Þhorn Gldr 2I/2 — jǫru ‘of battle’
Gerðisk glamma ferðar
gný-Þróttr jǫru dróttar
helkannandi hlenna
hlymrœks of trǫð glymja,
áðr út á mar mœtir
mannskœðr lagar tanna
ræsinaðr ok rausnar
rak vébrautar nǫkkva.
Gný-Þróttr jǫru, helkannandi dróttar hlenna hlymrœks, gerðisk glymja of trǫð ferðar glamma, áðr mannskœðr mœtir vébrautar rak nǫkkva tanna lagar ok ræsinaðr rausnar út á mar.
The din-Þróttr <= Óðinn> of battle [WARRIOR = Haraldr], condemning the band of thieves of the battle-cultivator to death, made clangour on the path of the pack of wolves [HEATH], before the man-harming attender of the standard-road [BATTLEFIELD > WARRIOR] drove [his] ships of the teeth of the sea [STONES (steinar ‘colours’)] and the excellent adder of the forecastle [SHIP] out to sea.
readings
[2] jǫru: so F, í orrustu Kˣ, J1ˣ, J2ˣ, 761aˣ(19v)
notes
[1] gerðisk ‘made’: The interpretation of this m. v. verb is problematic. (a) Finnur Jónsson (1884, 71; Hkr 1893-1901, IV; Skj B), Eggert Ó. Brím (ÓT 1892, 345) and Kock (NN §230) emend to gerði and combine it with jǫru-gný glymja, hence ‘made the din of battle resound’. (b) ÍF 26, Fidjestøl (1982, 78), Hkr 1991 and this edn avoid emendation and interpret gerðisk glymja, lit. ‘made himself resound’ as ‘made clangour’ or similar. (c) Holtsmark (1927, 7), on the other hand, separates the two words and forms two sentences: gerðisk helkannandi hlenna ‘he became the punisher of thieves’, and a second in which dróttir (mss dróttar) ‘hosts’ is the subject of 3rd pers. pl. pres. glymja; on this see Note to l. 4 glymja. — [2] gný-Þróttr jǫru ‘the din-Þróttr <=Óðinn> of battle [WARRIOR = Haraldr]’: (a) Gný- ‘din’ normally needs a determinant such as ‘valkyrie’ or ‘weapon’ to form a kenning for ‘battle’. Here, no such determinant can be found, unless Fidjestøl (1982, 76) is correct in interpreting dróttar jǫru ‘troop of battle’ as a valkyrie-kenning. He claims drótt dreyra ‘army of blood’ (Meissner 398) as a parallel; but Meissner’s interpretation of this kenning as ‘valkyries’ is only tentative. (b) Kock (NN §230) and ÍF 26 construe gný-Þróttr dróttar jǫru as ‘the noise-Þróttr of the troop of battle [WARRIORS > BATTLE > WARRIOR]’, but the resulting kenning is flawed, with ‘warrior’ as both referent and determinant. (c) Holtsmark (1927, 22), Hkr 1991 and this edn limit the kenning to gný-Þróttr jǫru ‘the Þróttr of the din of battle’ in which gný- characterizes the whole kenning and is not part of its essential structure. Although unusual, this is supported by a structurally similar kenning in Hskv Útdr 7/7-8II: Gǫndlar þings gný-Þróttr ‘Þróttr <= Óðinn> of the din of Gǫndul’s <valkyrie’s> assembly [(lit. ‘din-Þróttr of Gǫndul’s assembly’) BATTLE > WARRIOR]’. On this cf. Meissner 191; Meissner notes that such kennings are rare but gives some further examples.
kennings
- Gný-Þróttr jǫru, — The din-Þróttr <= Óðinn> of battle, [WARRIOR = Haraldr]