Note to Þhorn Gldr 2^I

[7] ok ræsinaðr rausnar ‘and the excellent adder of the forecastle [SHIP]’: Based on its form, ræsinaðr must be a cpd of a verb and a noun. A fitting verb is ræsa ‘to impel, set in motion’, and the usage of ræsi- here may be comparable with that in the hap. leg. ræsimaðr (Ljósvetninga saga ch. 21(31), ÍF 10, 105), which refers to a capable, assertive man (who puts things in motion). This derivation is preferable to the one given at LP: rœsinaðr, which links the word to ModNorw. dialect røseleg ‘large, handsome’. Because naðr ‘adder’ alone cannot designate a ship except for Óláfr Tryggvason’s renowned Ormr ‘Serpent’, rausnar ‘of the forecastle’ must be the obligatory determinant of the kenning (for the term rausn see the explanation in Hkr, ÍF 26, 100). It follows that F’s reading ok ‘and’ is to be preferred (so also ÓT 1892, 345; Hkr 1893-1901; Skj B; NN §231; Holtsmark 1927, 24-5), since it can precede the ship-kenning ræsinaðr rausnar, while til ‘to’ in the other mss cannot. In itself, til also makes good sense, forming til rausnar ‘for glory, in splendour’ (so ÍF 26; Fidjestøl 1982, 78; Hkr 1991).

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. 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.
5. Fidjestøl, Bjarne. 1982. Det norrøne fyrstediktet. Universitet i Bergen Nordisk institutts skriftserie 11. Øvre Ervik: Alvheim & Eide.
6. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
7. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
8. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
9. ÓT 1892 = Eggert Ó. Brím, ed. 1892. Saga Óláfs Tryggvasonar. Reykjavík: Ísafoldarprentsmiðja.
10. Holtsmark, Anne. 1927. Þórbjørn Hornklofes Glymdrápa. Oslo: Aschehoug & Co.
11. ÍF 10 = Ljósvetninga saga. Ed. Björn Sigfússon. 1940.
12. Internal references
13. Diana Whaley 2012, ‘(Biography of) Óláfr Tryggvason’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 383.