[2] Hanga ‘of Hangi <= Óðinn>’: (a) Hangi is one of the many names of Óðinn, among whose attributes are two ravens (Grí 20; SnE 2005, 32-3). Meissner 121 takes Hanga thus here and in three other raven-kennings, and his list includes three further kennings with svanr ‘swan’ qualified by other Óðinn-heiti. (b) The noun hangi m. also means ‘hanged man, gallows-corpse’ and the kenning ‘swan of the gallows-corpse’ could alternatively be taken as a variant on the pattern ‘bird of the slain/corpse’, cf. haukar hræs ‘hawks of the corpse’ in st. 7/1 and further examples in Meissner 122. Hangi is taken as ‘hanged man’ in this and three similar raven-kennings in LP: hangi .
References
- Bibliography
- Meissner = Meissner, Rudolf. 1921. Die Kenningar der Skalden: Ein Beitrag zur skaldischen Poetik. Rheinische Beiträge und Hülfsbücher zur germanischen Philologie und Volkskunde 1. Bonn and Leipzig: Schroeder. Rpt. 1984. Hildesheim etc.: Olms.
- LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
- SnE 2005 = Snorri Sturluson. 2005. Edda: Prologue and Gylfaginning. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
- Internal references
- Not published: do not cite ()