Cookies on our website

We use cookies on this website, mainly to provide a secure browsing experience but also to collect statistics on how the website is used. You can find out more about the cookies we set, the information we store and how we use it on the cookies page.

Continue

skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

Menu Search

Note to SnSt Ht 60III

[7] frør (n. acc. sg.) ‘the frost’: Ms. R reads ‘frꜹr’ (with dots above and below the last part of the ligature (R*)), and has ‘fro᷎r’. Both of these readings can be normalised as frør ‘frost’ (‘frǫr’ is not an Old Norse word), and a short-stemmed word is required by the metre. For the spelling <ꜹ> for [ø] in R, see SnE 1848-87, III, xvii. All previous eds adopt the R* alteration frár (m. nom. sg.) ‘swift, keen’ as an adj. qualifying stillir ‘leader’ (l. 7). Frár is unmetrical, however, because in a nominal phrase (here: stillir frár) the alliteration cannot fall on the second word if the first does not also alliterate (lætr frár stillir fylla would be the acceptable order). (a) In keeping with the imagery of the previous six lines, the original ms. reading in R (supported by the reading of ) has been retained here, and frør ‘frost’ is taken as the base-word in a kenning for ‘sword’ (frør unda ‘the frost of wounds’, ll. 7, 8). This is the only attestation of frør used as a base-word in a sword-kenning (though see comparable kennings in st. 61 below), but Snorri must have exhausted most of the conventional base-words denoting ‘sth. cold, shiny’ in the previous lines (íss ‘ice’ (l. 1); svell ‘ice-sheet’ (l. 4); jǫkull ‘glacier’ (l. 5); see Meissner 151-2). The emended form frár ‘swift, keen’ has caused problems for the interpretation of the last couplet (see the discussion in SnE 2007, 65). (b) Skj B reads frár stillir lætr unda sund hjarar lunda fylla folk translated as den raske fyrste lader krigernes blod fylde sværdene ‘the swift lord makes the warriors’ blood fill the swords’ (a similar word order is provided by Sveinbjörn Egilsson in SnE 1847-87, III, and by Konráð Gíslason 1895-7). The meaning fólk ‘sword’ is highly dubious, however, and there is only one possible attestation in Old Norse poetry (Þul Sverða 10/8, see Note there). (c) Kock (NN §2184) suggests folksund ‘mighty ocean’ where the first element acts as an intensifier: frár stillir lætr fylla folksund unda hjarar lunda translated as käcke fursten låter fylla krigarsårens stora hav ‘the swift lord makes the mighty ocean of the warriors’ wounds be filled’. (d) While listing the interpretations of Skj B and Skald, Faulkes (SnE 2007, 65) tentatively suggests (frár stillir) lætr stinn fólk fylla sund unda ‘(the swift ruler) lets unyielding warriors fill a sea of wounds’. According to that interpretation, lunda hjarar ‘of trees of the sword [WARRIORS]’ can go with sund ‘ocean’ or with unda ‘wounds’ or with fólk ‘people, warriors’ (SnE 2007, 131: lundr).

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. 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.
  4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
  5. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
  6. 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.
  7. Konráð Gíslason. 1895-7. Efterladte skrifter. 2 vols. I: Forelæsninger over oldnordiske skjaldekvad. II: Forelæsninger og videnskablige afhandlinger. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
  8. SnE 2007 = Snorri Sturluson. 2007. Edda: Háttatal. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
  9. Internal references
  10. Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Sverða heiti 10’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 808.
  11. Not published: do not cite (Grott 23)

Close

Log in

This service is only available to members of the relevant projects, and to purchasers of the skaldic volumes published by Brepols.
This service uses cookies. By logging in you agree to the use of cookies on your browser.

Close