[1] niðr ‘kinsman’: Niðr usually means ‘descendant’. Skúli, the half-brother of King Ingi Bárðarson, was not of royal lineage, except that his great-great-great-grandmother was Ingiríðr, the sister of Óláfr Haraldsson (S. Óláfr) and Haraldr harðráði ‘Hard-rule’ Sigurðarson. Niðr is, however, also attested in the meaning ‘kinsman, relative’ (Fritzner: niðr 1; LP: niðr 1). An alternative would be to take niðr as an adv. ‘down’ in an impersonal verb-adv. collocation with sær ‘sows’: sær niðr skúrum skjǫldungs ‘the lord’s showers are sown down’ (see SnE 1848-87, III and SnE 2007, 136).
References
- Bibliography
- 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.
- 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.
- Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
- SnE 2007 = Snorri Sturluson. 2007. Edda: Háttatal. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.