Note to Þhorn Gldr 2^I

[2] gný-Þróttr jǫru ‘the din-Þróttr <=Óðinn> of battle [WARRIOR = Haraldr]’: (a) Gný- ‘din’ normally needs a determinant such as ‘valkyrie’ or ‘weapon’ to form a kenning for ‘battle’. Here, no such determinant can be found, unless Fidjestøl (1982, 76) is correct in interpreting dróttar jǫru ‘troop of battle’ as a valkyrie-kenning. He claims drótt dreyra ‘army of blood’ (Meissner 398) as a parallel; but Meissner’s interpretation of this kenning as ‘valkyries’ is only tentative. (b) Kock (NN §230) and ÍF 26 construe gný-Þróttr dróttar jǫru as ‘the noise-Þróttr of the troop of battle [WARRIORS > BATTLE > WARRIOR]’, but the resulting kenning is flawed, with ‘warrior’ as both referent and determinant. (c) Holtsmark (1927, 22), Hkr 1991 and this edn limit the kenning to gný-Þróttr jǫru ‘the Þróttr of the din of battle’ in which gný- characterizes the whole kenning and is not part of its essential structure. Although unusual, this is supported by a structurally similar kenning in Hskv Útdr 7/7-8^II: Gǫndlar þings gný-Þróttr ‘Þróttr <= Óðinn> of the din of Gǫndul’s <valkyrie’s> assembly [(lit. ‘din-Þróttr of Gǫndul’s assembly’) BATTLE > WARRIOR]’. On this cf. Meissner 191; Meissner notes that such kennings are rare but gives some further examples.

References

1. Bibliography
2. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
3. Meissner = Meissner, Rudolf. 1921. Die Kenningar der Skalden: Ein Beitrag zur skaldischen Poetik. Rheinische Beiträge und Hülfsbücher zur germanischen Philologie und Volkskunde 1. Bonn and Leipzig: Schroeder. Rpt. 1984. Hildesheim etc.: Olms.
4. Fidjestøl, Bjarne. 1982. Det norrøne fyrstediktet. Universitet i Bergen Nordisk institutts skriftserie 11. Øvre Ervik: Alvheim & Eide.
5. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
6. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
7. Holtsmark, Anne. 1927. Þórbjørn Hornklofes Glymdrápa. Oslo: Aschehoug & Co.
8. Internal references
9. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Halldórr skvaldri, Útfarardrápa 7’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 488-9.