Note to Þul Dverga 4III
[2] Vífir: A hap. leg. The etymology of this name is obscure. According to Gould (1929, 955), it means fututor (‘fucker’; cf. víf n. ‘woman’ and the adj. vífinn ‘uxorious’). It is more likely, however, that the name was derived from a weak verb *vífa ‘cover, wrap’, which in Old Norse is attested only in the adj. svellvífaðr ‘covered with ice’ in FriðÞ Lv 3/8VIII (Frið 3). See also the weak verb veifa ‘wave’ (AEW: vífa). The LaufE mss give the variant forms ‘Vivor’ (papp10ˣ(39v), 743ˣ(69r) and ‘Wiuór’ 2368ˣ(87), i.e. Vífurr or Víforr). Ms. B was already damaged at the time when it was copied in 744ˣ and the reading cannot be restored.
References
- Bibliography
- AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
- Gould, Chester N. 1929. ‘Dwarf-names: A Study in Old Icelandic Religion’. PMLA 44, 938-67.
- Internal references
- Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Friðþjófs saga ins frœkna 3 (Friðþjófr Þorsteinsson, Lausavísur 3)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 197.
- (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Laufás Edda’ 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=10928> (accessed 24 April 2024)