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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Note to Þloft Tøgdr 4I

[4] griðfastir friðmenn ‘the protection-secure men of peace’: Grið n. normally means ‘truce, protection, quarter’ on a more individual basis than friðr f. ‘peace’ (on the two terms in OE and ON, see Fell 1982-3). The reference here could be to the Danes’ situation as former enemies of Norway: they keep their promises of truce (cf., e.g., heitfastr, eiðfastr ‘oath-firm, true to one’s oath’) and bring protection to Norway. Alternatively, the emphasis may be on the way in which Knútr’s followers enjoy the protection, friendship and peace conferred on his household and supporters (cf. LP: griðfastr; ÍF 27; IF 29).

References

  1. Bibliography
  2. 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.
  3. ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
  4. Fell, Christine E. 1982-3. ‘Unfrið: An Approach to a Definition’. SBVS 21, 85-100.

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