Note to Anon (FoGT) 8^III

[2] meiðar †seiðs grafins† ‘the trees … [GOLD ? > MEN]’: The noun meiðar ‘trees’ appears to be the base-word of a man-kenning, but the phrase seiðs grafins, of which the most obvious translation would be ‘of the engraved/buried coalfish’, does not provide the necessary determinant. Several interpretations of the two untranslated words, which probably form a kenning for gold, have been proposed, but none of them are entirely satisfactory. The emendation eiðs gramnis ‘of the isthmus of the snake [GOLD]’ was adopted by FoGT 1884, Skj B and FoGT 2004, but gramnis is unmetrical, as a disyllabic word with a short first syllable is expected here. The emendation of grafins to gramnis was first proposed by Jón Ólafsson of Svefney (1786, 61), and has been followed by all subsequent eds except Kock (Skald and NN §2354), who retains grafins. This unattested ms. form may be a variant of the snake-heiti grafningr (cf. Þul Orma 2/3). Ms. W’s seiðs ‘of the saithe/coalfish’ could also form the base-word of a snake-kenning, but would be otiose in this sense if grafins also denotes a snake. Hence eds have emended seiðs to eiðs ‘of the isthmus’ to provide a base-word that will produce a gold-kenning following the model ‘land of the snake’. Jón Ólafsson (1786: seidr) suggested that seiðr here might mean ‘sorcery, magic’ (specifically, pulpitum, cui insidebant venefici ‘a platform on which wizards sat’), giving the gold-kenning seiðr gramnis ‘platform of the snake’, but such a usage of seiðr is unprecedented (cf. FoGT 1884, 248). Sveinbjörn Egilssson (SnE 1848-87, III, 155) saw a sword-kenning in seiðr gramnis, glossed as ignis clypei ‘fire of the shield’. Seiðr in the sense of ‘sorcery’ is not used in gold-kennings either as base-word or determinant; cf. Meissner 223-43.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Jón Ólafsson frá Svefneyjum. 1786. Om Nordens gamle Digtekonst. Et Prisskrift ved John Olafsen. København.
3. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
4. SnE 1848-87 = Snorri Sturluson. 1848-87. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar: Edda Snorronis Sturlaei. Ed. Jón Sigurðsson et al. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Legatum Arnamagnaeanum. Rpt. Osnabrück: Zeller, 1966.
5. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
6. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
7. 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.
8. FoGT 1884 = Björn Magnússon Ólsen, ed. 1884. Den tredje og fjærde grammatiske afhandling i Snorres Edda tilligemed de grammatiske afhandlingers prolog og to andre tillæg. SUGNL 12. Copenhagen: Knudtzon.
9. FoGT 2004 = Longo, Michele, ed. [2004]. ‘Il Quarto Trattato Grammaticale Islandese: Testo, Traduzione e Commento’. Dottorato di Ricerca in ‘Linguistica Sincronica e Diacronica’ (XV Ciclo). Palermo: Università degli Studi di Palermo, Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia.
10. Internal references
11. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Orma heiti 2’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 929.