In memory of Anatoly Krupnov ("Black Obelisk")

1. Ahlarien - makil-eldar
2. Valinórëo
3. ortaner carnë sanda*                   (*variant: turma)
4. tá-lamnissen falmaron
5. ar lender imbë oronti alquaron*        (*some MSS read: phanto tienen)
6. anta mata
7. otornoin sorno
8. Endóresse
[haryante "úmië-tengwar"*]          (*variant: -sarati)

1. I have heard <1>, that the sword-elves <2>
2. of the land of the gods <3>
3. raised the red shield <4>
4. upon high animals of waves, <5>
5. and went between swans' mountains <6>   (variant: by path of whales' home)
6. to give food 
7. to sworn-brothers of the eagle <7>
8. in the Middle-earth <8>.
[*They got "pernicious-staves"]

The meaning of these words can be given as follows: "The Elves of Valinórë (Noldor) proclaimed war (upon the black Foe) and sailed in ships across the Ocean in order to give battle (to the Enemy) in our earth. [They underwent much suffering.]"

1. a-hlar-ie+n - perfect "have-heard+I", [HLAR- "hear"] 

2. Valinórë+o - genitive sg.

3. orta-ne-r - past pl., [ORTA- "raise"]

4. tá+lamni-sse-n - [TÁ- "high"] + locative pl.(or lamassen) 
   of [LAMAN, pl.lamni or lamani "animal, usually only applied to 
   four-footed beasts, and never to reptiles and birds"], falma-r-on - gen. 
   pl., [FALMA "wave"]

5. lende-r - past pl. of [LINNA or LELYA "go"], alqua-r-on - gen. pl. of 
   [ALQUA "swan"]  {*phanto - gen. pl.(??) of PHANTO - "whale", see 
   Turu-phanto in "Unfinished tales"; tie-nen - instrumental case of 
   [TIË "road, path"]}

6. mata - "food" (cf. Old Norse-Icelandic matr "food; meal")

7. otorno-in - dat. pl. of [OTORNO "sworn brother"]; sorno - gen. sg. of 
   [SORNO "eagle"]

8. Endóre-sse - loc. of [ENDÓRË "Middle-earth"]
   
   [harya-nte "have-they" - [HARYA- "have, possess"] + -nte, see 
   tir-uva-nte-s, "Unfinished Tales"; úmië-tengwar - 
   "evil-letters/evil-incised marks, i.e. staves"], úmië - adj. 
   pl. of úmëa

1. I (have) heard (ON-Icel. frá-k / spyr ek):

"I heard...- the phrase is conventional, a common epic formula, used to imply that the fame of the deed was current...{"The battle of Maldon", by E. V. Gordon. p. 22};

I have heard it told...- This appears to be an oral formula from heroic poetry indicating the beginning of an important passage...{"Hêliand: The Saxon Gospel", tr.&comm. by G.R. Murphy, p. 15};"

So "I (have) heard" is the usual Old Germanic way of expression for something that is very well-known.

There are many "kennings" in the text:

"kennings" are rather complicated metaphors, in large part based on mythology; we may call them poetic circumlocutions or descriptive compounds. {"Icelandic" by P. Glendening, p. 91};

"kennings" - descriptive terms of occasional use (like "the Yelling-horde" for Orcs) {"The War of the Jewels", p. 391}; - descriptive compound...flashes a picture before us, often the more clear and bright for its brevity, instead of unrolling it in a simile. {J.Tolkien "The Monsters and the critics", pp.58-59};

The kenning is logically...a metaphor; the term is derived from a use of the (ON-Icel.) verb kenna (smth) við (or eptir ) (smth). It means "to express or describe one thing by means of another"...A phrase like branda elgr rendered literally is "elk of beaks", but really means "a ship, with its projecting beaks resembling an elk roaming the seas"...{"An Introduction to Old Norse", by E.V. Gordon, pp.xl-xli}".

2. the sword-elves: Old Norse-Icelandic poetic (scaldic) kenning for "valiant warriors" (ON-Icel. sverð-álfar) (Cf. J.Tolkien's name for Noldor - "the Sword-elves", "The Lost Road", p.215)

3. the land of the gods (cf. Anglo-Saxon *Tíwas, "SD", p.242, ON-Icel. tívar - "Valar") = Q. Valinórë; the Sword-elves of Valinórë = Noldor

4. to raise the red shield - "proclaim/announce war" (Cf."A shield was raised as a signal in time of war; a red shield betokened war (ON-Icel. rauðr skjöldr)...in a battle the red shield was hoisted" ["An Icelandic-English dictionary", by Cleasby/Vigfusson/Craigie, p.553]

5. high animals of waves (ON-Icel. hranna há-dýr) - "ships"

6. swans' mountains - (ON-Icel. svana fjöll) - "waves, sea, ocean" [path of whales' home (ON-Icel. hval-frón, hval-tún) - "sea, ocean"]

7. sworn-brothers of the eagle (ON-Icel. arnar eið-bróðir/ pl.-bræður) - "ravens":

"the oath-brother of the eagle...Both the raven and the eagle feed on carrion" {E.O.G. Turville-Petre "Scaldic Poetry", p.13};

The Anglo-Saxon "here-fugolas ["birds of prey"] accompanying the wolf as picker of the slain were traditionally the raven and the eagle. The old poets usually took any oppotunity that occured for bringing in this, originally, grim piece of realism, which had however become patterned and conventionalized...{"The Old English Exodus", text,tr.&comm. by J. Tolkien, p.49}".

Usual scaldic figures for battle contained names of three principal "war-animals" [wolf, raven and eagle], whom warriors "feed" with corpses of their enemies slain in battle (See below.)

to give food to ravens - "to make/wage war; i.e. to feed carrion birds with the slain in battle".

8. the Middle-earth - i.e. our earth, a mythol. word common to all ancient Teutonic languages; ON-Icel."Miðgarðr: "the middle enclosure." The world was conceived to be a circular disk, in the middle of which a circular portion was enclosed by the sea; this was Miðgarð, where men had their dwelling. Across the zone of sea was Jötunheim "Giantland" or Útgarð "the outer enclosure". Above Miðgarð was Ásgarð, the home of the gods; and below Miðgarð was Niflheim, the realm of Hel. From Miðgarð to Ásgarð was the rainbow-bridge Bifröst, so that Miðgarð might be regarded as an outpost of Ásgarð...{E. V. Gordon "An introduction to Old Norse", second ed., p.195};

...Thus the earth and mankind are represented as a stronghold besieged by the powers of evil from without, defended by the gods from above and from within. {"An Icelandic-English dictionary, p.426/ "An Anglo-Saxon dict., by Bosworth/ Toller, p.685"}

...The [Anglo-Saxon] poet who spoke these words saw in his thought the brave men of old walking under the vault of heaven upon the island earth (A-S. middan-geard = ON-Icel. Mið-garðr) beleaguered by the Shoreless Seas (A-S. garsecg) and the outer darkness...{J. R.R.Tolkien "The monsters and the critics" ["On translating Beowulf"],p.60};

Common...to all the Germans as well, was the conception of the human world as an enclosure defended against Chaos. The human world is Mid-garth; in Anglo-Saxon middangeard, the "merry middle-earth" of later ballads.{"The Dark Ages" by W.P.Ker, p.40};

...There came in this middle-earth [M-E. middel ærde] the son of a maiden/ Who was born in Bethlehem of the best of all bright maids;/ He is called Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit,/ The joy of all the worlds [*according to Old Germanic mythical geography The Whole World consisted of 9 sub-worlds] and judge over angels...{"Layamons Brut", ll. 4522-4525, tr. from Middle English by R. Allen; notes in brackets are mine}."

* pernicious-staves - "A-S. fãcen-stafas : malice, spite, betrayal, treachery, deceit; ON-Icel. feikn-stafir : banes, evils/curses; (runes of) evil, baleful (pernicious) runes, originally "ruin/spoil bringing lot, rune" {R. Jente "Die mythologischen Ausdrücke im altenglischen Wortschatz", p.334-35}

The actual ancient meaning of this mythical Old Germanic term is connected with the practice of drawing incised wooden staves, lots, (runes) in order to foretell the future & etc. Or probably some sticks (i.e. wooden staves), incised with evil staves (i.e. signs) while harmful spells were sung over them, were used as means of "black" magic among Germanic peoples (cf. "Grímnismál"; "Hervararkviða"). The term survived in later poetry (cf. "Beowulf"), but lost its literal meaning, being used to symbolize betrayal or treachery. Its ancient significance survived only in medieval Icelandic poetry ("Sólar-ljóð") and Icelandic mythical lore of 16-17 centuries (see the treatise "Ristingar" by Jón Guðmundsson hinn Lærði, where feikn-stafir means literally "painted/drawn evil-bringing magical signs"). Therefore Noldor that drew the lot announcing inevitable (for them) future evil or Noldor that received in some way (perhaps by trickery of sorcerers) evil-bringing runes among their possessions is a standard scaldic figure expressing that Noldor (due to the aforesaid happenings) suffered much.

Leonid Korablev (Lenwë G. F.)