Þul Á 3III
Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Á heiti 3’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 843.
Tifr ‘Tiber’
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Tífr (noun f.)
notes
[1] Durn: Or Dyrn (so A, B). This could be Durn Water in Scotland (CVC 780). Both Rygh (1904, 36) and Finnur Jónsson (1933-4, 265) adopt the A, B variant dyrn, which Rygh tentatively derives from dyrr ‘door’. The name is not found elsewhere.
Vína ‘Dvina’
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Vína (noun f.): [Dvina, Vína]
notes
[1] Vína (f.) ‘Dvina’: The Northern Dvina (cf. Dýna in st. 2/3; see also Note to Vín in st. 4/5). In Old Norse sources, Vína denotes several different rivers. In Grí 28/1 and Gylf (SnE 2005, 33) it is a mythical river. Because this name is spelled Vín á in the Codex Regius version of Grí, Sijmons and Gering (S-G I, 198) interpret it as ‘wine stream’. This river is also mentioned in the fornaldarsögur (Ǫrvar-Odds saga, ch. 4, FSN II, 174; Sturlaugs saga starfsama, ch. 18, FSN III, 626) and historical sagas (cf. ÓHHkr, ÍF 27, 229), where it is a river in Bjarmaland near the White Sea. In Eg (ch. 45, ÍF 2, 142) it could be the Old Norse name for the Wen, a small river in Gwynned, Wales (see SnE 1998, II, 518). The river-name is used in kennings both in skaldic poetry and in the later rímur (Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: Vína).
Tems ‘Thames’
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Tems (noun f.)
notes
[2] Vǫnd ok Strǫnd ‘Vǫnd and Strǫnd’: The same pair of names, Vǫnd oc Strǫnd, occurs in Grí 28/9 (NK 63). Vǫnd is most likely a f. form of the adj. vandr ‘difficult’. Hale (1983, 181) proposes that Vǫnd could be related to ON vǫndr m. ‘wand, switch’ (cf. river names with the stem gand- from Norwegian dialects gand ‘thin stick’ and stav- from ON stafr ‘stick, stave’ mentioned in Rygh 1904, 63, 245). If so, Vǫnd could refer to a river that flows in a straight line. The river name Strǫnd f. ‘beach’ is difficult to interpret unless this heiti denotes a river that forms shores or banks when flooding (so Hale 1983, 181). Because Strǫnd is also found in st. 5/7 below, Finnur Jónsson (1933-4, 263 and Skj B, followed by Skald) adopts the A, B variant strind f. ‘river bank’.
ok ‘and’
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3. ok (conj.): and, but; also
notes
[2] Vǫnd ok Strǫnd ‘Vǫnd and Strǫnd’: The same pair of names, Vǫnd oc Strǫnd, occurs in Grí 28/9 (NK 63). Vǫnd is most likely a f. form of the adj. vandr ‘difficult’. Hale (1983, 181) proposes that Vǫnd could be related to ON vǫndr m. ‘wand, switch’ (cf. river names with the stem gand- from Norwegian dialects gand ‘thin stick’ and stav- from ON stafr ‘stick, stave’ mentioned in Rygh 1904, 63, 245). If so, Vǫnd could refer to a river that flows in a straight line. The river name Strǫnd f. ‘beach’ is difficult to interpret unless this heiti denotes a river that forms shores or banks when flooding (so Hale 1983, 181). Because Strǫnd is also found in st. 5/7 below, Finnur Jónsson (1933-4, 263 and Skj B, followed by Skald) adopts the A, B variant strind f. ‘river bank’.
Strǫnd ‘Strǫnd’
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strǫnd (noun f.; °strandar, dat. -u/-; strandir/strendr): beach, shore
[2] Strǫnd: strind A, B
notes
[2] Vǫnd ok Strǫnd ‘Vǫnd and Strǫnd’: The same pair of names, Vǫnd oc Strǫnd, occurs in Grí 28/9 (NK 63). Vǫnd is most likely a f. form of the adj. vandr ‘difficult’. Hale (1983, 181) proposes that Vǫnd could be related to ON vǫndr m. ‘wand, switch’ (cf. river names with the stem gand- from Norwegian dialects gand ‘thin stick’ and stav- from ON stafr ‘stick, stave’ mentioned in Rygh 1904, 63, 245). If so, Vǫnd could refer to a river that flows in a straight line. The river name Strǫnd f. ‘beach’ is difficult to interpret unless this heiti denotes a river that forms shores or banks when flooding (so Hale 1983, 181). Because Strǫnd is also found in st. 5/7 below, Finnur Jónsson (1933-4, 263 and Skj B, followed by Skald) adopts the A, B variant strind f. ‘river bank’.
notes
[3] Mǫrn (f.) ‘Marne’: So Tˣ, A, B. Either the Marne in France or the Norwegian Mandalselva; cf. the Modern Norwegian town Mandal (< ON Marnadalr; see ÍO: Mörn 2, Rygh 1904, 155 and Morn in the next line). Mǫrn is also the name of a giantess (Þjóð Haustl 6/4 and 12/8), and it is not clear if there is a connection between the river-heiti and the name of the giantess (see AEW: Mǫrn). The R, C variant mǫra (‘maura’) could be the Old Norse name for Strath More in Scotland (CVC 780). — [4] Morn ‘Marne’: Perhaps a variant of Mǫrn ‘the Marne’. See Note to Mǫrn in l. 3 above. Cf. the river-name Sæmorn in HHj 5/6 (NK 141).
notes
[3] Mǫrn (f.) ‘Marne’: So Tˣ, A, B. Either the Marne in France or the Norwegian Mandalselva; cf. the Modern Norwegian town Mandal (< ON Marnadalr; see ÍO: Mörn 2, Rygh 1904, 155 and Morn in the next line). Mǫrn is also the name of a giantess (Þjóð Haustl 6/4 and 12/8), and it is not clear if there is a connection between the river-heiti and the name of the giantess (see AEW: Mǫrn). The R, C variant mǫra (‘maura’) could be the Old Norse name for Strath More in Scotland (CVC 780). — [4] Morn ‘Marne’: Perhaps a variant of Mǫrn ‘the Marne’. See Note to Mǫrn in l. 3 above. Cf. the river-name Sæmorn in HHj 5/6 (NK 141).
móða ‘loamy stream’
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1. móða (noun f.; °-u; -ur): river
[3] móða: ‘modera’ C, ‘m[…]a’ B, ‘moda’ 744ˣ
notes
[3] þrym (f.) ‘noise’: A f. formation to the m. noun þrymr ‘noise, din’. Bugge (1875, 223) identifies this heiti as present-day Trim Water, a small river that flows into the Spey in Scotland. Þrym does not occur elsewhere in poetry as a heiti for ‘river’.
Gautelfr ‘Götaälv’
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Gautelfr (noun f.): [Götaälv]
[4] Gautelfr: ‘g[…]fr’ B, ‘gautelfr’ 744ˣ
notes
[4] Gautelfr (f.) ‘Götaälv’: See Note to st. 1/7 above. The name also occurs in this form in Sturl Hrafn 1/7II.
alin ‘nourished one’
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ala (verb; °elr; ól, ólu; alinn): to beget, produce, procreate
[5] alin: alm C, A
notes
[5] alin (f.) ‘nourished one’: Not otherwise attested as a river-name and probably the f. nom. sg. form of the p. p. of the strong verb ala ‘feed’ (Finnur Jónsson 1933-4, 264: den svulmende ‘the swelling one’). Alternatively, Alin has been identified as the River Alne or Aln in North Yorkshire (CVC 780; Bugge 1875, 220). The C, A variant alm (m. acc. sg. ‘elm’) must be a scribal error.
notes
[5] Alkoga (f.): Or Álkoga. Possibly the same as Olkoga mentioned in Heimslýsing (Hb 1892-6, 150). The latter name has been identified as the river Volhov in north-western Russia (Pritsak 1981, I, 549). Pritsak (1981, I, 297) adopts the A, B (744ˣ) variant Olga, which he takes to be the Volga in Russia, the longest river in Europe. As a river-name, Olga or Ólga could also be the f. form of ólgr ‘noise-maker’ (cf. þrym ‘noise’, l. 3 above), a heiti with different referents in the þulur (cf. Þul Elds 3/1, Þul Óðins 6/7, Þul Øxna 3/5 and Þul Hauks 2/7; on this and similar heiti, see Gurevich 1992c, 41-4).
Eufrátes ‘Euphrates’
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Eufrates (noun m.)
notes
[6] Eufrátes ‘Euphrates’: See Note to [All] above.
ógn ‘terror’
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ógn (noun f.; °-ar; -ir): terror, battle
notes
[7] ógn (f.) ‘terror’: See st. 2/3 above and Note there.
eiðrennir ‘isthmus-runner’
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Eiðrennir (noun m.)
[7] eiðrennir: ‘eidrænir’ C, ‘æiðr æimir’ A, ‘eidr eimir’ B
notes
[7] eiðrennir (m.) ‘isthmus-runner’: A hap. leg. from eið n. ‘isthmus’ and rennir, a nomen agentis from the strong verb renna ‘run’ (cf. merkriða ‘boundary-crosser’, st. 2/7). This heiti is peculiar because of its m. form, while other river-names are f. The A, B variant (normalised) ‘eiðr eimir’ cannot be construed to make any sense.
Apar ‘Aber’
[8] Apar‑: avar‑ B
djón ‘deen’
Interactive view: tap on words in the text for notes and glosses
Some of the geographical names listed here are also mentioned in other Old Norse learned sources. In Heimslýsing (Hb 1892-6, 150), four names recorded in the present stanza are listed among the great rivers of the world: Tifr, the Tiber (also spelled Tipr, Tibur) (l. 1), Vína, the Northern Dvina (l. 1), Olkoga (see Alkoga in l. 5 and Note there) and Eufrátes, the Euphrates (l. 6). Only a few of the remaining heiti can be identified with certainty, namely, Tems, the Thames (l. 2) and Gautelfr, the Götaälv (l. 4).
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