Note to Þul Sverða 11^III

[7] Kaldhamarsnautr (m.) ‘Kaldhamarr’s gift’: A sword-heiti (see Bjhít Lv 20/6^V (BjH 30), where this word denotes a sword). Finnur Jónsson (LP: Kaldhamarsnautr) takes Kaldhamarr as a pers. n. and argues that the heiti means ‘the gift of Kaldhamarr’, an explanation which is supported by other compounds with ‑nautr as the second element (see Note to l. 2 above, and adopted in Skj B, Skald, SnE 1998 and in the present edn). Bugge (1875, 231) identifies this Kaldhamarr as Kaldamarr (or rather Kaldimarr, changed by analogy with Valdimarr), a champion whom Bjǫrn Hítdœlakappi Arngeirsson defeated at the court of the Russian king Valdimarr (BjH ch. 4, ÍF 3, 120-2). If so, Kaldhamarsnautr (< Kaldamarsnautr) is most likely to be another name for Bjǫrn’s sword Mæringr, previously owned by Kaldimarr (Mæringr is not included in the present list). According to Falk (1914b, 53), the first element of the cpd is derived from the weak verb kaldhamra ‘hammer iron cold’ and hence ‘a product of cold hammering’, which is unlikely given the established pattern of compounds in which a pers. n. is coupled with the noun ‑nautr.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
4. LP = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1931. Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbog over det norsk-islandske skjaldesprog oprindelig forfattet af Sveinbjörn Egilsson. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Møller.
5. ÍF 3 = Borgfirðinga sǫgur. Ed. Sigurður Nordal and Guðni Jónsson. 1938.
6. Bugge, Sophus. 1875. ‘Biskop Bjarne Kolbeinssøn og Snorres Edda’. ÅNOH, 209-46.
7. Falk, Hjalmar. 1914b. Altnordische Waffenkunde. Videnskapsselskapets skrifter, II. Hist.-filos. kl. 1914, 6. Kristiania (Oslo): Dybwad.
8. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
9. Internal references
10. Not published: do not cite (Bjhít^V)
11. 2022, ‘ Anonymous, Bjarnar saga Hítdœlakappa’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 60-121. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=72> (accessed 25 April 2024)
12. Alison Finlay (ed.) 2022, ‘Bjarnar saga Hítdœlakappa 30 (Bjǫrn Hítdœlakappi Arngeirsson, Lausavísur 20)’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 103.