Þul Sólar 1^III

Sól ‘Sun’

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sól (noun f.; °-ar, dat. -u/-; -ir): sun

[1] Sól ok sunna: Sunna sýni A, ‘[…]vnna sy[…]’ B, ‘Sunna sýni’ 744ˣ

notes

[1] sól ok sunna ‘sun and sunlight’: In A and B, the initial position in the list is occupied by a poetic term for ‘sun’, sunna f., while in R, Tˣ and C the first heiti mentioned is sól f., a common word for ‘sun’ in Old Norse. In Alv one belongs to the language of the gods, the other to the language of men (Alv 16/1-2 (NK 126)): Sól heitir með mǫnnom, | enn sunna með goðom ‘It is called sól among men, but sunna among the gods’.

ok ‘and’

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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also

[1] Sól ok sunna: Sunna sýni A, ‘[…]vnna sy[…]’ B, ‘Sunna sýni’ 744ˣ

notes

[1] sól ok sunna ‘sun and sunlight’: In A and B, the initial position in the list is occupied by a poetic term for ‘sun’, sunna f., while in R, Tˣ and C the first heiti mentioned is sól f., a common word for ‘sun’ in Old Norse. In Alv one belongs to the language of the gods, the other to the language of men (Alv 16/1-2 (NK 126)): Sól heitir með mǫnnom, | enn sunna með goðom ‘It is called sól among men, but sunna among the gods’.

sunna ‘sunlight’

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sunna (noun f.): sun

[1] Sól ok sunna: Sunna sýni A, ‘[…]vnna sy[…]’ B, ‘Sunna sýni’ 744ˣ

notes

[1] sól ok sunna ‘sun and sunlight’: In A and B, the initial position in the list is occupied by a poetic term for ‘sun’, sunna f., while in R, Tˣ and C the first heiti mentioned is sól f., a common word for ‘sun’ in Old Norse. In Alv one belongs to the language of the gods, the other to the language of men (Alv 16/1-2 (NK 126)): Sól heitir með mǫnnom, | enn sunna með goðom ‘It is called sól among men, but sunna among the gods’.

sýn ‘sight’

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sýn (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): sight

[2] sýn: sól A, B

notes

[2] sýn (f.) ‘sight’: As a sun-heiti, the word possibly means ‘pleasant sight’. In the list of poetic terms for ‘sun’ in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 85), this heiti is given as sýni n., as in mss A and B (744ˣ) of the present þula.

fagrahvél ‘fair-wheel’

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fagrahvél (noun n.): [fair-wheel]

notes

[2] fagrahvél (n.) ‘fair-wheel’: The heiti is also known from Alv 16/5, where it is the word for ‘sun’ in the language of the elves, and from the list of heiti for ‘sun’ in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 85; cf. SnE 1998, II, 268). It does not occur elsewhere in skaldic poetry, but it is found several times in the rímur (Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: fagrahvél).

leiptr ‘lightning’

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2. leiptr (noun f.): lightning

[3] leiptr: om. C, ‘[…]eíptr’ B, leiptr 744ˣ

notes

[3] leiptr, hrjóðr ‘lightning, coverer’: As heiti for ‘sun’ these words are found only in this stanza, but the same pair appears among heiti for ‘heaven’ in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 85) and in Þul Himins II l. 7 (see Note there). Hrjóðr is also the name of one of the nine heavens in Þul Himins I l. 13 and in Þul Himins II l. 6. It is possible that hrjóðr has been included in the present stanza owing to confusion of the two lists of heiti (see also Notes to ll. 6-7 below). For leiptr, see Note to l. 5 below.

hrjóðr ‘coverer’

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1. hrjóðr (noun m.): destroyer, Hrjótr

[3] hrjóðr: ‘[…]riodr’ B, ‘hriodr’ 744ˣ

notes

[3] leiptr, hrjóðr ‘lightning, coverer’: As heiti for ‘sun’ these words are found only in this stanza, but the same pair appears among heiti for ‘heaven’ in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 85) and in Þul Himins II l. 7 (see Note there). Hrjóðr is also the name of one of the nine heavens in Þul Himins I l. 13 and in Þul Himins II l. 6. It is possible that hrjóðr has been included in the present stanza owing to confusion of the two lists of heiti (see also Notes to ll. 6-7 below). For leiptr, see Note to l. 5 below.

leika ‘plaything’

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1. leika (noun f.; °-u): playmate

notes

[3] leika (f.) ‘plaything’: As a heiti for ‘sun’ the word is not found elsewhere. See Note to leika Dvalins ‘Dvalinn’s plaything’ in l. 8 below.

líknskin ‘grace-shine’

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líknskin (noun n.): [grace-shine]

[4] líknskin: líkskin Tˣ, ‘likskinn’ A, blik skín B

notes

[4] líknskin (n.) ‘grace-shine’: So R, C and the list of heiti for ‘sun’ in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 85; SnE 1998, II, 347); the other mss of the þula have different variants of this heiti. Mss Tˣ and A give líkskin ‘pleasant-shine’ (from the verb líka ‘please’ or, possibly, from lík n. ‘body’), and B has blikskin ‘gleaming shine’. None of these variants are otherwise attested in poetry.

rǫðull ‘disc’

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rǫðull (noun m.; °dat. rǫðli): heavenly body

leiptr ‘lightning’

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2. leiptr (noun f.): lightning

[5] leiptr: om. Tˣ

notes

[5] leiptr (n.) ‘lightning’: The word leiptr appears twice in this stanza in all mss except Tˣ and C, where it is omitted either in l. 3 or in l. 5.

ifrǫðull ‘doubt-disc’

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ifrǫðull (noun m.): [doubt-disc]

[5] ifrǫðull: ‘í […]ull’ B, ‘ífro᷎dull’ 744ˣ

notes

[5] ifrǫðull (m.) ‘doubt-disc’: The first element of this cpd is obscure. In ÍO: ifröðull, ifrǫðull, it is suggested that if- may be identical with ON if n., ifi m. ‘doubt’ (lit. ‘doubt-disc’). According to Falk (1925a, 242), however, if- is connected with the root element in such terms as ifingr ‘head bandage’ and the hawk-heiti ifjungr, ifli, ifill ‘hooded one, blindfolded one, bound’ (see Note to Þul Hauks 2/3-4 as well as Þul Bjarnar l. 12). Ifrǫðull would then denote the covered sun (cf. hrjóðr ‘coverer’ in l. 3 above). Other than in this þula, the heiti is found only in the list of sun-heiti in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 85) with the variants ‘ifr ravðvll’ R(37r), ‘ifr.raudoll’ Tˣ(38v), ‘ifr rø̨ðvll’ A(14v) and ‘ífraudull’ C(6r).

ok ‘and’

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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also

[6] ok: om. Tˣ

ljósfari ‘light-bringer’

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ljósfari (noun m.): [light-bringer]

notes

[6-7] ljósfari, drífandi ‘light-bringer, driving one’: As terms for ‘sun’, these heiti are not found elsewhere, but in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 85), the same pair of names is listed among the poetic terms for ‘heaven’, probably owing to confusion of the two lists of heiti (cf. also Note to l. 3 above).

drífandi ‘driving one’

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drífandi (noun m.): [driving one]

[7] drífandi: ‘drífand[…]’ B, ‘drifande’ 744ˣ

notes

[6-7] ljósfari, drífandi ‘light-bringer, driving one’: As terms for ‘sun’, these heiti are not found elsewhere, but in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 85), the same pair of names is listed among the poetic terms for ‘heaven’, probably owing to confusion of the two lists of heiti (cf. also Note to l. 3 above).

alfrǫðull ‘elf-disc’

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alfrǫðull (noun m.): [elf-disc]

notes

[7] alfrǫðull (m.) ‘elf-disc’: This term for ‘sun’ is known from eddic poetry (Vafþr 47/2, Skí 4/4; cf. also Gylf, SnE 2005, 54 and Skm, SnE 1998, I, 85).

ok ‘and’

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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also

[8] ok: om. Tˣ

Dvalins ‘Dvalinn’s’

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Dvalinn (noun m.): Dvalinn

notes

[8] leika Dvalins ‘Dvalinn’s <dwarf’s> plaything’: Or ‘Dvalinn’s playmate’. In Alv 16/3 this is the name for ‘sun’ among the dwarfs, possibly derived from a lost myth (for Dvalinn, a dwarf whose name is often used as a term for ‘dwarf’ in general, see Note to Þul Dverga 2/2). According to Old Norse beliefs, dwarfs, who are rock-dwellers, cannot endure daylight and are turned into stone by the sun’s rays. Hence leika here denotes ‘sby or sth. capable of destroying the dwarfs’ (so Åkerblom 1920, 52-4), which is clearly a euphemism. Alternatively, the phrase has been interpreted as ‘Dvalinn’s mockery’ (Güntert 1921, 144; see also Kommentar III, 336-40). This name, which is more of a mythological kenning than a heiti, is mentioned among the poetic terms for ‘sun’ in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 85) and it occurs in Heiðr (FSN I, 475). The heiti is also used in the rímur (Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: 2. leika).

leika ‘plaything’

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1. leika (noun f.; °-u): playmate

notes

[8] leika Dvalins ‘Dvalinn’s <dwarf’s> plaything’: Or ‘Dvalinn’s playmate’. In Alv 16/3 this is the name for ‘sun’ among the dwarfs, possibly derived from a lost myth (for Dvalinn, a dwarf whose name is often used as a term for ‘dwarf’ in general, see Note to Þul Dverga 2/2). According to Old Norse beliefs, dwarfs, who are rock-dwellers, cannot endure daylight and are turned into stone by the sun’s rays. Hence leika here denotes ‘sby or sth. capable of destroying the dwarfs’ (so Åkerblom 1920, 52-4), which is clearly a euphemism. Alternatively, the phrase has been interpreted as ‘Dvalinn’s mockery’ (Güntert 1921, 144; see also Kommentar III, 336-40). This name, which is more of a mythological kenning than a heiti, is mentioned among the poetic terms for ‘sun’ in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 85) and it occurs in Heiðr (FSN I, 475). The heiti is also used in the rímur (Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: 2. leika).