Note to Anon Mhkv 3III
[8] svinneyg drós ‘the wise-eyed woman’: An apparent apo koinou construction, to be taken with either the preceding or following clause. The emendation of ms. ‘svineyg’ was first suggested by Jón Sigurðsson; CPB II, 364 translates svín-eyg as ‘pigsney’ or ‘pig’s eye’, a northern version of ‘ox-eyed Juno’? English ‘pignsey’ (ME piggisnye ‘pig’s-eye’ or ‘piggy’s eye’) probably originated in children’s talk, or as a nursery endearment – or perhaps even a flower-name (OED: pigsney). Nevertheless, such a female epithet would be unprecedented in Old Norse (svín-words tend to be uncomplimentary or nautical), while the Old Norse adj. svinnr ‘wise, quick’ (alone or compounded) frequently describes women, especially in poetry.
References
- Bibliography
- CPB = Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and F. York Powell, eds. 1883. Corpus poeticum boreale: The Poetry of the Old Northern Tongue from the Earliest Times to the Thirteenth Century. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon. Rpt. 1965, New York: Russell & Russell.
- OED = Murray, J. A. H. et al., eds. 1884-1928. The Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon. 2nd edn 1989. Simpson, J. A. and E. S. C. Weiner, eds. Oxford: Oxford University Press.