Note to ÞjóðA Sex 15II
[5] brynmǫnnum ‘on the byrnie-men’: Although this cpd does not, judging by LP, occur elsewhere, whereas búand-, the reading of F, does, there seems no strong reason to choose the minority reading here, as Finnur does in Hkr 1893-1901 and Skj B. He evidently concurred with Konráð Gíslason’s sense that brynmǫnnum does not give the impression of being authentic; Konráð suggested brynnjörðum smó benjar, without explaining further (he cites SHI 6, 292, which has Mucro cruentus penetravit colonorum loricas ‘Bloodied point pierced the mailcoats of the inhabitants’) or búandmǫnnum ‘farmers’ (Nj 1875-8, II, 311). Brynmǫnnum, however, seems a reasonable expression for warriors (cf. other compounds in bryn(j)-, brynju- ‘byrnie, mailcoat’ in LP) and provides a better skothending than búand-. It is retained in most eds.
References
- Bibliography
- Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
- Nj 1875-89 = Konráð Gíslason and Eiríkur Jónsson. 1875-89. Njála: Udgivet efter gamle håndskrifter. Íslendingasögur udgivne efter gamle haandskrifter af Det Kongelige Nordiske Oldskrift-selskab 4. Copenhagen: Thiele.
- 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.
- Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
- SHI = Sveinbjörn Egilsson, ed. 1828-46. Scripta historica islandorum de rebus gestis veterum borealium, latine reddita et apparatu critico instructa, curante Societate regia antiquariorum septentrionalium. 12 vols. Copenhagen: Popp etc. and London: John & Arthur Arch.