Cookies on our website

We use cookies on this website, mainly to provide a secure browsing experience but also to collect statistics on how the website is used. You can find out more about the cookies we set, the information we store and how we use it on the cookies page.

Continue

skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

Menu Search

Note to Þul Konunga 3III

[2] ræsir (m.) ‘impeller’: A poetic word for ‘ruler’, and the name of one of the sons of Hálfdan gamli (see Introduction above). Falk (1889c, 258) argues that ræsir is a loanword from OE ræswa ‘leader’, but it is more likely to be an agent noun from the weak verb ræsa ‘set in motion’ (so AEW: ræsir; Björn Magnússon Ólsen 1923, 105-6). If so, it must be identical with the word ræsir which frequently occurs as a base-word in kennings for ‘man’ or ‘warrior’, where it is used in its literal sense (‘one who sets in motion, impeller’).

References

  1. Bibliography
  2. AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
  3. Falk, Hjalmar. 1889c. ‘Med hvilken ret kaldes skaldesproget kunstigt? 1. Homonymiens rolle. 2. De saakaldte halfkenningar. 3. Personnavnes indflydelse paa mands- og kvindekenningar. 4. Oversigt over det poetiske udtryks udvikling’. ANF 5, 245-77.
  4. Björn Magnússon Ólsen. 1923. ‘Et bidrag til spørgsmaalet om Helgedigtenes oprindelse’. ANF 39, 97-130.

Close

Log in

This service is only available to members of the relevant projects, and to purchasers of the skaldic volumes published by Brepols.
This service uses cookies. By logging in you agree to the use of cookies on your browser.

Close