Note to Eyv Lv 4^I

[5] søkkspenni ‘treasure-grasper [RULER]’: The multiplicity of variants has left room for widely varying construals of the kenning, and the sense of -spenni is disputed given that kennings more often denote men as ‘treasure-destroyers’ (i.e. extravagant givers) than as treasure-graspers. (a) Adopted in this edn is Kock’s interpretation of the reading of Kˣ as søkkspenni (NN §§1057, 1783, followed in ÍF 26, Hkr 1991). On the word søkk, see Note to Eyv Hál 1/10. (b) In Hkr 1893-1901, IV, Finnur Jónsson read svipkenni Njóts (emended from mss njótr) and interpreted it as ‘trier of the uproar of Njótr <= Óðinn> [BATTLE > WARRIOR]’. (c) Subsequently (Skj B) Finnur opted for the reading sólspenni and combined it with ranna and Njóts to obtain a kenning which in Skj B he merely translates kriger ‘warrior’, but which he explains in LP, taking Njótr as a name of Óðinn, his rǫnn ‘halls’ as ‘shields’, their sól ‘sun’ as ‘sword’ and its spennir ‘encircler, grasper’ as ‘warrior’ (LP: njótr 2, rann, sólspennir). (d) Reichardt (1928, 32-3) rejected both of these interpretations, adopting ‘sꜹckspenni’, the (diplomatic) reading of Kˣ, and construing it as a kenning sǫkspennir ‘encompasser of battle’, i.e. ‘warrior’. He also rejected the emendation of njótr (see Note to ll. 7-8 below). However, the Kˣ spelling implies <kk>, not <k>. (e) Bjarni Einarsson (ÍF 29), evidently attempting to account for the Fsk readings as they stand, opts for sólspenni ‘sun-destroyer’ and assumes that the other determinants of the kenning have been effaced in transmission. Kock’s solution is preferable to all these, in terms of conformity to recognised kenning types and ability to account for both the spelling with geminated consonant in Kˣ and the full range of variants in other mss.

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. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. 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.
5. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
6. Hkr 1893-1901 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1893-1901. Heimskringla: Nóregs konunga sǫgur af Snorri Sturluson. 4 vols. SUGNL 23. Copenhagen: Møller.
7. Hkr 1991 = Bergljót S. Kristjánsdóttir et al., eds. 1991. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Reykjavík: Mál og menning.
8. ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
9. Reichardt, Konstantin. 1928. Studien zu den Skalden des 9. und 10. Jahrhunderts. Palaestra 159. Leipzig: Mayer & Müller.
10. Internal references
11. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Fagrskinna’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=56> (accessed 23 April 2024)
12. Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson, Háleygjatal 1’ 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. 197.