[3, 4] firar ok flotnar, fyrðar ‘vital ones and seamen, vital ones’: These are poetic terms for ‘men’ or ‘warriors’ used only in the pl. form. Firar is derived from fjǫr n. ‘life’, hence ‘vital ones’, and fyrðar (also firðar) from firar (AEW: firar; fyrðar). In Skm (SnE 1998, I, 105), fyrðar and firar are ‘defenders of the land’ (landvarnarmenn) and flotnar ‘seamen’ (from floti m. ‘fleet, ship’) belong to a naval force (skipaherr).
References
- Bibliography
- AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
- SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
- Internal references
- (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Skáldskaparmál’ 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=112> (accessed 29 March 2024)