[3] dr*úpa ‘droop’: Drúpa means ‘droop or bow down (in sorrow)’. The emendation (from drjúpa) was first suggested by Konráð Gíslason (1895-7, II, 141). Drúpa, not found in later Icelandic, was sometimes confused with the (overlapping in sense) verb drjúpa ‘drip, hang one’s head’; see Anon Sól 39/3VII. The sense of the proverb is disputed, with suggestions ranging from ‘memories of the dead fade fast’ (NN §2581D) to ‘memorials for the dead man keep his memory most alive’ (Konráð Gíslason 1895-7, II, 141; Skj B).
References
- Bibliography
- Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
- NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
- Konráð Gíslason. 1895-7. Efterladte skrifter. 2 vols. I: Forelæsninger over oldnordiske skjaldekvad. II: Forelæsninger og videnskablige afhandlinger. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
- Internal references
- Carolyne Larrington and Peter Robinson (eds) 2007, ‘Anonymous Poems, Sólarljóð 39’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry on Christian Subjects. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 7. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 322-3.