[5, 8] hefr senda Óðni ‘have sent to Óðinn’: That is, killed. It has been suggested (Falk 1889a; Liberman 1978), based on a reading of Hávm 144-5, that the verb senda ‘to send’ originally meant ‘to make a (human) sacrifice’. However, ‘to send to Óðinn’ is a common skaldic expression referring to the death of warriors in battle (cf. Glúmr Gráf 2/7-8, Tindr Hákdr 11/1-2 and the poems Anon Eirm and Eyv Hákm). It is difficult in this instance to gauge whether sending to Óðinn is to be taken literally or figuratively.
References
- Bibliography
- Falk, Hjalmar. 1889a. ‘Oldnorske ordforklaringer’. ANF 5, 111-24.
- Liberman, Anatoly. 1978. ‘Germanic sendan “to make a sacrifice”’. JEGP 77, 473-88.
- Internal references
- R. D. Fulk 2012, ‘ Anonymous, Eiríksmál’ 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. 1003. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1009> (accessed 27 April 2024)
- Not published: do not cite ()
- Diana Whaley (ed.) 2012, ‘Glúmr Geirason, Gráfeldardrápa 2’ 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. 249.
- Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Tindr Hallkelsson, Hákonardrápa 11’ 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. 356.