Note to Refr Giz 3^III

[2] Valgautr: Lit. ‘Gautr of the fallen’. This is a heiti for Óðinn that is also listed in the þulur (see Þul Óðins 8/8 and Note there). It is not a kenning, because Gautr alone denotes Óðinn (Falk 1924, 11; LP: Gautr). Valgautr in this stanza has previously been interpreted as an invocation to Óðinn, and the stanza as a prayer of gratitude for the gift of poetry (see Note to [All] above). According to the present interpretation, the recipient of the stanza is addressed both as Valgautr and as valdr hrannvala ‘owner of the wave-horses [SHIPS > SEAFARER]’. The second kenning is a regular kenning for ‘seafarer’, however, and has nothing to do with Óðinn. Valgautr, as a heiti for Óðinn, must be a variant of another Óðinn-heiti, namely Gizurr (see Þul Óðins 1/5). That the pers. n. Gizurr was associated with Óðinn is shown by the play on ‘Óðinn’ (= Gizurr) and ‘Gautr’ (= Gizurr) in a lausavísa by Sturla Þórðarson (Sturl Lv 4/4, 8^IV) referring to the trouble-making Gizurr jarl Þorvaldsson. Sturla’s stanza also establishes that, if a particular pers. n. was identical to an Óðinn-heiti, it could be replaced by another heiti for Óðinn. The use of ‘Óðinn’ and ‘Gautr’ for the pers. n. Gizurr in Sturla’s lausavísa is polemical, and the stanza portrays Gizurr jarl as a deceitful traitor. Nothing of this sort could be intended in Refr’s poem; rather, Refr calls Gizurr by one of Óðinn’s names because to him, Gizurr played the role of Óðinn: he brought the mead of poetry to the poet and taught him how to compose poems. Hence this stanza, like the previous two stanzas of the poem, highlights the religious views of Refr, who composed his works during the decades following Iceland’s conversion to Christianity (see his Biography above). They show that Óðinn must have been of central importance to him as a skald, which makes it highly unlikely that Refr had adopted the new faith.

References

1. Bibliography
2. LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
3. Falk, Hjalmar. 1924. Odensheite. Skrifter utg. av Videnskapsselskapet i Kristiania. II. Hist.-filos. kl. 1924, 10. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad.
4. Internal references
5. 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Gautreks saga’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 241. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=9> (accessed 30 May 2024)
6. Kari Ellen Gade 2017, ‘(Biography of) Sturla Þórðarson’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 392.
7. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Óðins nǫfn 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. 732.
8. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Óðins nǫfn 8’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 751.
9. Not published: do not cite (Sturl Lv 4^IV)