/529; impers.
beztr a. sup. best 1/273; finest;
there is brought, there comesGLOSSARY

veizla hin bezta a very fine feast
a special celebration 2/194.
bí›a (bei›) sv. to wait, wait for(with gen.).
bi›ja (ba›) sv. to ask (e-n e-ss-one for s-thing); with inf. to
ask s-one to do s-thing, tells-one to do s-thing 2/41, 79; toorder 2/577, 580.
†bila (a›) wv. to give way, fail2/340.
bíta (beit) sv. to bite 2/491; †topierce, cut 2/407.
bitbeinn n. bone of contention(e-m for s-one); ~ ﬂér e›a ﬂeim
er a bone of contention between
you and those who 1/455.
bjarg n. rock, boulder 2/464.
bjarga (barg) sv. to save (withdat.). Impers. var› ﬂá borgit
flestum öllum mönnum nearly
all the men were rescued 2/578.
bjó see búa.
bjó›a (bau›) sv. to offer, proclaim,
preach: bau› öllum rétta trú
preached the true faith to all
2/429.
†blakkr m. poetical word for (adun-coloured) horse 2/372.
blása (blés) sv. to blow (a trumpet):blásit er a trumpet (a fanfare) isblown 1/50.
blí›liga adv. joyfully, in a friendly
way, pleasantly 1/88.
blí›skapr m. friendship; often inpl. vóru me› ﬂeim blí›skapir
there were friendly relations
between them 2/89.

107

bló›rás f. flowing of blood, lossof blood 2/514.
bló›örn m. blood-eagle (the shapeof an eagle cut on s-one’s backwith a sword) 2/526 (see note).
blótnaut n. a sacrificial or holy ox
2/255 (see note).
bogi m. bow.
bóndi m. farmer; yeoman, freeholder 2/197; master of thehouse; (in direct address) master,sir 2/198; (in apposition to aname) Stórólfr ~ farmer S. 2/137;
Virfill ~ master V. 2/193.
bor› n. table.
borgit pp. of bjarga.
bót (pl. bœtr) f. remedy; in pl.
compensation (for the death of aslain man) 1/351.
brá see breg›a.
brá›r a. quick; n. as adv. bráttsoon 1/37.
brag›a see brög›.
breg›a (brá) sv. to move, put, draw
(with dat.); ~ í hagldirnar thread(the rope) through the buckles
2/130; ~ hendinni slip one’s hand,
move one’s hand quickly 2/169;~ saxi to draw a sword 2/526.
Impers. e-m breg›r mjök vi› one
is much taken aback by 2/305.
Md. breg›ast vi› to jerk o-selfaway, pull back quickly 2/506;†breg›ast e-m to fail s-one, be
unable to save s-one 2/337.
†brei›r a. broad 2/208.
brenna (brann) sv. to burn(intransitive) 2/304.

108

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

brenna (d) wv. to burn (transitive) búa (bjó, bjuggum, búinn) sv. (1)prepare 1/9; equip; ~ sik fit o-self
2/529.
out (at with), clothe o-self,
breyta (tt) wv. to alter, change;
attend to one’s personal~ or›um vi› e-n to speak to s-one
appearance 1/223. (2) live, dwellin different ways, try various
1/462, 466, 2/19, 85, 197. (3) pp.
approaches on s-one 1/236.
búinn ready 1/33; munu ~ will
brjóta (braut) sv. to break 2/497;
be ready, eager 1/453; ﬂeirrar
wreck (a ship) 2/577; ~ upp
farar ~ prepared to make thathur› break down a door 1/392;
journey 2/242; fitted out, dressed~ e-n á bak aftr um e-t 2/516,
1/123; vel ~ finely attired 2/443;
see bak; ~ hli› á break down an
vel at afli ~ gifted with great
opening in (a wall), break a holestrength 1/6; vel at íﬂróttum ~in it 2/126. Md. brjótask ágood at sports, highly accomphur›ina hurl o-self at the door,
lished 2/31; vi› svá búit thus,
hammer on the door 1/387;
without more ado, while matters
brjótask út try to break out
stand thus 1/422. (4) Md. búast
1/391.
prepare o-self, get ready 2/437;
bró›ir (pl. brœ›r) m. brother.
~ til get ready for, set out on 2/537.
brotna (a›) wv. to breakbú› f. hut, temporary dwelling(intransitive), be broken 2/50.
(used during the sessions of thebrott (á ~, í ~) adv. away; vilja á ~Alﬂingi by those attending it);to want to get away, to want tovera í ~ me› e-m to be in s-one’s
get out 1/388.
hut, to stay with s-one for thebrottu (í ~) adv. away, off 2/64;
period of the assembly 2/154.
gone away 1/329.
brún (pl. br‡nn) f. brow, eyebrow. búningr m. outfit, dress; skipask
margir menn vel vi› gó›an†br‡na (d) wv. to sharpen 2/406.
búning decent clothes often†brynpálmr m. corslet-palm (tree)change a man for the better(kenning for sword) 2/406.
1/223.
brög› n. pl. trick, device, strata†burr m. poetical word for son;gem; ef aungra brag›a væri í
Stórólfs ~ kenning for Ormr
leitat if they did not find some
2/365.
way out of the difficulty 2/96.
brƒg›óttr a. crafty, cunning, wily burt(u) adv. = brott(u).
búsifjar f. pl. relations between
1/343.
neighbours, neighbourliness;
bú n. household, farm; setja ~veita e-m ﬂungar ~ to be a badsaman set up house; setjast í ~neighbour to s-one, to makesettle down 2/617.

GLOSSARY

109

being a neighbour a misery for deyja (dó) sv. to die.
digr a. thick.
s-one 2/451.
digr› f. thickness; bá›i at leingd
bygg› f. settlement; district,ok ~ see leingd.
neighbourhood 2/97, 106;
dimmr a. dim; e-m er dimmt firir†dwelling 2/369.
augum it is too dark for s-one tobyr›r f. burden, load 2/118, 144;see, s-one’s eyes are not used tohann skyldi hafa byr›i sína he
the darkness 2/312.
could have as much as he coulddó see deyja.
carry 2/105.
byrgja (g›) wv. to shut in, lock in dofna (a›) wv. to go numb; e-m
dofnar hƒndin one’s hand goes
1/374.
numb 1/78.
†byrhestr m. ‘wind horse’, kenning
Dofrafóstri m. fosterling of Dofrifor ship 2/209.
2/5 (see note).
bæ›i, bá›i n. of bá›ir as conj. both.
bœr (gen. bœjar) m. farm 1/360, dóttir f. daughter.
draga (dró) sv. to draw, pull:
2/85; town, city 1/35.
~ undir to pull underneath 2/129;~ (boga) firir odd to pull thedagr m. day; um daginn during
bow past the point of the arrow,the day, later in the day 2/140,
i.e. draw the arrow back until
163; seint dags late in the day
the point is behind the bow
2/296; til annars dags until the
2/597; †nú mun segg á sí›unext day 2/476; í dag today, atsver›s egg dregin ver›a now
the present day 2/83; in pl. days,
the edge of the sword will be
lifetime, reign 2/247.
drawn against (i.e. will pierce)dáit pp. of deyja.
the warrior’s side 2/353; ~ á sik
dála adv. very, very well, comput on, pull on (gloves) 2/481;
pletely; ekki ~ er ﬂat not all that~ af e-m take away from s-one,well 1/108.
deprive s-one of 1/20. Impers.
dau›r m. death; rífa til dau›s tearer í tók at ~ skúrirnar when theto death 2/308.
storm clouds began to gather,dau›r a. dead; ætla e-n dau›anwhen the rain became imminent
think that s-one is dead 2/424;
2/42; tók at ~ at heyjum hans
Hakon jall ~ earl H. (was) deadhis stocks of hay began to2/428; geingr af henni dau›ri
diminish 2/94. Pp. dreginn
leaves her lying dead 2/498.
mjök half starved 2/102. Md.
detta (datt) sv. to fall, drop; hvórt
dragask to go on, to turn out
ﬂegar dettr líf ór mér whether I
1/307.
shall immediately drop dead 2/241.

110

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

dráp n. slaughter, killing; af drápi
Hildirí›arsona because of his
killing the sons of H. 2/5.
dreingiligr (dreng-) a. valiant,heroic; hversu . . . dreingiliga
vörn what a valiant defence
2/551.
dreingskapr (dreng-) m. manliness, nobility of character
2/418; me› litlum dreingskap
with little manhood 2/528.
drekka (drakk) sv. to drink; sitja
ok ~ to sit drinking 2/271.
drepa (drap) sv. to strike, kill
1/326, 415, 2/309; ~ at ferligu
see ferligr.
drykkja f. (1) drinking, the actof drinking: sitja í drykkju to sit
drinking, sit over one’s drink
1/378. (2) drinking feast,
banquet 2/269.
duga (›) wv. to be of use; pull
one’s weight 2/44; ~ vel e-u tobe of benefit to s-thing 2/136.
dylja (dul›a) wv. to conceal, deny
1/383.
dyrr f. pl. doorway, entrance,
opening; ór dyrunum away fromthe entrance 2/483.
dœma (›) wv. to judge, decide (acase) 1/53.
†dökkr a. dark 2/374.
e›a, e›r conj. or; and 1/221; but
1/99, 192; ﬂó at . . . ~ even if. . . or if 1/273.
ef conj. if; provided that, as longas 2/201; in case 2/463.

efni n. material (to work with)
1/372.
eftir see eptir.
†egg f. edge 2/353.
eggja (a›) wv. to urge on 2/43; togoad 2/52.
†ei adv. not 2/347.
eiga (átta) pret.-pres. vb. (1) tohave; hann átti sér (refl. pron.,pleonastic) bró›ur he had abrother 1/4; to own, possess
1/110; ef ﬂú átt ﬂetta eigi if you
do not possess these qualities
1/167; †gramir eigi may thetrolls take 2/279; ~ bardaga tofight a battle 2/267; to have as
wife, to be married to 2/20, 23;
to get, beget (a son) 2/29. (2) ~vi› to have to do with, to havedealings with; at ﬂví at ~ vi›hann from his company 1/238;
at ﬂér muni ﬂvílíkt vi› mik at ~that your relationship with me
will be the same 1/268; vi›
fjándr slíka at ~ to have dealings
with such fiends 2/258. (3)Impers. átti me› ﬂeim illan enda
things came to a bad end
between them 2/89. (4) With
inf. to be obliged to; ef hann áat rá›a if it is left to him todecide (what will be your fate),
if he has to decide 1/458; ~ atrá›a firir to be ruler (governor)
over 2/183; ~ at mæla eftir seemæla.
eigi adv. not; ~ er ﬂat that is not so
2/563.

GLOSSARY

111

einrœnligu móti of a peculiar
einart adv. continually, on and on;
kind 1/445.
gekk ~ kept going on his own,eira (›) wv. to spare (with dat.);went right on 2/343.
impers. hversu honum eirir how
eing (eng) (pl. eingjar) f. meadow,
he would get on 1/275.
hayfield 2/58 (see note).
ekki (1) adv. not.
eingi see engi.
einhamr a. single-shaped; eigi ~ ekki (2) a., pron. (n. of engi) no,
nothing, none 2/146, 298; var›having more than one shape,~ af fer›inni nothing came ofable to change one’s shape by
the expedition, the expedition
magic 2/27 (see note), 87; sá er
was abandoned 2/259; with~ hefir verit of those who havepartitive gen. ~ vópna no
not had supernatural powers
weapons 2/581.
2/181.
elda (ld) wv. to heat, smelt; ~ grátteinkum adv. especially, particusilfr to quarrel 2/88 (see note).
larly.
eldaskáli m. living-room, kitchen;einn (f. ein, n. eitt) a., num. andekki lag›ist Ormr í eldaskála O.
pron. (1) one, a certain 1/374,
did not lie about in the kitchen
2/8; ~ dag one day 2/37; í einu
(like the idiot boy of popular
all together, at once, at the sametales), he was not an idiot 2/35.
time 2/161; í einum sta› in thesame place 1/257. (2) only one eldr m. fire; bera eld at to light afire 2/529; in pl. flames 2/304.
1/172; single 1/112; ﬂat eitt only
that, that alone 1/222; ﬂat eina elli f. old age; til ~ until old age,
all the rest of his life 1/466,
only that 2/141; ﬂik einn only
until he became an old man
you 2/462. (3) alone, on one’s
2/197.
own 1/64, 275, 2/323, 360, 568,
612. (4) Pl. ﬂær einar eingjar af ellidau›r a. dead from old age.
Stórólfshvóli only those fields at elligar adv. otherwise.
ellri a. comp. older; sem hann var
Stórólfshvóll, those (are) theﬂá ~ as he got older 2/179.
only ones of the fields at S. thaten conj. but, and; after comp. than.
2/81; aurskór einir a set of
enda conj. and indeed, besides,(four) horseshoes 2/156.
moreover 2/34.
einnhverr a., pron. some, acertain; eitthvert sinn, einhverju endi m. end 2/612; conclusion; illr
~ a bad end 2/89; á enda right tosinni on one occasion, at somethe end, completely 2/343.
time, once; ﬂat er sagt einnhvern
dag at it is said that one day 2/57. engi, eingi, øngi, aungi a., pron.
no, none; no one 1/148, 2/333,einrœnligr a. singular, odd; me›112

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

583; at øngu by no means, in no era see vera.
way 1/377; me› øngri sætt with- erfi›r a. difficult, hard; nokkut
erfitt something unpleasantout reaching agreement 1/352;
2/518.
vildi vi› aungan af standa would
erriligr a. of lively appearance,
part with it to no one 2/98.
spry, virile, athletic 2/443.
enn adv. still 2/83; longer: †vera ~ey (dat. sg. ey or eyju, pl. eyjar) f.
continue to be 2/277; even so;
island.
further, also 2/57; ~ ﬂótt even if
eygr a. having eyes (of a certain
1/384; †again, once againkind); eigi var hon vel eyg she
2/372; with neg. yet 1/132; with
did not have very nice eyescomp. still, even (more) 1/329,
2/305.
412.
eptir, eftir prep. and adv. (1) with eykr m. beast of burden or draught
animal; horse 2/39, 47.
acc. ~ ﬂat er as conj. after
eyra n. ear.
2/291. (2) with dat. after; ineyrendi (cf. ørendi) n. (1)pursuit of 1/419; senda ~ e-m
mission, purpose; ~ ﬂitt yoursend for s-one 1/119. (3) withpurpose in coming, reason for
dat. according to 1/463; incoming 2/453, 546. (2) the fruit
accordance with 1/346; ~ ﬂvíof an errand: skaltu ~ hafa you
sem segir as is related, accorshall have something for yourding to what is written 2/292.
pains, you’ll get what you came(4) as adv. †behind 2/385 (seefor 2/319.
liggja); back 1/26; vera ~ to be
eystri a. comp. more easterly.
left behind; ﬂat eina (var) ~only that remained 2/141; fara ~to follow 1/67; koma ~ come up, fá (fekk; pp. fenginn, feinginn)sv. (1) to get, take; receive
catch up 1/82; frétta (spyrja) ~2/146; hey (acc.) kunni hvergi at
enquire 1/379, 2/601; hér ~~ hay was nowhere to be obafterwards, in a moment, now
tained 2/97 (see kunna); ~ e-t
1/446.
af e-m get s-thing from s-one
er rel. particle and conj. who,
2/101; ~ vald yfir conquer
which, that; when 1/26, 242,
2/267; ~ sér e-t provide o-self
344, 2/72; since 1/37, 394;with s-thing, get o-self s-thing
where 1/59, 61 (2); while 1/67,
2/64; ~ e-n hƒndum take hold of
234, 302; as; now that 1/131;
s-one 1/322; ~ e-n til to find~ svá er that it is so 1/190; afters-one for s-thing, get s-one to docomp. as, in proportion as 1/61
s-thing 2/575. (2) ~ e-m e-t give(1), 441 (1), 464 (2) (see betr).

GLOSSARY

113

passage: taka sér fari (dat.) get
s-one s-thing, provide s-one
a passage (me› e-m on s-one’s
with s-thing 2/61; er Hrei›ariship) 2/227, 434.
fenginn hestr H. is provided
with a horse 1/277; to give back fár (f. fá, n. fátt) a. few; n. as
subst. little; kva› fátt verra said
1/372 (2). (3) with pp. to be able
there was not much that wasto, manage to (do s-thing); ekki
worse 2/258; fátt veit sá er søfr
fær ﬂú mik lattan you cannot(proverb) a sleeping man
stop me, dissuade me 1/64; at
notices nothing 1/42; coolness:hann fekk unnit in managing tovar heldr fátt me› ﬂeim they
defeat (see at (1)) 2/553.
were not on friendly terms 2/98;
fa›ir m. father; systkin at fö›urfinnask fátt um see finna; withsee systkin.
partitive gen. fátt manna few
fa›mr m. (a measure of length)men 1/204.
fathom, c. six feet; annarr
fara (fór) sv. (1) to go; with
fjögurra fa›ma one four
suffixed pron. †færik I would go
fathoms long 2/110.
2/275; travel 1/31, 2/199; sailfága (a›) wv. to clean; ~ sik to2/363; ~ á sæ, ~ á skipi sail;clean o-self up 1/231.
†~ fjör› sail (down) a fjord
fagna (a›) wv. (with dat.) to greet;
2/356; ~ yfir land travel around~ e-m vel to welcome s-one;
the country 2/190; to move, be
impers. var e-m vel fagnat s-one
passed around 1/407, 2/158.
was made very welcome 2/194.
(2) leave, go away, depart 2/280;
fala (a›) wv. to ask to buy; fala›ifari hann eigi let him not go
af honum hey asked to buy some
1/281; go forward, carry on
hay from him 2/103.
1/77, 286; ~ burt me› e-t to go
fall n. fall.
away taking s-thing, takefalla (fell) sv. to fall; fall in battle,
s-thing away 2/530. (3) ~ me› todie 1/350; ~ á kné kneel downhandle, interfere with 2/602;
1/124. Impers. to suit, agree; fell
~ at to go by, take notice of: atvel á me› ﬂeim they got on wellﬂví fer ek meir sem nú er
together 2/231.
I consider what is now more
fallinn a. (pp.) (with dat.) suitable,
important, I am more interested
a good thing (for s-one) 1/15.
in the way things are now 1/106;
fang n. the breast and arms, the~ verr see verr. (4) Impers.
chest; framan í fangit straight~ fram to happen, be carried out
into his chest, against the front
1/321; hvernug farit hefir how
of his body 2/489.
things have gone, what has
far n. means of transport, ship;114

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

happened 1/425; hversu ferr how
things will go 1/296; hversu ﬂat
ferr how that will turn out 1/452;
er svá haf›i fram farit whenthings had gone on like this
1/312; e-m ferr vel things gowell with one, one gets on well;má honum vel vera farit he may
be a fine person, he may havegood qualities 1/103.
fáskiftinn a. taking little interestin things, aloof, quiet 2/548.
fast adv. firmly, hard 2/43; energetically 2/507; insistently, strongly
2/104; very much, exceedingly,
quickly 2/94, 514.
fastr a. firm; vera ~ fyrir standfirm 1/306; held fast, stuck fast
2/504.
fatla see fetill.
fé (gen. fjár) n. property, money.
fe›gar m. pl. father and son.
feig› f. the state of being about todie, the approach of death; fate,
doom; ~ kallar at e-m fate iscalling to s-one, one’s death isimminent, one’s hour has come
2/331.
feigr a. fey, on the point of dying,doomed; †færik á feigum fæti I
would go on doomed feet, i.e.
my steps would lead me to my
doom 2/274; comp. at ek sé eigi
ﬂar feigari en hér that I shall be
no closer to my death there thanI am here 2/203.
feinginn, feingu, fekk see fá.
feldr m. cloak.

fella (d) wv. to cause to fall; kill;~ féna› to kill off cattle 2/95, 137.
felldr a. fitting, suitable, a goodthing (e-m for s-one) 1/260; betr
~ more suitable; ek em ﬂér vel ~I am a very suitable person foryou (to employ) 1/398; ekki vel
felld not wise, not sensible
1/456.
fémætr a. worth money, valuable;
ﬂat sem meira var fémætt
everything else of value 2/532.
féna›r m. cattle, livestock.
fenginn see fá.
fer› f. (1) journey, expedition
2/259; vera kominn á ~ to be
started on one’s way, to be off
1/278; gera ~ sína to set out
1/354; eigi heptir ﬂetta fer›ina
mína this will not stop me going
1/283. (2) †a group of men
travelling, an army (cf. Old
English fierd) 2/379 (dat. sg.).
ferligr a. monstrous; n. as subst.
drepa at ferligu to make into
something monstrous, giveexcessive importance to 1/210.
fernir distributive num. (Latin
quaterni), but often used as a
cardinal num. four 2/39 (v.l. iiii).
fet n. pace, step 2/613.
fetill m. strap (by which s-thing iscarried); í fatla into harness(referring to the ropes tiedround the hay) 2/131.
fimm num. five.
fimmtán num. fifteen.
fimmti ord. num. fifth.

GLOSSARY

fingr m. finger.
finna (fann) sv. to find; discover,realise 1/237, 242, 334; notice
1/172; ~ til mention, bringforward, suggest 1/169; ~ ate-m find fault with s-one, finds-thing wrong with s-one 1/181;
máttu nokkvot at ~ can you find
any fault 1/160. Md. finnask tomeet each other 1/249, 292; vér
finnumk we (i.e. Magnús andHaraldr) are bound to meet,cannot help meeting, we
continually meet 1/343. Impers.
e-m finnsk fátt um one is little
pleased, one thinks little of
1/320; fannsk honum mikit um
he was very impressed by this2/134.
firir see fyrir.
firna (a›) wv. to blame; ~ e-n um
ef to say s-one will be doing
wrong if 1/31.
fjall n. mountain; milli fjalls ok
fjöru from the mountains to theshore.
fjándi (pl. fjándr) m. fiends,
devils.
fjándligr a. devilish, fiendish.
fjándskapr m. hostility, hatred.
fjár see fé.
fjara f. shore, beach.
fjárskakki m. unequal share ofmoney 1/19.
fjór›i ord. num. fourth.
fjór›ungr m. quarter 2/64 (seenote).
fjórir num. four.

115

fjúka (fauk) sv. to be driven, tofly, be blown; ~ fyrir to give
way before s-thing 1/305.
fjölkunnigr a. having knowledgeof many things, especially ofmagic; skilled in magic 2/28.
fjƒlmenni n. crowd, host ofpeople; following, band of
supporters 1/420.
fjƒlmennr a. crowded, with many
people; well attended 2/151; n.
as adv. er fjƒlmennt væri where
there were a lot of people about
1/61.
fjör›r m. fjord; †fara fjör› to saila fjord, by fjords 2/357.
fleinn m. weapon with a long thinpoint or blade; javelin 2/501.
fleiri a. comp. (of margr) more.
flestr a. sup. (of margr) most;sem flestir menn as many people
as possible 1/59; flestir allirmenn nearly all the men 2/579.
fletta (tt) wv. to strip; ~ e-nklæ›um to strip the clothes off
s-one 2/322.
fleygja (g›) wv. to throw, fling;
fleygir ﬂegar í brott immediately flings it down 1/413; ~ e-u
af sér to throw s-thing(clothing) off 1/176.
†fleyskip n. warship 2/356.
fleyta (tt) wv. to lift just off theground, to raise slightly (withdat.) 2/165.
flokkr m. company, troop.
flytja (flutta) wv. to carry, convey;
take (s-one on a journey) 1/32,

116

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

109. Md. flytjast travel, get (to fráleikr m. speed in running,
fleetness of foot 1/71.
a place) 2/426.
fram adv. forward, on (of time)†for›um adv. formerly, in days
1/464; leggja hest ~ to race agone by 2/359.
horse (hjá against) 1/286; fara ~forlög n. pl. fate, destiny, fortune
see fara.
2/198.
framan adv. in front, from the†forma (a›) wv. to create, bringfront, on the front side; firir ~ asabout, achieve; ~ kólfi do things
prep. (with acc.) in front of.
with an arrow, use (aim) arrows
framaverk n. deed bringing fame,
2/383.
distinguished deed 2/200 (seeforn a. old, ancient; at fornu in
vinna).
ancient times 2/181.
frammi adv. forward; leggja hestforræ›i n. pl. management,~ to race a horse 1/289.
business management; kunna
frár a. swift, fast-running; sup.
engi ~ to know nothing ofmanna frávastr the fastest ofmoney-matters or businessmen 1/6.
1/21.
frétta (tt) wv. (1) to ask; var
forspá f. prophecy, prediction
völvan frétt at forspám sínum
2/196.
the prophetess was asked toforvitni f. curiosity; e-m er
make her predictions 2/196;(mikil) ~ á one is (very) curious~ eptir to enquire 1/378. (2) to(about s-thing); mun ﬂér ok ~ álearn by asking, to hear 2/287.
at vita you will also be eager tofrí›endi n. pl. good things, fineknow 2/455.
things; nokkvot til frí›enda
fóstbró›ir m. fosterbrother,something good (about s-one), asworn brother, sworn comrade.
redeeming feature 1/185.
fóstbræ›ralag n. fosterbrotherfró›r a. wise, learned.
hood, sworn brotherhood,frægr a. famous, renowned;
sworn friendship.
comp. 2/263.
fótr (pl. fœtr) m. foot; fara undanvi› fót take to one’s heels 1/80; †frækn a. valiant, brave 2/365.
frændi (pl. frændr) m. kinsman,†á feigum fæti see feigr.
relative; Haraldr ~ my kinsman
frá prep. (with dat.) from 1/295,
H. 1/343.
467; off 1/307; ~ ﬂví er fromfrændsemi f. relationship, kinship;
the time when 2/301; about,var betr í ~ ﬂeirra relations
concerning 1/1, 159, 2/536;
were better between them 2/138.
absol. about it, about what had
fúlga f. a pile of hay (originally ahappened 1/426; away 2/225.

GLOSSARY

117

front of 1/125, 402, 411; in thethin covering or layer of hay, cf.
presence of 1/209; before, up tofela to hide); the pile of hay
1/124, 396; to the attention of
waiting to be thrown up onto the
1/54; ganga ~ go before, go into
haystack 2/46.
audience with 1/87; ~ sik into
fullr a. full (af of) 2/531; full up
his presence 2/560; in return for,2/136.
in payment for 1/24, 351, 460;
fundinn pp. of finna.
draga ~ odd see draga; ~ ﬂetta
fundr m. meeting, conference
for this reason 1/290; ~ margs
1/290; bei›ask fundar e-s to ask
sakir for many reasons, in many
to meet s-one 1/122; á fund e-s
ways 1/399. (2) (with dat.) in
to see, speak to s-one 1/251, tofront of 2/596; ver›a ~ seemeet 1/417; á y›arn fund to meetver›a; ~ munni sér see munnr;you, into contact with you 1/115;
off, off the coast of 1/447; nor›rhans fƒr á konungs fund his~ landi off the coast to the northinterview with the king 1/218;
2/249; nor›r ~ Mæri in thebera saman fundi see bera.
north off the coast of Mærrfur›a f. wonder, miracle; e-m
2/212, northwards along the
ﬂykkir ~ í one thinks it amazing,coast of M. 2/296; for, because
one is amazed.
of 2/256; ~ sƒkum (with gen.)fúss a. eager; anxious (to do
because of 1/5 (see vit); ~ ﬂví ats-thing) 2/257; sup. ﬂess var ek
as conj. because 1/241; mikill ~fúsastr at what I wanted mostsér important, influential 1/463.
was to, my greatest desire was(3) Absol. as adv. in front 1/121;
to 1/337.
in the way, within range 2/584;
fylgja (lg›) wv. (with dat.) to
ﬂar ~ already there, in the way
accompany; keep up with 1/285,
1/420; previously, first 2/133;
290; fylgi (3rd pers. sg. or pl.
segja ~ prophesy, foretell 2/191;
optative) Hrei›ari heim let
in exchange, in payment 1/454,
s-one take H. home 1/281; fylgir
2/117. (4) In prep. or adv.
sú náttúra this quality pertains
phrases of place: prep. (withto them, they have this qualityacc.) ~ ne›an below 2/287, ~2/467.
framan in front of 2/326, ~ útanfylgjusamr a. closely following;on the outside of, on the west
vera e-m ~ to stick close toside of 2/11; adv. ~ sunnan on
s-one 1/294.
the south side, on the south
fylla (d) wv. to fill; ~ upp af e-u tocoast 2/7.
fill up with s-thing 2/164.
fyrir, firir prep. (1) (with acc.) in fyrirgera (›, pp. -gƒrr) wv. to118

TWO ICELANDIC STORIESfær›ist yfir hann as soon as heforfeit; ~ sér forfeit one’s legal
came of age 2/217.
rights (to compensation forfœri p. subj. of fara.
injury or death) 1/349.
fœrr a. able (to do s-thing); tilfyrr adv. comp. earlier, before
ﬂess ~ capable of this, having
2/225; before now 1/172; on athe power to do this 1/148.
previous occasion 2/594; ~ en asfœti dat. sg. of fótr.
conj. before, until, right up to
the moment when 2/522; eigi ~ fƒ›urarfr m. inheritance from afather, patrimony.
en not until 2/422; ekki mun ek~ upp gefast en I shall not give fƒr f. journey 1/65; expedition
2/242; going 1/218 (see fundr),
in before 2/572.
progress 1/92 (see ógrei›r); í ~fyrri a. comp. former, earlier 1/466.
me› with, along with 1/94; ﬂar
fyrst, fyst adv. first 2/113; at first,
er bró›ir minn í ~ I’ve got myin the first part (of the poem)
brother with me 1/96; leyfa ﬂér
1/440, in the beginning 1/445;
ﬂessa fƒrna permit you to go
most of all 1/59.
there 1/259. In pl. (1) expedifyrsta, fysta f. beginning; í fyrstu
tion, travels 2/423, 431; hafa sik
at first.
í förum to spend one’s time infyrstr, fystr a. sup. first.
travel 2/218. (2) trading voyages:f‡sa (t) wv. to urge; md. to bevera í fƒrum to be engaged on
eager; f‡stist nor›r became
trading voyages, ‘in trade’ 1/7
eager to go north 2/294.
(cf. farma›r merchant); hafa ífyst(-) see fyrst(-).
fƒrum to have invested in tradefœ›a (dd) wv. to give birth to1/ 17.
2/14; rear, bring up; md. fœ›askfƒruneyti n. company; eigi í hans
upp be brought up, be alive~ not in company with him
1/182.
1/273; koma annars sta›ar tilfœra (›) wv. to bring, carry; movefƒruneytis fall into the company
2/482; convey, send 1/318; putof others 1/274.
2/464; ~ ni›r throw down
1/323, 2/314; ~ e-t í let s-thingin, fix s-thlng on 2/66; ~ saman gagn n. gain, profit, booty 2/262;
advantage, use; koma e-m atí múga pile up in heaps 2/78;
gagni to be of use to s-one, help
~ hey saman pile hay up, makes-one out 2/106.
haystacks 2/38; fœr›r í reiku›
see reiku›r. Md. færast undir í gamall a. old, tólf vetra ~ twelve
years old 2/36.
put o-self down into, get down
into, put on 2/130; ﬂegar at aldr gaman n. pleasure, fun; honum

GLOSSARY

119

2/74; e-m geingr lítt one isﬂœtti it mesta ~ at he thought itgetting on slowly, one is not
the greatest fun 1/311; ekki atgetting on very well 2/59.
minna ~ no less fun for that
gapa (t) wv. to gape; me› gapanda
1/91; henda ~ at e-u to get fun
ginit with mouth wide open
out of s-thing 1/238; hafa e-t at
2/486.
gamni treat s-thing as a joke, dogar›r m. (1) an enclosure; yard,s-thing in fun 1/210.
farmyard, hay-yard (cf. heyganga (gekk) sv. to go; walk, go
gar›r) 2/109. (2) In Norway
about 1/120; go on 2/311, 479;
and Denmark usually refers to agátu líta hvar Hrei›arr gekk got
house or premises in a town
to see where H. was, saw H.
2/229.
walking about 1/301; †nú er ek
geinginn now I am come 2/361; gat n. hole, opening 2/325.
gaungumannliga (gƒngu-) adv.
svó at hvergi gekk so that it
like a beggar, meanly; ﬂetta er ~would not move at all 2/504;
til látit that is a beggarly offer
láta ~ e-m e-t strike (let fly at)
2/116.
s-one with s-thing 1/308; absol.
geingu were being used, were in gefa (gaf) sv. to give; svó mikit var
gefit sem ek bæra as much wasuse 2/38; as aux. †gekk at veita
given as I could carry, i.e. thewent and gave, did give 2/372.
offer was for as much as I canWith preps. and advs. ~ á e-t tocarry 2/121; sag›i . . . (sc. atwalk into s-thing 1/120; ~ e-n áhonum væri) meir gefinn vöxtr
bak bend s-one over backwards
en afl e›r harka said . . . that he
2/496; ~ at go up, approach
was more gifted with size than
2/165; ~ firir to give ground,strength or endurance 2/45; ~ ágive way 2/515; ~ inn í to enter
press forward, exert o-self to the
2/126 ; ~ me› to accompany;
utmost, make an extra effort
gekk hér me› holdit the flesh
2/515; upp ~ give up, leave off
went with it, this took with it the
2/79; ~ mik upp sjálfan
flesh 2/510; ~ me› e-t walk withsurrender my independence,s-thing, take, carry s-thing
lose my security 1/19; ~ sik vi›
2/133, 613; ~ til go up, approachto show concern, show signs of
1/392; ~ til Róms make a pildistress; submit, beg for mercy
grimage to Rome 2/493; ~ undir
2/522. Impers. nú gefr vel til
to help to lift (s-thing), put
now it has turned out well
one’s shoulder to (s-thing)
1/281. Md. upp gefast give2/609. Impers. e-m geingr
o-self up, give in 2/572; gefask
things go for one, one gets on

120

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

ekki at grandi take (s-thing) ingood part, take no offence
1/242; impers. to turn out 1/288.
gegnum, í ~ prep. with acc. through.
geil f. glen, small valley; thenarrow passage between adjacentbuildings or between two
haystacks 2/49.
geinginn, genginn pp. of ganga.
gera, gøra (›; pp. gƒrr, gerr) wv.
to make 1/403; do; cause to be
1/465; treat 1/308 (see har›leikinn); perform, carry out
1/399, 2/178; ver›a at hlœgi
gƒrr to be made a laughing
stock 1/225; svá er nú gƒrt thisis now done 1/230; skal gera
there shall be made, we shallmake 2/568; illa ger›ir ﬂú ﬂatthat was an evil thing to do
2/523; gera sér make for o-self;
ger›i sér (sc. orfit) mátuliga
hátt made the handle the rightheight for himself 2/66; gerae-m veizlu to make a feast fors-one 1/377; with suffixed pron.
gerik a›ra óvísu ﬂeim er I perform some other act of hostility
against those who 1/22. Impers.
of the weather ger›i jardbönn
2/93, see jar›bann. Pp. gƒrtfinished 1/375. Md. gerask (1)happen, come about, come tobe, arise 1/247, 2/231; takeplace 2/423; hvat í hefir gƒrzk
what had happened 1/418. (2)get, become 1/462, 2/43, 101,
257, 590; begin to be 2/40.

gerla see gƒrla.
gervibúr n. store-house 2/123.
gestr m. guest; vera ~ e-s to staywith s-one 2/546.
geta f. guess; prophecy 1/463.
geta (gat) sv. (1) to say, mention
1/376; (with gen.) hƒf›u heyrt
getit hans had heard about him
1/301; ~ um e-t mention, speak
about s-thing 1/27. (2) guess; at
ﬂví er ek get til according to myguess 1/195; eigi getr ﬂú allnær
at your guess is far from themark (if you think) that 1/226.
(3) with pp. to be able (to dos-thing) 1/290, 2/75. (4) with
inf. to come to do s-thing, to get
to do s-thing 1/300.
geysihagliga adv. extremely
skilfully 1/428.
gin n. mouth (of an animal) 2/486.
ginna (t) wv. to make a fool of
1/148.
ginning f. deception, fooling
1/146 (see vir›a).
†gjalda (galt) sv. repay; ~ e-m e-t
repay s-one for s-thing, takevengeance on s-one for s-thing
2/415.
gjöf f. gift; parting present 2/216.
†gla›r a. glad, happy 2/278.
gle›i f. merriment, festivity,
merry-making 2/269.
gleypa (gleyfta) wv. swallow
2/307.
glíkligr a. likely, probable.
glíkr a. see líkr.
glíma (d) wv. to wrestle 2/514.

GLOSSARY

glófi m. glove 2/467.
gnógr a. enough, plentiful; n. dat.
as adv. gnógu mart quite
enough, quite a lot 2/243.
go›i m. chieftain, priest 2/21 (as anickname).
gó›r (n. gott) a. good, fine; n. as
adv. er gott at senda ﬂik you
will be a good person to send
1/408; e-m er gott at heyra it
will be pleasant for s-one tolisten to 2/198.
gómr m. palate; in pl. gums; e-mberr mart á góma many things
spring to one’s lips, one brings
up all sorts of things 1/208.
†grá›ugr a. greedy 2/372.
gramir m. pl. fiends, trolls 1/394;
gramir eigi may the trolls have(take) 2/279.
grand n. injury; gefask at grandi
to take offence at 1/243.
grár a. grey; grátt silfr drossy
silver, impure silver 2/88 (seeelda).
gras (pl. grƒs) n. grass; vegetation,
plants, pastures 1/448.
grasgó›r a. having a rich crop of
grass 2/70.
grei›r a. clear, free from obstacles,
easy; n. as adv. ﬂat gekk ﬂeim
ekki svó greitt sem they did not
get on with this as well as 2/74.
greip (pl. greipr) f. grip, grasp;
ganga í greipr e-m to fall intos-one’s clutches 1/260.
greppliga adv. fiercely, horribly
2/511.

121

gretta (tt) wv. to make a face,screw up one’s face; grettir
vaskliga (he) screws up his facein manly fashion 1/233 (seenote); md. grettast greppliga toscrew up one’s face horribly,
frown fiercely, pull a horrible
face 2/511.
gri›kona f. female servant, farmgirl 2/71.
†grimmliga adv. horribly, terribly,
cruelly 2/414.
grimmligr a. fierce-looking
2/303.
grípa (greip) sv. to grasp, seize;~ upp snatch up, seize 2/47;~ í móti e-u grasp at s-thing,snatch, catch s-thing 2/502. Md.
grípast til to get to grips, takehold of one another 2/513.
gripr m. a thing of value.
grópasamliga adv. (not recorded
elsewhere, meaning uncertain)
boastfully or energetically,
uncouthly (v.l. in A and H:
kappsamliga vehemently) 1/287.
gu› m. God.
gull n. gold.
gyltr f. sow 1/413.
gylla (d and t) wv. to gild 1/403.
gæ›i n. pl. good things; advantage,
profit, income 2/255.
gæfa f. luck, good fortune 1/115.
gæfir p. subj. of gefa.
gægjast (g›) wv. to peep, bend thehead over s-thing to see, stickthe head up 2/504.
gæta (tt) wv. (with gen.) take care

122

TWO ICELANDIC STORIESon (to them) 2/159; ~ e-m eptir
hold s-one back, stop s-one fromgoing 1/25; ~ e-n fyrir e-m
protect s-one from s-one 1/341;
md. at ﬂeir haldisk á that theyshould continue holding on toeach other 1/79. (2) to set one’s
course, steer, sail, make one’s
way 2/259, 261, 296, 310, 475,
477; ~ eptir e-m give chase tos-one 1/421.
há› n. mockery, insult, til há›svar gƒrt it had been done as an hálfr a. half; hann á allt hálft vi›
mik all we own is our common
insult 1/413.
property 1/110; hálfu meiri
hadda f. handle (of a pot or
twice as much 1/17.
cauldron) 2/168.
hamingja f. luck; sometimeshá›ung f. insult 1/429.
personified, a guardian spirit
haf n. open sea, ocean.
2/461 (see note).
hafa (›) wv. (1) to have, take 1/16,
handfár a. short-handed; handfátt
2/112; accept 2/107; receive
var› upp at bera there were not
2/33; get 2/255. (2) to put; ~ sikenough people to pass it up
at e-m set on s-one, attack s-one
2/39.
2/488; ~ í put in 2/132; ~ sik í
spend one’s time on, engage in handkrœkjask (kt) wv. to joinhands, link arms 1/76.
2/218; hƒf›u ﬂeir hann til skógar
hár (n. hátt) a. high.
they took him off to a wood
1/303; ~ e-n sendan cause s-one har›leikinn a. playing a roughgame; gera e-m hardleikit treat
to be sent, send s-one 1/401. (3)s-one roughly 1/308.
as aux. with pp. 1/36, 48, 72 &c.
hagldir f. pl. buckles (for fastening har›r a. hard; strong, mighty
2/553; n. as adv. hart fast 1/67;
harness in which hay washeavily 2/315. Comp. tougher,
trussed) 2/124.
having more endurance 2/328.
†hagliga adv. skilfully 2/383.
harka f. toughness, endurance
hagr a. skilful; vera ~ to be a
2/45
craftsman, be an artist 1/197.
harmdau›i a. lamented, causinghaka f. chin 2/509.
sorrow by one’s death; var hannhalda (helt) sv. (1) to hold, keep;
fám mönnum ~ his death did not~ vel trú sína remain a good
break many hearts 2/289.
Christian 2/618; helt á he heldof, guard; at ﬂín ver›i gætt thatyou will be safe 1/342.
gæti p. subj. of geta.
göfugr a. noble, of high rank; sup.
göfgastr highest in rank, mostdistinguished 2/22.
gøra, gƒrr, &c. see gera.
gƒrla, gerla adv. fully, completely;clearly 1/133; exactly 1/194.

GLOSSARY123mæl ~, seg ~ sƒgu speak inharmkvöl f. torment, torture; me›health, say what you say insvó miklum harmkvölum in such
health, i.e. well said, bless you
great agony 2/320.
for saying that 1/192, 196.
hátta (a›) wv. to arrange, dispose;hversu bogi hans var til hátta›r heilsa (a›) wv. (with dat.) to greet.
what had been done to his bow heim adv. (towards) home 2/351;
sœkia ~ see sœkia.
2/601; impers. with dat. ﬂar var
svó háttat landslegi at there the heima adv. at home; living athome, not away (although notlie of the land was such thatnecessarily in the house) 2/595;
2/69.
var hann ~ jafnan he always
háttr m. manner, kind; kvæ›it mun
stayed at home, he neververa me› ﬂeim hætti sem ævi ﬂín
travelled, i.e. he was inexperithe poem is similar to your life,
enced (cf. the nickname inn
your life will go like the poem
heimski ‘the foolish’, sometimes
1/444; ﬂess háttar menn sem
applied to Hrei›arr in late
hon er people like her, her sortmanuscripts and modernof person 2/243.
editions) 1/7.
háttung f. danger, risk; ~ er ƒ›rum
heimill a. free, at s-one’s service;á there is a danger to others in~ er (ﬂér) you are welcome tothis, others are in danger 1/166.
1/203.
haust n. autumn.
heimta (mt) wv. to claim (e-t at
hefja (hóf) sv. to lift; ~ upp toe-m s-thing from s-one) 2/145.
begin.
heita (hét) sv. (1) intransitive
hefna (d) wv. to avenge, take(pres. tense ek heiti) to bevengeance for (with gen.)called; ﬁór›r hét ma›r there
1/428; hvórr skyldi annars ~was a man called ﬁór›r 1/2;
each was bound to avenge theIngunn hét kona hans his wifeother 2/235.
was called I. 2/14. (2) with dat.
hei›r f. heath, moor; firir ne›an(pres. tense ek heit) to promise;hei›i below the heath, on the
ﬂví hét hann he promised thiscoast at the foot of the moor
1/29; ~ e-m at to promise s-one(i.e. Mosfellshei›r) 2/287.
that 2/350; ~ á to invoke; ~ áheilagr a. holy; hinn heilagi
gu› at to invoke God and vow,
Petrus St Peter.
to make a vow before God (toheili m. brain.
do s-thing) 2/492.
†heill (1) n. or f. (good) luck
heituhús n. brew-house, brewery
2/340.
2/164.
heill (2) a. whole, in good health;124

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

hel f. the abode of the dead; fœrae-n til heljar, koma e-m í hel tokill s-one 1/319, 2/456.
heldr adv. comp. (1) rather, instead;rather than this 1/276; ek mun ~vera ﬂér í sinni I prefer to be on
your side (i.e. than on Brúsi’s)
2/470; ek mun ~ borit fá (sc.
byr›ina) en ﬂú I will be better
able to carry it than you (i.e. I
will be able to carry a larger
load than you) 2/118. Intensifying a comp. frægri ~ en ﬂeir
more famous than they 2/263.
(2) somewhat 1/102, 2/40, 303;
rather 1/212.
hellir m. cave.
hellisdyrr f. pl. opening or mouthof a cave 2/464.
helzt adv. sup. most of all, especially; probably, most likely 1/194;
ﬂat ~ that in particular, that
more than anything else 1/170;
ﬂar . . . sem ﬂá er hann ~ wherever he is, wherever he goes
2/200.
henda (nd) wv. to receive, get (ate-u from s-thing); to catch 2/488.
hentr a. having hands (of aparticular kind); ma›rinn ~mjƒk the man had huge hands,
was large-handed 1/177.
hepta (pt) wv. to hinder, prevent
1/283.
hér adv. here; now, on this matter,in this case 1/348, 2/117; ~ erthere is here 1/447; ~ eptir in a
moment, now 1/446.

herbergi n. room, chamber;konungs ~ the king’s quarters,
the king’s antechamber 1/224.
her›a (rt) wv. to press; ~ at toinsist, press one’s case hard
2/104. Reflexive: exert o-self;
hertu ﬂik buck yourself up
2/122.
her›ar f. pl. the shoulders 2/131.
herja (a›) wv. to harry, to makeraids.
†Herjan m. a name of Ó›inn
2/381 (see note).
herna›r m. plundering, viking
raid; fara (halda) í herna› to go
on a viking expedition 2/261;
vilja í herna› to want to go on aviking expedition 2/284.
herra m. master, lord, (used inaddressing a king or jarl) my
lord, sire.
hestr m. horse; a load (as much asa horse can carry); reip á tíu
hesta ten harness-ropes (fortying loads of hay onto horses’
backs) 2/124.
hey n. hay 2/38, 74, 129, 146;
haystack 2/43, 48, 49, 84;~ hans bæ›i both his haystacks
2/14; in pl. stocks of hay 2/94.
heygar›r m. enclosure forhaystacks; wall round haystacks
2/126.
heykleggi m. haycock; used(perhaps ironically) of large
haystacks 2/109.
heyra (›) wv. to hear, listen 1/30;
listen to 2/198; with suffixedGLOSSARY

125

with 1/286; with, at the home ofpron. heyr›ak I heard 1/43;
2/222; sitja ~ stay with 2/260;~ sagt hear it said 1/119; ~ hansvera ~ to live with 2/449.
getit hear tell of him 1/301.
hjálpa (halp) sv. to help; til ~ toheyver› n. the price of the hay,lend a hand 2/41.
payment for the hay 2/145.
†hjarta n. heart, mind; courage†Hildr f. the name of a valkyrie;
2/339.
Hildar stormr the storm of H., ahla›a f. barn 2/136.
kenning for battle 2/371.
hla›a (hló›) sv. (with dat.) to pile
hingat adv. here, to this place.
up; ~ heyi to work on top of ahinn (f. hin, n. hitt) demonstrative
haystack piling it up 2/39.
pron. the other 2/235; the opposite 1/211; hitt sag›a ek what I Hla›ajall m. jarl of Hla›ir 2/248.
said was (not that but) this 2/563; hlass n. 1oad (on a horse or a cart)
2/47.
hitt veit ek at but one thing I do
know is that 1/452; hitt fann ek I hlaupa (hljóp) sv. to run; pounce
2/306, 485.
realised one thing 1/334.
hli› n. gateway, opening in a wall;
hinnug adv. elsewhere 1/213.
hir› f. the king’s court, the king’s
br‡tr ~ (á) knocks down anmen; me› hir›inni with the
opening (in it) 2/126.
court, living with the king’s
hljóta (hlaut) sv. to receive, get asmen 1/235; fara til hir›arinnar
one’s lot; †bana ~ to meet death
to go and lodge with the king’s
2/213; lítit ætla ek ﬂik af honummen 1/215.
hafa hlotit I don’t think you
hir›ma›r m. courtier, (sworn)
have been gifted with much ofretainer.
that 1/72.
hir›vist f. stay, lodging at thehluti m. part, share; advantage;
king’s court; fara til hir›vistar
gera sér e-t at mestum hluta
to be the king’s guest, lodge
make the greatest capital out ofwith the king’s men 1/95.
s-thing 1/465.
hitta (tt) wv. to meet, go to see,hlutr m. lot, part, share; thing
visit; hittask (reciprocal) to meet
1/112; matter 2/192; sá ~ ereach other 1/424.
there is s-thing 1/253; inn fyrra
hituketill m. cauldron (for brewing
hlut ævinnar in the earlier partale) 2/163.
of his life 1/466; hlut í at eiga to
hjá prep. (with dat.) with, close to;become involved 1/22; hvern~ ﬂeim er near s-one who 1/211;
Haraldr konungr vill ﬂinn hlut
next to 2/198; near, just outsidewhat King Haraldr wishes your2/163; against, in competition
fate to be 1/458.

126

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

hl‡›a (dd) wv. to listen to; at ﬂérhl‡ddi› that you should listen to
1/437; ~ á to listen 1/217.
hlœgi n. laughter, a source oflaughter; er ~ ﬂykkir í that isthought amusing 1/207; ver›r
sí›r at ~ gƒrr af one is lesslikely to be made a laughing
stock by 1/225.
hlæja (hló) sv. to laugh (vi› at)
1/311; pres. p. hlæjandi laughing
1/239, with a laugh 1/126.
hóf n. moderation, measure; nærhófi almost enough, nearly wellenough 1/140; limit, bounds;ætla sér ~ um see ætla.
hóf p. of hefja.
hógværr a. gentle (of character)
1/6.
hold n. flesh, skin.
hólmr m. small island, islet.
horfit see hverfa.
horn n. corner; direction; ﬂá sk‡tr
í tvau ~ me› okkr (idiomatic
expression) then we areshooting in two directions, ourideas are very different, we are
not in agreement 1/60.
hornblástr m. blowing of a
trumpet, trumpet-call, fanfare
1/48.
hraustr a. valiant, brave.
hreysti f. valour, courage 2/418.
hreytispeld (or -speldi) n. 2/582,
see note.
hrí› f. time, period; um ~ for awhile.
hrífa f. rake.

hrinda (hratt) sv. (with dat.) topush (about or around) 1/304.
hringr m. ring, circle; ﬂar í hringum round it in a circle 2/343.
hrjóta (hraut) sv. to fly, be flung,bounce 1/307.
hryggr m. backbone, back; taka
um hrygg e-m to take holdround s-one’s back 2/496;
brjóta í e-m hrygginn to breaks-one’s back 2/497.
hræ›a (dd) wv. to frighten; verahræddr um e-t to be afraid ofs-thing, be concerned abouts-thing 1/262.
hræra (d) wv. to move (transitive) 2/75.
hugi m. mind, heart; courage;†stórr í huga courageous 2/336.
hugkvæmr a. ingenious, perceptive 1/145, 430.
hugr m. mind, heart; ~ segir mér(um) my heart tells me, I have afeeling (about s-thing) 1/295,
2/517.
hur› f. door.
hús n. house, building, room (thedifferent apartments of amedieval dwelling were often
different buildings close together) 1/374.
húskall (-karl) m. servant, farmlabourer; dat. pl. húskörlum
2/59.
hvar adv. where; sá hann ~ kettan
hljóp he saw the cat pouncing
2/485; ~ er wherever 2/262;~ . . . af where from 2/107.

GLOSSARY

hvárt, hvórt (n. of hvárr, hvórr)
as interrog. adv. whether 2/240,
327; pleonastic, introducing
direct questions 1/56, 107.
†hvass a. keen, sharp 2/380.
†hvassliga adv. keenly, sharply
2/407.
hvat pron. n. what; ~ sem (er)whatever; ~ er ﬂú ætlar
whatever your opinion is 2/205;(interrog.) with partitive gen.
~ ﬂeira manna what men 1/93;
with dat. what sort of: ~ látum
var what sort of noise it was
1/46.
hvé adv. how.
hverfa (hvarf) sv. (1) to turn; er
fyrr var frá horfit where we leftoff (the story) 2/225. (2) tovanish 2/473.
hvergi adv. nowhere 2/96; asintensive neg. not at all,absolutely not (cf. aldri) 1/62;
svó at ~ gekk so that it would
not move at all 2/504.
hvernug adv. how; ~ ﬂat er what
it is like 1/332; ~ ﬂótti ﬂér what
did it feel like 1/334; ~ skulu vit
nú ﬂá what shall we do now
then 1/134.
hverr (f. hver, n. hvert) pron.
each, every, everyone 1/30, 163;
each man 2/337; ~ í bygg›inni
each man in the district 2/106;
milli hverra múga between eachof the heaps, from one heap toanother 2/83; ~ at ö›rum one
after the other 2/307; hverjum

127

manni kurteisari the mostcourteous of men 2/188; ~ semfirir yr›i whoever got in theway, i.e. for anyone that got in
the way 2/583; interrog. who,
which, what 2/139, 452, 601;
hverju var líkast? what was it
most like? 1/44.
hversu adv. how; ~ stóra byr›i
how great a load 2/144; ~ . . .
dreingiliga vörn what a valiant
defence 2/551; ~ seint at how
slowly 2/552, see at (1);~ margr however many 2/253.
hví pron. (dat. sg. of hvat), as adv.
why.
hvíld f. rest.
hvirfla (a›) wv. to turn s-thingover (hay, so that it dries in thesun) 2/74.
hvóftr (hváptr) m. jaw; me›hvóftunum between the jaws
2/488.
hvórgi (hvárgi) (n. hvórki) pron.
neither (of two things) 2/63;
after neg. either; ór hvórigri
eyjunni from either island
2/256; n. as adv. hvórki . . . néneither . . . nor 2/75.
hvórr (hvárr) pron. each (of two)
2/611; ~ . . . sá er leingr lif›ithat one of the two who outlived
the other 2/235.
hvór(r)tveggja (-tveggi) (hvárrtveggja) pron. each (of twothings), both 2/61, 250; ﬂótti
ﬂetta mikil aflraun hvórtveggja these were both128

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

considered great feats of strength
2/162.
hvórt see hvárt.
hyggja (hug›a) wv. to think; at
ﬂví er ek hygg in my opinion
1/410; ~ at e-u to consider
s-thing, examine s-thing closely
1/412; ~ um e-n to feel concern
for s-one, have s-one’s interests
at heart 1/211.
hæ› f. a small hill, rise 1/80.
hœgr a. easy; comp. eigi er ﬂatenn hœgra that is no easier, thatis not the easier course 1/329.
hæll m. peg, handle (of a scythe).
hængr m. a nickname 2/3, seenote.
hætta (tt) (1) wv. to stop, leave off(with dat.) 2/578.
hætta (tt) (2) wv. to risk; vill eigi
ﬂar ~ honum refuses to risk his
being there 1/461.
höf›ingi m. chief, man of rank;
prince, ruler; man of authority
2/220.
höf›ingjaskifti n. change of ruler
2/428.
hƒfu› n. head; at hƒf›inu headfirst 1/324.
†högg n. blow; veita ~ deal blows,fight 2/380.
höggva (hjó) sv. to strike, cut;~ höfu› af e-m to cut off s-one’s
head 2/520; ~ upp to break up,
demolish (a ship) 2/608; absol.
†~ sárt to deal hard blows 2/376.
hƒnd f. hand, arm; bá›um höndum
with both hands 2/506; millihanda sér in his hands, with his
hands 2/63; fá hƒndum 1/322
see fá; me› manna hƒndum
from hand to hand 1/407; áhöndum on one’s hands, on
2/468; á a›ra hƒnd mér on one
side of me, at my side 1/294;
í hendr ﬂér into your hands,
over to you 1/386; af ﬂeira
hendi on their side, as far as
they were concerned 1/313.
hörzkr a. from Hör›aland; nickname, hörzki the Hordlander.
í prep. (1) with acc. in, into 1/33;
towards 1/60; to 2/126, 259; at
1/245; ~ dag today, at thepresent day 2/83; ~ sumar thissummer 2/59. (2) with dat. in;on (an island); on, by (a river)2/228; in place-names, at 2/85
(see note); Véseti ~ Borgundarhólmi V. of B. 2/185; ~ honumin his body 2/50 (see rif);
dressed in 1/123; ~ ﬂví at thatmoment, just then 2/47; en ~ﬂessu er than is involved in this,than is implied in this (action)
1/429. (3) absol. ﬂar ~ into it,
onto it 2/67.
i›juma›r m. hard-working man;
~ mikill a very hard-working
man 2/37.
ígjarn a. (with gen.) eager fors-thing; verks ~ keen on work,
hard-working 2/37.
illa adv. badly; ~ ger›ir ﬂú ﬂat that
was an evil thing to do 2/523; at

GLOSSARY

129

height as, as high as (with dat.)
2/168.
jafnmæli n. fair play, equality; nú
skal ~ me› okkr now we shall bequits 1/173.
jafnröskr a. equally brave; atpína hann svó mjök, jafnröskvan
mann to torment such a valiant
man as him so much 2/524.
jafnt adv. exactly, precisely 1/338;
svá mun vera ~ ﬂegar er ﬂúsegir ﬂat it is bound to be so if
you say so 1/201.
jafnungr a. equally young; ~ ma›rsuch a young man 2/54.
jafnvel adv. equally well, so well.
jall (jarl) m. earl, ruler either
independent or subject to aking; a viceroy.
jar›bann n. ‘earth-ban,’ when theearth is frozen or snowed overso that cattle cannot graze; ger›ijardbönn the pastures weresnowed over 2/93.
járn n. iron.
járnmikill a. made of solid iron,já adv. yes.
solid 2/157.
jafn a. equal; vóru á allar jafnir
they were equal (just as good as járnsúla f. iron pillar 2/325.
each other) in all of them 2/233. jör› f. earth, ground; vi› jör›ina
near the ground 2/129.
jafnan adv. always 1/7, 53;
continually, all the time 1/239, jötunn m. giant; aungvar jötna
ﬂraungvar narrow straits of (i.e.
311.
among) the giants 2/361.
jafnframmi adv. at the same time,
simultaneously; kva› ﬂá vísur
ﬂessar ~ he spoke these verses -k first pers. pron. as verbal suffix
I; pleonastic with the second ofas he went (i.e. the poem lasted
two co-ordinated verbs having
as long as his entrails) 2/344.
the same subject gerik I do 1/22,
jafnhátt a. n. as adv. to the sameﬂú mundir ~ rei›r ver›a thatwhen you got angry it would
turn out badly 1/339.
illr a. bad; illt er lítill at vera it isa bad thing to be tiny 1/70;
ﬂykkja e-m illt see ﬂykkja.
†ímun f. poetical word for battle
2/408.
inn adv. in.
inna (t) wv. to speak of; md. innask
til um e-t to discuss, consider
s-thing together 1/144.
innar adv. comp. further in,
towards the inside 2/306; ~ atfurther in towards (it), in closer
2/500; ~ at ﬂar er Ormr láfurther in to where O. was lying
2/444.
†inni adv. inside, indoors 2/354(see note).
íﬂrótt f. sport, game of skill; feat;accomplishment 2/223;
strength, ability; †sinni ~ one’s
own strength 2/334.

130

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

svardar lá› to comb s-one’s
heyr›ak I heard 1/43, mælik I
head 2/347.
speak 1/210; in a verse ek færik
kenna (d) wv. to recognise 1/85.
I would go 2/275 (seekeppa (t) wv. to contend, dispute;introduction, p. 18 above).
eigi ﬂikki mer ﬂú ﬂar mega um ~kaf n. plunge, dive (into water);I don’t think you are in a positionslá í ~ to sink (transitive) 2/577.
to argue about the matter 2/243.
kall (karl) m. man (as opposed towoman) 2/154; old man; Stórólfr kerti n. candle 2/161.
ketta f. she-cat 2/254.
~ old S. 2/49.
kalla (a›) wv. to call, cry out, shout kikna (a›) wv. to bend over backwards (intransitive); ~ vi› to
1/388; summon 2/560; ~ á callgive way by bending backwards
on, call to 2/40; ~ at e-m call to
2/490.
s-one 2/331; ~ megi ﬂér svó you
kippa (t) wv. to snatch, pull
can call me that 2/545; vera
sharply; ~ e-u at sér jerk s-thingkalla›r to be said to be, contowards o-self 2/503.
sidered, reckoned 1/104, 2/22,
kirkja f. church; at kirkju
82; eru ﬂeir landnámamenn
attending church 2/596.
kalla›ir they are counted as
kirkjudyrr f. pl. doorway, entrance
settlers 2/16; var kalla›r wasof a church 2/596.
called, was known as 2/24, 86,
kista f. chest, box 2/531.
189, 191.
kanna (a›) wv. to explore; †get to kjaftr m. jaw; kjaftarnir bá›ir theskin from both upper and lower
know, become acquainted withjaws 2/509.
2/369.
kjósa (kaus) sv. to choose; sik ~ tokápu f. cloak 2/169.
choose o-self to be 1/163.
kapp n. zeal, eagerness; legga ~ áshow eagerness (to do s-thing), kleggi m. cock of hay; stack (cf.
heykleggi) 2/132.
act with eagerness 2/318.
kappi m. hero, champion; konungs kló (pl. klær) f. claw.
klæ›a (dd) wv. to clothe; ~ sik to
kappar the picked warriors ofget dressed 2/299.
the king, comitatus 2/551.
klæ›i n. pl. clothes.
kasta (a›) wv. to throw 2/48;
knáleikr m. prowess, strength~ saman lay together, fasten
2/149.
together 2/124.
kaupa (keypta) wv. to buy (at e-m knáliga adv. energetically, hard
2/422.
from s-one) 1/453.
kné n. knee; falla á ~ kneel down
kaupma›r m. merchant 2/426.
1/124.
kemba (d) wv. to comb; †~ e-mGLOSSARY

kn‡ta (tt) wv. to fasten, tie (um e-t
round s-thing) 2/342.
†kólfr m. arrow, bolt (properly ablunt-headed arrow) 2/382.
kolsvartr a. coal-black; sú in kolsvarta ketta that coal-black cat
2/448.
koma (kom) sv. (1) (intransitive)
to come, arrive 1/36; get to (aplace) 2/241; ﬂar er kominn
Brúsi B. was there 2/316; atvóri komnu when spring wascome, at the beginning of spring
2/261. (2) (transitive) with dat.
to bring; ~ skipi bring a ship, sail2/286; at ek skyldi aungri vörn
firir mik ~ that I should not
manage to put up any resistance
2/331; ~ sér í skip to get o-self apassage 2/425; ~ e-u í brottremove s-thing 2/466; ~ e-m íhel cause s-one to go to Hel, kills-one 2/456. (3) (intransitive)
with preps. and advs. ~ á reach,
get to, arrive at 1/85, 345; go to
2/201; kominn á ﬂrítögsaldr
arrived at the age of thirty 2/226;
láta ~ á sik let o-self be dressedin, put on 1/227; kominn af descended from 2/221; ~ at arrive(at) approach, come to land 2/8,
come up 2/47, reach 2/311; ~ atgagni see gagn; ~ eptir come up,
catch up 1/82; vera kominn frá
e-m to be descended from s-one
1/467; ~ fram to happen, cometo pass 2/519; ~ í land come tothe country 2/429; e-t kemr e-m131í hug one has a feeling, a premonition, about s-thing 1/338;
lét ﬂar í ~ fastened onto it 2/67;
er hann var inn kominn when hegot inside 2/485; hvar Hrei›arr
er ni›r kominn where H. had
got to 1/354; ~ til to get to,arrive at, reach 1/289, 2/158,
come across, find 1/274 (seefƒruneyti); ~ e-m til lítils to beof little use to one, to be of noavail 1/284; ~ upp to get known
1/206; kemr útar comes out, isbeing thrust out 2/501; ~ vi› tocome to land at, harbour at 1/34.
(4) Md. komast í get in 2/465;~ me› keep up with 1/72;~ undan get away 2/421; ~ út okundan to manage to get out andaway, escape 2/309. (5) Impers.
kom vi› sem mátti 1/237, seenote; svó kom at it turned out
that, it came about that 2/234; er
ﬂar komit at the point is reachedat which 1/321; ger›ist tímum
mjök fram komit time wasgetting on 2/102.
kona f. wife 2/14; woman 2/190,
442.
konungr m. king.
kostr m. choice, chance, opportunity; kost átta ek at I could
have, it was within my power to
2/172.
kristna (a›) wv. to convert toChristianity, to baptise; md.
kristnast to become Christian,be baptised 2/441.

132

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

kverkr f. pl. throat 2/496.
krumma f. colloquial word forkvi›r m. belly 2/341.
hand; paw 1/176.
krækja (t) wv. to hook (with dat.) kvónga›r (kvánga›r) a. married
2/185.
2/167.
kvæ›i n. poem 1/437.
kúgildi n. the value of a cow
kvæ›islaun n. pl. reward for a
2/147, see note.
poem 1/447.
kunna (kann) pret.-pres. vb. to†kvöl f. torment, torture 2/412.
know how to, to be able; ~ frá
at segja to know about, be able kykvendi n. pl. animals (asopposed to human beings) 1/45.
to give details about 2/424, 456;
†ef hann kynni at líta á if he were kynjalæti n. pl. strange behaviour
1/465.
able to see 2/413; ef ﬂú kynnir at
koma in case you should happen kynligr a. strange, extraordinary,
odd; sup. fyrst kynligast mostto come 2/463. Impers. hey
odd to begin with 1/441.
(acc.) kunni hvergi at fá it was
impossible to get hay anywhere, kynna (d or t) wv. to makeknown; ~ sér e-t acquaint o-self
hay was unobtainable 2/96; vera
with s-thing 2/218.
kann ﬂat that may well be 1/27;
kann vera it could happen 1/208. kynni n. acquaintance; a visit toan acquaintance; fara á ~ to go
kurteiss a. courteous, gentlemanly,on a visit, to go to visit friends
well bred; comp. hverjum manni
2/593.
kurteisari the most courteous ofkyrr a. quiet, peaceful; sitja um
men 2/188.
kyrrt see sitja.
kve›a (kva›) sv. to say, speak;recite, deliver, declaim (a poem) kœja vb. trouble, disturb 1/36, seenote.
1/440, 2/459; often used of thekœmir p. subj. of koma.
delivery of supposedly impromptu poetry 2/271, 331, 344. kærleikr m. affection (usually inpl.); me› kærleikum on
Md. kvazt ekki hafa said he had
affectionate terms 2/285; vera
none 2/103; kvó›ust ætla theyme› e-m í miklum kærleikum tosaid they thought 2/423; honbe held in high regard by s-one,
kvezt heita she says she is called
to be highly favoured by s-one
2/445.
2/591.
kve›ja f. greeting, salute 1/88.
kømr pres. of koma.
kve›ja (kvadda) wv. to greet;~ vel to greet courteously 1/87.
kveld n. evening; um kveldit in the lá, lágu see liggja.
†lá› n. poetical word for land;
evening 2/195.

GLOSSARY

svar›ar ~ the land of the scalp,
kenning for head 2/348.
lag n. place, position; í ƒ›ru lagion the other hand, as far as theothers were concerned (i.e. backon the farm) 1/418.
land n. (1) land, country 2/6, 202,
429. (2) as opposed to sea, thecoast 2/249; ganga á ~ goashore 2/297; á landi on the
shore 2/440; upp á ~ inland
2/300; undan landi away fromshore 2/310; frá landi from theshore 2/574; bank (of a river)
2/9; mainland 2/422. (3) pieceof land, property 1/449.
landnámama›r m. land-taker,
settler 2/16.
landsleg n. the lie of the land,terrain 2/69.
langa (a›) wv. to long for, desire;~ til to long for 1/262.
langr a. 1ong; long-lasting, prolonged 2/147; with gen. ﬂrettánálna langan thirteen ells long
2/574; Ormrinn langi (name ofa ship) the Long Serpent; n. as
adv. langt far, a long way 1/68;(of time) hvé langt mun til ﬂess
how long will it be until that
happens 1/192.
†langskip n. long ship, warship
2/399.
láta (lét) sv. (1) to lose 2/319, 418.
(2) to behave 1/47; svá ~ sembehave as if 1/310. (3) to let;
put; ~ laust let go 1/78; ~ tiloffer, contribute 2/116; ~ saman

133

place together 2/159; ~ frá landi
put out to sea 2/574. (4) with
inf. to allow 1/230; ~ kœja sik tohave himself disturbed 1/36; tocause (s-thing to be done), have(s-thing done) 1/308 (seeganga), 2/38; ~ síga br‡nnar
make one’s brows sink, i.e.
frown 2/511; lætr kalla Orm has
O. called 2/560; vill sk‡la ~wishes to have protected 1/386;
gera ~ to have done, to gets-one to do 1/399; make (s-thing
do s-thing) 2/207. (5) to say; létá sannast see sanna. Md. inacc. (or nom.) and inf.
constructions lézk eigi ver›r
said he did not deserve 1/289;
lézt búinn said he was prepared
2/242; lézt heita said his namewas 2/542; lézk vildu said hewanted to 1/391.
latliga adv. 1azily, negligently,
inadequately.
latta see letja.
látum see læti.
laungum (lƒngum) adv. for long
periods 2/88, 222; †at length,with many words 2/273.
launung f. secrecy; af launungu insecret 1/359.
lauss a. loose, free; n. as adv. láta
laust let go 1/78.
leggja (lag›a) wv. to lay, put,
place; lay down (on the ground)2/484. With preps. and advs.
~ kapp á act with eagerness
2/318; ~ ætlun á see ætlun; at

134

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

leikmikill a. playful, full of fun,ek ~ af mér that I should takeboisterous 1/240.
off 1/141; ~ af út to pull outleikr m. game, sport 1/307, 314.
wards and away, jerk backtowards o-self 2/503; ~ at come leingd (leng›) f. length; bá›i at ~ok digr› both end to end andto land at 2/296; †~ langskipumside by side (so as to make theat sail the warships (in) to 2/366;
rope both thicker and longer)~ fram hjá e-m hesta sína to set
2/125; gen. sg. (or acc. pl.) as
one’s horses to race s-one 1/286;
adv. leingdar for long, any
lag›i hvern ﬂeira fyrir outdid all
longer (often emended toof them 1/240; ~ ni›r put downáleingdar; v.l. leingr) 2/433.
2/613; †nær mun ﬂat ~ at it willbring this close that, that will be leingi see lengi.
imminent that 2/211; ~ til con- leingr (lengr) adv. comp. 1onger
2/235, 281.
tribute 2/106, sail to 2/265; varleita (a›) wv. to seek (with gen.);lag›r til sáttarfundr a peace
sigla at ~ Íslands to sail forconference was arranged to deal
Iceland 2/6; ~ brag›a í 2/96, seewith the matter 1/248; ~ til vi›
brög›; ~ vi› to try 1/368.
e-n offer, suggest to s-one 1/16;~ upp pass up 2/41; ~ vi› come lemja (lamda) wv. to strike, beat;disable; slegit í kaf sjau skei›r,
to land at (on), go ashore at (on)lamit ok brotit sunk, disabled
2/8. Md. leggjast lie down 2/35.
and wrecked seven ships 2/577.
lei› f. way; á ﬂá ~ in such a way;lendr a. landed 1/340, see note.
um ~ on the way 2/594.
lei›a (dd) wv. to lead; (impers.) to lengi, leingi adv. long, for a longtime 1/456, 458; svó ~ for as
result; leiddi af ﬂessu there
long a time 2/215.
resulted from this (with acc.)
2/147; md. láta eptir lei›ask to letja (latta) wv. to dissuade, holdback (e-n e-s s-one fromlet o-self be persuaded 1/231.
s-thing); ekki fær ﬂú mik lattanlei›ask (dd) wv. (usually impers.
you cannot stop me (going)with dat.) to get tired of; tekr mér
1/65; at ﬂat skal a›ra ~ at that it
at ~ I begin to get tired of it
will discourage others from1/315.
2/320; †sjaldan ek latta at
leika (lék) sv. to play; to move to
I seldom tried to prevent (s-thing
and fro; (impers.) lék á ‡msu itfrom doing s-thing), I was neverwent various ways, it went now
unwilling for (s-thing to do
one way, now another 1/305;
s-thing) 2/405.
~ vi› e-n to treat s-one (in alétta (tt) wv. to slacken, leave off.
certain way) 1/323.

GLOSSARY

135

leyfa (›) wv. to permit, allow (e-m linafla›r a. weak, feeble 2/45.
líta (leit) sv. to see; ~ á see, looke-t s-one s-thing), give permisat, examine 1/404, 2/413; md. tosion (to s-one for s-thing) 1/259.
seem, appear; leizt ómáttuligt
leysa (t) wv. to redeem, buy; at ek
nokurum manni it looked~ til mín that I should buy it for
impossible for any man 2/480;
myself 1/454; ~ e-n í burt dishversu lízk ﬂér á mik what do
charge s-one, speed s-one on his
you think of me 1/157; sem mérway 2/215; ~ af untie, remove
lízk á ﬂik which I see in you
2/124.
1/168.
li› n. help, support; troop of men
lítill a. small; ~ vexti of small
1/359, 362.
build 1/3 (see vƒxtr); lítit tillát a
lí›a (lei›) sv. to pass (of time)mean offer 2/107; short (of
1/353; at vetri li›num whentime) 2/46, 309; n. as subst. lítit
winter had passed 2/260. Impers.
little 2/329; ~ af e-u little ofer á lei› as time went on 2/95;
s-thing 1/71; ~ af ﬂeim
um sumarit er á lei› towards the
skipafjölda a fraction of theend of the summer 2/265; ernumber of ships 2/570; litlu ﬂvímeir lí›r á the longer it (i.e.
ofar a little bit higher 1/171;
your life) goes on 1/446; er meir
litlu sí›ar en soon after 2/294;
lí›r fram hans ævi (acc.) the
koma til lítils see koma.
longer his life goes on 1/464; núlí›r áfram now time passed 2/92. litr m. colour; at lit in colour
2/303.
líf n. life; lífit láta to die 2/319.
lítt adv. little, badly 2/59.
lifa (›) wv. to live, survive.
ljá f. new-mown grass (before it
líflát n. death 2/425.
has dried to become hay) 2/72.
liggja (lá) sv. to lie; lie asleep
2/444; spend the night 2/440; be ljár m. scythe 2/60; scythe-blade
2/61, 65, 67, 80.
situated 2/249; †~ eftir remainljó› n. verse, stanza (of a song or
behind (i.e. lie dead?) 2/385.
poem); a poem consisting oflíka (a›) wv. to please; e-t líkar
one stanza complete in itself (cf.
e-m betr one prefers s-thingvísa) 2/206.
1/215; e-m líkar illa one isljótr a. ugly 1/4, 39, 101; comp.
displeased 1/422.
1/182.
líkr (glíkr 1/98) a. like; with dat.
like s-thing or s-one; sup. hverju ljúga (laug or ló) sv. to lie; ~ ate-m deceive s-one 1/149.
var líkast what was it most likelo›inn a. shaggy; covered with
to 1/44; er ﬂat líkast it is mostthick grass 2/70.
likely 2/331.

136

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

lofgjarnliga adv. flatteringly 1/167 má, mátti see mega.
ma›r m. man 1/2; person (without(see note).
distinction of sex) 2/244; human
loft see lopt.
being 2/481; in pl. menn people
lokka (a›) wv. to entice, coax; ~ fé
1/467, 2/191, 195; †me›af e-m get s-one to part with hismönnum among men, i.e. in themoney 1/23.
world, alive 2/277.
lopt, loft n. air; á ~ up into the air,mágr m. male relation by marriage;aloft 1/323.
cousin’s husband 2/155; seelosa (a›) wv. to loosen; ~ til loosennote on 2/384.
up, pull out 2/129.
mál n. (1) speech; koma at málilúka (lauk) sv. to close; ~ upp tovi› to get into conversation
open up 1/393; impers. with dat.
with, go to speak to 1/432, 2/57;
to end, come to an end; l‡kr hér
ﬂat var allra manna ~ everyone
ﬂessi rœ›u that is the end of thisagreed 2/27. (2) subject ofstory 1/467; er lokit er kvæ›ispeech, matter 1/145; á ﬂat ~ on(dat.) when the poem is finishedthat subject of dispute 1/347;
1/441.
hafa sitt ~ to get one’s own way
lundhœgr a. gentle in disposition
1/269. (3) legal case 1/249. (4)1/102.
in pl. business 1/299.
†lundr m. tree; often used as thebasic word in kennings for man; málajárn n. ornamented (inlaid)sword (cf. Old English mæl-,as a half-kenning: man, warrior
malsweord) 2/484 (see note).
(i.e. Ormr) 2/367 (see note).
málugr a. talkative.
lungu n. pl. lungs 2/527.
mannfár a. having few people
lyfta (ft) wv. to lift (with dat.)
about; vera mannfátt to be
2/166.
deserted 1/206.
lyndislíkr a. alike in character
mannraun f. trial of courage,
2/450
danger; í mannraunumlæti (dat. látum) n. pl. noise; hvat
involving danger 1/400.
látum what sort of noise 1/46.
†lƒgr (acc. pl. lƒgu) m. sea 2/208. mannskræfa f. wretch, degenerate
person; in direct address with
lögsöguma›r m. lawspeaker 2/19
def. art. mannskræfan you(see note).
wretch! 2/122.
má (›) wv. to wear (down); má›r mannæta f. cannibal, creature thateats human flesh 2/251.
upp í smi›reim worn right down
margr a. many; pl. as subst.
to the thick edge of the blade
margir many men 1/286; ekki
2/80.

GLOSSARY

margir not many people 2/456;
ﬂví nær ~ about the same
number (of men) 2/438; ﬂér
eru› margir, Íslendingar manyof you Icelanders are 1/145. Sg.
used in collective sense martor› many a word, on many
subjects 2/359; hversu margrværi however many they were2/253. N. as subst. mart much,many things 1/208, 2/200; ~ e-sa great deal of s-thing 2/94; atmƒrgu in much, in many ways
1/103; fyrir margs sakir 1/399
see sƒk; dat. pl. mƒrgum manythings 1/114.
margvíss a. wise about manythings, having wide knowledge
2/28.
mark n. sign, signal 1/361.
mátuliga adv. fittingly, suitably;sér ~ hátt of the right height forhimself 2/66.
me› prep. (1) with acc. with,taking, carrying 2/261, 531,
613. (2) with dat. with, incompany with; as a guest of
1/431; among 2/277, 557;
together with 2/48; ~ jalli among
the jarl’s following 2/607;~ ﬂeim between them 2/88, 89;~ manna hƒndum from hand tohand 1/407; vera ~ e-u to have,contain s-thing 1/448; ~ ƒllu see
allr. (3) as adv. as well 2/233;
ﬂar . . . ~ with it 1/450.
me›an conj. while, as long as.
mega (pres. sg. má) pret.-pres. vb.

137

to be able, may, can; to bepermitted 2/471; ~ meira to be
more powerful 2/461; ﬂó mætti
vera yet there might be, yet one
might still have 1/71; ekki má itis impossible to 2/464; má atgagni koma it may perhaps
benefit 2/105; kom vi› sem
mátti 1/238, see note.
†megin n. strength 2/339.
meginland n. the mainland 2/534.
mei›a (dd) wv. to injure, maim
1/24.
meinvættr f. harmful creature
2/256.
meir adv. comp. more; (of time)
longer, further 1/446, 464.
meiri a. comp. (1) more; ﬂat sem
meira var fémætt whatever else
was of value 2/532; mega meirasee mega. (2) bigger 2/127; ﬂvímeiri sem hann var ﬂá ellri
which (i.e. the feats of strength)were the greater as he got older
2/178.
menjar f. pl. souvenir, reminder;s-thing to remind one of s-thing(with gen.) 2/525.
mennskr a. human; af mennskum
mönnum by human beings
2/252; trautt ~ ma›r hardly
human, almost superhuman(inhuman) 1/325.
merki n. mark, sign; in pl.
evidence, remains, traces 2/83.
mest adv. sup. most; hardest
1/322; †most of all, especially
2/384.

138

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

mikilligr a. big-looking, immestr a. sup. most, greatest;
pressive, overpowering; s‡ndist
greatest in size, biggest 2/22;
heldr ~ looked rather on theﬂykkja ~ ma›r (hinn mesti
large size 2/316.
ma›r) be considered the finestof men, be very highly thought mikilvirkr a. working hard,energetic 2/43.
of 2/199, 618.
milli (í ~) prep. (with gen.)meta (mat) sv. to value, esteem
between 2/13; ~ handa sér with
(with gen. of the amount or
his hands 2/62; ﬂeirra í ~ inprice); mikils metinn highly
their dealings together 2/324.
esteemed 2/223; md. (forminni a. comp. less; smaller,
passive) mazk vel was highly
lesser 2/132, 439; slighter 1/429;
thought of 1/8.
af hinu minna from the smallermi›lung adv. middlingly, not very
one (sc. haystack) 2/112. N. as
well; ~ segir mér hugr um hversu
subst. eigi minna (gen.) vert en
ferr I have a feeling that things
worth no less than 2/146.
will not go very well, I am notconfident of how things will go minnka (a›) wv. to lessen; md.
minnkast to grow less 2/494.
1/295.
mi›r (n. mitt) a. mid, the middle minnstr a. sup. smallest; hinnminnsti fingr the little fingerof; á mi›jum bálkinum in the
2/168.
middle of the partition 2/325;
undir mitt trét under the middle missætti n. discord, disagreement;ver›a í ~ vi› to get into troubleof the mast 2/610.
with, fall out with 2/4.
mikill a. (1) big, tall, large, great
1/420, 2/54, 162; strong 2/324; †mjö›r m. mead 2/358.
vetr ~ a hard winter 2/93; ﬂó at mjƒk adv. much, greatly, a great
deal 1/90; very much 1/463;
eigi sé mikit though it is not very
very 1/68, 2/62; fast 1/278;
big 1/449; important, striking
loudly 1/46.
2/427; ~ fyrir sér important, influential 1/462. (2) much, a great mó›ir f. mother.
mó›urfrændr m. pl. relations on
deal of 1/235. (3) n. as subst.
the mother’s side, one’s mother’smuch 2/135, 222; svó mikit justfamily 2/222.
as much, the same amount 2/106;
morginn, morgunn m. morning;tala mikit um see tala; miklu
um morgun snimma early in thesterkari much stronger 2/233.
morning 1/356; um morguninn(4) n. as adv. mikit a lot, very
(morgininn) the next morning
much. (5) mikinn as adv. much,
1/40, 2/299.
a great deal 1/165 (see note).

GLOSSARY

139

involuntary, and the sibyl
mót (1) n. (1) mark; svá er ﬂó ~ á
possessed) 2/206; fyrir munni
manninum there was such a
sér in a low voice, under one’s
mark on the man, he was such abreath 1/153.
strange person 1/234. (2) kind,munr m. difference; geri ek eigi
manner; me› kynligu móti of aﬂann mun ykkar Magnúss
strange kind 1/445; me› ﬂví
konungs at I am not going tomóti sem er in anything of thismake such a distinction between
kind, (as this is) in its own way
you and King Magnús as to, i.e.
1/406.
I am not going to regard yourmót (2) n. meeting, public
wishes as so much more
assembly 1/50; til móts vi› toimportant than King Magnús’smeet, to see 1/251, 2/100; í mótithat 1/385; lítinn mun mundi ﬂat
as prep. with dat. towards; grípa
segja um einn mann one maní móti e-u to grasp at s-thing,would not have made muchcatch s-thing 2/502; as adv. í
difference 2/566; sjá firir mun
móti in exchange, in returnum hvórt foresee the outcome of
1/380.
whether 2/460.
múgasláttr m. mowing so that themunu (pres. sg. mun) pret.-pres.
hay lies in long heaps; hafa
vb. as aux. (1) indicating future
múgaslátt to mow the hay into
tense: shall, will; (in pret.)long lines 2/73.
would 2/95; to be going (to domúgi m. heap, pile (of hay,s-thing) 1/434; mun, muni
extending down the length of(subj.) it will be 1/268, 270; ﬂú
the field) 2/75, 83; færa saman ímunt rei›ask you will lose yourmúga to pile up in heaps 2/78.
temper 1/191; to be willing tomuna (pres. sg. man) pret.-pres.
1/226; ﬂér munu› rá›a you may
vb. to remember 2/474.
do as you please, it is up to youmund n. (but often f. in pl.) time,
2/571. (2) indicating probability:
period of time 1/245; í ﬂær
mun vera is likely to be, ismundir in those days 2/190; tilprobably 1/444; with suffixedannars dags í ﬂær mundir until
neg. muna it will not 1/64; hvárt
about the same time the next
mun konungr nú á mótinu is theday 2/477.
king likely to be at the assembly
munnr m. mouth; e-t ver›r e-m á
now 1/56; mun verit hafa must
munni s-thing comes to one’s
have been, is likely to have been
mouth, one begins to speak
1/47, cf. 2/604; muni valla samr(recite, intone) s-thingor›it hafa sí›an ok á›r can(implying that the speech is

140

TWO ICELANDIC STORIESná (ná›a) wv. to get, reach; getscarcely have been quite thehold of 2/341; to be able; †efsame man again afterwards
hann næ›i if he could manage it
2/614; er mönnum ﬂótti sem
2/417; to be sufficient, adequate
vera mundi which men
1/70 (see note).
presumed to have occurred
2/432; nú muntu ﬂikkjask gerla naddr m. stud, nail, point.
sjá mik mega now I expect you nafn n. name; spyrja e-n at nafni
to ask s-one his name.
will be satisfied that you can see
nakkvarr, nokkur a. and indefinite
me clearly 1/137; hverr mundipron. a certain 1/80; some, afarit hafa me› who could havequantity, a little 1/365; nokkura
been handling 2/602; ﬂví mundi
stund for a time 2/159; nokkura
hann ﬂat segja at hann mundi
vetr for a few years 2/616; after
vita the reason he said it mustneg., any 2/480. N. as subst.
have been that he knew 1/369.
something 1/169; nokkut erfitt(3) indicating necessity: must
something unpleasant 2/518;
2/352, 368; at ek muna that I
anything 1/160; er nokkvot isshall have to 2/452; at hannthere anything 1/184; nokkut af
mun brjóta that he would only
heyi some of the hay 2/101;
break 1/392; hann mun he will
nokkut svó just a little whilecertainly 1/458; muntu nú now
2/301. N. as adv. somewhat, awill you please 2/519.
little 1/144; rather 2/312; at all,mæ›a (mœ›a) (dd) wv. to weary,in any way 1/197; nokkut svó
make weary, exhaust.
just a little way 2/325; withmæla (t) wv. to speak, say; withcomp. nokkut har›ari any
suffixed pron. mælik I say
tougher 2/327.
1/210; mæltum mart or› samannálægr a. near, close by (withwe spoke of many thingsdat.).
together 2/358; mæla vi› tospeak to, address 1/167; ~ eftir nátt f. night; um náttina for thenight, overnight 2/298.
e-n to take up the prosecution innáttúra f. magic or innatea case concerning s-one who
property or power 2/467.
has been killed, to assume
Naumdælajall m. jarl of the men
responsibility for achievingof Naumudalr (Namdalen invengeance for a slain man: ﬂúnorthern Norway).
átt eftir hraustan mann at ~ it isa valiant man whose cause you nau›syn f. need, necessity; eiga ~at tala vi› e-n to have important
have taken up 2/455.
business with s-one 1/128.
mælgi f. talkativeness 1/241.

GLOSSARY

141

nokkvor adv. somewhere 1/118.
né adv. (conj.) nor.
ne›an adv. from below, up; firir ~ nokkvot n. of nakkvarr.
nor›an adv. from the north; ~ frá
as prep. (with acc.) below, on
Myrká ór Hörgárdal fromthe coast at the foot of 2/287.
Myrká in the north in Hörgárnefna (d) wv. to name; í nefndan
dalr 2/152; ~ ór Nóregi af
tíma at the appointed time,
Hör›alandi from the north,inside the arranged time 2/534.
from Hör›aland in Norwaynema (1) (nam) sv. to take; ~ land
2/220.
to settle land 2/12; ~ sta›nor›arliga adv. in the northern(sta›ar) to stop 1/80, 2/444;
part, somewhat to the north~ í e-u to touch, strike, catch
2/435.
against s-thing 1/309. As aux.
with inf. †nam höggva did strike nor›r adv. in the north, up north1/462, 2/212; to the north 2/238,
2/376; †nam at forma did aim
275; ~ ﬂa›an northward from
2/383.
there 2/201; ~ firir landi
nema (2) conj. unless; except
north(ward) off the coast 2/249.
2/581; eigi ~ ørendit værinú adv. now; but now 2/352, 360,
(I would) not (have come)
368; and so 1/146; then, next
unless there had been a reason
1/299, 407.
1/12; veit ek eigi ~ ﬂú I do notn‡kominn a. newly arrived, justknow but that you 1/146.
arrived 1/37.
nestlok n. pl. the end of theprovision-bag, the bottom of the n‡r a. new 2/61, 67; at n‡ju inmodern times 2/181.
bag; metaphorically at
nytjar f. pl. use, advantage, profit;
nestlokum towards the end (ofhafa øngar ~ e-s to have no
the poem) 1/443.
profit from s-thing, to make noneyta (tt) wv. to use, make use ofuse of s-thing 1/111.
(with gen.); make good use of,n‡tr a. useful; ﬂau er n‡t eru
do s-thing with 2/44.
which are any good, any helpni›r adv. down; ~ at down as far
1/21; vettugi n‡tr good for
as 2/175.
nothing, useless 2/142; ~ bóndini›ri adv. below, at the bottom.
a worthy member of the comnjóta (naut) sv. to use, have themunity 2/197.
use of, enjoy; njót sjálfr keep itfor yourself 1/373; md. njótast nær (1) adv. nearly, almost 1/121;
ﬂví ~ margir almost as many,to enjoy one another, become
about as many 2/438; †leggja ~lovers, marry 2/471.
see leggja.
nokkur see nakkvarr.

142

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

obstinate man; illt er at eggjanær (2) adv. comp. nearer; ~ er ﬂat
ofstopamennina (proverb) it is athat is closer (to what I want),
bad thing to goad arrogant men
that’s better 1/229; er ek geng
2/52.
y›r ~ the closer I am to you 1/298.
ofsƒgur f. pl. exaggeration; segjanær (3) prep. (with dat.) near;e-t ofsƒgum to exaggerate~ hófi see hóf.
s-thing 1/158.
nær (4) pres. of ná 1/70 (seeoft see opt.
note).
oftala (a›) wv. to exaggerate; atnærri adv. nearly; ﬂví ~ hátt
ﬂat væri oftalat ﬂótt that thatnearly the same in height 2/111;
would be an exaggeration
close, anywhere near 2/583.
although (one were to say that)nös f. nostril 2/304.
2/586.
ófælinn a. fearless 1/409.
óbúinn a. unprepared 1/377.
ógrei›r a. not straightforward,
oddr m. point (of a weapon)
difficult; ver›r honum fƒrin
2/597.
ógrei› it becomes hard for him†oddviti m. leader; ~ ﬂeirra their
to make his way 1/92.
(i.e. the warriors’) leader, theman in the forefront of the battle ógurligr a. horrible 2/302.
ógæfusamliga adv. unluckily;
2/409.
~ hefir mér tekizt things haveódæll a. difficult to manage,
turned out badly for me, luck
disobedient (e-m to s-one) 2/34.
has been against me (at in that)
ofan adv. from above, downwards,
2/329.
down; af ~ off, from off the topóheilagr a. unholy; outlawed
2/127.
1/351 (see note).
ofanver›r a. upper part of; áofanver›um dögum e-s towards óhlutdeilinn a. taking little part inthings, keeping to o-self, quiet
the end of s-one’s life (reign)
2/549.
2/247.
ofar adv. comp. higher, higher up. ok conj. and adv. and, also 1/114,
189, 261, 2/142, 240; but 1/139;ófirirleitinn (-fyrir-) a. reckless,with subj. if 1/72 (2); samr . . .
headstrong 2/53.
ok the same . . . as 2/614.
ófri›r m. hostility, hostile
okkarr (n. okkat) poss. a. (dual)
intentions 2/321.
of us two, our 1/21.
†ófr‡nn a. frowning; mundi Ormróknáleikr m. 1ack of strength~ vera O. would be displeased
1/74.
2/411.
ólatr a. unhesitant (e-s to do
ofstopama›r m. an arrogant,GLOSSARY

143

s-thing); mun ek ﬂess ~ er I shall or› n. word, phrase, sentence; sg.
in collective sense †mæltum
not be reluctant (i.e. I shall bemart ~ we spoke of many things
eager) to undertake whatever
2/359; nú mæltir ﬂú gott ~ now(mission) that 1/401.
you have said a good thing, thatóli› n. harm, trouble; at ﬂér ver›i
is just what I wanted to hearat ﬂví ~ e›a ƒ›rum that trouble
1/264; pl. speech 1/236.
should come as a result of thiseither upon you or upon others or›it pp. of ver›a.
or›sending f. message; eptir ~1/261.
konungs in accordance with theólíkligr a. improbable; til ﬂess
king’s instructions 1/346.
ﬂœtti ekki ólíkligt that wouldor›varr a. careful of speech,
seem not at all unlikely 1/200.
discreet 1/208.
ólíkr a. unlike; sup. hvat er ólíkast
orf n. scythe-handle 2/61.
me› ykkr what is the greatestorka (a›) wv. to achieve, be able
difference between you 1/100.
to do (with dat.) 2/135.
ómállatr a. not hesitant of speech,talkative (vi› e-n towards s-one) ort pp. of yrkja.
ósannligr a. unjust, unfair; not1/39; quick in repartee 1/237.
right 1/113.
ómáttuligr a. impossible; leiztómáttuligt nokkurum manni ﬂat ósyknligr a. 1/102 see note.
óttafullr a. terrified 2/306.
í brott at færa it looked impossible for any man to move it óttast (a›) wv. to fear 2/462.
óvanr a. unnaccustomed (withaway 2/480.
dat.); ﬂví ~ at unaccustomed toón‡ta (tt) wv. to spoil, ruin 2/79.
this, that 1/121.
ón‡tr a. useless; ef ón‡tt ver›rsmí›at if what is made turns out óvarr a. unwary; koma á óvart tocome unexpectedly 1/357.
to be no good 1/372.
opna (a›) wv. to open; ~ kvi› á e-m óvinr m. enemy 2/179.
to cut open s-one’s belly 2/341. óvísa f. uncertainty, doubtful act,
act of hostility (cf. víss certain);opt, oft adv. often, frequently 2/382,
or foolishness, act of foolish395; over and over again 1/153;
ness (cf. víss wise) 1/23. Cf. ÍF
comp. sem oftar as usual 2/151.
V 202, note 4.
ór prep. (with dat.) out of, fromóx see vaxa.
1/386, 2/6, 152 (see nor›an);svó at hann gerir ór eitt so that óﬂokki m. displeasure, unfriendliness, enmity (me›out of them (the ropes) hebetween) 2/147.
makes a single (rope) 2/125; of(a place) 2/3.

144

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

that 2/205; ﬂér munu› ~ it is up
to you 2/571; ef hann á at ~ if it
is left to him to decide 1/458.
rá›ligr a. advisable; comp.
rá›ligra ætla ek vera I think it
wiser 1/454.
raka (a›) wv. to rake 2/71.
rakta see rekja.
rammr a. strong, powerful; ~ atafli of great physical strength
1/242.
†raunmargr a. very many; raunmargan rekk many a warrior
2/375.
regnligr a. rainy, looking likerain; regnligt gerast to begin tolook like rain 2/40.
rá› n. (1) advice; vi› ~ e-srei› f. riding; til rei›ar to ride on
according to s-one’s advice
1/277.
1/230. (2) what is advisable, thebest thing 1/314; ﬂikkir mér ~ it rei›a (1) f. service, accommodation; kva› honum ﬂat til rei›useems to me best 2/117. (3) state
said that was freely available toof life, lot; ferr hans ~ hishim 2/547.
fortunes went 1/463.
rei›a (2) (dd) wv. to cause torá›a (ré›) sv. (1) to advise (e-mmove, carry about; spreads-one). (2) to rule; ~ Nóregi toabout, bandy about 1/209.
rule over Norway; ~ firir e-u to
be master of, own 2/250, 450; ~ rei›ask (dd) wv. to become angry,
lose one’s temper 1/322, 2/46.
ﬂar firir be ruler there 2/266;
eiga at ~ firir to be lord over (as rei›fara a. indecl. in the phrasever›a vel ~ to have a goodsteward or governor) 2/183. (3)journey (voyage) 1/33.
to decide, have one’s own way
rei›i f. anger 1/262.
(with) 1/113, 214; jötunninn
var› einn at ~ ﬂeirra í milli the rei›ing f. movement to and fro,rocking; vera í rei›ingum to be
giant had all his own way inin the balance, to be doubtful,
their dealings together 2/323; ﬂótouch and go 1/275.
at sjálfr mætti ~ if he had therei›r a. angry.
choice 1/164; muntu eigi ~ ﬂvíreiku›r m. wandering (cf. reika to
you will not be the arbiter ofpenningr m. coin; in pl. money,
property 1/111.
pína (d) wv. to torture, torment
2/520.
postuli m. apostle 2/493.
prímsigna (d) wv. to sign with thecross 2/441, see note.
prófa (a›) wv. to try, find out bytrying; try and see 2/609; núskal ~ now we shall find out
2/327.
prú›r a. as a nickname 2/189, seenote.
pund n. a unit of weight, equal to
24 merkr or about 12 lb. (5 k.).

GLOSSARY

145

rif n. rib; ﬂrjú rifin í honum three
walk aimlessly), in the phraseof his ribs 2/50.
fœra í reiku› to force to wander,
rífa (reif) sv. to tear 2/308; ~ afpush around 1/90.
e-m tear off s-one 2/508.
reip n. rope, harness-rope 2/123
rísa (reis) sv. to rise; ~ upp to get(pl.).
up 2/299.
reisa (t) wv. to raise, erect; pitch (arísta (reist) sv. to cut, carve 2/526.
tent) 2/297.
reka (rak) sv. to drive (at against) rjá (›) wv. to drive away, chase off
1/117 (see note).
2/515.
rekja (rakta) wv. to unwind, wind ró›r (gen. ró›rar) m. rowing;sækja ~ see sœkja.
out; md. röktust á enda were†róma f. poetical word for battle
completely wound out 2/343.
2/374.
†rekkr m. man, warrior; sg. in
Rómfer› f. pilgrimage to Romecollective sense 2/374.
2/537.
renna (rann) sv. to run, gallop;ry›ja (rudda) wv. to clear, strip,†lata byrhest ~ to make theremove (with dat.) 2/127.
wind-horse gallop, i.e. sail arykkja (rykkta) wv. to pull, jerk;
ship 2/209; impers. e-m renn í~ til tug, pull towards o-self 2/508.
skap one is deeply moved,
overcome by emotion; one loses rœ›a (1) f. speech, talk, s-thingsaid; tale, story 1/468.
one’s temper 1/321.
rœ›a (2) (dd) wv. to discuss 1/299.
rétta (tt) wv. to stretch out; ~ e-t
at e-m to hand s-thing to s-one röktust see rekja.
2/160.
sá 2/72 see sjá.
réttr a. straight 2/160; right; réttsaga f. something said, a statetrú the true faith 2/429.
ment; story; öll ~ the whole
reyna (d) wv. to try, put to the test;
story 2/458; seg heill sƒgu see~ íﬂróttir to compete in sports
heill.
2/232; ﬂær sem eigi reyndi afl
sakir prep.(with gen.) because of,me› those (sports) that did notfor.
try the strength as well (sc. as
skill), those that did not involve sala f. sale; til sölu for sale 2/104.
sama (›) wv. to befit, be proper,a trial of strength 2/233; lítit
fitting 1/222.
mun ﬂat at reyna little will thatsaman adv. together 2/359, 363;
be to test, that will not takefƒrum ~ let us keep together
much testing 2/329.
1/83; færa ~ pile up (into stacks)rí›a (rei›) sv. to ride; ~ mjƒk to
2/38; setja bú ~ see setja.
gallop hard 1/278.

146

TWO ICELANDIC STORIESsamdœgris adv. on the same day
1/36.
samr (f. sƒm, n. samt) a. same;~ . . . ok á›r the same (man) as
before 2/614; n. as subst. itsama the same thing 1/153.
samtengja (ng›) wv. to join
together, unite 1/450.
†samtog n. drawing (of swords)
together; at samtogi sver›awhere swords are drawn against
each other, i.e. in battle 2/404.
samvægja (g›) wv. (with dat.) to
be of equal weight with, to be amatch for 2/31.
sandr m. sand 2/165.
sanna (a›) wv. to prove; md.
sannast to turn out to be true;láta á sannast to admit 2/134.
sannr (n. satt) a. true; sup. er ﬂat
sannast í the real truth of thematter is 1/25. N. as subst. sattsegir ﬂú you are right 1/258;
segir frá it sanna tells the wholestory 1/426; at sƒnnu truly 1/167.
†sárr a. painful; n. as adv. höggva
sárt deal hard blows 2/376.
sáttarfundr m. peace-meeting,peace-talks; a conference toarrange a truce 1/248.
sáttr a. reconciled, in agreement;ver›a á sáttir, ver›a sáttir (áe-t) to reach agreement (ons-thing) 1/347, 348.
saumlauss a. without nails 2/157.
saurigr a. dirty 1/176.
sax n. sword (usually short andsingle-edged) 2/526.

sé (1) pres. subj. of vera. (2) pres.
indicative of sjá.
†seggr m. man, warrior 2/376;
acc. pl. seggi 2/407; dat. sg.
segg á sí›u against the warrior’s
side 2/352.
segja (sag›a) wv. to say, tell 2/76,
272; relate 2/148; mention 1/168;
ﬂat ~ menn it is said 2/440; ﬂat
sag›i Magnús konungr mér
King M. told me so 1/367. With
preps. and advs. ~ e-m e-t firir(adv.) to prophesy to s-one abouts-thing 2/191; ~ frá tell about(s-thing) 1/426; kunnu ekki frá
at ~ were not able to give any
report 2/424; ~ mun um see munr.
Md. †segist ﬂat minni mó›ur
let this be told to my mother
2/346. Impers. segir it says, it
is told (in a book) 2/292; ﬂat er
sagt einhverju sinni at it is toldthat on one occasion 1/363; ﬂat
er at ~ that is to be told 2/421;
ﬂat er nú frá Hrei›ari at ~ toreturn to Hrei›arr 1/330; svó ersagt at it is said that 2/307; var
honum sagt he was told 1/35.
†sei›r m. magic 2/272, see note.
seinn a. slow, late; n. as adv. seint
slowly; seint dags late in theday, towards evening 2/296.
seinna adv. comp. more slowly 2/556.
selja (ld) wv. to hand over, deliver
1/380; sell 2/15.
sem (1) rel. particle who, which,that; ﬂar ~ where (to a place
where) 2/593 (see note).

GLOSSARY

sem (2) conj. as, like 1/45, 306;
like, as if it were 2/582; réttir ~kerti as straight as candles
2/160; as indeed 1/458; inproportion as 1/271, 2/178; as if
2/432 (see munu); mönnum
ﬂótti ~ it looked as if 2/174; ernú ~ ek gat á›r things were justas I said earlier 1/376; ~ á›r
höf›u verit as they had been
before, i.e. back into the shape
they had been in before 2/161;~ ﬂú vilt as much as you want to
1/155; ~ ﬁór›r er such as ﬁór›r
1/212; hverr ~ whoever (seehverr); svó . . . ~ 2/337–40 see
svá; with sup. ~ flestir menn as
many men as possible 1/59.
sém pres. subj. of vera.
senda (nd) wv. to send; ~ eptir
e-m to send for s-one 1/119,
344; ~ e-n til e-s to send s-one
to do s-thing 1/408; er ﬂú vilt
mik til hafa sendan (a mission)
which you want to have me senton (send me on) 1/401.
senn (í ~) adv. at once, together.
sér 1/4 see eiga; 2/83 see sjá.
setja (tt) sv. to put, lay s-thing
down 1/402; ~ bú saman set up
home, settle down 2/290. Md.
setjast í bú settle down 2/617.
sex num. six.
sí› adv. late.
†sí›a f. side, flank (of the body)2/352
sí›an adv. afterwards, then; later
2/24, 86; after this 2/138, 614.

147

sí›ar adv. comp. later; ﬂví betra er~ er getting better as it went on
1/441; later on, below (in abook) 2/148; ~ en as conj. after.
sí›ast adv. sup. finally, last of all.
sí›asta f. the last thing, end; atsí›ustu in the end 2/89.
si›r (acc. pl. si›u) m. custom; atfornum si› according to theancient custom, according to theancient rite 2/235.
sí›r adv. comp. less; ﬂví betr er ﬂúkæmir ﬂar ~ the less you came
there the better, the further you
were away from there the better
1/61; eigi ﬂá ~ none the less forthat 1/267.
síga (seig) sv. to sink; láta ~br‡nnar to knit the brows 2/51l;of hay, to be compressed by its
own weight; ﬂikkir vón at sigit
muni it is probably very tightly
compressed 2/111.
sigla (d) wv. to sail 1/33.
siglutré n. mast 2/608.
sigr (gen. sigrs) m. victory; hafa ~to be victorious 2/262.
silfr (gen. silfrs) n. silver 1/364;
money 1/460.
sin f. sinew, tendon 2/174.
sinn (1) n. time, occasion; eitthvert~ on one occasion 1/432.
sinn (2) (f. sín, n. sitt) poss. pron.
his, her, its (referring to thesubject of the clause) 1/9;
~ ma›r . . . undan hvórum enda
one man at a time from eachend 2/611.

148

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

sinni (1) n. fellowship, company, sjau num. seven.
help, support; vera e-m í ~ to be sjór m. sea 2/554 (cf. sær).
ska›i m. harm, loss, cause foron s-one’s side 2/470.
grief 2/433.
sinni (2) n. time, occasion; eitt ~,skálpr m. sword-sheath 1/309.
einhverju ~ on one occasion,
skammr a. short; n. as subst.
once.
skƒmmu á›r shortly before 1/36;
sitja (sat) sv. to sit; sit at tablen. as adv. skammt a short
2/355; to stay 2/268, 435; to be
distance 1/303.
living (in a place) 2/226; sátu nú
skap n. character, disposition 1/6;
margir af sínum hestum many
heart, mood, temper 1/321 (seehad to dismount from theirrenna).
horses 1/291; ~ hjá e-m to stayskauttoga (a›) wv. to pull by thewith (at the house of) s-one
loose parts of the clothing
2/221, 229; ~ í drykkju to sit(skaut) 1/304; ver›a skauttoga›rdrinking 1/378; ~ um to lie into get pulled about by one’s
wait for, plot to get hold of 1/23;
clothes 1/90.
~ um kyrrt to remain quiet, live
skegg n. beard 2/505.
an uneventful life 2/176.
skeggsta›r m. the roots of thesjá (sá) sv. to see 1/130, 131;
beard, the skin under the beard
notice 1/412; realise 1/66, 413;
2/509.
understand, know 1/457; foresee
2/583; sá hann at kona gekk inn skei› (pl. skei›r) f. warship 2/569(see note).
he saw a woman enter 2/442; sáskeina (d) wv. to scratch; skeinask
hann hvar kettan hljóp he saw
af to get scratched by it 1/310.
the cat pouncing 2/485; (hann)†sker n. skerry, rock in the sea;
ﬂykkisk ~ he feels sure 1/320;
í skerjum Elfar at Elfarsker~ firir to foresee 2/460; er vantamong the skerries at the mouthvi› at ~ it is difficult to bewareof the Göta älv 2/381 (see note).
(of him) 1/344; impers. sér there
skera (skar) sv. to cut; ~ va›mál
can be seen, one can see 2/83.
til cut out some homespun for it†sjaldan adv. seldom (i.e. never)(i.e. for the clothes) 1/228; ~ e-t
2/405.
frá e-u to cut away s-thing fromsjálfbjargi a. able to look afters-thing 2/527.
o-self 1/5.
sjálfr pron. a. self, o-self 1/349; in skikkja f. cloak 1/141.
person 1/249; on one’s own, by skilja (l›, ld) wv. to part 1/29,
421, 2/284; undan ~ to except,
o-self 1/107; ~ gu› God himself
exclude, draw the line at 1/147.
2/492.

GLOSSARY

149

Impers. skil›i me› ~ ﬂeim they skræfa f. coward, wretch,weakling 2/604 (cf. manngot separated 1/88. Md. skiljaskskræfa).
frá e-m to leave s-one’s side
1/295; reciprocal skil›usk they skuggamikill a. shadowy; skuggamikit var it was shadowy 2/313.
parted from each other 1/352.
skip n. ship; á skipi aboard 2/438. skulu (skal) pret.-pres. vb. (1)implying necessity or duty:
skipa (a›) wv. to arrange, settle
must, shall 1/372; (p. tense)(with dat.) 1/249; ~ e-m assign
should; to have the duty tos-one a place, make s-one stand2/235. (2) implying intention: at
2/610, assign s-one a seat 2/547;
konungr skal fara that the kingsvó mörgum ok miklum köppum
is to go 1/250; er ek skal slá
sem ﬂar var saman skipat whenme› which I am to mow withthere were so many fine cham2/60; hvat skal ﬂat tákna whatpions ranged there together
will that have been for 1/49;
2/568. Md. skipask vel to changeskyldi Eyvindr (it was arranged
for the better, improve 1/222.
that) E. should 1/360; p. inf.
skipafjöldi m. multitude, largekva› sér hvórki skyldu (sc.
number of ships 2/570.
duga) said neither would be any
skipdráttr m. ‘ship-dragging’,
use to him 2/63. (3) implying
either to launch or beach a ship
permission: skaltu hafa you may
1/50 (see note).
take 2/112; at hann skyldi thatskipverjar m. pl. crew of a ship;
he might 2/105; at ﬂú skylir that~ sínir the crew of his ship 2/15.
you should (be allowed to)
skjóta (skaut) sv. to shoot (e-u1/318. (4) impers. ﬂá skal at(with) s-thing); skaut ﬂremr
vísu fara I shall certainly goörum shot three arrows 2/487;
then 1/264; svá skal vera I shallimpers. sk‡tr 1/60, see horn.
do so 1/152; skal gera we shallskjótr a. quick; n. as adv. skjótt
make 2/568; p. inf. 1/297; withquickly 2/519; soon 2/232.
ellipsis of vb.: svá skal ok and it
skógr m. wood, forest 1/303.
shall (be done) 1/117; hví skal
skólmr m. a nickname 2/23.
eigi ﬂat why not 1/439.
skór m. shoe; horseshoe 2/158.
skúr f. shower, fall of rain; in pl.
skorta (rt) wv. to be lacking;storm 2/42.
impers. e-m skortir ekki til one
sk‡la (d) wv. to shelter, protect
does not lack the means for
1/386
1/222.
skyldr a. (1) necessary, urgent,skrú›klæ›i n. pl. fine clothes,
important; sup. skyldastr of the
fancy clothes 1/227.

150

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

highest importance, very pres- snarr a. swift; n. as adv. snart
swiftly, hard 2/49.
sing 1/129. (2) related (of thesnemma, snimma adv. earlysame family) 2/449.
1/356; very soon, straight awayslá (sló) sv. to strike; to mow 2/58,
2/517; at an early age 2/187.
60; ~ á sik put on, assume 1/466;~ af cut off 2/78; ~ í kaf to sink snemmendis adv. at an early age
2/30.
(transitive) 2/576.
sláttr m. mowing; fara til sláttar snimma see snemma.
snúa (snera) sv. to turn; ~ í brottu
to go to mow 2/56.
turn away, go off 2/64.
slegit pp. of slá.
sofa (svaf) sv. to sleep; sá er søfr asléttr a. level, smooth 2/82.
sleeping man 1/42.
slíkr a. such, of such a kind; n. as
subst. such things (sem which, sofna (a›) wv. to fall asleep; pp.
sofna›r asleep 2/442.
as) 1/53, 63 ; slíkt er ﬂú vill whatever you like, want to 1/127; slíkt sonr, son (pl. synir) m. son; dat.
sg. †kemba svar›ar lá› syniver›r mælt so people say 1/184.
comb her son’s head 2/347.
slyttinn a. lazy; sag›i hannsóru p. pl. of sverja.
slyttinn (sc. vera) said he wassótti p. of sœkja.
lazy 2/45.
†spá f. prophecy 2/279.
smár a. small.
†spara (›) wv. to spare; md.
smí› f. (1) making, the act of
sparast to spare o-self, holdmaking s-thing; vera at smí›inni
back 2/403.
to be engaged on the (metal-)
work 1/375. (2) a work of art, a spotta (a›) wv. to mock, make funof 1/209.
piece of craftsmanship 1/412.
smí›a (a›) wv. to build, make; ef speni m. teat (of an animal) 1/412.
spyrja (spur›a) wv. (1) to askón‡tt ver›r smí›at see ón‡tr;(e-n e-s s-one s-thing); ~ e-n attrautt hefi ek sét jafnvel smí›atnafni to ask s-one their nameI have hardly ever seen anything
2/445; ~ eftir to enquire 2/601;
made so skilfully, such fine~ eptir e-m to ask after s-one
craftsmanship 1/405.
1/34. (2) to learn, hear (bysmi›ja f. workshop 2/65.
asking) 1/353, 2/249, 539;smi›reim f. the ridge along the
spur›i út til Íslands heard out inback of a scythe-blade, the blunt
Iceland 2/431. Md. spyrjast toedge of a blade 2/80.
become known, to spread (ofsnákr m. snake; as nickname 2/238.
news) 2/426.
snara (a›) wv. to turn quickly,
sta›r m. place; annars sta›arstep quickly.

GLOSSARY

151

great physical strength; as a(gen. sg.) elsewhere; nema sta›nickname, sterki the strong(sta›ar) see nema (1); í ö›rum
2/544. Comp. sterkari 2/234;
sta› on the other side; for his
sup. sterkastr 2/26, 32.
part 2/506.
†stafn m. stem, prow (of a ship); stíga (steig) sv. to step, tread; ~ ísundr to break under one’s footstó› ﬂar upp í stafni stood up
2/63.
there in the bows 2/364.
stakkr m. stack (of hay); as a unit stofa f. room, living-room 1/387.
of measure átta stakka völlr the stórkostligr a. splendid, magnificent; amply made, huge 2/62.
amount of meadow providing
stormr m. storm, †Hildar ~ theeight ‘stacks’ of hay; onestorm of H., kenning for battle
stakksvöllr is said to be 5400
2/371.
square fathoms (about fivestórr a. large, great 2/67; †~ í
acres) 2/81.
huga courageous 2/336; sup.
standa (stó›) sv. (1) to standﬂau blótnaut at stærst ver›a the2/364; pres. optative standi
biggest of sacrificial oxenmenn let men stand 1/415; to be,
2/255.
be situated 2/465; sjá e-t standa
stórvirki n. pl. great enterprises
to see s-thing standing 2/324;
1/409.
svó at í beini stó› so that he waspierced to the bone 2/491; láta streingr (strengr) m. string, bowstring 2/487.
örina standa í boganum wedge
stukku p. pl. of støkkva.
the arrow in the bow (i.e.
between the bow and the string) stund f. a period of time, a while;um ~ for a while 1/314;
2/598; ~ upp to stand up, to get
nakkvara ~ for a time 1/431;
up (from bed) 2/474; upp
á øngri stundu at no time 1/358;
sta›inn standing up 1/137; uppi
á lítilli stundu in a short time,standandi (of a ship) beachedquickly 2/46, 309; pl. langar
2/228; vildi vi› aungan af ~stundir a long time 1/353.
would part with it to no one
stundum adv. sometimes, now
2/98. (2) to weigh 2/157.
and then; ~ . . . ~ on one
starfa (a›) wv. to work, do; er
occasion . . . on another 1/305.
hann haf›i ﬂetta starfat when hesty›ja (studda) wv. to rest,
had done this task 2/530.
support o-self; ~ á höndum tostefna (d) wv. to call, summon
go down on hands and knees(e-m at sér s-one to come to2/128.
one) 1/359.
sterkr a. strong 2/335; ~ at afli of stærstr a. sup. see stórr.

152

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

moment . . . as 2/337–40. (5)støkkva (stƒkk) sv. to leap, springwith adjs. and advs. so, to such
2/513; take to flight 1/325, 2/6;
an extent 2/135; such 2/50, 319;
í brottu ~ to leave 2/452.
~ var ﬂeirra mikill aflamunr at
su›r adv. south, to the south; inthere was such a great difference
the south 2/381.
in strength between them thatsumar n. summer; í sumri in the2/322; aldri er hann ~ sterkr né
summer (i.e. this summer) 2/348;
stórr í huga he is never strongat sumri on the arrival of summer;
enough nor courageous enoughwhen summer came 2/537; um
2/335; ~ mikit just as much, thesumarit in, during the summer
same amount 2/106; ~ snart at
2/38; í sumar this summer 2/59.
so hard that 2/49 (cf. 2/136, 315).
sumr a. and pron. some; seldisumum sold it to some of them †svanhvítr a. swanwhite 2/349,
see note.
2/15; sumir . . . sumir some . . .
svara (a›) wv. to reply, answer
others 2/307.
(e-m e-u s-one s-thing).
sundr (í ~) adv. apart, in two 2/63;
sveit f. company, group of people,
í ~ ganga to be severed 2/174.
party 2/193.
sunnan adv. from the south; back†sveittr a. sweaty, bloody; sveittri
from the south (from Rome)fer› to the bloody host 2/379.
2/538; firir ~ on the south side,†sver› n. sword 2/353, 404.
on the south coast 2/7.
sver›skór m. the chape or ferrulesvá, svó adv. (1) so, thus, in thisof a scabbard (not recorded
way 1/80, 312, 2/219; as a result
elsewhere; v.l. umgjƒr›; theof this 1/19, 261; ~ er sagt at it
usual term is dƒggskór) 1/309.
is said that 2/307; er ~ at it turns
out that 1/77; ~ var gert this was sverja (sór) sv. to swear, take anoath; md. sverjast í fóstbræ›radone 2/581 (cf. 2/42); nokkut ~lag to swear mutual oaths ofsee nakkvarr. (2) also, likewisebrotherhood, enter into sworn
2/459; ok ~ eyna and the islandbrotherhood 2/234.
as well 2/533; ok ~ til Nóregs
sviftast (ft) wv. to wrestle, pulland from there on to Norwayback and forth, struggle with
2/281. (3) ~ at so that, with theone another 2/507.
result that 1/324, to such an
svín n. pig 1/403.
extent that 1/405; ~ . . . at insuch a way that 1/307, 2/69. (4) †svinnr a. swift, keen, wise 2/377.
~ . . . sem as . . . as 1/151, 2/254; svó see svá.
†svör›r m. the skin of the head,as if 1/310; considering how
scalp 2/348.
1/287, 317, 2/567; at the same

GLOSSARY

153

2/580; ~ e-n heim to attack†sylgr m. drink 2/373.
s-one in their home 2/320,s‡n f. sight 2/305.
(metaphorically) to come overs‡na (nd) wv. to show 1/426;
s-one (of an emotion) 1/262.
display, perform; vörn ~ put upsœmiliga adv. suitably, decently
a defence 2/551; af jafnungum
1/221.
manni s‡nd to be performed bysuch a young man 2/55; ﬂikkist †sær m. sea; á sæ on the sea 2/395(cf. sjór).
Ormr ﬂá aflraun mesta s‡nt
hafa O. thought that this was the sæti n. seat; vera kominn í ~ to besettled down, in one’s place
greatest feat of strength he had
2/195.
ever performed 2/483. Md.
sætt f. agreement; me› øngri ~s‡nask to look, seem (e-m towithout reaching agreements-one); s‡ndist heldr mikilligr he
1/352; taka sættir af e-m tolooked rather on the large size
accept a reconciliation with
2/316.
s-one, accept compensation for†syngja (sƒng, saung) sv. to sing,a crime from s-one 1/408.
chant 2/273.
sætta (tt) wv. to reconcile, settle;
syni dat. sg. of sonr.
var ~ ﬂví sætt that was settled,s‡ni n. sight; til s‡nis for inspecthey had reached agreementtion, so that people could see
about that 1/348.
2/158.
søfr pres. of sofa.
s‡nn a. clear, evident; dat. sg. n.
sƒk f. (1) cause, reason; fyrir vits
with comp. s‡nu betri visiblysƒkum because of (lack of)i.e. considerably better 2/451.
intelligence 1/5; fyrir margs
systir f. sister.
sakir for many reasons, in manysystkin n. pl. brother(s) andways 1/399. (2) a matter ofsister(s); ~ at fö›ur children of
dispute, legal dispute 1/246;
the same father, half-brother andvalda ƒllum sƒkum to be-sister 2/447.
responsible for all the trouble
systkinasynir m. pl. cousins (sons1/350.
of brother and sister) 2/247.
sæa p. subj. of sjá.
sœkja (sótta) wv. to seek, go and taka (tók) sv. (1) to take, accept,
receive; take hold of 2/159; pickfetch 2/118; ~ sér e-t find o-self
up 2/611; ~ kve›ju e-s responds-thing 2/113; ~ hingat to get
to s-one’s greeting 1/87; ~ e-mhere 2/318; ~ ró›r work at
vel welcome s-one 2/541; ~ sérrowing, work at the oars 2/421;
to take for o-self, get 2/65; ~ sér~ at e-m attack s-one 1/322,

154

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

about how, boast that 2/558;
fari obtain a passage (on a boat)~ vi› e-n at discuss with s-one
2/227. (2) to take, hold (capacity)that 2/237; md. talast me›
2/164. (3) with preps. and advs.
discuss one’s plans together~ á to carry on, behave, talk2/283.
1/288; ~ á e-u to take hold ofs-thing 2/482; tak af mér rei›ina tí›a (dd) wv. impers.; e-n tí›ir one
wishes; sem ﬂik tí›ir as you likerelease me from your anger
1/151.
1/398; ~ mikinn af 1/165, seetí›endi n. pl. news; ek veit ~note; ~ til to set to work 2/73;
I have some news for you 1/42;
nú er ﬂar til at ~ er now we
ﬂau ~ er the (news of the)must take up the thread of theevents which 2/423, 539; ﬂessi
story at the point where 2/225;~ the news of these events~ um kverkr e-m take hold of
2/427.
s-one by the throat 2/495; ~ upp
tigr (acc. pl. tigu) m. a group ofpick up 1/411, 2/597 ; ~ vi›ten, a decade; in numerals for
accept, take 2/161; ~ vi› e-m
multiples of ten sex tigu mannatake s-one into one’s protection
sixty men 1/355.
1/346; ~ vi› e-m allvel towelcome s-one 2/245. (4) with til (1) prep. (with gen.) to,towards; to the home of 1/340,
inf. ~ at, ~ til at to begin to, get
2/193, 592; until 1/466, 2/71,
down to (doing s-thing) 2/70.
476; for the purpose of; út ~(5) md. takast vel to turn outÍslands out to (= in) Icelandwell, go well 2/537; ógæfusam2/431; ~ móts to summon to anliga hefir mér tekizt at I haveassembly 1/50; vir›a ~ seebeen unlucky in that 2/330.
vir›a; ~ ﬂess until that happens
tákna (a›) wv. to signify, mean; to1/193, that this should be so
be for (a purpose) 1/49; hvat
1/200; ~ ﬂess at in order to, withtáknar mótit what is thethe result that; ﬂar ~ er, ﬂar ~ atassembly for 1/52.
as conj. until.
tal n. talk; ganga á ~ to enter into
conversation, go into conference til (2) adv. too; eigi enn ~ gƒrla
not any too clearly yet, not
1/299.
clearly enough 1/139.
tala (a›) wv. to talk, to discusstilger› f. provocation; fyrir mínar
1/54, 128; to say 2/561; talat
tilger›ir because of what I had
var til (impers.) people weredone (to people) 1/24.
talking about, the conversation
tillát n. offer, contribution 2/107.
turned to the subject of 2/550;~ mikit um at make a great tale tilraun f. experiment, test.

GLOSSARY

155

tími m. time; ﬂat var einn tíma at trollskapr m. troll-like nature,
supernatural power 2/461.
it happened on one occasion
that 2/550; í ﬂann tíma sem at a trú f. faith, belief, religion; rétt ~the true faith (Christianity)
time when 2/595; í nefndan tíma
2/430; sakir trúar ﬂinnar
inside the arranged time 2/534;
because of your religion 2/471;
ger›ist tímum mjök fram komit
halda vel ~ sína remain a goodtime was getting on 2/101.
Christian 2/618.
tína (d) wv. to pick out; md. sinnmann tínast undan hvórum enda trúa (›) wv. (with dat.) to believe
1/369.
one man at a time to let go at†trygg›ir f. pl. truce; tældr íeach end 2/611.
trygg›um betrayed under truce
tíu num. ten.
2/368.
tízka f. custom, a common event
trylla (d) wv. to turn into a troll,
2/190.
enchant, endow with supertjá (té›a, tjá›a) wv. to show; to benatural power 2/87.
of use, avail; ekki tjáir it is no†tugga f. mouthful, somethinguse 1/63.
bitten; ~ Herjans kenning for
tjald n. tent 2/297.
sword 2/380 (see note).
tjalda (a›) wv. to pitch a tent 2/439.
tunna f. (a unit of capacity) a tun,tjaldsdyrr f. pl. doorway or
a barrelful 2/164.
opening in a tent 2/303.
tuttugu num. twenty.
tólf num. twelve.
torf n. turf (used for thatching 2/128). tveir (f. tvær, n. tvau) num. two.
torsóttr a. difficult to achieve; ﬂér tvítögr a. aged twenty 2/150.
†tæla (d) wv. to trap, betray 2/368.
mun torsótt you will find it
tönn f. tooth 2/308.
difficult 1/25.
trau›r a. unwilling; n. as adv.
um prep. (with acc.) (1) (place)trautt scarcely 1/325; scarcely
around 2/158, 342; near, in theever, never 1/405.
vicinity of 2/606; among 2/262;†traustr a. reliable, trusty 2/384.
over, across 2/507; ~ ﬂveran
tré n. tree; mast of a ship 2/610.
hellinn see ﬂverr. (2) (time)treysta (st) wv. to rely on (with dat.);~ vetr during the winter, for the†sinni má eingi íﬂrótt ~ no man
winter 2/229; ~ vórit (daginn)
can rely on his own strength
during the spring (day) 2/137,
2/334; md. treystask to be
140; ~ sumarit (morguninn) in
confident 1/341.
the summer (morning) 2/38,
troll n. troll 2/251; pl. the trolls
1/40. (3) (subject) about,
1/415, 2/369.

156

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

unna (pres. sg. ann) pret.-pres.
concerning 1/27, 145, 438,vb. (with dat.) to love 2/35.
2/431; in, with 1/111, 240; ~ aflin matters of strength, in feats of unnit pp. of vinna.
unnu p. pl. of vinna.
strength 2/32; ~ ﬂat on that
subject 2/273. (4) as adv. round, unz conj. until.
over 2/130; ﬂar (. . .) ~ over it, upp adv. up; inland 2/8; ~ á land
inland, away from the shore
round it 2/343, 516, concerning
2/300; ~ allt at right up to 2/510.
that 2/243; in this matter (i.e. in
uppi adv. up; ashore (see standa)
riding) 1/279.
2/228.
umbót f. improvement, repair; pl.
til umbóta to help matters, look uppstertr a. straight up; n. as adv.
uppstert with head held high,after things 1/213.
proudly 1/120.
umsjá f. supervision, guidance,
looking after (affairs); láta ﬂína ur›u p. pl. of ver›a.
út adv. (1) out; off, down 2/49;~ lose the benefit of youraway from shore 2/475; standa
guidance 1/20; hospitality 1/203.
menn upp ok ~ men stand up
una (d) wv. to be content (with aand (go) out 1/419. (2) abroad
situation), to be willing to stay;(to Iceland from Norway, cf.
~ eigi to be unable to rest (in aútan) 1/461; vilja ~ to want toplace) 2/280, 433.
go abroad (west) 2/284.
undan prep. (with dat.) awayútan adv. (1) ‘from out’ i.e.
from; ~ landi away from theabroad from Iceland (cf. út toshore 2/310; ~ hvórum enda
Iceland: both adverbs are usedfrom under each end 2/611; asas if from the standpoint of aadv. away; fara ~ go off; ~speaker in Norway) 1/14, 32,
skilja see skilja.
109, 2/228; fór ﬂar ~ went
undarliga adv. strangely, extravaabroad from there 2/434. (2)gantly; láta ~ behave oddly
firir ~ as prep. (with acc.) on the
1/47.
outside of, i.e. on the west side
undarligr a. strange 1/37l, 443.
of 2/11. (3) as conj. except
undir prep. (1) with dat. under,
2/457, 462; except that 2/97.
beneath. (2) with acc. (motion)útar adv. comp. further out,
under 2/167, 169. (3) as adv.
outward; kemr ~ comes out, isunderneath 2/129, 131.
being thrust out 2/501.
undrast (a›) wv. md. to wonderútarliga adv. near the doors,at, be amazed at (with acc.)
towards the bottom of the table
2/504.
2/548 (see note).
ungr a. young.

GLOSSARY

157

one’s appearance in the king’s
antechamber than elsewhere
1/223.
vangafilla f. the skin of the cheek;
vangafillurnar the skin of bothcheeks 2/509.
va›mál n. ordinary homespun
woollen cloth, plain serge 1/228. vápn, vópn n. weapon; taka ~ sín
to arm o-self 2/300.
va›málsklæ›i n. pl. clothes made†vargr m. wolf 2/375.
of va›mál 1/231.
varla, valla adv. hardly, scarcely
vaf›i, vafit see vefja.
1/5, 2/614; not at all 1/279.
vaka (›) wv. to be awake; imp.
varr a. aware; ver›a e-s ~ to hearvaki ﬂú wake up! 1/42.
of s-thing, learn s-thing, get tovakna (a›) wv. to wake up; pp.
know 1/280, realise 2/315;
vakna›r awake 1/40.
ver›a vi› e-t ~ to become aware
vald n. power; fá ~ yfir toof s-thing; to discover s-thing
conquer, subjugate 2/267; gefa
2/302; ver›a vi› ekki ~ to noticee-t í ~ e-m (or e-s) to makenothing, see no signs of lifes-thing over to s-one 2/470, 532.
2/298; hann ver›r eigi fyrr ~ vi›
valda (pres. veldr, pret. olla, pp.
en the first thing he knew was
valdit) irreg. vb. (with dat.) tothat 2/314.
cause, be responsible for 1/350.
vaskliga adv. valiantly, in a manly
valla see varla.
way 1/233 (see note).
ván, vón f. hope, expectation,
vatt see vinda.
likelihood; ﬂikkir ~ it seems
vaxa (óx) sv. to grow (upp up) 2/36.
probable 2/111; pl. vita vánir
vefja (vaf›a) wv. to wrap; ~ me›see vita.
járni to bind round with ironvanbúinn a. unprepared (vi› e-t
2/67; ~ e-u um hönd sér to twist
for s-thing) 1/359.
s-thing round one’s hand 2/507.
vandamál n. difficult case (inlaw), complicated matter 1/53. vega (vá, vó) sv. (1) to lift 1/323,
2/131. (2) to kill 1/3.
vandliga adv. carefully, closely,
veggr m. wall.
attentively; comp. vandligar
vegr m. path, way; acc. pl. marga
1/412.
vega in many ways, variously
vandr (n. vant) a. difficult 1/343;
1/236.
requiring care; comp. er
vegsummerki n. pl. the evidence
vandara at búa sik í konungsof what has been done, theherbergi en annars sta›ar it isresults of the work 2/140.
more important to be careful ofúti adv. out, outside 2/109, 134,
580, 596; knocked out 1/324.
útsker n. outlying rock; pl. small
scattered islands 2/262.

158

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

1/72; erﬂú you are 2/471; er ek
veifa (›) wv. to wave, swing (with(late form of first pers. sg.) I amdat.); ~ e-u um sik to whirl
2/360; ﬂú er (early form ofs-thing round o-self 2/582.
second person sg., normally ert)
veita (tt) wv. to give 2/373; grant
you are 1/371; pres. subj. sé(a request) 1/434; †~ högg deal
1/24, 161; at ek sé that I shall beblows, fight 2/379; ~ atsókn
2/203; p. subj. væri 1/12, inbring an attack 2/553; ~ vi›rreported speech hann væri hebúna› make preparations 2/463;
was said to be 2/251; imp. ver~ afskipti see afskipti; impers.
be, stay 1/294. (2) to be true;
e-m veitir things go well for one;eigi er ﬂat that is not so 2/563;
honum mun eigi ~ things areenn ﬂótt ﬂat sé even if that weregoing to go badly for him 2/492.
true 1/384. (3) to come about,veizla f. feast, banquet; ﬂar var ~happen 2/270, 432 (see munu),
hin bezta a big party was being
550; ﬂat var ﬂó eigi but it did
held there 2/194; an official
not turn out that way 1/357. (4)reception for a king or jarl 1/378;
to stay 2/11, 297; vera hjá tofara at veizlum to go round on alive with 2/448; vera me› e-m tostate visit 2/606 (see note).
stay with s-one 2/282, 616;
veiztu second pers. sg. pres. of†vera mun ek enn me› mönnum
vita with suffixed pron.
I shall stay longer among men,vekja (vakta) wv. to wakei.e. I shall continue to live,(transitive) 2/475.
I shall not die yet 2/277. (5) withvel adv. well 1/6; finely; very
inf. nú er at now it is necessary
1/398, 456; easily, at least
to, now one must 2/225. (6) as
2/110; sá ma›r mun ~ vera heaux. forming passive 1/117 (cf.
must be a fine man 1/97; mánote), 167 (impers.), 2/80, 314.
enn ~ vera he may still be all(7) as aux. of p. tense with vbs.
right 1/99; vera ~ to be well, toof motion 2/302, 316.
be good; ~ farit see fara.
velja (val›a) wv. to choose, select ver› n. worth, price; payment
2/117.
1/447.
ver›a (var›, pp. or›inn, vor›inn)
velli dat. sg. of völlr.
sv. (1) to be, become 2/614; tovenda (nd) wv. to turn; ~ e-u umcome to be, turn out to be (e-mto turn s-thing round, turnfor s-one) 1/92; to grow 2/255;
s-thing over 2/130.
ur›u ﬂá eigi a›rir menn frægri
vera (var, pl. várum, vórum) sv.
. . . en ﬂeir they became more
(1) to be; with suffixed neg. era
famous than any other men
is not 1/21, væria would not be

GLOSSARY

159

verri a. comp. worse; væria ﬂér ~2/263; ver›a varr see varr.
you would not be worse off with
(2) to take place, happen 1/317,
1/72; ~ vi›reignar worse to
2/539; ﬂá var or›it there had byhave dealings with 2/254.
then taken place 2/428; yr›i ﬂat
svó if that should happen 2/468. verst, vest adv. sup. worst.
(3) with preps. and advs. ~ e-m verstr, vestr a. sup. worst; ﬂví
sem vest var or›it that (hay)á munni see munnr; ver›r ekkiwhich was worst rotted (i.e. theaf e-u nothing comes of s-thing,
hay on the top and round thes-thing is abandoned 2/258;
sides of the stack that had beenver›a at e-u to become s-thingrotted by rain) 2/128.
1/455; at ﬂér ver›i at ﬂví óli›vestr adv. west, westwards.
that harm may result to you
vetr (pl. vetr) m. winter; í ~ forfrom this 1/261; ver›a fyrir tothe winter, this winter 2/546; um
get in the way (of) 2/584, to~, um vetrinn for the winter,
come in for, become the object
during that winter 2/230, 269,
of 1/235. (4) as aux. with inf. to435; at vetri li›num see lí›a;have to, must 1/58; var› einn atvetr annan for a second winterrá›a see rá›a; impers. with
2/535; ~ mikill a hard (long)plain inf. fara mun ver›a they
winter 2/93; a year: tólf vetra
would have to go 1/67. (5) as(gen. pl.) gamall twelve years
aux. forming passive 1/89, 184,
old 2/36; sjau vetra seven years
342 (impers.), 372, 2/148, 353,
old 2/31; ﬂrjá vetr for three552, 555, 556; er mælt ver›ryears 2/436; nokkura vetr for awhich is spoken 1/207.
few years 2/616.
ver›r a. worthy, deserving; worth
vetrvist f. lodging for the winter(e-s s-thing); eigi minna (gen.
1/202.
sg.) vert en worth no less than
2/146; ﬂikkja e-m mikils vert um vettugi see vætki.
one has a high opinion of, one is vexti dat. sg. of vƒxtr.
vi› prep. (1) (with acc.) with,very impressed with 2/177.
together with 1/92; in company
verk n. work 2/37.
with 2/295; near, by, on (a river)verr adv. comp. worse; fara e-m ~
2/13; at (in response to) 2/305;
to suit one worse: eigi veit ek
to 2/98, see standa; according
mér ~ fara óknáleik minn en ﬂér
to 1/230; denoting attendant
afl ﬂitt I don’t see that my weakcircumstances, with 1/79;
ness is any more of a disadvan~ jör›ina near the ground 2/129;
tage to me than your strength is~ Svöldr at (the battle of) Svöldr
to you 1/74.

160

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

1/94; with ellipsis of following
2/570; tala ~ e-n to speak with
inf. to wish to be 1/457; to wants-one. (2) (with dat.) hlæja ~ e-u
to go 2/283; eigi vil ek ﬂat I willto laugh at s-thing 1/239; hafa
not do that 2/171.
afl ~ e-m to have the strength tovinátta f. friendship 1/380; ger›ist
match s-one 2/466.
ﬂar skjótt ~ they soon becameví›a adv. widely, far and wide
friends 2/232; me› (mikilli)
2/210.
vináttu on (very) friendly termsvi›arbulungr m. wood-pile 2/66.
2/285, 533.
†vi›för f. treatment; pl. vórar(várar) vi›farar his treatment of vinda (vatt) sv. to twist; ~ í sundr
wrench apart 2/62.
me 2/416.
vindli m. wisp (e.g. of straw)ví›fƒrull a. widely travelled,
1/306.
experienced.
vinna (vann) sv. (1) to work 2/34;
ví›r a. wide; á ví›um velli on
to do 1/328; ~ mart tilopen ground 2/581.
framaverka perform manyvi›rbúna›r m. preparation 2/462.
deeds bringing fame 2/200;
vi›reign f. dealing (with s-one),~ skjótt um finish the job
having to do (with s-one); verri
quickly 2/519; eigi vel at unnitvi›reignar worse to have dealnot well dealt with (referring to
ings with 2/254.
the hay scattered on the ground)vi›skifti n. pl. dealings, conflicts;
2/142. (2) defeat, conquer,í vi›skiftum ﬂeirra Dufﬂaks inovercome 2/224, 253, 469, 552,
(as a result of) his conflicts with
554. Md. for passive ynnist
D. 2/288.
would have been defeated 2/587.
víg n. fight, battle; støkkva í víginu
vinr m. friend.
to flee from the fight 1/326.
vinveittr a. friendly, pleasant,víking f. piracy, being a viking;endurable 1/79.
frægri í víkingu more famous inpiracy, i.e. more famous vikings vir›a (r›) wv. to value, assess;~ ﬂetta til ginningar consider
2/263.
that (to be) a befooling, thinkvilgis intensive adv. very, too 1/456.
you are making a fool out ofvilja (vilda, p. inf. vildu 1/391)
me 1/146.
wv. to wish, want, be willingvísa f. verse, strophe, stanza (often
1/30; will, shall, be going toa poem consisting of one stanza
1/147, 339, 2/467; ~ ekki tocomplete in itself) 2/271, 331;
refuse 2/34; ek vilda I wouldin pl. of several verses making
like 1/59, 116; er hann vildi at
up a poem 2/344, 459.
fœri whom he wished to goGLOSSARY

161

víss a. certain; ﬂeir sá vísan bana vitrligr a. wise, sensible; comp. n.
vitrligra 1/211.
they saw that death was certain
vizkuma›r m. a person of intel2/583; ver›a e-s ~ to find out
ligence, a bright person 1/104.
about s-thing, get to know abouts-thing 2/192, 603; n. as subst. vón see ván.
at vísu certainly, indeed 1/156; vópn see vápn.
n. as adv. víst indeed, certainly, vópndau›r (vápn-) a. dead by
weapons; ver›a ~ to be killed
for sure, without doubt 1/132,
by arms, die by violence 2/236.
2/417; ﬂat ætla ek víst I think sovór (vár) n. spring; um vórit in thecertainly (or I consider thatspring 2/12; at vóri komnu see
certain) 1/57.
koma.
vist f. stay, residence; ~ ﬂín ívor›inn pp. of ver›a.
Nóregi for you to stay invórkunn (vár-) f. something to be
Norway 1/456; betr ﬂykki mér
excused; er ﬂat ~ that is underﬂér ﬂar vistin felld vera I thinkstandable, you cannot be blamed
it would be more suitable forfor that 2/454.
you to stay there 1/204.
vit (1) n. intelligence, sense 1/18; vórr (várr) poss. a. our 2/416.
vóru, vórum p. pl. of vera.
perception, knowledge 1/161;
væla (t) wv. to deceive, trick; ~ um
fyrir vits sƒkum for (lack of)
to deal with s-thing; ef hannintelligence 1/5.
vælir einn um if he is left tovit (2) pron. dual we two; ~ erum
manage on his own 1/275.
systkin ok Brúsi B. and I arevænleikr m. beauty, handsomebrother and sister 2/447.
ness 1/72.
vita (veit, p. vissa) pret.-pres. vb.
vænn a. promising; handsome 1/3,
to know; understand 2/243;
2/443; sup. n. as adv. ﬂótti ﬂeim
notice 1/42 (1); to learn, hearum it vænsta they were delighted
2/455; find out 2/240; foreseewith the prospect 1/302.
2/276; eigi veit ek (with acc. andinf.) I am not sure that 1/74; má vætki (dat. vettugi) n. (pron.)nothing, nothing at all 2/276;
ek ﬂví eigi vita so I cannot tellvettugi n‡tr good for nothing,
1/199; eigi má ek annat til ~ I
useless 2/142.
can’t tell if it is otherwise 1/368;~ e-s vánir to see a likelihood of völlr m. field, meadow; áttastakka ~ see stakkr; á ví›ums-thing 1/265; ~ fyrir to foresee;
velli on open ground 2/581.
Eyvindr ﬂóttisk ~ fyrir E. thought
völva f. prophetess, sibyl, fortuneit probable 1/357.
teller 2/191.
vitr a. wise; comp. vitrari 1/271.

162

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

clauses, yet 2/449, 465. (3) pleonastic with comp. 2/179 (seeellri), with sup. 2/199 (seehelzt). (4) ~ er as conj. when
1/70 (see note), 2/31, 354, 366,
384.
ﬂa›an adv. from there; away, fromthat place 1/304; of time ~ affrom then on 2/138.
ﬂangat adv. there, to that place;~ sem in the direction of where
yfir prep. (1) (with acc.) over,
1/81; (of time) ~ til er until 2/36.
across 2/208; ~ land around theﬂannug adv. thus, like that; ~ . . .
country 2/190; færast ~ seesem ﬂú ert just like you 1/163.
fœra. (2) (with dat.) over; ~ sér
ﬂar adv. (1) there, in that placeon (of clothes) 1/123; sem ~1/461; with him 1/269; in thiskykvendum as with animals, likematter 1/305; on this subject,
you hear from animals 1/45. (3)about this 1/144; to that point
as adv. across 2/125.
1/321; ~ er kominn Brúsi B. was
yfirkoma (yfirkom) sv. to overthere 2/316. (2) with other advs.
come, defeat, beat 2/572.
~ . . . frá about this 2/456; ~ í
yfirlit n. pl. personal appearance
therein, into it, onto it 2/67;
2/443.
~ . . . me› by means of it 1/450;‡miss a. various, different 2/218;~ um over it 2/516; ~ . . . um
n. as subst. á ‡msu see leika.
round it 2/342, about that, on
ynni p. subj. of vinna.
that subject 2/243, in this matteryr›i p. subj. of ver›a.
2/460; fór ~ útan sailed abroad
yrkja (orta) wv. to make, compose
from there 2/434. (3) ~ er as(poetry) 1/438.
conj. where; ~ er heitir in a‡tri a. comp. outer; further out toplace called 2/184, to the placesea; more westerly (cf. út, útan)where 1/292, 2/444; ~ . . . er in
2/250, 297.
a place where 1/204, at the point
where 2/225; ~ sem where, toﬂá adv. (1) then 2/124; at that mowhere 2/607, to a place where
ment, in this action 2/483; by
2/593 (see note); ~ til er, ~ til atthen, after that 2/80, 136; by thisuntil 2/311, 612.
time 2/428, 436; on that occaﬂarmaendi m. the end of the gut
sion, that year 2/151; in thator intestine 2/341.
case 1/267. (2) after concessive
vörn f. defence; ﬂar til varnar
there as a defence, there to
defend it 2/588; ~ s‡na, koma ~firir sik to put up a defence
2/330, 551.
vƒxtr (gen. vaxtar, dat. vexti) m.
growth, build; size, bigness ofbody 2/45; lítill vexti of smallbuild 1/3.

GLOSSARY

163

to my liking, I am very attracted
ﬂarmr m. gut, intestme 2/344.
to you 2/471.
ﬂars conj. (for ﬂar es, older form
ﬂora (›) wv. to dare 2/583.
of ﬂar er) since 1/113.
ﬂáttr m. a short story, episode 2/1. ﬂorp n. village 2/183.
ﬂegar adv. at once, immediately; ﬂótt conj. although, though; enn ~even if 1/384; (elliptical)
at the moment, off hand 1/162;
although one were to say that
already 1/232. As conj. ~ (er) as
2/586.
soon as 2/518, when, if 1/202;
ﬂótti see ﬂykkja.
~ at as soon as, when 2/217.
ﬂegja (ﬂag›a) wv. to be silent, say †ﬂraungr (ﬂrƒngr) a. narrow; inmetaphorical sense 2/361 (seenothing 2/214; ﬂegi ﬂú shut up!
note to 2/360).
1/389.
ﬂrettán num. thirteen.
ﬂeir pron. pl. they; ~ Stórólfr heﬂreyta (tt) wv. to wear out,
and S. 2/87; ~ Ásbjörn A.’s
exhaust 1/288.
party 2/438; ~ Ásbjörn ok Ormr
the two of them, Á. and O. 2/270; ﬂri›i ord. num. third.
ﬂrífa (ﬂreif) sv. to grasp; ~ í~ vóru brœ›r ok Véseti he andskeggit á e-m to grab s-one’s
V. were brothers 2/184.
beard 2/505; hann er ﬂrifinn á
ﬂeygi adv. (conj.) equivalent of ﬂó
loft he is snatched up into the air
eigi yet not; nevertheless . . . not2/314.
1/259.
ﬂí›r a. thawed, unfrozen; á ﬂí›um ﬂrír (f. ﬂrjár, n. ﬂrjú) num. three.
ﬂrítögsaldr m. the age of thirty
sjó on the open sea 2/554.
2/226.
ﬂikkja see ﬂykkja.
ﬂing n. meeting, public assembly ﬂrjóta (ﬂraut) sv. impers. (withacc.) to fail; ﬂraut hestinn the
1/85; referring to the Alﬂingi
horse was exhausted, collapsed
2/151, 152, 176.
1/279; pp. ﬂrotinn exhausted
ﬂjóta (ﬂaut) sv. to screech, shrill,
1/284.
bray; ﬂaut vi› mjƒk it brayed out
ﬂúfa f. mound, hillock 2/78.
loudly 1/45.
ﬂó adv. yet, nevertheless, moreover ﬂungr a. heavy; hard 2/50; harsh,
unpleasant 2/451.
2/142; even so 1/99, 2/450; inﬂurfa (ﬂarf) pret.-pres. vb. (1)deed 2/318; but 1/307; with
(with gen.) to need, want,comp. even (more) 2/254; ~ atrequire 1/202, 362. (2) (with(cf. ﬂótt) as conj. though,inf.) ﬂarftu eigi dylja there’s noalthough; even if 1/163.
point in your denying it 1/382;
ﬂokki m. thought, opinion; mérhversu margir ﬂyrfti undir at
erﬂú vel í ﬂokka you are much

164

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

important, everyone was very
ganga how many would need tostruck by them 2/427; ﬂœtti it
get under it 2/609.
would seem 1/200; e-m ﬂykkir it†ﬂuss (ﬂurs) m. giant 2/415.
seems to one, one thinks (often
ﬂvá (ﬂó, pp. ﬂveginn) sv. to washin the form ﬂykki when followed
1/177.
immediately by the pronouns
ﬂverr a. transverse, lying across;mér and ﬂér) 1/15, 129, 131, 298,
um ﬂverar hellinn across the
2/242); ﬂótti honum he reckoned
middle of the cave 2/324.
2/146; mér ﬂœtti I should thinkﬂverra (ﬂvarr) sv. to decrease;
1/61; ﬂykkir e-m gaman one
ﬂvarr ﬂat allt af ﬂeim hir›thinks it fun 1/91, 287; eigi ﬂikki
mönnum the courtiers left it off
mér ﬂú mega I do not think thatcompletely 1/243.
you can 2/242; ﬂykkir e-m vel it
ﬂví pron. (dat. sg. n. of sá); í ~ atseems good to s-one, one isat that moment 2/47; frá ~ erpleased, content; ﬂykki mér ﬂatfrom the time when 2/301; with
illt I am sorry, I think it a pity
advs. ~ nær margir almost as
1/189; illt ﬂótti mér I did not
many, about the same number
like it 1/336. Md. ﬂykkjask to(of men) 2/437; ~ nærri háttthink o-self, to think that one:about the same in height 2/111.
sem konungr ﬂykkisk ﬂurfa which
With comp. ~ betr er ek geng
the king thinks he needs 1/54;
y›r nær the better the nearer I
ﬂóttisk ﬂurfa felt he needed 1/37;
am to you 1/298; ~ betra er
Ormr ﬂóttist heilsa henni O.
sí›ar er getting better as it went
thought (in his dream) that heon 1/441; ~ meiri sem the greater
greeted her 2/445; ﬂykkisk sjá
as 2/178. As adv. therefore, for(firir) (he) thinks he sees (forethat reason, so 2/6, 179, 258; ~sees) 1/320, 2/95; ek ﬂykkjumk
at as conj. because, for; ~ . . . at
sjá I think I know 1/457; eigi
for this reason . . that 1/369.
ﬂykkjumk ek sjá I do not think I
ﬂvílíkr a. similar; n. as adv. ﬂvílíkt
can see 1/132; ﬂœttumk ek ﬂurfa. . . sem the same . . . as 1/268.
I was going to ask for 1/102.
ﬂ‡f›r a. covered with mounds
ﬂykkr a. thick, wide; tveggja
2/69.
fa›ma ﬂykkt two fathoms wide
ﬂykkja, ﬂikkja (ﬂótta) wv.
2/111.
(personal and impers.) to seem;
ﬂyrfti see ﬂurfa.
to be considered 2/162, 197,
199; ﬂótti hinn mesti ma›r was ﬂœtti see ﬂykkia.
thought a very great man 2/617;
ﬂóttu mikil they were considered æ adv. always 2/409, 617.

GLOSSARY

165

æ›ri a. comp. higher; hinn æ›ra ætlun f. thought, opinion; at ﬂví
sem ﬂú leggr ~ á in yourbekk the higher bench 2/548
opinion 1/185.
(see note).
ætla (a›) wv. (1) to think, consider ætt f. family, family line 2/221.
2/252, 586; expect 2/75; intend; ætta›r a. descended, originating;mó›ir hans var ættu› af
ﬂat ~ ek it is my opinion 2/203;
Hör›alandi his mother’s
er eingi ætla›i at . . . mundifamily came from Hör›alandwhich no one thought would
2/220.
ever 2/554; svó leingi sem ætlat
var as long as had been arranged, ævi f. life, course of life 1/444.
intended 2/215; ætla›i sér varlaökla n. ankle 2/169.
hóf um did not know his ownƒkulbrœkr f. pl. ankle-length
limits, knew no bounds 1/279;
breeches 1/123.
with acc. and inf. lítit ~ ek ﬂik†ölkátr a. merry with ale 2/355.
af honum hafa hlotit I think
you have been gifted with little øng- see engi.
of that 1/71; rá›ligra ~ ek vera ör (pl. örvar) f. arrow 2/487.
ørendi (cf. eyrendi) n. errand;
I think it wiser 1/454; ~ e-nbusiness, reason for coming
dau›an (sc. vera) to think that
1/12; eiga ~ vi› e-n to haves-one is dead 2/424; ﬂat ~ ekbusiness with s-one 1/127.
víst 1/57 see víss. (2) with inf.
örlög n. pl. fate, fortune, destiny;
to intend (to do s-thing) 1/30,
segja e-m firir ~ sín to tell s-one
356; to be about (to do s-thing),
their fortune 2/192.
to try (to do s-thing) 2/73, 491;
örvamælir m. quiver 2/486.
with plain inf. ~ drepa hannøxarskapt n. axe-handle 1/308.
intend to kill him 1/419.

166

TWO ICELANDIC STORIESINDEX OF PROPER NAMES
Names preceded by † occur only in the verses

PERSONAL NAMESÁsbjörn prú›i Virfilsson 63–69, Helgi Hængsson 57†Herjan (a name of Ó›inn) 70
71–73, 75
Bergﬂórr bestill, cousin of Ásbjörn 65 Herjúlfr Hængsson 57
Bifru-Kári (Áslákr Bifru-Kári Arnar- Herrö›r, jall in Gautland 66
Hildirí›arsynir (Hárekr and Hrærekrson) 64
Björgólfssynir, see note to to 2/5)
Brúsi (a giant) 65, 68, 69, 72–75
57
Dofri (a troll) 57
Dufﬂakr (Irish Dubhthach) 60–62, 67 †Hildr (name of a valkyrie, see
Glossary) 70
Einarr (ﬂambarskelfir Eindri›ason)†Hjálmr, companion of Ásbjörn 71
af Gimsum 78
Eirekr jall (Hákonarson), ruler in Hrafn Hængsson 57
Hrafnhildr Ketilsdóttir hængs 57
Norway 1000–1013 76–78†Hrani, companion of Ásbjörn 71
Eyvindr, lendr ma›r 52–55
Eyvindr snákr, cousin of Ásbjörn 65 Hrei›arr, grandfather of Hrei›arr
ﬁorgrímsson 41†Gautr, companion of Ásbjörn 70†Geiri, companion of Ásbjörn 70 Hrei›arr ﬁorgrímsson 41–56†Geitir, companion of Ásbjörn 71 †Hrókr, companion of Ásbjörn 70Hængr Ketilsson (Ketill hængr
†Geitir (a giant name) 70
ﬁorkelsson) 57†Glúmr, companion of Ásbjörn 70
Glúmr (Víga-Glúmr Eyjólfsson?) 41 †Högni, companion of Ásbjörn 71†Grani, companion of Ásbjörn 71 Ingunn, wife of Hængr 57†Grímr, companion of Ásbjörn 71 Jörundr go›i (Hrafnsson heimska)
57, 62gu› (God) 74†Gunnarr, companion of Ásbjörn 71 Ketill hængr ór Hrafnistu 57
Hákon (inn ríki Sigur›arson) Hla›a- Ketill (ﬁorkell) Naumdælajall 57
jall, ruler of Norway c. 974–995 Magnús (Óláfsson helga, inn gó›i),king of Norway 1035–46 41, 42,
65, 7249, 50, 52–56†Háma, companion of Ásbjörn 70
Haraldr (Hálfdanarson, hárfagri) Melkólfr (Irish Maelcoluim, Malcolm) 62
Dofrafóstri, king of Norway c.
Menglö› Ófótansdóttir 72, 74, 75
885–931 57
Haraldr (har›rá›i, Sigur›arson s‡rs), †Mi›jungr (a giant name?) 70
king of Norway 1046–66 46, 49–56 †Oddvör (mother of Sámr andSæmingr) 70†Haukr, companion of Ásbjörn 70

INDEX OF NAMES

167

Ófótan ór Ófótansfir›i (a troll?) 72 †Sörkvir, companion of Ásbjörn 71
Óláfr Tryggvason, king of Norway †Teitr, companion of Ásbjörn 71†Tóki, companion of Ásbjörn 70
995–1000 72, 76
Ormr sterki Stórólfsson 57–63, †Torfi, companion of Ásbjörn 71
Tryggvi (Óláfsson, father of King
65–67, 70–78Óláfr Tryggvason) 72
Petrus postuli (St Peter) 74†Sámr Oddvararson, companion of †Tumi, companion of Ásbjörn 71
Véseti í Borgundarhólmi 63Ásbjörn 70
Skólmr (cf. ﬁorbjörn skólmr: the Vestarr Hængsson 57
nickname is used as a personal Virfill, father of Ásbjörn 63, 66
ﬁórálfr Skólmsson (inn sterki) 57,
name) 62
62, 63†Starri, companion of Ásbjörn 70†Stefnir, companion of Ásbjörn 71 ﬁórarna, sister of ﬁorbjörn skólmr
and wife of Stórólfr 57, 58
Stórólfr Hængsson 57–62, 65,
ﬁorbjörn (ﬁorgeirr) skólmr (cf.
67, 69, 72
Skólmr) 57
Sumarli›i Herjúlfsson 57†Svanhvít (Ásbjörn's mother) 69, ﬁór›r ﬁorgrímsson 41–44, 46–48, 50
ﬁorgrímr Hrei›arsson 41
see note to 2/349†Sæmingr Oddvararson, compan- ﬁorlaug Hrafnsdóttir 57
Özurr hörzki 65, 67
ion of Ásbjörn 70

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES
Gautland (provinces of VästergötBjƒrgyn (Bergen, Norway) 42
land and Östergötland in southern
Borgundarhólmr (Bornholm) 63
Sweden) 65, 66
Danmörk (Denmark) 63, 66, 69, 72,
Gimsar (Gimsan, near Trondheim,
76
Norway) 78
Dufﬂaksholt (cf. Holt), a farm in
Hla›ir (Lade, near Trondheim, Norsouthern Iceland 60way) 65, 76†Elfarsker (sker Elfar), the skerries
in the estuary of the river Göta Hof, a farm on the north side of theeastern Rangá in southem Ice(Göta älv) in Västergötland (southland 57
west Sweden) 70
Eyjafjƒr›r (fjord in northern Ice- Holt (í Holti; cf. Dufﬂaksholt) 60, 61
Hrafnista (Ramsta, an island off theland) 41
coast from Namdalen in Norway)†Eyrasund (usually Eyrarsund, mod57
ern Øresund, the straits between
Hvóll (cf. Stórólfshvóll) 57, 62
Denmark and Sweden) 70†Gautaveldi (poetic name for Gaut- Hör›aland (Hordaland, a district inwestern Norway) 64, 65, 69land) 66

168

TWO ICELANDIC STORIES

westerly Rangá, a river in southern
Hörgárdalr (a valley near Eyjafjör›r
Iceland) 57
in northem Iceland) 62†Ífuminni (the mouth of the river Rey›arfjör›r (a fjord in eastern Iceland) 72
Ífa; in Gautland?) 70
Ísland (Iceland) 56, 57, 63, 65, 67, Róm (Rome) 74, 76
Sau›eyjar (‘sheep-islands’) 65, 67,
72, 7872; Sau›ey hin ‡tri 67, 73; Sau›ey
Leiruvógr (a small bay in Kollafjör›r
hin minni 72
just north of Reykjavík) 67
Markarfljót (a river in southern Ice- Stórólfshvóll (cf. Hvóll; a farm southof the Eystri-Rangá in southernland) 57
Iceland) 57, 59, 61, 67, 78
Myrká (a farm on the Myrká riverin Hörgárdalr, northern Iceland) Svarfa›ardalr (a valley in northern
Iceland) 56
62Mærr (acc. and dat. Mæri) (modern Svöldr (either an island in the Baltic
or a river in Vindland, the site of
Møre; cf. Nor›mærr, and note to
the battle at which Óláfr Tryggva2/201) 64–67
son fell in AD 1000: the site has notNor›mærr (now Nordmøre, a
district in Norway; cf. Mærr)been identified with certainty) 77
64Upplƒnd (Opland, the inland distNóregr (Norway) 55, 56, 64, 67, 72,
ricts in eastern Norway) 52
76
Vendilskagi (Skagen, at the northernÓfótansfjör›r (perhaps the same as
most tip of Jutland) 63
Ófótafjör›r, now the Ofotfjord, Víkin (Oslofjord and the districts
northern Norway) 72
round about) 78
Rangá hin eystri (Eystri-Rangá, the ﬁjórsá (a river in the south of Icemore easterly Rangá, a river inland, Rangárvallas‡sla) 57, 65
southern Iceland) 57
ﬁrándheimr (Trøndelag, a district inRangá (hin ‡tri, †tri-Rangá, the more
Norway) 72, 75, 78

OTHER NAMES
dalr, modern Namdalen, northernÍslendingar (Icelanders) 45
Norway) 57
Íslendingaskrá (‘The Scroll of the Icelanders’, an unidentified book) Ormrinn langi (‘The Long Serpent’,
the great ship on which Óláfr
67
Tryggvason fought his last battle)
Mengla›arnautar (‘the gifts of Men76–78
glö›’, the pair of magic gloves)
Svöldrarorrosta (the battle of Svöldr)74
76
Naumdælir (inhabitants of Naumu-