[1] þremjar (f. pl.) ‘cutters’: A poetic name for a part of the sword, which probably denotes a double-edged blade (cf. þrǫmr m. ‘edge, rim’, but see Finnur Jónsson 1917, 191). The C variant fremjar is most likely a scribal error (cf. the weak verb fremja ‘further’; but cf. ÍO: fremjar). Þremjar occurs frequently in sword-kennings and sometimes it is possibly used as pars pro toto for ‘sword’ (cf. stormr þremja ‘storm of cutters [BATTLE]’, HSt Rst 21/4I; see Falk 1914b, 16).
References
- Bibliography
- ÍO = Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon. 1989. Íslensk orðsifjabók. Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans.
- Falk, Hjalmar. 1914b. Altnordische Waffenkunde. Videnskapsselskapets skrifter, II. Hist.-filos. kl. 1914, 6. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad.
- Finnur Jónsson. 1917. Review of Hjalmar Falk. 1914. Altnordische Waffenkunde. Videnskapsselskapets skrifter II, Hist.-filos. kl. 1914, no. 6. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad. ANF 33, 189-92.
- Internal references
- Rolf Stavnem (ed.) 2012, ‘Hallar-Steinn, Rekstefja 21’ 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. 921.