Note to SnSt Ht 7III
[1, 2] fylli hjálms Vindhlés ‘with Vindhlér’s <= Heimdallr’s> filling of the helmet [HEAD > SWORD]’: Vindhlér is the fourth word that must be pronounced ‘slowly’ to achieve a hexasyllabic line. The etymology of the second element of that cpd, ‑hlér, is disputed, however, and it is doubtful whether this word actually was an earlier hiatus-word (AEW: Vindhlér; Kuhn 1983, 69-70). ‘Heimdallr’s head’ is a kenning for ‘sword’, because the god Heimdallr was once struck with a man’s head. This explanation, which is provided in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 19, 108; see also SnE 2005, 26), is unclear and could represent a late attempt to make sense of this particular type of kenning (see the discussion in Meissner 126-7 and Konráð Gíslason 1895-7), although we cannot exclude that it referred to a traditional, now lost myth.
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.
- AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
- Kuhn, Hans (1899). 1983. Das Dróttkvætt. Heidelberg: Winter.
- SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
- Konráð Gíslason. 1895-7. Efterladte skrifter. 2 vols. I: Forelæsninger over oldnordiske skjaldekvad. II: Forelæsninger og videnskablige afhandlinger. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
- 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, Skáldskaparmál’ 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=112> (accessed 20 April 2024)