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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Þul Hesta 2III/2 — Fjǫrsvartnir ‘Fjǫrsvartnir’

Fákr, Léttfeti,         Fjǫrsvartnir, Valr,
fengr, Falhófnir,         fetmóðr ok Lungr,
Vakr, vígglitnir,         vindr, Tjaldari,
veðr, víðir, vigg         ok vegdraupnir.

Fákr, Léttfeti, Fjǫrsvartnir, Valr, fengr, Falhófnir, fetmóðr ok Lungr, Vakr, vígglitnir, vindr, Tjaldari, veðr, víðir, vigg ok vegdraupnir.

Fákr, Léttfeti, Fjǫrsvartnir, Valr, booty, Falhófnir, pace-tired one and Lungr, Vakr, war-glittering one, wind, Tjaldari, gust, wide one, steed and way-dripper.

readings

[2] Fjǫrsvartnir Valr: ‘valr […] fio᷎rsuartnir’ B, ‘valr fio᷎rsuartnir’ 744ˣ

notes

[2] Fjǫrsvartnir: Lit. ‘life-darkener’ (m.). One of the mythical horses that pull the Night. According to Skm (SnE 1998, I, 90), Hrímfaxi eða Fjǫrsva<r>tnir draga nóttina ‘Hrímfaxi or Fjǫrsvartnir pull the night’. See also sts 1/1, 3/3, 4 and 4/8 and Notes there.  The second element of the cpd is an agent noun from the weak verb sortna ‘darken’ (cf. ModNorw. svartne, ModSwed. svartna ‘darken’). Kock (NN §2157D) suggests that the first element in this cpd (fjǫr-) means ‘breast’ rather than ‘life’, and that the name ought to be interpreted as ‘dark-breast’ (or ‘breast-darkener’). That interpretation, which is based on Ghv 17/8, is tenuous. The heiti does not otherwise occur in skaldic verse.

grammar

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