Near Vetrnætr as a chronological landmark

OLD NORSE

Þat var nær vetrnóttum.
[Parallel witness: Ok er þetta um vetrnátta skeið — “And this was during/about the Vetrnætr period.”]

TRANSLATION

That was near Vetrnætr.
[Parallel witness: And this was during/about the Vetrnætr period.]

DIRECTLY ATTESTED:

An event can be dated as near Vetrnætr; a parallel recension uses vetrnáttaskeið.

CONTEXTUAL:

The dating appears in prose surrounding preserved Búadrápa material and has parallels in Jómsvíkinga saga witnesses.

MY INTERPRETATION:

This is useful non-ritual chronological evidence and supports understanding Vetrnætr as a recognizable temporal landmark/period.

NOT ESTABLISHED:

That the phrase itself belongs to the surviving skaldic verse of Búadrápa.

QUOTED FROM:

Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta, prose surrounding Búadrápa; editorial comparison to Jómsvíkinga saga AM 291 and related witnesses.

FIND IT YOURSELF:

Search: Þat var nær vetrnóttum; parallel: Ok er þetta um vetrnátta skeið.

TEXTUAL NOTE:

The phrase dating the event near Vetrnætr occurs in prose associated with the Búadrápa material, not in the surviving skaldic verse itself. It is therefore evidence for the prose tradition’s chronology rather than independent skaldic testimony to Vetrnætr.

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