Note to Þul Þorgþ II 1III
[5] Himinhrjóðr: Most likely identical with Himinhrjótr in Gylf (SnE 2005, 44), where it is the largest ox in the giant Hymir’s herd. In the mss this name is recorded in a number of variants: (a) Himinhrjóðr (so C and adopted in Skj B, Skald and the present edn), which can be translated as ‘sky-devastator’ with the second element derived from the strong verb hrjóða ‘strip, clear’ (so Kahle 1903, 173-4; Finnur Jónsson (LP: Himinhrjóðr) interprets the name as ‘one with horns so high that they pierce the sky’). (b) Himin(s)hrjótr (so R and ms. Tˣ of Þul Øxna 2/1 as well as Gylf) from the strong verb hrjóta ‘fall, fly, be flung’, hence ‘one who is throwing himself towards the sky’, or from the strong verb (h)rjóta ‘snore, rumble, grunt’ (cf. ms. Tˣ and himinrjótr in ms. R of Þul Øxna 2/1), perhaps ‘sky-snorter’ (see SnE 1998, II, 475). (c) Himinrjóðr (so U) lit. ‘sky-reddener’ and (d) himinbrjótr ‘sky-destroyer’ (so ms. A of Þul Øxna). None of these variants occurs in poetic sources other than the þulur.
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.
- Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
- 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.
- SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
- SnE 2005 = Snorri Sturluson. 2005. Edda: Prologue and Gylfaginning. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
- Kahle, Bernhard. 1903. ‘Altwestnordische Namenstudien’. IF 14, 133-224.
- Internal references
- (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Gylfaginning’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=113> (accessed 25 April 2024)
- Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Øxna heiti 2’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 887.
- Elena Gurevich 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Øxna heiti’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 885. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=3210> (accessed 25 April 2024)