Note to Þul Hjálms 2III
[4] stefnir (m.): Of uncertain meaning and not attested elsewhere in skaldic poetry as a heiti for helmet, although it is used in the rímur (Finnur Jónsson 1926-8: stefnir). The heiti may have been derived from stafn m. ‘stem, prow’ and, according to Falk (1914b, 162), could denote stem-shaped Frankish helmets (cf. Sigv Nesv 5/6I und hjalm inn valska ‘under the Frankish helmet’, Sigv Nesv 15/3, 4I feltk peitneskum hjalmi ‘I put on a Poitou-made helmet’, and Note to Arn Hryn 9/8II). It could also be derived from stafn in the sense ‘gable’ or ‘hood’ (see Heggstad et al. 2008: stafn 2-3). Faulkes (SnE 1998, II, 402) suggests ‘a pointed helmet’. Alternatively, the word could be related to stofn m. ‘stump, footing’ (so AEW: stefnir 2).
References
- Bibliography
- AEW = Vries, Jan de. 1962. Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 2nd rev. edn. Rpt. 1977. Leiden: Brill.
- Finnur Jónsson. 1926-8. Ordbog til de af samfund til udg. af gml. nord. litteratur udgivne Rímur samt til de af Dr. O. Jiriczek udgivne Bósarímur. SUGNL 51. Copenhagen: Jørgensen.
- Falk, Hjalmar. 1914b. Altnordische Waffenkunde. Videnskapsselskapets skrifter, II. Hist.-filos. kl. 1914, 6. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad.
- SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
- Internal references
- Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Hrynhenda, Magnússdrápa 9’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 193-4.
- Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Nesjavísur 15’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 578.
- Russell Poole (ed.) 2012, ‘Sigvatr Þórðarson, Nesjavísur 5’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 563.