Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Þorgrímsþula I 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. 674.
Blóðughófi hét hestr ok bera kváðu
ǫflgan Atriða;
Gísl ok Falhófnir, Glær ok Skeiðbrimir,
þar vas ok Gyllis of getit.
Blóðughófi hét hestr ok kváðu bera ǫflgan Atriða; Gísl ok Falhófnir, Glær ok Skeiðbrimir, þar vas ok Gyllis of getit.
There was a horse called Blóðughófi and they said he bore the mighty Atriði; Gísl and Falhófnir, Glær and Skeiðbrimir, Gyllir was also mentioned there.
Mss: R(37v), Tˣ(39r), U(40r), A(14v), C(6v) (SnE); papp10ˣ(42v), 2368ˣ(95), 743ˣ(75r) (LaufE)
Readings: [1] Blóðughófi: ‘bloðþug hofi’ Tˣ, ‘blotoghofi’ U; hét hestr: om. papp10ˣ; hét: heitir 2368ˣ, ‘h.’ 743ˣ [2] ok: er all others; kváðu: so Tˣ, U, C, papp10ˣ, 2368ˣ, 743ˣ, ‘qoþv’ R, kóðu A [3] ǫflgan Atriða: ungan at ríða U [4] Gísl: so Tˣ, A, papp10ˣ, 2368ˣ, 743ˣ, gils R, U, C; Falhófnir: so Tˣ, 2368ˣ, ‘falliafnir’ R, ‘falofnir’ U, A, ‘faliafnir’ C, Fallopnir papp10ˣ, 743ˣ [6] Gyllis of getit: so all others, gullinn of getinn R
Editions: Skj AI, 650, Skj BI, 656, Skald I, 321; SnE 1848-87, I, 480-2, II, 351, 458-9, 595, SnE 1931, 170, SnE 1998, I, 89; LaufE 1979, 274, 352, NK 319.
Notes: [1, 3] Blóðughófi; Atriða ‘Blóðughófi; Atriði’: Blóðughófi (lit. ‘one with a bloody hoof’) is also mentioned in Anon Kálfv 1/6 and as Blóðhófr in Þul Hesta 4/5. It is unclear who is the owner of the horse. In Kálfv 1/5 it is said that the person who rides Blóðughófi is bani Belja ‘the slayer of Beli <giant> [= Freyr]’, however here it is Atriði, whose name is possibly a variant of Atríðr, a name for Óðinn (cf. Grí 48/4 and Note to Þul Óðins 1/3). — [2] ok kváðu bera ‘and they said he bore’: In all other mss rendered as es bera kváðu (or kóðu) ‘whom they said bore’ (adopted in Skj B and Skald). — [4] Gísl ok Falhófnir ‘Gísl and Falhófnir’: These names may mean ‘gleaming one’ (cf. geisli m. ‘beam’; see AEW: gísl 3) and either ‘one with pale hoofs’ (from the adj. fǫlr ‘pale’) or, less likely, ‘one with hidden hoofs’ (from the strong verb fela ‘hide’, perhaps a horse with hair-covered hoofs); both possibilities are entertained in AEW: Falhófnir. This line is apparently taken directly from the list of the names of horses owned by the Æsir in Grí 30/4 (NK 63): Gísl oc Falhófnir. The first name also occurs with metathesis as Gils in mss R, U and C (so also Gylf, SnE 2005, 17), but it is given as Gísl in the other mss (and in Þul Hesta 1/4). Neither form appears as a name for a horse in skaldic poetry. — [5] Glær ok Skeiðbrimir ‘Glær and Skeiðbrimir’: Glær (adj.) means ‘bright one’, but the meaning Skeiðbrimir is debated. The first element is from skeið f. ‘race’ and the second, ‑brimir, is also a heiti for ‘sword’ and the name of a giant (see Þul Sverða 5/6 and Note there). Words with the stem brim- could denote ‘surf’ (brim, brimi) or ‘fire’ (brimi), see AEW: brim, brimi 1-2. Hence the name Skeiðbrimir could refer to a horse moving like lightning or like a surging wave across the race track. Alternatively, brimir could be a giant-name (‘the Brimir <giant> of the race track’). Again, the same pair of names is given in Grí 30/2 (NK 63): Glær oc Sceiðbrimir (see Note to l. 4 above). The names of these mythical steeds are recorded in Þul Hesta 1/1, 4 (see also glær ‘glaring one’, Þul Boga l. 3), but neither is used in skaldic poetry. — [6] Gyllis ‘Gyllir’: Like the other horses mentioned above, this one is owned by the Æsir (cf. Grí 30/1), and the name translates as ‘gilder’ (agent noun from the weak verb gylla ‘gild’) or as ‘golden one’ (cf. gull n. ‘gold’; it also occurs as Gullir, Gullinn). It is used in skaldic poetry as a horse-heiti. See also Gyllir (Þul Hesta 1/1) and the giant-name Gyllir (Þul Jǫtna II 1/6).
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