Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Øxar heiti 1’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 813.
Øx, járnsparða ok jarðhyrna,
skjáfa ok skeggja, skráma ok genja,
reginspǫnn, Gnepja, gýgr ok fála,
snaga ok búlda, barða ok vígglǫð,
þveita ok þenja; þá es arghyrna;
hon es øfst talið øxar heita.
Øx, járnsparða ok jarðhyrna, skjáfa ok skeggja, skráma ok genja, reginspǫnn, Gnepja, gýgr ok fála, snaga ok búlda, barða ok vígglǫð, þveita ok þenja; þá es arghyrna; hon es talið øfst heita øxar.
‘Axe, iron-axe and earth-horn, scraper and bearded one, skráma and gaper, mighty-span, Gnepja, ogress and troll-woman, spiked one and bulging one, whiskered one and battle-bright one, hewer and stretching one; then there is weak-horn; this is listed as the last of the names for axe. ’
Some of the heiti listed in this þula (e.g. Gnepja, l. 5, gýgr ‘ogress’ and fála ‘troll-woman’, l. 6) are terms or names for troll-women, and all heiti are f. According to Skm (SnE 1998, I, 67), these heiti are formally half-kennings: øxar kalla menn trǫllkvinna heitum ok kenna við blóð eða benjar eða skóg eða við ‘people call axes by the names of troll-women and qualify them with terms for blood or wounds or forest or tree’. — [1-2]: Skj B and Skald render these lines as Øx, jarðhyrna | ok járnsparða ‘Axe, earth-horn and iron-axe’. The long-line is defective in both main groups of mss. In l. 1 in A and B, Øx is followed by the heiti jarðhyrna ‘earth-horn’, and R, C have jarðsparða ‘earth-axe’. Ms. Tˣ and the LaufE mss give járnsparða ‘iron-axe’, as in the present edn. Line 2 is defective in all mss. Mss R, Tˣ, C and the LaufE mss have hyrna ‘horn, corner of an axe’, which leaves the line hypometrical without alliteration, and the line is omitted in A and B (but cf. hyrna in jarðhyrna in the previous line in these mss). The compounds járn-(jarð)sparða and jarðhyrna appear to have been confused at an early point in the ms. transmission owing to the similarity of their first elements. Both terms are required to produce a regular line, however, and because Tˣ agrees with the LaufE mss here (perhaps from a no-longer extant ms.), the order járnsparða, jarðhyrna has been adopted in the present edn.
Text is based on reconstruction from the base text and variant apparatus and may contain alternative spellings and other normalisations not visible in the manuscript text. Transcriptions may not have been checked and should not be cited.
øx ok, jarðsparða
hyrna,
skjáfa ok skeggja,
skráma ok genja,
reginspǫnn, Gnepja,
gýgr ok fála,
snaga ok búlda,
barða ok vígglǫð,
þveita ok þenja;
þá es arghyrna;
hon es †ǫst†
øxar heita.
Øx . ok iarðsparþa hyrna skiafa ok skeɢia skrama | ok genia regin spavɴ gnepia gygr ok fala snaga ok bvlda barþa ok vig . | glavð þveita ok þenia þa er arghyrna . hon er ǫst talin oxar heita. |
(VEÞ)
Øx, járnsparða
hyrna,
skjáfa skeggja,
skráma genja,
regin†-sponn†, Gnepja,
gýgr fála ,
snaga búlda,
barða vígglǫð,
þveita þenja;
arghyrna;
es †ofst†
øxar heita.
Øx, jarðsparða
hyrna,
†skiarua† skeggja,
ok skráma gnepja,
ok regin-†-spunn†, ok gnepja,
gýgr ok fála,
snaga ok búlda,
barða ok vígglǫð,
†þuita† ok þenja;
þá es arghyrna;
hon es †efz†
øxa heita.
Øx, jarðhyrna
,
skjáfa ok skeggja,
skráma ok genja,
regin†-spǫrn†, †gnæfia†,
ok gýgr fála ,
ok snaga búlda,
barða vigg-glǫð,
†þvætta† ok þenja;
þá es arghyrna;
hon es øfst talið
øxar heita.
Øx iarð hyrna skiava ok skæggia skráma ok gænía ræginspǫrn gnæfia ok | gýgr fala ok snaga b⸌v⸍ịllda barða viggglǫð þvætta ⸌ok⸍ þænia þa ær arg hyrna ⸍⸍ hon er æfst talit ǫxar heita ||
(VEÞ)
†[…]vx†, jarðhyrna
,
skjáfa ok skeggja,
skráma ok genja,
regin†spo᷎rn†, †gnefia†,
ok gýgr fála ,
ok snaga búlda,
barða vígglǫð,
þveita ok þenja;
þá es arghyrna;
hon es †efzt†
øxar heita.
[...]vx ja⸌r⸍dhy᷎rna skiáfa ok skeggia skrama Auxar heiti | ok genia regín spo᷎rn . gnefía ok gýgr fála ok snaga . bullda barda vigglo᷎d þueíta ok þenía | þa er arghyrna . hon er efzt talín auxar heíta . Spíotz heíti
(VEÞ)
†Avx†, járnsparða
jarðhyrna,
skjáfa ok skeggja,
skráma ok genja,
reginspǫnn, Gnepja,
gýgr ok fála,
snaga ok búlda,
barða ok vígglǫð,
þveita ok þenja;
þá es arghyrna;
hon es øfst talið
øxar heita.
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