Note to Þul Sverða 6III
[5] Kvernbiti: This is the name of a sword owned by Hákon inn góði ‘the Good’ Haraldsson, which can be translated as ‘millstone-biter’ (from kvern f. ‘handmill’ and the strong verb bíta ‘bite’). In this form it also occurs in Ágrip (ÍF 29, 10, 11), but Kvernbítr (so mss A, B and the LaufE mss) is the form used in Hkr (ÍF 26, 146, 185, 190); both variants are found in Fsk (ÍF 29, 75, 86, 90). The origin of the name is explained as follows in Hkr (ÍF 26, 146): Aðalsteinn konungr gaf Hákoni sverð þat … þar hjó Hákon með kvernstein til augans. Þat var síðan kallat Kvernbítr ‘King Æthelstan gave Hákon that sword … with it Hákon split a millstone down to the centre. It was later called Millstone-biter’. The heiti does not occur in poetry (but cf. Leggbiti ‘Leg-biter’ or Leggbítr, st. 2/5 above).
References
- Bibliography
- ÍF 26-8 = Heimskringla. Ed. Bjarni Aðalbjarnarson. 1941-51.
- ÍF 29 = Ágrip af Nóregskonunga sǫgum; Fagrskinna—Nóregs konungatal. Ed. Bjarni Einarsson. 1985.
- Internal references
- (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Heimskringla’ 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, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=4> (accessed 26 April 2024)
- (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Fagrskinna’ 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, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=56> (accessed 26 April 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 26 April 2024)