Note to Þul Sækonunga 2III
[1] Eynæfir: So A, rather than Eynefr (R), which is metrically incorrect (yielding a hypometrical line), although Eynefr is attested as a pers. n. in Hálf (cf. Útsteinn Lv 1/7VIII (Hálf 38)). The first element of the cpd Eynæfir could mean ‘fortunate, clever’ (cf. ey ‘fortune’ < Gmc *auja, in such personal names as Eyjólfr, Eyvindr), and the second is most likely derived from the adj. næfr ‘clever, skilled’ (Björn Sigfússon 1934, 129). Eynæfir occurs in several old kennings (e.g. Bragi Þórr 2/3; also cf. Næfill, st. 4/3), and it is probably the name of a person mentioned in Saxo (Øneuus, Ønef, Onef; Saxo 2005, I, 5, 8, 5-8, pp. 338-41, 7, 11, 12, pp. 506-7).
References
- Bibliography
- Saxo 2005 = Friis-Jensen, Karsten, ed. 2005. Saxo Grammaticus: Gesta Danorum / Danmarkshistorien. Trans. Peter Zeeberg. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Det danske sprog- og litteraturselskab & Gads forlag.
- Björn Sigfússon. 1934. ‘Names of Sea-Kings (heiti sækonunga)’. MP 32, 125-42.
- Internal references
- 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 303. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=75> (accessed 19 April 2024)
- Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Bragi inn gamli Boddason, Þórr’s fishing 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. 48.
- Hubert Seelow (ed.) 2017, ‘Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka 38 (Útsteinn Gunnlaðarson, Lausavísa 1)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 334.