Note to Þul Jǫtna I 3III
[5] Fornjótr: Father of the sea-giant Ægir and also the progenitor of wind and fire (Skm, SnE 1998, I, 39 and Notes to Þul Elds 1/3-4, Þul Veðra 1/8, Sveinn Norðrdr 2/2). In Hversu Nóregr byggðisk (Flat 1860-8, I, 21), Fornjótr is mentioned along with his three sons Hlér (= Ægir), Logi (i.e. ‘fire’) and Kári (i.e. ‘wind’). The origin of the name is unclear. Finnur Jónsson (1934-5, 300) takes it to mean ‘desolator’ (the negative prefix for- and the agent noun ‑njótr ‘enjoyer, user’), while Kock (1899, 103-4) derives it from *forn-þjótr ‘old whistler’ (cf. þjótr m. ‘howler’ as a heiti for ‘wind’, Þul Veðra 2/8). Hellquist (1903) argues that the name means Urwesen ‘primeval being’ and he compares this giant with Ymir (see also AEW: Fornjótr). The name is found in poetic sources (LP: Fornjótr).
References
- Bibliography
- AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
- LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
- Flat 1860-8 = Gudbrand Vigfusson [Guðbrandur Vigfússon] and C. R. Unger, eds. 1860-8. Flateyjarbók. En samling af norske konge-sagaer med indskudte mindre fortællinger om begivenheder i og udenfor Norge samt annaler. 3 vols. Christiania (Oslo): Malling.
- SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
- Hellquist, Elof. 1903. ‘Om Fornjótr’. ANF 19, 134-40.
- Finnur Jónsson. 1934-5. ‘Þulur: Søkonge- og jættenavneremserne’. APS 9, 289-308.
- Kock, Axel. 1899. ‘Etymologisch-mythologische Untersuchungen’. IF 10, 90-111.
- 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 25 April 2024)
- Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Veðra heiti 1’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 918.
- Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Veðra heiti 2’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 919.
- Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Elds heiti 1’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 921.
- Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.) 2017, ‘Sveinn, Norðrsetudrápa 2’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 400.