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11th-century Icelandic skald
Þórðr Kolbeinsson (Thordr Kolbeinsson ) was an 11th-century Icelandic
skald , or poet. He was the court poet of
Eiríkr Hákonarson and some 17 stanzas of his poetry on the earl are preserved in the
kings' sagas . The following example is from Eiríkr's campaign in England with
Canute the Great .
Gollkennir lét gunni
(grœðis hests) fyr vestan
(Þundr vá leyfðr til landa)
Lundún saman bundit ;
fekk regnþorinn Rökkva
rann, of þingamönnum,
ýglig högg, þars eggjar
Ulfkell, bláar skulfu.
Eiríksdrápa 11,
Finnur Jónsson 's edition
West of London the warrior
went out to war,
the famed sea, farer
fought for land;
sharp cuts had
Ufkel
when clashing over the carles
steel-blue swords shone: so
smoothly my stanzas, flow.
Hermann Pálsson's translation
West of London town we passed,
And our ocean-steeds made fast,
And a bloody fight begin,
England's lands to lose or win.
Blue sword and shining spear
Laid
Ulfkel's dead corpse there,
Our Thingmen hear the war-shower sounding
Our grey arrows from their shields rebounding.
Samuel Laing's translation
Þórðr is one of the two main characters of
Bjarnar saga , where many
lausavísur are attributed to him. Þórðr's son,
Arnórr Þórðarson jarlaskáld , also became a prestigious poet.
References