Note to Þul Dverga 2III
[8] Skirvir, Virvir: So A and papp10ˣ, whereas the second name is rendered as Vivir in 2368ˣ and 743ˣ. Cf. Vsp 15/5 (NK 4) Scirvir, Virvir and Skirpir, Virpir in Gylf (SnE 2005, 16). Ms. B is now damaged (‘sk[…]ir v[…]ir’), but 744ˣ indicates that the B reading is likely to have been Skirfir Virfir (which are the forms adopted in Skj B and Skald). The first name probably means ‘stump one’ or ‘short one’ (cf. New Norw. skirvel, skjervel ‘stump, cut off’; see ÍO: skirfir). According to Gould (1929, 953), the word refers to a skilful artisan, a ‘joiner who makes herring-bone panelling’ (cf. New Norw. skjerva ‘to make herring-bone panelling’). As to the second name, Gould (1929, 955) explains it as ‘dyer’ (cognate with OFris. verver ‘dyer’; see also Note to Virfill in Þul Sækonunga 5/1 and Þul Hesta 4/8). Virvir may also be derived from *werfia- ‘turn’ and interpreted as ‘crafty, cunning one’ (see ÍO: Virfir). None of these names occurs in other sources.
References
- Bibliography
- Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
- Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
- NK = Neckel, Gustav and Hans Kuhn (1899), eds. 1983. Edda: Die Lieder des Codex Regius nebst verwandten Denkmälern. 2 vols. I: Text. 5th edn. Heidelberg: Winter.
- ÍO = Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon. 1989. Íslensk orðsifjabók. Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans.
- 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.
- Internal references
- (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 20 April 2024)
- Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Sækonunga heiti 5’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 685.
- Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Hesta heiti 4’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 939.
- Not published: do not cite ()