Bjarkamál

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Bjarkamál is an Old Norse poem telling the tale of Bödvar Bjarki, the most famous warrior at the court of the legendary Danish king Hrólf Kraki, and other warriors. In 1030, King Olaf II of Norway roused his outnumbered army at the Battle of Stiklestad with the Bjarkamál, according to Fóstbrœðra saga.

[edit] The poem text

Most of the poem is lost. Only fragments of it are preserved in Skáldskaparmál and in Heimskringla. In Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum a Latin translation of the poem is found but it does probably not closely follow the original.

The following example may illustrate the difference between the original terse Old Norse and Saxo's elaborate translation.

Non ego virgineos iubeo cognoscere ludos
nec teneras tractare genas aut dulcia nuptis
oscula conferre et tenues astringere mammas,
non liquidum captare merum tenerumve fricare
femen et in niveos oculum iactare lacertos.
Evoco vos ad amara magis certamina Martis.
Bello opus est nec amore levi, nihil hic quoque facti
mollities enervis habet; res proelia poscit.
J. Olrik's edition
I do not now bid ye learn the sports of maidens,
nor stroke soft cheeks, nor give sweet kisses
to the bride and press the slender breasts,
nor desire the flowing wine and chafe the soft thigh and
cast eyes upon snowy arms.
I call you out to the sterner fray of War.
We need the battle, and not light love;
nerveless languor has no business here: our need calls for battles.
Elton's translation
Vekka yðr at víni
né at vífs rúnum,
heldr vekk yðr at hörðum
Hildar leiki.
Finnur Jónsson's edition
I wake you not to wine
nor to women’s converse,
but rather to the hard
game of Hild.
Hollander's translation

[edit] References

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