Note to Þul Jǫtna I 4III
[3] Skrýmir: This is one name of the giant (= Útgarðaloki) in whose glove Þórr spent a night on his way to Útgarðr (Gylf, SnE 2005, 38-9), but in Lok 62/5 Skrýmir is probably the name of Þórr’s knapsack. As to the origin of the name, AEW: skrýmir suggests a connection with New Norw. skrymja, ModSwed. skrymma ‘occupy much space, look big’, but, according to Kahle (1903, 209), the correct form is Skrymir and the heiti may be cognate with skrum n. ‘swaggering talk’, hence ‘boaster’ (?). This explanation is unlikely, however, because the long vowel is secured by the metre here. Skrýmir is also a heiti for ‘sword’ (see Note to Þul Sverða 2/2). The word is not otherwise used in skaldic poetry as a heiti for ‘giant’, but it is attested in the rímur (Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: Skrýmir).
References
- Bibliography
- AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
- Finnur Jónsson. 1926-8. Ordbog til de af samfund til udg. af gml. nord. litteratur udgivne Rímur samt til de af Dr. O. Jiriczek udgivne Bósarímur. SUGNL 51. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
- SnE 2005 = Snorri Sturluson. 2005. Edda: Prologue and Gylfaginning. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
- Kahle, Bernhard. 1903. ‘Altwestnordische Namenstudien’. IF 14, 133-224.
- Internal references
- (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Gylfaginning’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=113> (accessed 3 June 2024)
- Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Sverða heiti 2’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 791.
- Not published: do not cite ()