Note to Þul Orrostu 1III
[3] Gǫll, Geirahǫð: These are names of valkyries; cf. Gǫll ok Geirahǫð in Gylf (SnE 2005, 50; see also Grí 36/6 (NK 64 n.)). Gǫll is also listed in Þul Valkyrja 1/5, but the word is never used as a heiti for ‘battle’. The only recorded meaning of gǫll f. in skaldic poetry is ‘shriek’ or ‘clang’; thus it is commonly used as a base-word in kennings for ‘battle’ (cf. LP: gǫll). Mss A and B (744ˣ) have the variant reading gjǫll f. ‘din’ (so also the LaufE mss), which is found in poetry as a heiti for ‘battle’. The heiti Geirahǫð, lit. ‘spear-fight’, is not found elsewhere except as a pers. n., but the second element (‑hǫð) is a poetic term for ‘battle’. Ms. B has the variant geira hríð ‘spears’ storm’, which is a kenning for ‘battle’ (see hríð ‘storm’ in st. 2/7). Because the LaufE mss have (normalised) hǫð, hríð is probably an innovation in B (lectio facilior).
References
- Bibliography
- 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.
- NK = Neckel, Gustav and Hans Kuhn (1899), eds. 1983. Edda: Die Lieder des Codex Regius nebst verwandten Denkmälern. 2 vols. I: Text. 5th edn. Heidelberg: Winter.
- SnE 2005 = Snorri Sturluson. 2005. Edda: Prologue and Gylfaginning. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
- Internal references
- (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Gylfaginning’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=113> (accessed 3 June 2024)
- Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Heiti valkyrja 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. 969.
- Not published: do not cite ()
- (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Laufás Edda’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=10928> (accessed 3 June 2024)