[3] vervaða (f.) ‘one waded by men’: A hap. leg. This could be a mythical name, possibly one of the poisonous rivers of Nástrǫnd ‘corpse-shore’ (Finnur Jónsson 1933-4, 268), because men (verar) who are oath-breakers and murderers are said to wade (vaða) through these rivers (Vsp 38-9; Gylf, SnE 2005, 53). Alternatively, Rygh (1904, 294) reports that Sophus Bugge interpreted the first element ver- in river-names as ‘calm’ (rolig, stille ‘calm, quiet’). Vervaða would then mean ‘one with a calm ford’ (vað n. means ‘ford’).
References
- Bibliography
- SnE 2005 = Snorri Sturluson. 2005. Edda: Prologue and Gylfaginning. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
- Finnur Jónsson. 1933-4. ‘Þulur’. APS 8, 262-72.
- Rygh, Oluf. 1904. Norske elvenavne. Efter offentlig foranstaltning utgivne med tilføiede forklaringer af K. Rygh. Kristiania (Oslo): Cammermeyer.
- 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)
- Not published: do not cite ()