[8] Níðhǫggr: Lit. ‘wicked-striker’, the name of a mythical serpent (see Note to Þul Orma 3/1; and cf. the names of other serpents in ll. 2 and 7 above). It is likely that the implied meaning of this sword-heiti is ‘serpent’. Alternatively, it could be a characterising heiti (see Gurevich 1992c); if so, the sense is ‘wicked-striker’ (from níð n. ‘libel’ and the strong verb hǫggva ‘strike, bite’). The name is also listed in Þul Dverga 2/2. It is not attested elsewhere as a term for ‘sword’.
References
- Bibliography
- Gurevich, Elena A. 1992c. ‘Þulur in Skáldskaparmál: An Attempt at Skaldic Lexicology’. ANF 107, 35-52.
- Internal references
- Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Dverga 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. 695.
- Elena Gurevich (ed.) 2017, ‘Anonymous Þulur, Orma heiti 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. 931.