[4] Ǫlni: Or, possibly, Ǫlnir. Ms. A has ‘ø̨lni’. The ending in B is illegible (‘o᷎ln[…]’), but 744ˣ has ‘ǫlne’ and the LaufE mss Olni. As a dwarf-name, the heiti does not occur elsewhere, but cf. the name of a son of Óðinn (Þul Ása I l. 7, see variant readings there), which is spelled ‘o᷎lnir’ in B and ‘ø̨lldnir’ in A. Geirǫlnir is also listed among the names of Óðinn (see Note to Þul Óðins 5/6), where ‑ǫlnir is most likely derived from the strong verb ala ‘nourish, feed’ (AEW: ǫlnir). Gould (1929, 956) prefers the reading Ǫlni, which he connects with ǫln f. ‘the forearm from the end of the fingers to the elbow’.
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
- Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Óðins nǫfn 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. 743.
- Elena Gurevich 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Ása heiti I’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 754. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=3187> (accessed 29 March 2024)
- (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 29 March 2024)