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skaldic

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages

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Note to Þul Óðins 2III

[1] Dresvarpr: A hap. leg. The meaning of this name is uncertain. Falk (1924, 6) suggests that the first part is a noun *dres ‘fervour’ (not attested in Old Norse, but cf. ModDan. dialects dræsel ‘battle’). The second element could be interpreted as ‘thrower’, although the expected nomen agentis derived from the strong verb verpa ‘throw’ is verpr (or verpir). Alternatively, the first part of the cpd has been connected with a verb *drasa ‘prattle’, cf. New Norw. drøsa ‘slander, prattle’. Hence dres- in this heiti could mean ‘slander’ (cf. ÍO: Dresvarp(u)r), and the name would then refer to Óðinn as an instigator of slander (lit. ‘slander-thrower’).

References

  1. Bibliography
  2. ÍO = Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon. 1989. Íslensk orðsifjabók. Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans.
  3. Falk, Hjalmar. 1924. Odensheite. Skrifter utg. av Videnskapsselskapet i Kristiania. II. Hist.-filos. kl. 1924, 10. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad.

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