[4] ormþvari (m.) ‘serpent-borer’: This sword-heiti does not appear in other Old Norse sources, but the word þvari ‘borer, gimlet, drill’, which originally denoted a short, dagger-like sword (Falk 1914b, 48), is frequent as a second element in personal names (e.g. Dolgþvari, a dwarf in Gylf, SnE 2005, 16, and Blapþvari, a giant in Þul Jǫtna I 3/4). Cf. also Brynþvari, Hrǫngviðr’s sword in Hrómundar saga Greipssonar (FSN II, 366), as well as other heiti with the second element ‑þvari, such as eyþvari (Þul Øxna 1/6). The first element, orm-, may refer to a serpent-like decoration on the hilt (so Falk 1914b, 57). Alternatively, the sword-heiti could be derived from a legendary story about the slaying of a dragon. See also vindþvari (st. 6/4).
References
- Bibliography
- FSN = Rafn, Carl Christian, ed. 1829-30. Fornaldar sögur nordrlanda. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Popp.
- Falk, Hjalmar. 1914b. Altnordische Waffenkunde. Videnskapsselskapets skrifter, II. Hist.-filos. kl. 1914, 6. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad.
- SnE 2005 = Snorri Sturluson. 2005. Edda: Prologue and Gylfaginning. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
- Internal references
- (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Gylfaginning’ 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=113> (accessed 19 April 2024)
- Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Jǫtna heiti I 3’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 710.
- Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Øxna 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. 885.
- Not published: do not cite ()