[4] valhrímnir (m.) ‘slaughter-boar’: This cpd, which is not attested elswehere, is formed from valr m. ‘slain’ and hrímnir m. ‘boar’ (see Þul Galtar l. 2). Cf. the similar terms for ‘helmet’, valgǫltr m. ‘slaughter-boar’, hildigǫltr m. ‘battle-boar’ (st. 2/1) and hildisvín n. ‘battle-swine’ (see Falk 1914b, 160). See also the next heiti. As a simplex and as the second element in compounds, Hrímnir is quite common in mythical names (see LP: Hrímnir). According to de Vries (AEW: Hrímnir 1-2), the word is derived from hrím ‘frost, rime’ (AEW: Hrímnir 1) or from the Germanic root *(s)krī- ‘scream’ (AEW: Hrímnir 2 and hreimr 1). De Vries places the boar-heiti in the second category.
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.
- Falk, Hjalmar. 1914b. Altnordische Waffenkunde. Videnskapsselskapets skrifter, II. Hist.-filos. kl. 1914, 6. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad.
- Internal references
- Elena Gurevich 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Galtar heiti’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 900. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=3215> (accessed 28 March 2024)