[3] Hlóðynjar myrkmarkar ‘of the Hlóðyn = Jǫrð (jǫrð ‘earth’) of the dark forest <= Myrkviðr> [JUTLAND]’: Except for Kock (NN §406) all eds analyse myrk- … ‑markar as tmesis (see Reichardt 1928, 9, 93 n. 20, 207-8). The cpd appears to refer to the Myrkviðr ‘Dark Forest’ that lies between Jutland and Holstein (Fms 1, 111; ÓT 1958-2000, I, 123), and if this is correct its ‘earth’ is Jutland. However, the numerous instances of the ON Myrkviðr refer to forests at various borders (Eggers 2002, 460-1), and the cpd here could refer to any wooded country (Finnur Jónsson 1891a, 174). Some interpreters have accordingly assumed it refers to Norway and conjoined it to morðalfs ‘battle-elf [WARRIOR]’ or simply to alfs ‘elf’ as a kenning for Hákon jarl (Fms 12; NN §406; Ohlmarks 1958, 381-2); Konráð Gíslason (1895-7, I, 159) rejects this.
References
- Bibliography
- Fms = Sveinbjörn Egilsson et al., eds. 1825-37. Fornmanna sögur eptir gömlum handritum útgefnar að tilhlutun hins norræna fornfræða fèlags. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
- NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
- Konráð Gíslason. 1895-7. Efterladte skrifter. 2 vols. I: Forelæsninger over oldnordiske skjaldekvad. II: Forelæsninger og videnskablige afhandlinger. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
- ÓT 1958-2000 = Ólafur Halldórsson, ed. 1958-2000. Saga Óláfs Tryggvasonar en mesta. 3 vols. EA A 1-3. Copenhagen: Munksgaard (Reitzel).
- Reichardt, Konstantin. 1928. Studien zu den Skalden des 9. und 10. Jahrhunderts. Palaestra 159. Leipzig: Mayer & Müller.
- Ohlmarks, Åke. 1958. Tors skalder och Vite-Krists. Trosskiftestidens isländska furstelovskalder, 980-1013. Stockholm: Geber.
- Eggers, Martin. 2002. ‘Myrkviðr’. In RGA, 20, 460-1.
- Finnur Jónsson. 1891a. ‘Vellekla: Tekstkritiske bemærkninger’. ÅNOH, 147-82.