Þul Hjartar 1^III

Hjǫrtr ‘Stag’

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hjǫrtr (noun m.; °hjartar, dat. hirti (hjǫrt Æv¹ˆ 58²²n.); hirtir, acc. hjǫrtu, (gen. hirta GlossPsalt 9¹²)): hart

[1] Hjǫrtr: so A, RE 1665, ‘iorir’ R, C, ‘jortr’ Tˣ, ‘[…]ío᷎rtr’ B, ‘Hio᷎rtr’ 744ˣ

notes

[1] hjǫrtr (m.) ‘stag’: This heiti is given in mss A (and 744ˣ; B ‘[…]ío᷎rtr’) and Tˣ (‘jortr’). Mss R and C have jórir (‘iorir’), which is not an Old Norse word and could be a scribal corruption of hjǫrtr. That might be why the first heiti in this þula was not recognised as the beginning of a new list of heiti and was taken as a word for ‘bear’ (see Introduction to Þul Bjarnar).

Dura ‘Dura’

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(unknown) < Duraþrór (noun m.)

[1] Dura‑: so C, A, dýra‑ R, Tˣ, B, RE 1665

notes

[1] Duraþrór: So C, A. One of the four mythical stags that feed on the branches of the ash Yggdrasill (Grí 33/5; Gylf, SnE 2005, 18). Duraþrór is also mentioned among the hjartar heiti in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 88), where this list of heiti also follows immediately upon the poetic terms for ‘bear’. The meaning of the name is not clear, and it does not appear in skaldic verse. In some mss (R, Tˣ, B, RE 1665) the first element is spelled Dyra- and could be connected with dýr n. ‘animal’. The second part of the cpd (-þrór lit. ‘thriver’) is also a name for Óðinn (see Note to Þul Óðins 8/4), the name of a dwarf (Þul Dverga 4/5) and a heiti for ‘sword’ and ‘boar’ (Þul Sverða 3/5, Þul Galtar l. 7).

þrór ‘þrór’

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þrór (noun m.): thriver, Þrór < Duraþrór (noun m.)

notes

[1] Duraþrór: So C, A. One of the four mythical stags that feed on the branches of the ash Yggdrasill (Grí 33/5; Gylf, SnE 2005, 18). Duraþrór is also mentioned among the hjartar heiti in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 88), where this list of heiti also follows immediately upon the poetic terms for ‘bear’. The meaning of the name is not clear, and it does not appear in skaldic verse. In some mss (R, Tˣ, B, RE 1665) the first element is spelled Dyra- and could be connected with dýr n. ‘animal’. The second part of the cpd (-þrór lit. ‘thriver’) is also a name for Óðinn (see Note to Þul Óðins 8/4), the name of a dwarf (Þul Dverga 4/5) and a heiti for ‘sword’ and ‘boar’ (Þul Sverða 3/5, Þul Galtar l. 7).

hliðr ‘hliðr’

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hliðr (noun m.): [hliðr]

[2] hliðr: hlið B

notes

[2] hliðr: This is an obscure word and as a stag-heiti it occurs only here. Hliðr is also a heiti for ‘ox’ (see Þul Øxna 2/5 and Note there).

Eikþyrnir ‘Eikþyrnir’

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Eikþyrnir (noun m.): Eikþyrnir

notes

[2] Eikþyrnir: Lit. ‘oak-antlered one’. The first element of the cpd is eik f. ‘oak’, and the second is þyrnir m. ‘thorn’ (or connected with the weak verb þyrna ‘surround with thorns’, so AEW: þyrna). In Grí 26/1-3 and Gylf (SnE 2005, 33), Eikþyrnir is the stag that stands on the roof of Valhǫll and feeds on the branches of the tree Læraðr. This mythical name was apparently not used by the skalds.

Duneyrr ‘Duneyrr’

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Dúneyrr (noun m.): [Duneyrr]

[3] Duneyrr: ‘dv́ne[…]’ B, ‘dasnaf’ 744ˣ, ‘Dun’ RE 1665

notes

[3] Duneyrr: In Grí 33/5 and Gylf (SnE 2005, 18), Duneyrr is one of four mythical stags (see Note to Duraþrór in l. 1 above). The name is also listed in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 88), but it does not occur in skaldic verse. The meaning of Duneyrr is not clear. According to Finnur Jónsson (cited in AEW: Duneyrr), it is formed from dun ‘noise’ and eyrr m. ‘gravelly bank’ and hence perhaps means ‘one running noisily across a gravelly bank’. Lindquist (1937a, 329) suggests that the second element is related to eyra n. ‘ear’ and that the name means ‘downy-eared one’ (dúneyrr) or ‘brown-eared one’ (dunneyrr).

Dáinn ‘Dáinn’

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Dáinn (noun m.): Dáinn, deceased one

[3] Dáinn: om. A, ‘[…]’ B, ‘…’ 744ˣ

notes

[3] Dáinn: One of the four mythical stags (see Note to Duraþrór in l. 1 above). The name is also recorded among the hjartar heiti in the list in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 88), but does not appear in skaldic verse. Dáinn is otherwise the name of a dwarf (‘dead one’) and a fox-heiti, perhaps ‘deceased one’ (see Þul Grýlu l. 6 and Note there).

Dvalarr ‘Dvalarr’

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Dvalarr (noun m.): Dvalarr

[4] Dvalarr: dvalarr dalarr A, ‘[…]alarr’ B, ‘dualarr’ 744ˣ, ‘Dalur’ RE 1665

notes

[4] Dvalarr: Most likely a variant of Dvalinn, the name of a stag in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 88). The latter is one of the four mythical stags mentioned in Grí 33/4 and Gylf (SnE 2005, 18) (see Note to Duraþrór in l. 1 above). The word could be related to New Norw. dvalen ‘lazy, sleepy’. See also the dwarf-name Dvalinn (Þul Dverga 2/2; see Note there). Neither Dvalarr nor Dvalinn is attested in the extant corpus of skaldic poetry.

mótroðnir ‘heath-stepper’

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mótroðnir (noun m.): [heath-stepper]

[4] mótroðnir: so A, B, RE 1665, ‘metroðnir’ R, Tˣ, ‘miodhrodnir’ C

notes

[4] mótroðnir (m.) ‘heath-stepper’: So A, B, RE 1665. The word is also listed in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 88, 146: *mótroðnir with ms. readings ‘motraudnir’ (Tˣ, U) and (normalised) móðrauðnir (R, C)). It does not otherwise occur in poetry. The first element in this heiti is mór m. ‘heath’ and the second is related to the strong verb troða ‘step, tread’. The R, Tˣ variant ‘metroðnir’ cannot be construed to make any sense, and ‘miodhrodnir’ (C) (mjǫðhroðnir lit. ‘mead-destroyer’) appears to be a lectio facilior.