Note to Þul Þorgþ I 3III
[5] Glær ok Skeiðbrimir ‘Glær and Skeiðbrimir’: Glær (adj.) means ‘bright one’, but the meaning Skeiðbrimir is debated. The first element is from skeið f. ‘race’ and the second, ‑brimir, is also a heiti for ‘sword’ and the name of a giant (see Þul Sverða 5/6 and Note there). Words with the stem brim- could denote ‘surf’ (brim, brimi) or ‘fire’ (brimi), see AEW: brim, brimi 1-2. Hence the name Skeiðbrimir could refer to a horse moving like lightning or like a surging wave across the race track. Alternatively, brimir could be a giant-name (‘the Brimir <giant> of the race track’). Again, the same pair of names is given in Grí 30/2 (NK 63): Glær oc Sceiðbrimir (see Note to l. 4 above). The names of these mythical steeds are recorded in Þul Hesta 1/1, 4 (see also glær ‘glaring one’, Þul Boga l. 3), but neither is used in skaldic poetry.
References
- Bibliography
- AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
- NK = Neckel, Gustav and Hans Kuhn (1899), eds. 1983. Edda: Die Lieder des Codex Regius nebst verwandten Denkmälern. 2 vols. I: Text. 5th edn. Heidelberg: Winter.
- Internal references
- Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Sverða heiti 5’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 798.
- Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Hesta heiti 1’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 935.
- Not published: do not cite ()
- Elena Gurevich 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Boga heiti’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 821. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=3199> (accessed 3 June 2024)