[4] Mjǫðvitnir: Perhaps lit. ‘mead-wolf’, i.e. ‘drunkard’ (from mjǫðr m. ‘mead’ and vitnir m. ‘wolf’; Gould 1929, 951). However, according to Gutenbrunner (1955, 62), the second element is a derivative from the weak verb vitja ‘call on, visit, seek’ and not a heiti for ‘wolf’, hence ‘mead-seeker’. The name is also known from Vsp 11/8, while ms. R of SnE (Gylf, SnE 2005, 16) gives the variant Mǫðvitnir.
References
- Bibliography
- SnE 2005 = Snorri Sturluson. 2005. Edda: Prologue and Gylfaginning. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
- Gould, Chester N. 1929. ‘Dwarf-names: A Study in Old Icelandic Religion’. PMLA 44, 938-67.
- Gutenbrunner, Siegfried. 1955a. ‘Eddastudien I. Über die Zwerge in der Völuspa Str. 9-13’. ANF 70, 61-75.
- Internal references
- Edith Marold 2017, ‘Snorra Edda (Prologue, Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál)’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols [check printed volume for citation].
- (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Gylfaginning’ 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=113> (accessed 18 April 2024)
- Not published: do not cite ()